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.