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.

MAY

I honestly don’t know where May went.  It feels like I blinked and missed it.  It was full of good things like birthday celebrations, seeing the girls shine in their different ways, two date nights (!) and visits from Sophie and my Mum.  Work was ridiculously busy.  We also spent ten days at the end of the month exploring Boston and Cape Cod in the USA.  We did our best to make the most of every single day we were there as it’s likely to be our last big family adventure for a while now that we’re hoping to move house later on this year.

Our trip was full-on, intense and brilliant fun.  It was also as challenging as you would expect travelling with kids would be.  We sacrificed sleep for making memories, compromised with each other daily and mostly succeeded in doing our best to fulfil everyone’s needs and wants (mainly in the form of doughnuts and ice cream).

I didn’t think I’d captured many in-between moments this month.  I fully expected to only have about ten images to share as I’ve either not had the actual physical time or the mental/emotional headspace to pick up my camera to document the quieter times, or I was focused on capturing our travels.  I was so pleased when I realised how many photographs of things I want to remember I managed to take.  Some are phone photos, most are from my big camera.  The best camera you can have is the one you have on you, right?

I love every single picture in this collection, just as I always do. And there are definitely some more new favourites that I’m absolutely determined to print out and get up in frames on the walls. They tell such a story.

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.