About 12 years ago, when I was settling into the role of mommy, my own momma handed me a green plastic storage bin. Inside were a few hundred printed vintage-ish photos from my childhood. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I slowly savored each moment all over again. I keep this bin of photos safely tucked away, but just a few years ago I sat down with my now not-so-little daughter and shared many of these special photos with her. I told stories of Girl Scouts and Disneyland and life as a military child. We connected over the struggles of having a little brother and she was able to peak into many of the timeless, universal struggles of being a young lady. She saw the fashion statements of my time (scrunchies and rolled pant ankles, anyone?!) and saw photos my parents took that documented moments in my life I knew they were proud of me.

As I write this, tears still stream down my face. Let me be so very real here, for a moment . . .

Photographs are not just for you.

They are for your children. They are for your children’s children. And you need to be in them.

Photographs are moments in time, the magical in the mundane, telling a story. Your story.

And it’s so very, very important.

I once read somewhere, “Take a look at someone’s photos and bank account and you will quickly figure out what is most important to them.” This could not be more true! What does your family value? Hard work? Time together? Sports? Vacations? School? Traveling the world? Whatever it is, it is part of your story. it’s what makes your family unique and it is what your children will take with them into their next chapter. Capture it, forever.

Mommas … listen to me. You work hard. SO freaking hard. And you also love BIG. Have you gone weeks (or in my case, months or years) without makeup, pretty nails or a non-messybun hairstyle? Word. You’re beautiful. So freaking beautiful.

Motherhood is messy, exhausting, chaotic - but it is oh so very beautiful. Even the hardest days.

So write your story. Every last detail.

Find the magic in your mundane. My best friend shared with me a bit ago “My family doesn’t do big things that my kids will talk about when they’re old.” Not every family does! But what they will talk about ? The favorite park they went to. Snacks waiting for them after school each day. How daddy threw them three hundred feet in the air and caught them every time. Those little moments matter more than you know, they are part of your story and they MATTER. They might be for you, right now and thirty years from now. But thirty years from now, they are also for your kids to reminisce. They are for your grandkids to learn about who their mommy and daddy were. The are for your daughter’s wedding slideshow. They are flat out, simply put …BLACK MAIL for when you need it the most!

So take a risk and invest in your story.

Family photojournalism is unscripted, organic and unique to every family. No story is the same.

Whether it be a one hour annual family photo session, or a 10 hour day in the life . . .

we will simply just be.

No fancy, coordinating outfits. No perfectly clean homes. No stress. Just you and me and your story unfolding as it goes.