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. A legacy, of sorts.
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 and life that it’s really important to me that I capture the ordinary, everyday times that we spend together as well.
The pieces 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 and messy parts of our family life that would otherwise just stay in a folder on my laptop, never to see the light of day.
APRIL
April was busy in all sorts of ways. Busy trying to make arrangements to get some help and support in place for Lola so she can hopefully go back to school. Ridiculously busy with therapy clients. Busy having mini-adventures all over the country (one of the advantages to living in the Midlands is that you’re in the middle of just about everywhere!) – I went up north to Manchester for an evening, south-east to London for the day and then south-west to Cornwall for our much-needed annual Easter family holiday.
April has also been a month of connecting. Connecting with a soul-friend of mine who I originally met whilst traveling 18 years ago and haven’t seen in person for six years. Connecting with my wonderful Mum. Connecting with Ella during our one-to-one time together. Connecting with family on holiday. One of my love languages is ‘quality time’ (the other is ‘acts of service’) and this month has filled up my tank in ways I didn’t even know I’d needed.
Being in our happy place by the sea in Bude filled up my tank too. I swear that place has a special kind of magic. None of us wanted to come home (and a few tears may have been shed). A week is never long enough: I felt that I came home partially revived but not fully refreshed. The sunshine definitely helped – I’m 100% solar powered.
Holidays always make me reflect and re-evaluate different aspects of my life – I’m not sure whether it’s the fresh scenery, the perspective that being faced with the enormity of the ocean brings me, or something else entirely that’s beyond my level of conscious understanding. I just know that I always come home feeling different in some way, forever altered by the power of the shifting tides, the reverence of the sunset and the glimpse of a promise that’s carried on the breeze.
Change is coming.
This was us in April…
