We finally get new pictures on our walls! Not that I’m not completely infatuated with the chunky, bald eight-month-old that stares at me from our fireplace mantle, but I just don’t know who that baby is anymore. I can tell you that she is definitely not the rambunctious two-year-old I have running around, dumping toys, and screaming “DANCE PARTY MAMA” every morning at 7AM (although I’m infatuated with that little girl, too). Even our sweet, equally energetic five-year-old looks so much younger when comparing last year’s photos to these- albeit much less drastic, but the little hints of boyhood come through more each year, and it gets harder and harder to remember he was a toddler a few short years ago.
My mother-in-law told me once that her favorite pictures of my husband and his brother are the ones when they turned five. She said after that, the photos start having missing teeth (or adult ones propped up next to baby ones) and their little boy looks are never really the same. It’s comical imagining our Benjamin with a mouth full of mismatched teeth, but that time is undoubtedly coming faster than we think (as it always does), so this year’s photos are especially sentimental to me.
After literal weeks of trying to decide what elaborate place I wanted to take these photos, our photographer Lisa Dejager assured me we didn’t need to drive hours up to the mountains to get the shots I was looking for– the valley has it all. With that, we drove five minutes from our house, and trusted her. YOUUU GUYSSS. Everything from the lighting, the trees, the background, the completely unposed, genuine smiles– everything was perfect. I’m not 100% sure the kids even knew we were taking photos. They played game after game, ate smartie after smartie, and left just as happy as they appear in the photos. I could not be happier with the experience or the photos. Enjoy!
Can I never forget Benjamin and that tongue! *heart eyes everywhere*
In our last photoshoot, Brooklyn and I did this same pose & recreating is so special to me!
—Do you think she’ll be this willing to recreate it every year until she’s 18? It’ll probably get weird at 15, huh?
*On my last and final tiniest footnote, can I just add how thankful I am that our photographer asked for photos of just Mark and I? We don’t own a single print, even from our wedding, that is hanging in our house. I think I’ll hang one of our solo ones in the living room just to remind myself it’s okay to be a wife.. along with being a mother.
All photography credits: Lisa Dejager
Book her here or check out her amazing instagram here. I would recommend her to the moon and back. You have my guarantee!
What We’re Wearing:
Brooklyn: dress
For more photography, check out our Cinnamon Bun in the Oven shoot!
Mom and a Half 