Caren Barry

Photographer + Writer + Surface Designer

  • :: so the weather recently has been less than ideal for capturing family portraits and I may look somewhat windswept in the first photo 🙊 but it’s picture perfect in my eyes ☺️ . Last week I turned 30 and for obvious reasons it felt like such an emotional milestone — I could never have wished for a 30th birthday gift more special than this darling girl of mine. 💛 This weekend was spent belatedly celebrating my first birthday as a family of three by brunching and wandering the English countryside. My favourite thing to do with my two favourite people.
  • :: I wonder how long I can share my favourite bump photos for...? ☺️ I can still remember all those wonderful feelings carrying around our girl. I absolutely loved pregnancy and was proud as punch to show off my growing bump. . Fast forward a few months from when this photo was taken (which strangely feels like a lifetime ago) and although I may be a little under the weather, have a mysterious foot injury and only remembered to brush my teeth at 2pm (a common occurrence now 😆), I’ve spent today happy, beaming with pride at baby girl’s beautiful smiles and newfound voice - she’s quite the conversationalist, especially at 4am! ❤️ . Oh and I should probably add that baby girl does actually have a name, which I will be revealing to you all in a few days... depending on whether I can get her to nap long enough for me to capture my little photo idea! 🤞🏼
  • :: that’s my whole heart right there ❤️ She’s currently snoozing peacefully on my chest and I can’t help but feel, she is without a doubt the best part of me.
  • :: What traditions have you continued into parenthood? . James and I have made the short trip home (to my childhood village) to see these beautiful Dahlias for many years, and last week we took baby girl there for her very first visit 💛 ...Naturally, she slept through the majority of our wanders, waking briefly only for a feed. I love how our traditions and memories have evolved and will now begin to take on meanings that are even more special to us. . Also, isn’t this the most stunning display!? It has me dreaming for a Dahlia garden of my very own! 💗
  • :: over one month with our beautiful little love. ❤️ . It’s funny how when I was pregnant I found it hard to imagine what life would be like with this new little person filling my days — of course I had what friends and family told me it would be like... mostly about the overwhelming tiredness and the sheer amount of poopy nappies I would soon learn to change 🙈 But what no one told me is how this baby girl would slot right into my world and just how quickly she would completely and utterly steal my heart 💔 . So now we’re just over one month into this new family life of ours (41 days to be exact), which really sounds like no time at all... and yet it feels like the snoozing little babe in this photo has always been here with us. It’s nothing short of magical, wouldn’t you agree? ✨
  • :: me and my girl 😍 just one of a million moments I wish to always remember. . This was my first experience breastfeeding in public and I absolutely loved it! I really wanted to achieve this milestone, for myself, and wandering around our local national trust with the familiarity of the place definitely made me feel at ease. Nevertheless, I decided to choose a quiet, fairly secluded spot in the gardens where I could focus on getting baby girl comfortable too, just as I would do at home. Only a few people passed by in the distance and they probably couldn’t even tell what I was actually doing, but this was just the confidence booster I needed on what is still very early days on my breastfeeding journey. ❤️
  • :: another little peek into baby girl’s nursery! 🌿✨ At the moment we only use this space for nursing (and lots of nappy changing) since she’ll be bunked beside us in our bedroom for the next 6 months or so, but I’m so so happy with all the work I put into this room during pregnancy — It was part of my process of transitioning into motherhood and so worth the effort. . Now she’s here, it’s become our little sanctuary and the perfect space for her to grow, create and play. I’ve tried to place an emphasis on light, nature and peace, so these beautifully timeless wooden toys generously gifted by @sarahandbendrix make such lovely additions to her toy collection. 💛
  • :: baby girl is three weeks old today! How the heck did that happen so quickly?! Well we marked this little milestone by venturing outdoors for our first walk as a family of three; just a slow wander to our village green, before it rained if course. I may have pushed myself a little too hard at first and subsequently suffered the worst stitch I’ve had in years 🙈 but aside from that it was such a lovely reintroduction to the ‘real’ world after the milky, emotional haze the last three weeks have been ❤️ . Before our walk, I tried on the dress in this photo which I last wore at around 34 weeks pregnant — and oh how it made me miss my bump so much! There was such a strange mix of emotions as I looked at myself in the mirror wearing this dress, minus bump, and I can honestly say that I felt the most body confident (and confident in general) whilst pregnant... . James goes back to work next week and I’m determined to build my self-confidence back up, after all I am bloomin’ proud of myself for growing and birthing our beautiful little girl. I want her to grow up knowing her mama as kind, happy and confident. For me though, I think that journey will start with making my transition to breastfeeding in public a little easier with the help of some nursing friendly clothing — but if you have any good suggestions on ways to feel more confident as a new mama, throw them my way please!

 

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