On the heels of embracing our messy moments, I’ve got a fun little project up my sleeve.

A poorly shot, but dearly loved photo gazes at me from my office bookcase. These are my babies, my heartbeats, circa November 2006:

{Would this be a good time to mention this is Nicole, not Chris, writing this post?

Nice to meet you:) More on that in January.

Just didn’t want any offspring confusion or frantic phone calls to cmp!}

Our fam just wrapped up our Fall 2011 photo session and let me say, these are my favorites of all time, ever.

As part of that process, I wanted to capture a picture of the kids in the exact pose shown above…five years and several million dollars of orthodontic work later.

They cooperated beautifully {heavily under the influence of promised chocolate cake} and I sigh while comparing their cheeks, smiles, strands of hair, ears, and everything single detail only a mom would notice, then *possibly* shed tears over.

As if the side-by-side comparison wasn’t enough, our immensely talented photographer captured the whole moment all in one shot:

Had I not been buried underneath a dense fog of stray Legos, skateboards and scooters, naked Barbies, and laundry, I would’ve taken this picture each year.

The original photo wasn’t carefully orchestrated or even planned. A moonlit November night after a dinner out in Phoenix, armed only with a terrible quality point-and-shoot camera, and two kids who would’ve rather been playing than posing. But in one quick second, their cheeks squished together and Lilly’s chunky little arms engulfed her brother’s neck.

And somehow, the camera grasped their personalities and bright smiles in that unexpected, spontaneous moment.

Five years later, my heart muscles ache and tears involuntarily fill my eyes when looking at the photo. So many changes to their–our— lives since that time leave me thoughtful, grateful, blessed.

Thinking about the next five years requires a brown paper lunch sack and sedative…so I think I’ll focus on today.

So what are you waiting for?

Maybe it’s a Christmas photo, a childhood picture of you and your siblings, or a crumpled, discolored photo of your parents’ first year of marriage. Dig out a favorite picture, have deep dark chocolate fudge cake on hand, and snap away.

You’ll be so thankful you did.

Let’s get honest about something: most of us want a picture from a photo session to look perfect. We’re paying actual money for someone’s expertise in arranging, lighting, and getting our belligerent 2 year-old to appear charming.

We want our clothes to be exactly right, the smiles to be genuine, the setting stolen from a movie set, our figures to appear 10 pounds thinner, and our kids to exude compliance and responsibility and honor-roll success.

What we don’t want:

1. fake smiles (people with kids in elementary school will understand this)
2. dissheveled/thinning/badly colored or cut hair (unless you’re a hipster, in which case: bring it.)
3. unsightly bulges
4. to look like we’re trying too hard
5. to look like we’re so casual that no one knew photos were being taken
6. crying children
7. crying adults (see #6)

My precious nephew having a tender moment during the family photo on Christmas Eve.

{Excuse the camera phone.}

But what if photography wasn’t about capturing perfection, but instead, documenting the very season of life in which you’re at? After all, you’ve never been here before and you’ll never be here again. No matter if you’re engaged, chasing toddlers, a sometimes cool/sometimes awkward pre-teen (was that just me?), or fluffing a recently emptied nest, your photos reflect who you are in that very moment.

From the uncontainable sparkle of a soon-to-be bride or the happy tears behind the tender smile of an adoring new mom, each moment is part of your story. And not just the moments that we see upon first glance–the outfits or the setting.

After a second, the focus narrows to the unspoken narrative a photographer expertly captures…the emotions, the heart, and the real you.

Just a guess, but it seems that magazines and those Christmas cards contribute greatly to our fascination with achieving perfection.

Sometimes, we rationalize this mindset by thinking, “I wear yoga pants and accept stray bits of food on my children’s faces as our ‘everyday’ look. Just ONCE, could we dress and act like we have it all together!”

But that is when we need to remember the beauty of imperfection. We need to put on our time-traveler goggles and visit the future.

In twenty years, you’ll sigh just thinking about the year your daughter would only wear a ratty yellow t-shirt coupled with red and white striped socks. You’ll glance at your broad-shouldered adult son and roll your eyes at his worry that his junior high acne would be immortalized. And you will look at your spouse in disbelief that you thought that age seemed “old.”

Maybe it was insane that we thought an 18-month-old would like to sit under the twinkly lights and smile nicely for the camera in the midst of devouring hoards of chocolate and opening gifts.

Perhaps this is your year to release the expectations of “perfect” and embrace the reality of the beautiful mess. To let go of ideals and sink comfortably into the life stage in which you find yourself.

Some seasons fit more comfortably than others, but they’re all yours.