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.
MAY
May has disappeared in a busy blur of school-and-work commitments, birthdays and visits from friends and family. I honestly don’t know where the last four weeks have gone – I feel like I blinked and missed it. My head feels so full of everything, every day: lists of things I need to do; important life admin I need to get on top of; things I need to get planned and organised for future days/weeks/months; all the usual day-to-day things that need doing like food shopping and laundry and homework and housework; to say nothing of school runs and emails and phone calls and client work and managing the emotional rollercoaster that is being a Mum to three wildly unique and fiercely independent girls.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it and wouldn’t change anything. I’m better when I’m busy. But just occasionally it all gets a bit much and I need a moment of silence. And often my only sanctuary from all this noise in my head is to escape into the world behind my camera lens, to manually create the calm that comes from capturing a moment of quiet, a moment of peace, a moment of love.
That’s what I adore about this project of mine – it forces me to slow down. To observe. To simply be. Nothing else exists apart from me and my subject. I remember how I felt at the exact moment I pressed the shutter in every single image. And to me that is magical.
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.
I love her hair. I could photograph it all day, every day.
Weekends in the garden
What else are big sisters for?
She has always been a wonderful source of comfort
Helping to open a lock gate
Teenage life. I love this shot of Sophie.
Bathtime fun
Holding hands with Nana
Delicate treasure
Natural beauty
Measuring her hand against Daddy’s
Sister love
Cheese toastie
Me pretending to be a kid again 😉
I love all the different positions he sleeps in, and the way he squeaks if you wake him up unexpectedly
Having a cuddle whilst watching TV
Freshly painted toes 🙂
Bathtime
I’m not going to lie…I want her eyelashes
Sunday walks with friends
She always finds the prettiest light to settle down in
Sofa cuddles/working mama
In her natural habitat
Bubbles!
Cross-country training
Rosebud lips
Leader
Squeaky clean
Tickle fight
A cheeky ice cream in the garden on my own whilst the girls were at school on the hottest day of the year so far
A simple bouquet, offered with love
“My legs are so long now Mummy!”
Lunchtime chats #kitchentablediary
Her second-favourite dress and her hair sparkling in the sunlight
Birthday cheeeeese
Sisters
She’s so beautiful it makes my heart hurt
Exploring
Jess Soothill
Oh such gorgeous photos and what amazing memories of the ordinary moments. Love this and such amazing captures xx
Chloe Ridgway
Thank you so much Jess x
Kerri-Ann
Some really beautiful captures, such a nice project to run. Do you always choose a certain weekend or is it the little moments throughout the month? Celebrating the ordinary moments is something I love to do to but I do think I am guilty of only sharing the big moments x
Kerri-Ann recently posted…Wisteria, Stripes & a Long Weekend #LittleLoves
Chloe Ridgway
Aww thank you Kerri-Ann 🙂 It’s little moments throughout the whole month and I post it on the last day of the month (or as close to it as I can). What you said about only sharing the big moments is exactly why I started it – I wanted to remember all the little moments too and it really is my favourite post to put together every month – I’m always surprised how many special little moments I’ve managed to capture.
Kerry
What a lovely collection of photographs. I keep meaning to do something similar on my blog, but I never remember to take enough photos. Definitely something that I need to rectify. It will be lovely for your children to look back on these when they are older xx
Chloe Ridgway
Thank you Kerry 🙂 If it helps, I shoot every day – sometimes intentionally to capture quiet moments, sometimes not -and I always have more images at the end of the month than I thought I would. Do it! It doesn’t matter how many images there are anyway really does it? Like you said, it’s just a record for you and our littlies to look back on as they grow. I love your photos on Instagram 🙂