As you can see and if you have followed this blog over the past year you know, i have joined a circle of incredible women and am forever grateful to be a part of this. these women speak my language. they FEEL every moment of their lives, the good, the bad, the frustrating and the so happy you can’t catch your breath ones. AND THEY SHARE THEM. these letters will move you through a range of emotions and be prepared if you are like me and you cry at songs or commercials you will prob shed a tear to two. As you will see our lives are so very different and so very awesome in our own ways, in fact we are located all over the world..but we all share one simple common thread, we love our baby girls with every ounce of us. and after all i can’t imagine a better thing to share.
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oh my sweet babies…
my brain is spinning, my emotions are on overdrive, my words are stuck behind that lump in my throat…some days/weeks/months we have such a rhythm and routine, we are all in the same groove and life is just easy and seemingly perfect and it just flows…then there are other times…times when its not any of those things…its sticky, like gum on your shoe in a parking lot in the summer. its fast…times when i feel like i am standing in the middle of the highway and everything is whizzing around me and i just can’t catch up. the simple thought of having some sort of “balance” is non existent for me and i feel like i am two steps behind the entire world.
right now is one of those times.
i know in the grand scheme of things you probably won’t remember these times when we didnt have our normal routine, but i will. I constantly second guess every decision i have made in the past that has gotten us to this moment in time. i cry about the fact that you are growing up and i can’t stop it.
it’s these times that i tend to feel like “just doing the best i can” isn’t really “the best” for anyone around me.
but it is.
and somewhere deep down inside i know this.
life isn’t about being perfect and “having it together” every step of the way or about what the “world’s” opinion of THE BEST is…its about you and me and our little family. its about me wrapping my arms around you, and you letting me sleep in between you two when i feel like its been one of those days i wouldn’t win the mom of the year award. It’s about the fact that we have to laugh when we realize its friday and we still havent made our “tuesday at 1030” grocery store trip and we are headed to chick-fil-a again. it’s about the times when you leave me flowers right smack dab on the dashboard of my car as a suprise when i get back from dropping you off at school. it’s about time…OUR TIME…OUR TIME TOGETHER and the fact that WE HAVE TODAY, maybe not tomorrow but we have TODAY. so there, just so when you get bigger and you see some other girl/mom/kid and think “she has is all figured out so perfectly perfect”, remember this and know that nobody is perfectly perfect, NOBODY…
its the imperfections that make us each who we really are.
i love you baby girls…and I’m sorry i don’t have any images to post this month, while i did a whole heck of a lot of shooting and a good amount of y’all this one just felt like it showed the most of how i felt
-mommy
Pingback: Letters to Our Daughters | May 2013 » Minneapolis Photographer – Olive Avenue Photography
it’s about TODAY. there are no wiser words :). i love and relate to every word <3.
love your words. i so often feel that way … and you wrote it so perfectly. the image just draws me in. love.
shalonda, we all know the feeling of the flood. when love and drowning seem to collide. holding them, getting them whatever kind of lunch fills their beautiful little bellies, getting a picture of tiny footprints, showing up as you, not someone trying to be someone else…that is what life is so much of the time. you are kind and brave and full of a tidal wave of love. and all of this reflecting is good for all of you. it’s honest. it’s your voice. and they pick you flowers. so the world is good…love you friend. xoxo
Such a true and honest post – a post that sums up how we’ve all felt – one day at a time sweetie, treasure a few moments in every single day – tomorrow has yet to come… xx
Thanks so much for keeping it real Shalonda. I feel a lot like this often, but sometimes don’t realize there are others who feel the same. I think your daughters will be blessed by your honest entry here just as much as by your other beautiful photography entries.
I completely agree about all the little things, Shalonda. I saw the pic of the flower on the dashboard on FB and it melts my heart. It’s the little things that build big things. And I love the pic too, btw. xoxo
I love that you wrote your letter to your daughters even though you had no images to share. I think the thoughts and desires and things we need to say to them are so important to document even if we didn’t get that perfect set of images to go with it! I love the things you do to stay present and stay caught up. It is important to forgive time. To live every moment with our girls as if they will be our last together. To fill time with all the moments perfect or “sticky”. Lovely words.