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.

SEPTEMBER

September has felt like a quiet month.  The house is quiet now the girls are back at school after being home all summer.  Work has been unusually quiet (which I have since discovered is due to my site being down for several weeks without me realising, though thankfully it’s all back up and running now).  Everything is quiet on the moving house front too – we’re just waiting now for the solicitors to do their thing before it’s all systems go.

It feels peaceful and strange all at once.

I’m trying to see this quietness as a pause, a moment to catch my breath, to rest.  A chance to assess where things are in our lives and figure out where we want them to be.  The opportunity to recharge and replenish my dwindling energy reserves.  A stillpoint before the next phase begins.

I’ve been trying to be a little more intentional with picking up my camera – recognising that I don’t always have to capture every single second and that actually, sometimes one shot is enough.  That has felt a little strange too and I suppose that’s a good thing because growth is rarely comfortable.

I love every single one of the images I captured, just as I always do. They all tell such a story, both as standalone images and as a collection.  Memories of a quiet month of golden light and epic rainfall, of visiting friends and time at home, of outdoor adventures and afternoons spent doing not very much at all.

I can remember every detail, every movement, every gesture and expression, from every image. The exact reason why I pressed the shutter in that moment. The thoughts I was thinking and the feelings I was feeling. The words that were said.  They’re so much more than just photographs. They all have a significance for me far deeper than the surface level of what you see.

Every single one brings back layers and layers of meaning, not just of the moment in the picture but of moments gone before and now, looking back at them, the moments that came afterwards too. Every single one speaks to me in so many ways. Every single one is a piece of our jigsaw.  Every single one is like a sentence in our life story.

This is us.