Hi! I’ve been living under a newborn rock so I thought it might be time to crawl out, say hello and share some snaps from our first few months of parenting.

Drew is almost four months old already! And despite my baking her with my body, she is all her Dad, looks, temperament, seriously, she is all Dean! We were expecting a little seven pound, bald headed, baby girl and instead we got an eight pound four oz chunk of love, with the biggest mop of dark hair!

Some fun facts about our sweet girl;

• She’s going to be a talker! She is at her absolute happiest when she is babbling away, particularly if anyone is babbling back to her (Janine can attest to this). It’s getting louder everyday and it might be my favourite sound in the whole world.

• She HATES getting dressed or cleaned in anyway. She would happily live in her own filth than have me come near her with clean water. She would also prefer to burst from her clothes (hulk style) having worn them until she has outgrown them rather than be changed like a civilized baby. The daily washing / dressing routine resembles the chaos of say, ‘the battle of the bastards’ in Game of Thrones.

• This kid loves her sleep and has from day one. I thank all the gods every single night for this! I am fully aware of how lucky we are. I’m not saying I would love her less if she wasn’t a sleeper – but I mean, I might love her more because she is.

• She inherited Dean’s grumpy stare. Like all of it. How did this happen?

Parenting has been hysterical, terrifying, heart swelling and frustrating in equal measure! I have learnt more in four short months than I thought possible and I still know absolutely nothing! What I do know is that we are not the parents we thought we’d be…

We are soooooo not cool.

I thought I would be so relaxed and chill because I have so much experience working with newborns. That has not been the case. I think I rode in the back seat of the car to make sure she could breathe in her car seat for like the first week. She also wears a little sock heart monitor thing in bed that lets you see her heart rate and oxygen level on your phone at anytime and has an alarm that goes off it her rate goes high or low. Yip we’re those people. I’m not even embarrassed.

We are not trendy.

She has pretty much only worn baby grows her entire life. When I was pregnant I bought SOOO much baby Zara stuff that I could have opened my own branch! But I have since come to find that baby clothes are a massive pain in the ass! Unless it’s a super fancy event (note nothing in her life has been fancy enough to warrant this as of yet) then it’s just not worth the time. I look enviously at people who can be arsed dressing up their babies but it just ain’t me.

I’m a flasher.

Seriously apologies to the old guy in the hat in café nero Bangor last week who was just trying to enjoy a cuppa and probably did not expect to be flashed. Turns out I am very shit at breastfeeding discreetly. It’s all very clunky and if I’m being honest, if I haven’t got the hang of it by now I’m not sure things are going to change much.

Childcare plans made and then burned to the ground.

Before this tiny hooman came and stole our hearts we had childcare all ready and lined up (we both work for ourselves so this was super important). “Oh she’ll be starting one to two days no later than three months old” I confidently replied to the nice crèche lady when she asked about her start date. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!! I’m not sure I even recognise that version of myself.

We’re saps.

We have become soft and mushy and are basically just happy slaves to a very small, adorable cult leader. It’s so funny because I work with parents and newborns so much that I thought I was prepared for how I would feel once Drew was here. Not one actual clue. People tell you. And you see it in other people. But until she’s here you just don’t know. My heart actually hurts I love her so much. Dean jokes that he’s ‘that guy’ in work now, constantly showing off pictures of her. I’ll even catch him snapping wee selfies with her and for anyone who follows me on IG you know this is not normal behavior for my husband who is possibly the most anti-selfie human on the planet. Seriously who even are we now!

We need an extra house.

Like we need a house for having people over and then the one we live in – because the one we live in isn’t suitable for visitors. There is just always STUFF and MESS everywhere! Babies are small but holy shit do they come with a lot of stuff and mess and literal shit! This is not a marketing plug for RinkaDink newborn sessions but seriously, I have no idea how people have newborn shoots in their home. For at least four weeks I don’t think you could see the floor in our living room! Seriously mommas, get your ass in the car and get up to the studio for a couple of hours, it’s all white and calming and there is unlimited biscuits and tea! Plus, one of us will cuddle and photograph that sweet babe whilst you actually finish that cuppa (or three!) I am in love with my bump and newborn shoots! Drew’s bump to baby book is something I simply adore.

So that’s a wee update on how we’ve been doing.  I’m insanely grateful to Janine for giving me the time I needed to actually enjoy my maternity leave. Owning your own business and having a baby is tough as balls! J is very much still recovering from her year of hell but she’s handling absolutely everything at RAD and has never made me feel one bit guilty for taking the time I needed.   She really is a good’un.  

I’m reentering real life slowly.  It’s a whole new ball game post baby but I’m soooooo happy to be getting back to RinkaDink.  I missed my first baby and I’m properly excited about recording our wee RAD families and their stories with my fresh new mom goggles.   

P.S. Thank you so freaking much to all of our sweet clients who have sent messages, cards and gifts for Drew. Our wee RAD tribe is the actual best bunch of humans!