The days that don’t make the baby book

There are days I know I’ll remember forever.

The first smile. The first laugh. The first time she wrapped her tiny fingers around mine like she’d always known me.

And then there are the other days.

The ones that don’t make it into baby books or photo albums.

The quiet, repetitive days.

The ones that blur together—but somehow shape me the most.

Motherhood, I’ve learned, is made in those in-between moments.

Not just in the milestones, but in the slow stretches of time:

Feeding with one hand while Googling “is this normal” with the other.

Rocking a baby at 2:17 a.m. while the rest of the world sleeps.

Negotiating with a toddler over toast shape.

These are the real stories of motherhood—unfiltered, unposed, and deeply human.

And in my work as a Shoalhaven motherhood photographer, I find myself drawn to those same fleeting, unspectacular moments. The way a mum brushes hair from her child’s face. The light in the kitchen at 3pm. The mess. The magic. The middle.

This blog—Still Becoming—isn’t just for mums looking for advice. It’s for those of us in the thick of it.

Those of us slowly becoming someone new, one snacktime and one soft moment at a time.

Some days feel like survival.

Some days feel like magic.

Most days are a little bit of both.

I used to think I had to wait until I had something wise or finished to say before I could write about it. But I’m learning—just like in parenting—you don’t wait until you’ve got it all figured out.

You just show up.

That’s what I do, both here and behind the camera. I show up. I notice. I try to capture the truth of these fleeting days—whether with words or light.

If you’re reading this with a cold coffee in hand, or in the car line, or during a nap that may or may not last, I want you to know:

You’re not alone in the middle.

And the middle matters.

This is the slow, quiet work of becoming.

Still Becoming.

Still here.

Still trying.

—Steph

PS: If you’re based on the South Coast and you’re looking for a Shoalhaven newborn or motherhood photographer who sees the beauty in the in-between — I’d love to connect. No pressure. No perfection. Just real, honest moments you’ll want to remember.

introducing: Still Becoming…

A blog series about the in-between moments of motherhood

I’ve sat down to write this a hundred times - in the spaces between feeding, folding laundry, and wiping sticky fingers off the fridge door (again). I open the laptop, type a few words, then pause. Sometimes I don’t know where to start. Other times, I worry that no one will read it, or that I won’t say it right. But then I remember: maybe it’s not really about having the perfect thing to say, or even about who’s listening.

Maybe it’s about putting the words down anyway.

Even when they’re messy.
Even when they feel unfinished.
Even when they don’t lead to any grand conclusion.

Because writing helps me make sense of things - and motherhood, more than anything else in my life, has been something I’ve had to slowly make sense of.

This isn’t a blog about how to be a perfect mum. It’s not a tidy list of parenting tips or a collection of expert-backed strategies. It’s not a highlight reel of colour-coordinated playrooms and magazine-worthy snack plates (though if that’s your thing, I fully support it - and may ask you to come organise my Tupperware).

It’s just me.

A mum, sitting at my kitchen table in the quiet hum of nap time, still wearing yesterday’s socks, thinking about who I used to be, who I’m becoming, and all the strange, beautiful, in-between moments in between.

That’s what this is really about - the becoming.
Not the “I have arrived” version.
The "still figuring it out, one cup of tea at a time" version.

The honest, wobbly process of growing into motherhood… and into myself, too.

Because no one really talks about that part. About how you’re becoming someone new at the same time your baby is. About how that shift can be subtle and strange and sometimes lonely - but also filled with tiny moments that feel more like home than anything else ever has.

This is not a neat before-and-after story. There is no polished finish here.

Just thoughts from a mum in the thick of it - learning, unlearning, reshaping, softening, waking up every day and trying again.

So if you’re here, reading this in your own version of a pause - with cold coffee, or a baby on your lap, or a moment stolen in the car before school pick-up — then maybe you're becoming too.

And maybe we don’t need to figure it all out just yet.

This is Still Becoming.
Messy thoughts from the middle of it all.

Steph