Week 3 update–absolutely cannot wait for longer days.

January 15, 2021 – 15 of 365 – We have acquired Jason’s trumpet that he played in high school. I agree with Julia on this one. Florence said she thinks it needs to be tuned….I’m not entirely sure that’s the issue here.

January 16, 2021 – 16 of 365 – I found them sitting like this and it pretty well represents their current interests; baby dolls, video games, and art. Also, Lou has been walking around with this hat on constantly and the cuteness level is off the charts.

January 17, 2021 – 17 of 365 – Climbing on moldings and window ledges is a big no from me, but no one seems to care. Florence in particular thinks everything in our house is her own personal jungle gym. The gallery wall beside them has been there for well over a year and shamefully, is the only art hung in our house, so I can’t take it down.

January 18, 2021 – 18 of 365 – Photo walk! Such pretty light and sky for this one. I took the photo on the left through the glass door of a garage and attracted some attention from the mechanics within. When I pulled my camera away from my face, two men were standing on the other side of the door trying to look in the direction that my camera was pointed to figure out what I was doing. They seemed perplexed. I can’t say that I blame them, but I couldn’t resist that flare.

January 19, 2021 – 19 of 365 – Those crooked piggies are among my favorite things.

January 20, 2021 – 20 of 365 – Today’s photo would more aptly be of me sitting on the couch glued to the tv all day watching the inauguration. Instead, you get this shot of Trevor that I took in the 5 mins when I left said couch and found him in this perfect light. But really, it was such a good day and I don’t think I have ever been more appreciative of seeing our democracy in action.

Bonus shot of Julia in the beautiful light and in the shirt that inspired me to start telling clients not to wear florescent colors to their photo sessions.

January 21, 2021 – 21 of 365 – School pickup is looking different these days.

Week 2! In the books! December 31 is already feeling very far off, but I could not be happier to be doing this. Here is the second week.

January 8, 2021 – 8 of 365 – I went to look for Jason in his office during the workday, and instead found these two intruders. There is a reason that only one person in this household is hoping Jason’s office opens back up after this pandemic–and I bet you can guess which of us that is.

January 9, 2021 – 9 of 365 – This can be squarely filed into the category of activities that I would wholly forbid if not for the fact that I am doing a 365 and know it has the makings of a good photo. I find steps terrifying enough without adding in the gauntlet of 100 stuffed animals at the bottom. Rest assured, this mess was swiftly cleaned up before anyone was injured.

January 10, 2021 – 10 of 365 – I made Florence this dress and then I made her this photo, in the dress. This portrait is so Florence I can feel her personality just emanating from it. Only half focused on what I’m saying, always with her next scheme in the works; holding a lollipop and undoubtedly thinking of something precocious to say. Actually, as I took this photo she was having a conversation with the plant. She and Julia had spent a good 30-45 minutes naming every plant in our house (both living a faux). I can’t tell you what she told the plant, because it was whispered in secret. But when I told Florence I’d be sharing this anecdote, she told me to call the plant by her name, Kristina. If you look closely, you will see her name tag shoved in among her fronds, lest we ever forget.

Day 10 bonus – In the last week, I have found that the best way to make one of my children pout, is to take a solo picture of one of my other children. Julia recovered pretty swiftly.

January 11, 2021 – 11 of 365 – “You hold my hand Julia?” They sat like this the whole car ride home from picking Julia up at school, and do most days. It’s not the greatest photo, but it is a pretty great memory.

January 12, 2021 – 12 of 365 – Whenever I walk into my bedroom around sunset, I feel like I need to take a photo, like I’m wasting this moment of perfect light by letting it slip by undocumented. To be honest, it can sometimes feel a little suffocating, to feel like I can’t just appreciate the moment without capturing it. But then other times, I have the perfect little subjects in that perfect moment of light and it’s just magic.

January 13, 2021 – 13 of 365 – I don’t know who decided that two year olds are terrible, but I would like to introduce them to this perfect little specimen of two year old perfection. Honestly though, two is just such a delightful age. I have yet to meet a two year old who I do not find endlessly charming (most of the time).

