January 2017: The Moments In Between

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.

JANUARY

January always feels like the longest month. Something about the grey skies, the cold weather, the lack of light and all the fun of Christmas being over and done with whilst Spring still feels ages away.

We hibernate a bit in January, staying home more and having less outdoorsy adventures (I do try and drag the girls out at weekends where I can though it’s usually just for a walk rather than to a specific place of interest). I’ve had to be creative this month as there are only short pockets of time where the light in our house is decent enough to get good shots. It’s been challenging, but I’ve enjoyed it. It’s stretched me, and that can only be a good thing.

Every month as I put together this post I think that I can’t possibly love the photos any more than the ones I took in the previous month. And every month I surprise myself.

This is us.

I would love to know what she was thinking about as she gazed out of her bedroom window

I was going to delete this, but I kept coming back to it and the more I look at it, the more I really see it (and her) and the more I love it.

She has the best laugh

Toes. I love how all three girls are tangled up with each other here.

Her eyes are definitely the windows to her soul

Rare shot of the teenager reading an actual book (in between checking Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, WhatsApp, text messages and YouTube notifications of course)