This is me. All the feels (often within minutes of each other).

 

In the past 7 years since becoming a mother I’ve changed in ways I never would have predicted.

 

I have new fears but also an incredible fierceness that will continually fight for what’s important.

I have softened and am getting more comfortable with living in the grey.

My political views have been upended and I wish we could all just be nice to each other and realize that humanity is fragile.

I now know that kids can totally live on oatmeal for dinner for multiple days in a row and that they will even love you for it.

I’ve let people go who didn’t bring me joy and brought others in who accept me for who I am now.

I have learned that it is possible to ignore crumbs on a kitchen floor for quite a few days as you eventually just stop noticing them crunching under your toes.

I have so much less patience in some areas and abundance in others.

I started to care a little bit less what other people think.

I went from hardly ever crying to crying when my kids do something amazing, when I can’t get hot water fast enough and I’m over-the-top exhausted, when the French Press breaks, when I feel overwhelmed, when I take the wrong turn, and so on, and so on.

I lay in the dark and listen to their breathing and know that it means they are still here with me.

I’ve experienced how an unsolicited kiss and a “thank you mommy, I love you” can turn a day around.

I used to be confident in my life decisions and now I worry daily that I’m doing it wrong and will somehow mess these little lives up without even knowing that I’m doing it.

My empathy has exploded, which is mostly a good thing but can also cause too much worry and too much pain.

I have learned that an impromptu kitchen dance party (with the music as loud as the speaker will go) is a legit form of therapy.

 

When I photograph a family I bring all of this with me. You get the whole Kelly, and that’s a good thing. I know you’re going through your own changes, and I work hard to notice those tiny things you might not and to make sure that you have a visual reminder of them. Because we are always changing – that’s what life is about. But at the same time, it’s important to have reminders of where we came from.

 

Fiddle Leaf Photography offers in-home lifestyle family and newborn photo sessions in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Spruce Grove, Leduc, Beaumont, Fort Saskatchewan and other surrounding areas. Send me a message today and we’ll talk about the ways in which motherhood has changed you and what you want to remember from it right this instant.