January 14, 2021 – 14 of 365 – I don’t know what the least “rock n roll” thing might be, but a two year old yelling “it’s rock and roll time!” while picking up their mini acoustic guitar and strumming a song about baby dolls doing nap time has to be up there.

I decided what 2021 needs is a 365, so, here we go…woot woot! I’m going to change up how I share a bit and post weekly posts on my blog and then link to them on social media. Frankly, social media isn’t a place I like to hang out too much and I think for my own sanity, this will be best. I’m still going to post photo captions though because I love doing those so much. I’m also going to try to post some of the many beautiful clients’ families who I photographed over the summer and fall. I figure it would be nice if people were aware that I do not just take photos of my own family…ya know, but am also running a business here. Anyhoo…here is week 1–and what a week it was!

January 1, 2021 – 1 of 365 – We let Florence and Julia stay up on New Years Eve for the first time this year. I believe everyone over the age of three deserved to see the end of 2020. Julia didn’t quite make it though–she conked out at 10:45. And although we woke her and gave her the option of doing the traditional pot and pan banging ritual at midnight, it is safe to say she was not as into it as Florence. But really, none of us were as into it as Florence.

January 2, 2021 – 2 of 365 – Let’s talk about what is required for a 10 minute walk with three small children: three backpacks, two baby dolls, five stuffed animals (the one with the red eyes was made by Florence for Louisa, with a little help from me), two My Little Ponies (one traditional, one from a Play-Doh set), a stuffed flower, two pointer hands, a package of pipe cleaners, a kaleidoscope, a little person queen with car, a separate toy car, a butterfly, a purse (to put inside the bag…of course), a tiny Merida, a pair of St. Patrick’s Day style novelty glasses, unicorn gloves, a small rattle. It took approximately 20 minutes to prep for this trip. We stopped no fewer than five times to change out various items from the backpacks. We walked no more than 0.25 miles. In other words, it was a great success!

January 3, 2021 – 3 of 365 – I photographed my first wedding of 2021. Jason presided over the ceremony of Florence and Julia. Both brides were stunning and overjoyed.

January 4, 2020 – 4 of 365 – When I’m not slammed with photography work, I love to sew. I have to say, my kids have never been so impressed with my photography skills as they were when I whipped up this dress for Julia. My mini photo session desires were achieved through lollipop bribery and I regret nothing.

January 5, 2021 – 5 of 365 – This time around for my 365, I don’t plan to torture my kids quite as much by making them the subjects of so many of my photos. That means that some days, we will have pictures of some pine trees in a puddle and we will like it.

Although it was gray this particular day, a twilight photo walk is one of my favorite things to do. It is just so enjoyable to get to have some peaceful time to myself away from the all consuming chaos of my house (especially when we’ve all been spending far too much time in that house for far too long). It’s like my own personal treasure hunt.

J

January 6, 2020 – 6 of 365 – Sooooooo…today wasn’t great. I started out the morning so happy, but the day quickly took a turn with the attack on the Capitol. It made me sad and ashamed and angry. As someone who wholeheartedly believes in democracy, it is upsetting to see people misled into believing that the election was fraudulent. It wasn’t. I don’t really feel confident in where we will go from here, but I’m choosing to be optimistic and to look forward to a better 2021. I’m tempted to say something trite like, “we can only go up from here!” But I have New Years cards from my family on my counter waiting to be sent out that have a similar sentiment, and I can’t say it’s aged particularly well. So…onward.

January 7, 2021 – 7 of 365 – Just after crawling around on the rug taking these photos, I gave Lou a kiss and shocked her. She put her hand to her lips and thought for a moment and said, “your lips are hot.” For a full day she refused to allow me to give her another kiss and once she did, she would exclaim after every one, “Your lips aren’t hot!”

The reason I was crawling around on the floor to begin with, was because of the piggy mess my children had made of their playroom. Lou wanted to help me to clean up. She took a little bag, and began collecting all of the tiny toys in it, calling each of them a poop. By the time she was done, her bag was full of many, many “poops.” I guess she has watched the dog yard be picked up once or twice and has absorbed the concept…more or less.