Oh, this baby... this family... this DOG! I'm lucky to count them as near-neighbors, and have loved watching their little family grow. We scheduled their six month session back in January, and it happened to be the day of that insane snow dump. Because they're only about a mile from my house, I headed over, but truthfully the snow was coming down so heavily that it was pretty dark inside, and outside was hard to shoot in because everyone was getting soaked and cold... it's one thing to photograph a snowy session with kids in elementary school who want to run and play and make snowmen and angels... quite another with a little baby. We hit the pause button halfway through and I came back a couple of weeks later for the second half, when we had a much more typical, sunshine-filled Chapel Hill winter day.

I love the take this mama took on her blog post. I used to keep journals while I was pregnant with my own kids... basically just a series of notes to their future selves letting them know how much I loved them even before I had any idea. Her words reminded me that our love for our children is ever-evolving - even once they're here - and made me want to pick my pen back up:

We are an iPhone family with a cache of about a zillion photos of our daughter, our dog, the spider that was just too huge to ignore, handwritten grocery lists, and documents we were just too lazy to scan. The idea of sifting through them is immense. Everything is scattered and stored across external drives, the cloud, hard drives, iPhones, and social media platforms. I look at them occasionally, and sometimes think "that's a good one, I should do XYZ with it." But, truth be told, it won't look great as an 8x10. Our iPhone photos are mostly for texting and showing people next to me in the grocery line how cute my daughter is.

That's where Annemie comes in! We have a gorgeous collection of photos to print and share as gifts or frame hang on our wall. Below are some of our favorites from our daughter's 6 month photoshoot and my new Mama thoughts to go with them.

Dear Baby,

You are now almost 10 months, and I am already looking back at your 6 month photos with nostalgia. Every two weeks you morph into a totally new baby with a new set of skills. We used to lie down together to play, but now you pop up in seconds! Please stop growing, just for one day.

Love,

Mama

Dear Baby,

I've been eating four meals a day for months, but lucky for me I haven't gained an ounce. All those rolls are my platinum medal for breastfeeding.

Love,

Mama

Dear Baby,

Well this is the most perfect "baby thinker" pose I've ever seen. And what is it you are thinking? Wondering when you get to hold the camera? Or, why is Annemie just so darn funny?