“See and appreciate the significance in the mundane, in the everyday, in the fleeting. The big moments are important, but some of the best moments are the in-between ones.” – Karen Jacot Photography
When the opportunity came up for a candid look into my home in the early hours of the morning before 8am, I jumped at the idea, and then quickly wondered if I should cancel. While I was sure from the beginning we’d probably not look our very best, our house might not be perfect, our dogs might bark like crazy at this strange photographer in our house, and the babies could be confused and fussy, I loved the idea of capturing the real moments that make up our day, perfect or not. As parents of twins, we get so busy that this was a special opportunity we couldn’t pass up.
Karen arrived just as the babies started to stir. While I made the bottles, Peter bribed the pups with treats to keep them from barking at the “scary” stranger in our home.
Good morning sleepy guy! William was checking out Karen, wondering why we had company so early.
Daddy and William waited their turn while I changed Amelia’s diaper. Our twins are learning patience early on, or so we hope. We think it comes with the territory when you’re sharing from the very start!
William’s turn! This curious guy was still checking out that camera.
The babies wake up ready to eat, so Amelia and I got a head start on bottles. Breakfast tastes so good!
I wondered how the dogs and babies would react to Karen being in our home for the morning. I never knew my 6-month-old son and my 5-year-old poodle mix, Stella, were aspiring models—they loved the camera so much they just couldn’t look away.
Stella needed a closer look.
The babies typically go back to sleep after the 6:00 am bottle and, if we’re lucky, it gives Peter and I time to get ready for the day and make breakfast.
These pictures were taken in January when Peter and I were doing our first Whole30 challenge. This smoothie reminds me how great I felt and how I should get back to that one of these days.
As we were finishing breakfast and getting ready, the babies started making noise signaling it was time to get up for the day. Quick sniff revealed a stinky diaper was waiting for me.
William was still checking out that camera.
These babies eat a lot, and were ready for breakfast round two! Luckily, Peter and I are great at twin juggling, and he started feeding William while I grabbed Amelia. Rice cereal is pretty yummy!
Some of us were less convinced about that rice cereal.
Eventually she came around.
Food face and all, that camera was still fascinating.
Time to ditch the PJs. Oh, and there’s that camera again.
William was not so sure about Frank that morning, but at least he was feeling pretty safe in Dad’s lap.
Quick little giggles before Peter headed off to work. Can you see the painting project we started in the background? House projects take a backseat to babies these days.
And a quick kiss for me.
After Peter leaves I get some play time with the babies until my work day starts.
Quick peek at my schedule for the day just as our nanny arrived and my morning with the babies came to an end. I feel lucky to work from home so I can get snuggles and hugs anytime of the day.
Looking back at the photos, I learned a lot about my sweet little family. I learned that William and my poodle mix, Stella, just cannot look away from the camera, whereas Amelia and our terrier mix, Frank, are a bit less interested. I see firsthand that those moments with Peter in the morning after the babies go back to sleep are precious and I shouldn’t rush through them, or worse, skip them to go back to bed, which happens all too often these days. I learned that even though there are tons of projects we want to do around our house, it’s the people (and dogs) inside that make it our home. So, perfect or not, I wouldn’t change a thing.
For more pictures and a peek into Karen’s perspective of the shoot, be sure to check out her post here. And don’t forget to check out the rest of the posts within this amazing series as well!
