I take hundreds of photos every month, and most of them don’t get shared with anyone, let alone online. And yet the moments in time that those photos capture are just as important a part of our story as the other images that I do choose to share.

I created this blog as a way of documenting our lives, a way of watching the girls grow into who they’re going to be and a way of remembering who they once were. It’s something I want them to be able to look back on as they get older, because memories fade but (digital) photographs don’t.

It’s easy (and tempting) to only focus on sharing the fun bits, the memorable parts, the highlights and the celebrations. But I’m learning more and more as I continue through this crazy journey of motherhood that it’s really important to me that I capture the ordinary, everyday times that we spend together as well. The bits of the jigsaw that fill in the gaps to complete the picture. The tantalising glimpses into who our girls are becoming.

The chaos, the calm and all the moments in between.

This monthly feature – The Moments In Between – is a space for me to share all of those magical bits that would otherwise just stay in a folder on my laptop, never to see the light of day.

APRIL

April has been, for want of a better phrase, absolutely lovely.  Lighter mornings and evenings, warm(ish) sunny days, the Easter holidays and a family break in Cornwall involving exploration, tradition and lots (and lots!) of ice cream.  I’m not going to pretend that everything has been perfect because it hasn’t – far from it.  There have been numerous squabbles, plenty of hard days at work, lots of soul-searching and even less sleep than usual.  It just somehow feels easier to deal with thanks to the promise of summer just over the horizon, tantalisingly creeping into view.  I know we’re still a way off yet, but the next two months are going to be ridiculously busy and I just know they are going to disappear in the blink of an eye so I want to savour the anticipation of it as much as I can.

Every month when I come to write this post I worry about whether I’ll have enough photos, and I never know what I’m going to say until I sit down to type it.  And my worries are always unfounded  because there are always enough images and my words, whatever they end up being, are always what is in my heart.  And that’s all I can ask of myself really.  I feel so very lucky to be on this crazy journey called life with the people that mean the world to me.

Each and every one of these photos is part of what makes us who we are. Each and every one of them tells part of our story. And I love them all.

This is us.

My girls

Relaxing in the garden after a looooong drive

I love the way she laughs

Baking

Texting

Digging

Me (because I was there too)

Watching their favourite – ‘How To Cake It’ – on YouTube

Ropeswing freedom

Us

Nerf gun wars

Car nap

Wherever we go, she finds a stick

Standard Saturday morning

Making daisy chains

Eating cake and having a sister-to-sister chat

Comfort

“I picked this just for you Mummy”

Crazies

Piggyback rides

Curls

Contemplating the world

Shower

Tired

Wishes

Stirring

Watching the waves

Homework

One of my new favourites

Watching

Beach hair and sunnies

Heart-to-heart

Quality control

Beach fun

Family selfie

Building the Titanic

Real life – laundry to put away, a tired girl, dirty windows and a cat in the only sunny spot in the house

Squeaky clean, post-bath