A Morning in the Life with a Mom and her Girls

The photography world has connected me with so many amazing people, many of whom I’ve never actually met in real life, yet I feel like I know them through following their lives with their families. Some of them even live just a few miles from me, never having met up other than on our respective online meeting places. So I “met” Nicole (of Nicole Gilligan Photography) years ago, but I never actually met her in living, breathing life. I actually saw her from afar in the grocery store a few years ago, and then one of my boys was throwing a mega tantrum and I was too embarrassed to say “hello.” So the first time I met her for real, in the living flesh, was the day of our documentary session. And two minutes into meeting her, we realized that our husbands already know each other. In actual, real life, not just on Instagram. It just goes to show that we’re all connected, somehow (and that my husband gets out of the house way more than I do!).

The morning we met was a few days after one of our spring snow storms, from the spring that never grew out of winter. It was a bright, sunny, gorgeous day, and the light in this home was just beautiful. I fell in love with everything about this family, especially these amazing little girls. The littlest with her lovely curls (just like her mama’s) and her sweet voice just melted my heart when I saw her offer her mama the last bit of her cookie. And her older sister, whose twirls and songs filled the morning and her many outfit changes probably filled the hamper. They both love books (Shel Silverstein, one of my favorites!), and Frozen, and drawing . . . I was even lucky enough to be gifted some original artwork to take home with me. And on this beautiful day, we all hoped this was the last snow pile we’ll see for a long time!

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Shenanigans

Spending a morning with three boys seems pretty lucky to me, even better on St. Patrick’s day.  I’ve known this beautiful mama since our college days together, and I didn’t even know we settled in the same town until we randomly met in the place where all mom friendships are born: Target. It’s hilarious to me to think of how far we’ve both come from our wild youth. In fact, while we were communicating back and forth about details for their family documentary session, she apologized for not getting back to me quickly because she was at a Bible study, and I had to pause to think of the irony between who we were and who we’ve become. Because nothing will make you need Jesus more than being a parent. I can testify to that.

What I love the most about this family is how much fun they have together. In their stunningly gorgeous home, there are green paint footprints on the floor of their basement and an empty dining room that’s served as a blank canvas for box forts, taped up drawings, and red finger paint on the wall (just a little). Kids need space to be kids! But these energetic boys are also really sweet, silly, and kind. When I look at their gallery, I can see so much of their individual personalities. And I see the universal truth of parenting young kids: it’s a lot of work. Making food kids would rather not eat in favor of a snack, getting ready for the day while wiping noses, and piling up the laundry from a random, early morning puker . . . that’s parenthood. And even when the details aren’t pretty, life with three boys is a beautiful thing.

 

Posted in Documentary Family Session, Family, Family Photography, Parenthood
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Pulling Teeth

To pull, or not to pull. The question asked five hundred times by every child who has ever had a loose tooth. Seriously. There comes a season in childhood where kids are popping out teeth left and right, challenging the most diligent of tooth fairies to keep some singles and loose change stashed in a drawer for any unexpected occasion. Even knowing that, our tooth fairy has been notorious for leaving IOU notes. (Please don’t judge her, she’s got a lot going on.)

A smile says so much about someone, and even though the thought of loose teeth makes my skin crawl a little, there is no better smile than the toothless grin of proud seven year old who was brave enough to pull their own tooth. This one had some encouragement and (loud) support from a veteran.

 

Posted in Documentary Family Session, Family, Motherhood

Colorado

Family travel will either make or break you.  Seriously.  We had an amazing ski week in Steamboat Springs, CO, having the opportunity to enjoy time on and off the mountain, take in some great sights, and meet some amazing people.  More than any other trip we’ve taken together, this one was a challenge.  We left Philadelphia on the Saturday of Super Bowl weekend (airport = zoo), Dave had to put care for a patient who passed out mid-flight and had to give IV fluids at 30,000 feet, one kid had serious altitude sickness, I remembered to pack everything except underwear for myself, flight delays and landing to pick up a suitcase that looked like it had been beaten with a sledgehammer.  It happens!  Fortunately, the highs (GO EAGLES!) were higher than the lows.

We loved staying at the Steamboat Grand, which was great for us since we like to have a kitchen for meals (it’s just easier) and the location was perfect for getting to the mountain.  We rode horses at Saddleback Ranch, snow-shoed with a nature guide from Yampatika, ate some incredible tacos at Salt and Lime, bought a cowboy hat at F.M. Light and Sons and sling shots at Cowboys and Indians, and had an amazing afternoon at the Strawberry Park Hot Springs.  But best of all, we loved the mountain resort.  Steamboat is a beautiful mountain that offers so many great programs for families, including Steamboat Stars, an adapted needs ski and snowboard program.  Our 10 year old son, Carter, has mild autism spectrum disorder, and has hated skiing.  We’ve been skiing together as a family for the last seven winters, and Carter has begrudgingly tolerated our love of being on the mountain.  But this year, he truly loved it.  The Steamboat Stars program helped Carter find joy in skiing, something I never thought I’d see.

Hey, Steamboat Springs, Colorado!  We loved you, we came home exhausted, and can’t wait to see you again.

Posted in Colorado, Family travel

A Day in the Life with Lukas and Annabel

My sister is one of my favorite people on the planet. Among the others are Lukas and Annabel, her two wildly amazing kiddos. Emphasis on the “wild” part. Fortunately for me, I get to spend lots of time with these three, but it was quite a different perspective to follow them around for the morning as they went about their routine, which included a trip to the library. A very LOUD and crazy library. My youngest son and her oldest are just shy of 6 years apart in age, so it’s been a lot of years since I’ve been a mother of toddlers. But I can’t tell you how many times I thought to myself, “Oh my gosh, I remember this” as I followed her. I had a flashback of shamefully dashing out of the local library after my kids lost it in the middle of craft time. I know some kids can sit still, but I just can’t relate to parenting that kind of kid. Neither can my sister. Is their strong will and antsy behavior genetic? Possibly. Motherhood is so incredibly hard when kids are one and three, and even though those days are far behind me, I look at these photos and the details in the day, and I can remember exactly how it felt. So much goes into a day of mothering toddlers . . . kisses, tantrums, tears, smiles, and a whole lot of goldfish.

Posted in Documentary Family Session, Family, Motherhood, PhiladelphiaTags: , , , , ,
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