At least twice a year, I perform a miracle.
My daughter is twirling in her “princess” dress and has been restricted to dry foods and clear liquids. Meanwhile, my husband is giving me some serious looks as he unwillingly pulls on his color-coordinated outfit. The fact that I got him out of athletic gear could be a miracle all on its own.
Finally, I’m draped in the biggest apron I own, dressing the baby and waiting for the curling iron to heat up. If we can all arrive clean and without stains, I’ll be over the moon.
It’s picture day. One of my favorite days of the year!
I love getting family pictures taken by amazing professional photographers. It’s an investment and one that I will keep on making. Even though doing this can get pricey (a fact my husband constantly harps on), capturing our family on film is too important to me to skip it.
Professional photography helps support other military spouses.
Consistent jobs are hard to find for military spouses. Many of us are turning more and more to our creative sides to help support our families. I’m doing it with writing and education coaching. Others are learning how to take beautiful pictures.
Every place we have lived I have been so lucky to find talented professionals to capture memories for my family. We have heartwarming pictures of homecoming, sweet baby smiles and even our beloved furbaby in photos around our home.
I love to seek out other military spouses because they understand how my family works, our struggles and our joys. They have always done a great job translating that to film.
I want to get in the picture too!
It’s kind of a universal parent rule: one of you will always be out of the picture. Except that it seems like I’m the one out of the frame most often. I’m the person recording the adventure instead of the person saying “cheese.”
Sometimes I want to make sure that our whole family is in one picture. And if I have to pay someone to do that, so be it.
I want to share our love with our family.
Growing up, I saw my extended family all the time. We lived 2 towns over or at most had to cross 1 state line.
My children are thousands of miles from family. Their grandparents are missing the little moments, the sweet hugs and the chance to make memories of everyday life.
For many of our relatives the one time they see my children will be on Christmas cards. I want our loved ones to see my family looking happy in our temporary hometown. I want to share a little slice of our lives with the people we hold dear.
Having a pro take our picture helps me make sure that our Christmas cards look lovely.
I want to remember where we lived.
One amazing part of our military life is the chance to live in many places. It’s wonderful to explore different parts of our country and the world.
Having beautiful professional photos of my family in the places that we have lived helps to recall those moments.
Looking at my maternity pictures in northern Virginia, I can feel the worn cobblestones under my feet and smell the Potomac River. When I glance at one particular beach scene on our wall, I remember what it was like to only have a fur child and what it felt like to run through the SoCal surf.
I want to remember.
I have one shot at childhood with my little ones. The time is already slipping through my fingers way too fast. My babies are getting too big, too quickly. I will do just about anything to freeze time.
Photography helps me to hit pause, even if just for a moment.
I want to have gorgeous photos of my little ones being little, with gummy smiles and sticky fingers. And I want those pictures to be color coordinated, beautifully lit and edited. I want to look back in years to come and be able to relive those little moments.
The walls of my home are filled with photographs of my family as it went from 2 to 4, plus a pooch. We have beautiful reminders of every place we have lived and every stage of our lives. Everywhere I look, I can see my beautiful wedding day, sweet newborn snuggles, chubby toddler fingers and our beautiful family.
To me, this is priceless.
Even my husband, usually way after the fact, agrees that having a professional take our pictures is an investment worth making.
