Newborn photos with 11-day-old Oliver

Nikki and Ben are childhood sweethearts. They met outside school one day, and Ben asked Nikki to go on a date with him. They headed off to the West Midlands Safari Park and have been inseparable since then.

Their adventures have taken them all around the world, most notably to Australia (twice!) where Ben popped the question.

Nikki had always made it clear that she wasn’t interested in a public or dramatic proposal. Instead, Ben found the perfect moment midway through the trip.

The couple were sitting beside a gorgeous lake on Fraser Island. Nikki was snuggled in front of Ben, with her back to his chest. After carrying the ring hidden in his bag until now, Ben realised that it simply wouldn’t get any better than this.

He reached across to his bag and pulled it towards them. Without Nikki realising what was happening, he pulled out the ring, flicked open the box and balanced it on the palm of his hand. Then, he gently swung his arm around to bring the box into Nikki’s sight.

Happily, she said ‘yes’, and 2020 will mark their second wedding anniversary. That celebration won’t be the most exciting thing happening this year, however, as the January arrival of little Oliver is certain to eclipse everything else.

Oliver is the first grandchild on both sides of the family, so the grandparents have been particularly excited about meeting him. Since he arrived, Nanny Wendy has been to see him every day except one, and missed him terribly on that day.

“I can’t wait to do everything with him,” Nanny Wendy told me, “playing, cooking, crafting – everything. I cannot wait.”

And even though he’s only 11 days’ old, there have already been so many favourite moments.

The highlight so far for Nanny Wendy was when Nikki and Ben first got home from the hospital. They were exhausted, and headed off for some much-needed kip, while Wendy had the honour of watching over little Oliver. She fell in love with him straight away.

Nikki loved finally sitting down on the sofa the next day, with Oliver snoozing away on her chest.

“This,” she told Wendy and Ben, “is what I’ve been looking forward to most.”

Meanwhile, for Ben, the highlight of these first few days was holding Oliver in his arms, with Oliver’s head fitting into the snug of Ben’s palm. Oliver snoozed away, oblivious to the world, as his dad wiped away happy tears.

The couple have looked forward to becoming parents for a while. Nikki works at a nursery (“She’s a professional mum!” Ben tells me) and couldn’t wait to finally have her own baby. After a few epic holidays last year, they decided now was the time.

The holidaying isn’t over, however. The whole family are heading off for a break in Portugal in a couple of months, where the grandparents will be queuing up to cuddle and care for him.

I’m sure Nikki and Ben will take Oliver on many, many more adventures.

Wherever he goes in the world, he can be sure of one thing: just how much his family love him 🙂

After our shoot, Nikki said:

“We had such a lovely time having our photos done by Sarah. She was very professional from start to finish and made us very relaxed and comfortable! Sarah spent a lot of time communicating with us to check that she got every little detail right. The photos were absolutely amazing and it was very hard to choose the ones we wanted as we loved them all! It was great that Sarah came out to us to show us the photos and she was happy for all the family to be there too as we got to share the experience with them all and we had a lovely evening 🙂 Thank you again Sarah, you were brilliant!”

Nikki, newborn photography client from Abingdon, Oxfordshire

If you’re interested in newborn portraits or family photography in and around Bicester, Oxfordshire, please get in contact.

Sarah Plater LMPA is an award-winning qualified, certified professional newborn and family portrait photographer based in Bicester, Oxfordshire. She is the Master Photographers Association Newborn Photographer of the Year 2019 for the Central Region (covering Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire).