Hello 2017

Goodbye 2016

Girl squatting and taking out spices from a cabinet with her butt crack showing

I always love the clarity and inspiration that a new year offers, and I tend to spend a lot of this time of the year making flow charts and lists and plans and goals. I'm trying to be realistic about my aspirations for this year as I will be adding a new baby to my workflow in April. That being said, I love personal projects, and while I'm not going to be starting any new projects, I will be continuing old projects with new goals. This is my third year doing my Portrait of Play project. Every week I observe my children playing and document the experience through photographs. I have learned so much about my children and photography through this weekly discipline. There is always more to learn though, and I still feel like every week is exciting as I take time to really see my kids and push myself to learn new photography skills. As I look back through all of my 2016 pictures and words from the project, I'm realizing that there is so much I would have already forgotten had I not written it down or intentionally documented it. There's no doubt that life is not slowing down any time soon, and I feel so fortunate to have all these little moments suspended in these frames to remember forever as my brain continues to deteriorate from sleep deprivation. Here are some random moments from this past year's Portrait of Play project. You can follow along with our 2017 play on my personal blog at All Mountains and Molehills.

Because this project has meant so much to me as a mother, I offer Portrait of Play sessions for parents who want to remember this time in their child's life and development. The memories and details of their child's room, their toys, and their ever changing bodies is something that the whole family will love looking back on with increasing gratitude as time passes. You can find out more about these sessions here and get in touch to book a session here.

I'm also participating in a blog circle this month with some fabulous photographers from around the country. Check out the work of Tori Cox from Little Bird Photography here: Family and Lifestyle Photographer in Amarillo, Texas, and circle around to the other photographers in the loop.

Here's to 2017.

Girl throwing grass over a fence to a horse who is in the foreground
two girls doing a flip on a swing at the time
baby smiling while getting water dumped on her head
baby landing on arms on a trampoline with feet in the air
black and white image of a girl climbing on a jungle gym taken from underneath
Girl in her pajamas jumping on a bed in the window light with dust floating
Girl standing in front of a mirror with a princess dress and hat on while flexing her muscles
girl standing in a pasture holding a baby doll with trees behind her.

A Day in the Backyard with the Gagnons

Pizza and Smores

image from family documentary session of mother holding and looking at daughter with father and son in background

Where do I start? I've known Sarah since I first moved to Madison, WI so many years ago. We took several art classes together and stayed in touch after I moved away to continue our conversations about fiber arts, adding home repair and parenting to the mix as well. Recently, I took a trip to Madison to second shoot a wedding with the extraordinary Anda Marie, and while I was there I had an extra day that I got to spend with the Gagnons. We spent a casual day lunching, antiquing, and backyarding. Sarah and Dave have built an incredible backyard landscaped with gardens, chickens, play structures, and a brick oven over the years in their spare time when they haven't been developing these awesome games. Lucky for me, Dave fired up the wood-fired brick oven and threw on some pizzas. We picked raspberries as we waited, and enjoyed smores after we had finished up. I so very badly wish this family lived closer to my family.

Image of mother looking at daughter while on a swing
image from family documentary session of mother holding son while picking raspberries
image from family documentary session of mother of looking at son who is eating a raspberry
image from family documentary session of boy smiling and partially covering his face with his hand
image from family documentary session of mother holding daughter in a chair in a playhouse
image from family documentary session of a girl climbing on playhouse
image from family documentary session of girl climbing in playhouse with drawn tattoo on hand and mother in background with tattoo showing
image from family documentary session of boy climbing a rope net
image from family documentary session of daughter looking down on father making pizza
image from family documentary session of boy putting his finger on his eye
image from family documentary session of girl
image from family documentary session of mother watering her garden
image from family documentary session of parents holding children who are playing
image from family documentary session of parents holding children who are playing
image from family documentary session of parents holding their kids on their shoulders
image from family documentary session of mother and son sitting on swing looking at each other
image from family documentary session of a little boy's dirty feet
image from family documentary session of a boy eating a smore with marshmallow stuck on his face
image from family documentary session of a girl sitting on the top of wooden pallets
image from family documentary session of a girl's bare feet sitting on a wooden pallet
image from family documentary session of woodfired pizza
image from family documentary session of girl eating a smore