Tacoma Family Photographer
I remember how our life with littles was governed by the clock. Or, ostensibly, the immediate demands of the small humans, dictating when to eat, when to sleep, when to drop everything and rush home for the naptime window or be prepared to pay the price come bedtime. There was a rhythm to those days bound to their biology, bound to my body with nursing and cuddling, bound to the small widows of time I would covet and protect while they were sleeping or otherwise occupied.
It felt like it would last forever.
And, it sort of did for us, given that we had three children in three-and-a-half years…. and then just when we were out of the weeds and everyone was in school we decided to do it again.
But it didn’t last forever.
Miraculously they all survived toddlerhood. One is even on her way to exploring the Next Frontier of college and beyond. And they are all blessedly in school.
But now it is summer, and I am navigating “what are we going to do next?” on one end of the spectrum and “do we have to go to the pool?” on the other.
Which is one reason I love stepping into another family’s home for a morning and seeing their life through my eyes: the given rhythms of making food, playing on the floor, bottles and books before nap, family outings where you end up carrying the bike…
I see it through the eyes of a mama who has been there (oh, for so many years I was in that space), and as someone who knows the things that will disappear before you have time to blink. The toys on the living room floor that never seem to get put away, the bottles drying next to the sink, the baby monitor that has become a permanent fixture on your nightstand. Not to mention the sweetest chubby toddler thighs, just gaining stability enough to walk on their own, the penchant for hanging upside-down from the dining room table, playing trucks in the driveway…
Every once in a while I pinch myself when I get to photograph clients like the Blass family. I am the luckiest. It was a gift to be with them, just hanging out on a weekday morning, doing life in all it’s ordinary glory. Just watching them love and enjoy each other and these quickly fleeting days…
From Lauren: Jess danced on the line of capturing intimate photos of my family in our unmarred natural state while being completely unobtrusive. She’s warm and fun, and her photography beautifully captures her uniquely aware perspective.
Here’s the slideshow if you’d rather.
