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.
JUNE
It seems to be becoming a bit of a pattern that I finally sit down to put this post together at least a week into the following month. I guess that’s just the season of our lives that we’re in at the moment – not enough time to do all the things we want to do on top of motherhood, work and life admin, despite my best efforts to create the time by getting up early and going to bed late.
Having said that, I deliberately tried to keep June slow. And I do feel better. It’s felt less… frantic, even though the days have still been full. I’m hoping I can continue this more settled pace throughout the summer as well. After all the busyness of the last four months I’m definitely feeling the need to be grounded and calm and I think the girls are too.
There are lots of images of Lola this month. I normally do my very best to keep the spread of images of each child as even as possible, because if/when they eventually look back through all of these posts when they’re older, I don’t want there to be any cause for hurt feelings or arguments. However, this month I took a photography workshop all about documenting the details and using them to tell a story, and Lola ended up being the subject of three out of four of my assignments.
I love every single picture in this collection, just as I always do. I’ve tried to get in the frame more, even if it’s just a quick selfie on my phone. I’ve enjoyed capturing both the details and the bigger picture. And I’ve included some quiet moments of light and nature that I’ve found beautiful. They all tell such a story, both as standalone images and as a collection.
Our story.
I can remember every detail, every movement, every gesture and expression, from every image. They’re so much more than just memories. They all have a meaning for me far deeper than the surface level of what you see.
Every single one brings back feelings and thoughts and moments I want to remember. Every single one speaks to me in so many ways. Every single one is a piece of our jigsaw.
This is us.
