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