Life Before 8am . . . “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 in the in-between ones.” – Karen Jacot Photography
The strangest thing happened; this woman/photographer named Karen, actually volunteered to come to our house before the sun was up and take pictures of our morning before 8am. And I’m so glad she did.
I am 99-percent sure that I’m not going to remember life currently. I figure I’ll either forget due to sleep deprivation or black it out to help me cope with the crazy. We have a 4-year-old, an almost 2-year-old, and a 6-month old. My husband and I agree that we are in what is likely one of the harder times of our lives. We are “in the thick of it,” as the saying goes.
We are tired, so very tired. Especially before 8am.
Life is busy and full of chaos. But it’s our busy and it’s our chaos. And I love that I now have these incredible pictures to remind me of this specific time in our life.
This is my oldest, our third parent, and we totally get each other. Always have. One thing we don’t see eye-to-eye on is mornings. He likes them. I don’t. Luckily his daddy does.
Pretty much every weekday morning is the same around these parts. My oldest wakes up first. He goes downstairs and gets waffles made by his daddy. I begrudgingly roll out of bed and grab the baby. One of us grabs the screaming toddler. And we’re off.
We do waffles and eggs. Every day. It’s the oldest’s favorite meal of the day and when he eats the most. As many of you know, four-year-olds are secretly teenagers and must do everything themselves. EVERYTHING. Fortunately he cracks eggs better than I do.
Oh, and you guys, we have dogs. Two of them. And they need more medication than any other member of our family.
For some odd reason mornings have always been the easiest time of the day for me with the kids. Maybe it’s because they’re still waking up, or they’re eating, or because my middle is contained in his highchair – but something about mornings are peaceful. We ease into our day. I nurse, I hug crying kids, we say goodbye to daddy (and mommy asks him to please, please not go. Do you really have to go?).
And we just kinda hang around.
However there is a time when my morning takes a turn. I put baby-girl down for her morning siesta and that signals to the boys that it is time to get crazy and make mommy lose her mind.
They jump on beds.
They destroy the bed I just made and fight.
I separate them, get dressed, and eat breakfast as fast as I can.
And then, she’s up (she gets lots of kisses, can you tell?) and we make our way out the door. We always leave the house after morning nap for an activity, and today it is Vacation Bible School for the boys. On average, I give myself an extra 20-minutes to get somewhere on time. I’m never on time. Oh well, I try.
This time of our lives? It’s hard and it’s nonstop. But it’s also really, really sweet.
I get to watch two completely different boys who (when they don’t fight) are each others best friends.
And I’ve got one healthy girl who has no choice but to let me dress her twice a day and wear obnoxious bows, but, you guys, I can’t help myself!
At the end of each day I just hope I’ve given the best of myself to each little child of mine and hope that they feel loved. Even the two-year-old. Especially the two-year old.
Thanks for sharing our morning! Come visit me and say hello.
For more pictures and a peek into Karen’s perspective of this before 8am shoot, be sure to check out her post here. And don’t forget to check out the rest of the posts within this amazing before 8am series as well!
