Maternity photos with Jessika, RJ and 18-month-old Addie

Jessika and RJ met in the UK four years ago, on the military base they both work at. Jessika is a medical technician, and their first encounter was when RJ was feeling unwell. 

Despite being poorly, RJ remembers being drawn to Jessika immediately. They met again a while later at an event, and a third time in front of the local supermarket.

RJ knew Jessika’s sister which gave them something to easily start talking about. Jessika was flying back home to the USA for a holiday as her sister was having a baby. She dropped RJ off en route to the airport, and then they met up again as soon as Jessika returned. Shortly after that, RJ moved in and hasn’t left since!

RJ loves being a dad, especially as he now has a ‘mini me’, someone to watch as she grows and develops.  RJ also loves how Addie greets him first thing in the morning with an adorable, “Hi, daddy!”.

The couple tell me that Addie mainly takes after her mum in terms of her features and personality, although she does have her dad’s deep brown eyes. She’s full of energy and curiosity, and particularly enjoys nursery rhymes,  throwing a ball and learning how to do everything herself.

Jessika is hoping their son will be a mummy’s boy, as Addie has been a daddy’s girl. She’s also hoping Addie will be welcoming of the new arrival, and Addie certainly seemed happy to kiss and hug mum’s baby bump during our session. One of Addie’s friends from nursery has a nine-month-old brother, and Addie absolutely loves being around him, so the couple are taking that as a good sign!

Jessika and RJ already know what name they’ll give to their son. They didn’t know if they were having a boy or girl when they were expecting Addie, so Jessika picked a name for a girl and RJ picked a name for a boy. Now that they are expecting a boy, they will be able to use RJ’s choice of name.

The day of our maternity photoshoot was one of July’s scorchers, but luckily Jessika is used to the heat, as she hails from South Carolina originally!

In the meantime while they await their son’s arrival, it’s off to the paddling pool to cool down, spend time enjoying each other’s company and get ready to become a family of four 🙂 

After our photoshoot, Jessika said:

“Sarah was amazing from the beginning. She made sure to find out what would help my daughter feel comfortable during our photos and it’s the first photo shoot in 18 months that she hasn’t cried the whole time. Our maternity photos came out beautifully and I can’t wait for Sarah to do our newborn photos in a few weeks.”

Jessika, maternity photoshoot client from Buckingham, in Buckinghamshire

If you’re interested in maternity 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).