TREASURE

Josephine gave me this beautifully dishevelled rose yesterday, after a trip into the garden at my grandparent's house. Carefully picked by Nana, Phiney looked so pleased with herself as she carefully bought it in and gave it to me. Although she quickly wanted it back and tried to eat it. It's now sitting pride of place on the mantelpiece - the first gift from my little bird. A true treasure.

Also, Tori has posted more of the photo shoot we had with her on her photography blog here. I'm more enamoured with those gorgeous captures every time I see them, and will treasure them always.

US THREE, ONE DAY

Time passes so quickly when you have a baby. Weeks become months and that tiny helpless creature becomes a determined little bird who's on the move, all in the blink of an eye. These pictures will be cherished, always. Documenting a moment in our lives that is so special, so precious. Me, Ben and our firstborn child. So in love with eachother, enraptured by everything eachother do.

Tori is a very beautiful person, inside and out. And she takes very beautiful pictures. One Saturday morning in July she arrived at our little home and from the first moment started snapping, chatting and laughing, and we felt like we'd known her for years. Josephine instantly fell in love with her and over that day she took these wonderful pictures.

Thank you Tori for this, the loveliest of gifts. Our hearts are so happy.

SNEAK PEAK: tori hancock photography

If you follow me on Instagram (firstdayofmarriage) you'll know that our photographs from Tori arrived on a CD yesterday. I opened the package and read the sweet note she'd sent then patiently waited for Ben to get home from work to look at them.

We put the disc in the Playstation and watched the pictures in a slideshow on the TV. About four times. They're so beautiful; capturing this moment in our lives perfectly. Just us three on a sunny Saturday. At home, in the garden, on a woodland walk. Tori has a true talent.

Goodness knows how we'll choose which to put on our walls, how i'll choose which to show you. I'll post our favourite images over the weekend, but for now here's a little sneak peak. I loved this picture the moment I saw it.

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From quite early on in my pregnancy, we knew that once bub had arrived we'd want to have a family photo session to capture our days as a new family of three. I'm sure you've all swooned over these, these, these and these (basically anything by this dude) as I have, but it's harder than you'd think to track down a photographer who wants to capture real life and natural moments as oppossed to cheesy grins and forced poses in front of a white background.

I spent many an hour searching for a photographer we could entrust this task to; someone who would deliver pictures we would treasure forever. Annoyingly, I had no luck. Unless we lived in London and had a whopping budget to play with, of course.Then a few weeks ago I visited this lovely blog and my search was over. I've always admired the stunning photographs Tori takes so was in no way surprised to hear she had launched her own business. Instantly I emailed her and I'm so happy to say that we're booked in for 4 hours of fun in the (fingers crossed) sun towards the end of July. We decided to leave it a few months so Josephine would be sitting up, playing and offering a few more poses and smiles for the shoot than she could right now. We're thinking a family walk before stopping off for a homemade picnic. Just me, Ben and Phiney enjoying our time with each other.

I am so excited about seeing the end result and trust Tori and her beautiful skills entirely. She has sent me the loveliest emails since I contacted her and I can't wait to meet her come the summer. If the pictures above are anything to go by, I know we'll end up with a selection of images that will adorn our home forever. That will simply, yet beautifully, capture the essence of our new family.

All images by TH Photography. Go check out her work.