This is something I had dreamed about for a long, long time. From the moment I shared the news with my mom that I was expecting, we started planning for a very special summer with this new baby we were so excited to meet.
Though I had been married for most of my twenties, having a baby always felt like something I’d do much later, not something of interest in the immediate future. But when I found myself in France at my family’s home in Provence, amidst the long warm days when time slowed down, I couldn’t help but have visions running through my head of someday bringing my own little one to this place that means so much to me. And over time I found myself hoping that day would come very soon.
Peter was due in May, which meant my four-month maternity leave fell perfectly over the summer months. We had tickets booked long before he was born to bring him to France in early July. While the summer involved a bit of hopping around — to London for a few weeks, Scotland for my brother-in-law’s wedding, and Capri for a family trip — we spent a full month at the house in sum, and it was just as wonderful as I had imagined it would be, being there with my him.
He was so young that summer that he was still sleeping most of the time. He napped in a little straw baby basket from Sparrow & Plum for much of the day. I’m sure next year will be very different chasing him around the gardens.
Olivier, a photographer I have admired for quite a while (Oliver Fly Photography), came down from Paris for a day to take some photos of our little family on film. He captures Provence like no one else, and these are truly some of my favorite images of all time.
My dress: LoveShackFancy (very similar here)
My dress: Doen (similar here)
My dress: Lisa Marie Fernandez (off-the-shoulder version in the same fabric here)
