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 originally 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.

AUGUST

August didn’t really seem like August.  The weather was weird, I continued working throughout and there were definitely fewer day trips and fun excursions than usual for the summer holidays.  It felt like a month spent in limbo, just waiting for September to arrive and school to start back up again after six months at home.

I felt quite sad by the end of the month: sad that our extended time together was almost over; wishing that I’d breathed it all in that little bit deeper; and ruminating on all the things I could have said or done differently.  But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt repeatedly in this life, it’s that you are exactly where you’re meant to be in any given moment.

August had it’s highlights which I will forever look back on fondly.  I still can’t quite believe that we did it – half a year together.  Half a year of learning, negotiating, growing and being.  And whilst things certainly aren’t ‘back to normal’ (nor do I think they ever will be, there is only what is ‘normal for now’), it does feel like the end of the month and the impending return to the classroom marked the end of a very important chapter in our family story, as well as for the world as a whole.

I wonder what the girls will remember of our time at home together.  I hope it’s the good parts – the times I said yes to eating sweets with movies, and baking, and “just five more minutes Mum” that turned into much, much longer.  I hope it’s the drive-in movie and the multiple visits to the bookshop and the bright red hair-dye and the snuggles on the sofa and helping me make lunch every single day.

It was a summer to remember, that’s for sure, even if it was for different reasons than we were hoping for.

I’ve done my best to document it all – the messy magic, the creative chaos, the highs, the lows and everything in between.  It’ll matter in the future even more than it does now.

This is us.