Real Moments Matter

Sometimes we ALL get caught up in our daily lives!  I am guilty of this in the WORST way ya’ll!

Case in point:  I’m a photographer, I capture stories for a living!  I tell people ALL the time that Perfection is better than perfect and to just LIVE YOUR STORY!  Capture it because it is our legacy.

Then what happens… this past weekend we took Linc to our little farmer’s market state fair and Tuck asks me as we are walking to purchase tickets..why I didn’t bring my camera with me!

Serious mom fail!  Serious photographer fail!  Serious practice what you preach fail!

BUT this is the other thing I have to remember… give myself some grace and do better next time~!

What happened to me this weekend was what happens to ALL of us most of the time these days.  Life just happens as it does these days in it’s rapid pace, especially for us as moms!  (Amen sista friends right?!)

I know there are 24 hours in each day but goodness sometimes I don’t know where those hours, especially on the weekends!

I want to pack in so many meaningful minutes when we have all of our family together that somewhere in between making my boys eggs and a family breakfast, to playing cars and trucks and getting everyone ready for the day and out the door to actually enjoy our plans somehow it’s already late afternoon and evening!

Somehow the time just flies by and although I know we spent it together, sometimes I wonder where that time went!

These are the moments that I long to have and to savor and spend a little more time IN!  These are the moments when I am thankful I have my camera, heck even my iphone camera will do!

As much as I love those weekend days and those big fun family events that we plan and enjoy and those first moments we have;  I also have to remember that it’s the every day seemingly mundane moments that also have weight to them too!

Those moments… those very real moments also matter!

In fact, some day those moments might even matter MORE than the other moments.  Those moments that are quiet every day moments that might seem silly now or even overlooked.  Those moments where our little ones might play by themselves, color or enjoy the things they love the most.

It’s these every day moments as a mom that we should be taking a time out to enjoy and capture!

I think this is why I love lifestyle photography so much!  It takes these every day moments and turns them into something special!  It takes these every day moments and holds on tightly to them so that some day, when those little ones aren’t quite so little, we can visit those moments again and again!

Those every day moments can turn into traditions passed down from generation to generation!

I thought about this the other morning as Linc was quietly playing in our foyer with his favorite tractor.  I thought about how I have millions of images of him on so many wonderful adventures.  I have images of us together as a family laughing and goofing off and just being us!  I have images of him as a baby just being a baby and I realized somehow along the way I forgot that these real moments of him just playing in his own little world are so incredibly important!

I got caught up in this amazing world of toddler go and do!  It’s so fun that we can take him everywhere now and go and do without the worries of nap time or changing diapers.  It’s amazing that he loves to explore and is pretty much game for anything!

What I will always cherish though as a mom and really need to document though, are these quiet moments of his reflection and his own little imagination.  Moments where it is just him and his favorite toys in the middle of the room!

It doesn’t matter if the image is perfect.

It doesn’t matter if the light is the best or the composition is on spot!  It doesn’t matter if his hair is matted or if the image is slightly crooked.  What matters is that it is documented!

So if you have a moment today, tomorrow or this week… take notice of your little ones!  Take a moment to just capture them in their own little world so that you have it forever!  Take a moment to capture a real moment today because it matters!