End-of-Summer Sessions: Soaking Up This Season With Little Violet.
Something about the end of summer makes you slow down and notice how quickly time is moving. The days are still warm, the evenings are still beautiful, and yet there is this quiet feeling that a season is changing. Maybe it's the back-to-school routines beginning again or the subtle shift in the evening light, but every year, the end of summer seems to invite a little reflection.
For the Postells, I imagine that feeling is even more significant this year because their baby girl, Violet, is one!
How can an entire year possibly have passed?
I think that is one of the things motherhood does to us. It changes our understanding of time. Before children, we tend to think in years and seasons and milestones. After becoming a mother, time can feel much more delicate. You notice how quickly a newborn changes, how a favorite outfit suddenly doesn't fit anymore, and how the baby who once needed to be held constantly is beginning to explore the world on her own.
Olivia has spent this past year becoming Violet's mama, and in the process, she has probably discovered that motherhood is about so much more than she ever imagined.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”— Ecclesiastes 3:1, KJV
A Different Kind of Motherhood
There is a misconception about motherhood that I think many of us carry before we become mothers: that one day we will simply feel like we've figured it all out.
We imagine that we'll become more patient, more organized, more confident, and somehow naturally know exactly what our baby needs. Then motherhood actually happens, and we realize that most of it is learning as we go.
There are beautiful days and really hard days. There are moments when you feel completely confident in what you're doing, followed by moments when you wonder if you're doing any of it right. There are days when the house is clean and days when you can't remember the last time you saw the bottom of the laundry basket.
And that's okay.
Maybe being a good mother was never about getting everything right. Maybe it's about showing up, loving deeply, giving yourself grace, and being willing to grow alongside your child.
“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”— 2 Corinthians 12:9, KJV
I think that's one of the sweetest parts of watching a new mother with her baby. You can see how much she has grown, too.
The Year Went By So Quickly
Violet being one feels like one of those milestones that makes you stop and look backward for a moment.
You remember the tiny version of her, even though that version of her was here for such a short time. You remember how small she felt in your arms and how new everything was. You remember the first smiles, the sleepy cuddles, the late nights, and all the little moments that seemed ordinary at the time but now feel incredibly precious.
That is the strange thing about raising children. We spend so much time living through the days that we don't always realize we're creating memories while they're happening.
Then suddenly, your baby is one.
And you find yourself wishing you could hold onto certain pieces of this season just a little longer.
I think that is why photographs matter so much to me as a family and motherhood photographer in Rockmart, Georgia. We can't stop time, no matter how badly we may want to. We can't keep Violet this little forever, and we can't make Olivia's first year of motherhood last another year.
But we can remember it.
We can preserve the way they looked at each other. We can remember those little hands and baby expressions. We can capture the way Violet reaches in mommy's shirt when she's sleepy.
Those photographs become little pieces of a season that would otherwise exist only in our memories.
If there is one thing this season of motherhood seems to teach us, it's that we don't need to do more. Sometimes we simply need to notice more.
Notice the little things.
Notice how your baby laughs.
Notice the way she reaches for you.
Notice the moments when she still wants to be held, even though she's becoming more independent every day.
Let the dishes sit for a little while. Take the picture, even if your hair isn't done. Get in the frame instead of always being the one behind the camera. Give yourself permission to enjoy your family without worrying about whether everything looks perfect.
Because one day, the things that feel so ordinary right now will be the things you would give anything to experience again.
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”— Psalm 90:12, KJV
Maybe that is my intention for the end of this summer, too: to remember that these ordinary days are actually the beautiful ones.
For Olivia
Violet is still your tiny baby no matter how "big" she gets; she's becoming her own little person, and you can already see so much of her personality shining through.
There is something so special about this in-between stage. The first year isn't quite over, but the newborn days are long gone. There is still plenty of babyhood left to soak up, while the toddler years are waiting just around the corner.
I hope you remember that you didn't have to make this first year perfect. You simply had to be there for it. Enjoy the sleepy mornings, the messy moments, the laughter, the uncertainty, and all the beautiful little things that make up motherhood.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”— Psalm 127:3, KJV
Maybe that's why these photographs feel so meaningful.
They aren't simply pictures of a beautiful mama and her baby girl.
They are photographs of a brand new family learning to live in the moment, right in the middle of a fleeting season.
Years from now, when Violet is grown, I hope these images remind them of how deeply she was loved.
Because that is what photographs can do.
They can take us back.
They can remind us of what we couldn't hold onto.
And sometimes, they can help us see just how beautiful the ordinary days really were.
I can't even begin to tell you all just how rewarding it has been to do our 9 Stories Project; I may even do it every year now. It is so special being able to step into each family and get to know them on a deeper level. I
If you're looking for a family and motherhood photographer in Rockmart, Georgia, or throughout Northwest Georgia, I would love to document your family in this season, exactly as it is. Whether you're expecting your first baby, celebrating a first birthday, or simply wanting photographs of the people you love most, these are the moments that deserve to be remembered.
Because someday, you'll look back and realize they weren't just ordinary days.
They were your life.
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