1 year of my littlest bear

celebrating his milestones

I

n August 2019 we welcomed Aidan to our family. As a mum of two boys I am constantly being told how much I have my hands full. Whilst that is true, I wouldn’t have it any other way… well maybe but a little more sleeping thorough the nights…Side note Netflix on my was a lifesaver during night-time feeds, Atypical, The Good Place, The Crown, Living with Yourself are all brilliant night-time watches.

The first year as a mum of two has been an amazing and exhausting journey. I just wanted to share some of my journey in Aidan’s first year with you.

Aidan was born via C-Section but due to complications I had to be under general anaesthetic. It was a very different experience to Elliott (which you can read about here). Waking up bleary eyed seeing your husband holding your new baby, is very strange. Thankfully Rich was aloud in the theatre so he managed to take this photo of Aidan being born.

We captured the first moment Elliott and Aidan met on video. I had been worried about how it would go, reading the ‘Second Baby book’ by realty helped. Thankfully it went amazingly. As we turned the camera off Elliott even said ‘I love my baby brother’… long may that last!

Having taken Elliott’s newborn photos I put a LOT of pressure on myself to do the same for Aidan. The trouble was the recovery from the C-Section was a lot harder than with Elliott, plus the lovely heat wave we were having didn’t help. I split the shoot across a couple of days which made things easier.

8 & 9 Days Old

The midwives from Frimley were amazing and supportive. Once again my breastfeeding journey didn’t go to plan, but I know I did the best I could… fed is best . Unfortunately at just 13 days old Aidan was admitted to hospital with an infected cyst. We stayed for 3 nights.

Throughout our stay my family were brilliant! It was strange and sad not seeing Elliott but I was comforted knowing he was being spoilt by all the attention and Cakes from Grandma and Nanna.

I wanted to test my Newborn Mini session our on Aidan so when he was 6 weeks I took some more, photos in a smaller session. He had slept for 5 hours straight the night before so I was bright and breezy… thank you little bear.

Aidan’s Newborn Mini Session

Once again we were back in hospital a few weeks later when Aidan developed a nasty virus. This was very scary as initially they thought he had sepsis. Thankfully he quickly perked up (as you can see from the photos), so after a couple of nights stay we were on day release and back home. Although Aidan has been poorly since, we haven’t had to be admitted. It made me appreciate our NHS even more than before.

After the worry of Aidan’s health, it was a while before I felt confident to join any classes. When my lovely friend Emma from Emma Martin Mindefulness told me she was running a Mindful Motherhood course which focuses on Mum and Baby, it was the perfect class to start. A group for mums to chat and take some self care but also fun for babies too. Emma took a few photos during the taster session with the lovely Holly from Little Bears Music.

We enjoyed a lovely family Christmas. It was Aidan’s first appearance on our annual Family Christmas card, which made it all the more special. My lovely sister-in-law took a family photo of us, which meant so much as at that point we had only taken one. Aidan was then 4 months, so really starting to interact with people, especially Elliott. Seeing my two little ones play together is the most beautiful thing in the world to me.

In January we were finally starting to find our feet, I was back doing what I love taking photos of babies and families (although doing limited booking during Aidan’s first year). My lovely friend Lindsay runs the Woking & Elmbridge section of Mummas Village. Aidan and I had started her Baby sensory massage course along with Aidan’s girlfriend Abigail. We all loved it as you can see from Aidan’s excited expression below. He smiled all the way through the sessions!

I was super excited as Lindsay and I made plans to introduce Easter Mini sessions together at Byfleet Village hall. Obviously Aidan was my little model as I tested out the new outfits and props I had brought.

Easter Mini Session

Not too long after I took the Easter photos, lockdown happened, which mean the Easter Minis couldn’t go ahead. Having a baby and running a business during lockdown is not easy. Lockdown was hard on so many people but I fully understood how much it was needed. I was thankful that I could take the milestone photos of Aidan I still desperately wanted. At the start of lockdown Aidan was turning 6 months. Together with other suppliers, Lindsay and I set up a support group to help those mums and mums-to-be in and around Woking.

I will chat further about having a baby in lockdown in another post but for now I want to focus on the positives. Like how especially cute little bear looked in his bear outfit.

Aidan’s Sitter Session

I am in a close nit friendship group with some lovely local photographers. My gorgeous friend Cheryl and I both did Doorstep photos to raise money for charity, click here to read more about my Doorstep Donations fundraising Campaign. Cheryl and I each took photos of each others families. Here is our first professional family photo (thank you Cheryl).

 After all of the photos I have taken I hadn’t got nearly enough of my two boys together. So off we went to my favourite meadows for a little summer time photo session.

Summer Portrait Session

In what seems like a blink of an eye Aidan was soon to be turning 1. For obviously reasons his first birthday was a little difficult to plan. So to make it special I organised two Cake Smash sessions. The first one indoors and the second outdoors, which you can read more about here.

Aidan’s Outdoor Cake Smash Session

First birthdays are amazing and emotional in equal measure. The first year hadn’t been what I planned, Aidan hadn’t even gone swimming or done may of things I had managed to do with Elliott, but what I could give him was birthday photoshoots to remember.

Aidan’s Studio Cake Smash Session

Despite all of the goings on in the world during Aidan’s first year, it has and will always be so very special, challenging, but very special due to my lovely little family.

Lastly, I just want to thank my lovely local, small business community. I’ve lived in Woking all my life, being a mummy has opened up my eyes to whole new “mums” community, where I have made lifetime friends. My profession as Baby & Family photographer has deepened this further as I’ve discovered so many amazing businesses. Aidan and I felt very loved and looked after by the local baby businesses and my lovely group of photographer friends. I feel so lucky that during Aidan’s months before lockdown we were able to attend the classes we did and have the experiences we had. Though social media I kept we were able to keep in touch for online classes and on a personal level too. 

I will be forever for the friendship support we had then and now. Love you all very much xXx