“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
This is the story of a normal Friday morning before 8am in the Winter of 2016. Life moves so fast, I’m glad Karen was there to capture it for us.
I’ll be the first to admit that mornings are not my best time. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big fan of sleeping. I would almost always rather be sleeping and mornings usually mean I’m not sleeping anymore… If my kids are sleeping, I will literally do anything it takes to keep them asleep. This usually means intense shushing of my husband, the dog, anyone who dares to knock or ring the doorbell, the wind, etc. Kids are so easy when they’re sleeping. So I like to keep it that way.
So when we scheduled this photo shoot with Karen, I woke up early to make sure I was ready for her knock and the kids weren’t woken abruptly. This veered from our “normal” weekday morning routine a bit, but there are a number of days when John and I are up before the girls. My goal of indoctrinating them with a love of sleep is working!
While John showered, I came downstairs to make Alice, my two year-old, lunch and get breakfast ready. Oh and feed my first baby, Saucer. He’s an old man now, so he gets his meds in the morning with a spoonful of peanut butter. I just love how he puts his little paw on the end of the spoon to keep it from moving while he’s licking it up.
Alice was the first one up. John heard her and brought her down for her first request of the day, which is always “eat, eat, eat.” Pretty much the only time of day she eats, but that’s another story.
Evie came down shortly after. She was a little camera shy at first. Like her mama, she is not a morning person.
Eggs for breakfast. Usually most everyone sits except me, because I’m always busy doing, I don’t know, whatever moms do. Getting milk, water, a napkin, salt, pepper, you name it. Alice gets a little obsessed with salt and pepper, so we are trying to teach her to pour it in her hand first and then lightly sprinkle.
The baby gets her own booster seat. Obviously. While Saucer trolls for scraps.
After breakfast, time to get dressed. I’m used to picking out clothes for the girls, but lately they are becoming more opinionated on their outfits. I have no idea where they get it (sarcasm font). This Friday morning, I ran up to get clothes while John did cuddly daddy things.
Getting dressed. Probably the hardest part of our morning, but we make it happen.
Alice got used to the camera and started hamming it up, but Evie kept her usual morning mood for a little while longer. She needs lots of cuddles and hugs when she’s in a mood, which, since this is a “real snapshot” of our morning, I’ll tell you sometimes drives me crazy. It’s like she wants to be back inside the womb, I swear. I know I’ll miss these moments when they’re gone.
Once she’d had enough mommy time, Evie decided she wanted to bring a different baby to school, so she ran upstairs to get it.
Finally time to get shoes and coats on, which usually takes some serious pushing. Bribery. Etc.
Okay we are ready to go! Oh, no we aren’t, we have to brush teeth still.
Finally, we all make it out the door. Alice is working on her counting skills. She’ll be four (someday, after she’s three).
Off to school!
Thank you Karen, for the memories of a lovely, mundane Friday morning before 8am. I will cherish these pictures forever.
For more pictures and a peek into Karen’s perspective of this Life 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 series as well!
