Mommy and Me Pictures
I have taken approximately 3,000 pictures of Natalie since her birth. 11 weeks on this earth and that's an average of 272 photos a week.
You know how many pictures I have of her and me together?
Twenty.
Twenty photos showing proof that I am her mother. And most of those were taken within the first week of her life.
I have lots of pictures of just Natalie. I have lots of pictures of Chris and Natalie. I have lots of pictures of Zoey and Natalie.
But I hardly have pictures of ME with Natalie.
I'm pretty much the "picture taker" of the family. I always have been - I've been weilding a camera since High School and I love to capture moments in time so I can remember them. But sometimes...what good are those memories, or those moments...if there is literally zero proof that I was actually there? Will my grandchildren look back on my photo albums and say "these are great pictures, but where is Grandma Laura?"
I remember reading a blog post a few years back calling all moms to take pictures WITH their children, and I'm going to do the same. The posts struck a chord with me, but I didn't really fully grasp the impact of it until now. Those pictures are the ones you want to look back on. Those are the pictures you want to see how happy you were, that smile on both of your faces, or the sparkle in your eyes.
When someone snaps a picture of you and the baby, especially in these early months postpartum, the reaction from many women, including me, is usually one of the following:
"Oh no no don't take a picture of me!"
"I look fat!"
"I'm not wearing any makeup!"
"I didn't do my hair today!"
"Can you delete that last one?"
"I hate this outfit!"
Until years pass and your child has one or two blurry, dark photos with their mom.
So Ladies - I've dedicated an entire post to JUST pictures of me physically with Natalie, and I hope you'll do the same.
What an absolutely fantastic post and so true. My favorite picture is the one of you and Natalie sleeping. Your Baby Girl is actually smiling in that one-while she's asleep. She's dreaming of adventures and feeling secure. I have tons of pics of you in the hospital and afterwards too. I will look through them and send them to you. They might be of you and Natalie and other people too but I'll check and send any that are just you and Natalie. Btw, have you noticed my identity crisis since Natalie was born? I can't decide if I'm "Mom" or "Grandma." Lol.
ReplyDeletethat's kind of my fav. picture too - totally candid. so glad chris took that one! I have noticed your identity crisis...How about "grandmom?" ;)
DeleteBeautiful pictures of momma and Natalie :) I'm glad you posted these! So sweet!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much..I'm glad I did too..they've just been sitting in files on my computer and what good are they sitting there?
DeleteI've been trying to be better about being in pictures with Hunter. It's not that I don't want my picture taken but like you I'm just the one that usually takes them so I try to remember to tell my husband to take a few or even just take some me and Hunter selfies.
ReplyDeletethat's the exact same way. I have to ask Chris to take photos of us, he just never thinks about it the way that I do - I'm constantly snapping pictures of the two of them together!!!
DeleteThis has been on my mind a lot lately and we're trying to be better at it! My present for Valentine's Day is a mini photo session of James and I from the photographer who took his newborn pictures. I can't wait to get a few cute pictures of us together!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great present idea!!! I can't wait to see the adorable photos that get taken, I'm sure they're going to be awesome :)
DeleteGreat post and pictures, Laura! The advice about taking pictures with your child is definitely something I will keep in mind for the future.
ReplyDeleteCute cute cute! Never thought about that but very true. You are a wonderful mom!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely little girl :)
ReplyDeleteCatherine Vargas
Vintage Girls
www.vindiebaby.com