AROUND OUR CLOCKS: 12PM | NORTHERN VIRGINIA FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Winter in Northern Virginia has seen our family building a lot of blanket forts indoors. I'd like to think I have a bit of skill in this area since I spent a lot of time using blankets and sheets to make little hideaways growing up, but I suspect most kids do. :-) I have fond memories of my mom teaching me how to build blanket forts when I was a kid. And I remember making them in my basement with my best friend using hair scrunchies (remember those?) and rubber bands to secure the corners of sheets around door knobs or chair backs (not a successful tactic, as I recall!). But mostly I remember them as a quiet, cozy place to curl up and read.

My son isn't quite at the independent reading stage yet, but I'm glad to have caught him quietly at play recently under one of his blanket forts (although he calls them "tents"). We tend to spend more time building them (and making them bigger and bigger, using every blanket and throw we have!) than actually playing in them, but I imagine that'll change as he gets older. 

I wish I had pictures of myself making them as a kid with my mom or best friend. I'll have to get creative and try to capture some moments with my son that include my husband and myself before winter is over, but for now I'll treasure the ones I have.

Do you build blanket forts with your children? I'd love to hear your tips for making them awesome. 

This post is part of a collaborative documentary photography blog circle called Around Our Clocks. We're documenting a day in our life over the course of one year.  Continue the circle by visiting Stephanie Bryan Photography, Raleigh, NC Lifestyle Photographer.

Around Our Clocks: 10am | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

Cold weather is not my favorite, even though it's relatively mild in Northern Virginia compared to many places. But one benefit of winter and being indoors is ample snuggle time. After Christmas, we took advantage of a week at home with both boys to spend lots of time in our pjs. There was tv, but also some crafts (if you count handing a 3-year-old scissors and glitter glue :-) ), fun times with new Legos, and lots of reading from our new Shel Silverstein books. I was a bit wary of Shel SIlverstein for a 3-year-old at first, but he really loves these poems.  They provoke a lot of questions and introduce unfamiliar concepts.  Plus, there so much silliness, and what kid doesn't love that? :-)

These pictures are typical of 10am around our house in the winter. Pajamas and a Daddy-son-cuddle pile on the couch while watching a show.  School and work have returned, but I have lots of pictures to remind me how awesome down time can be. 

2017 is under way and I'm so excited for what this year will bring. We have plans to spend time away with family this year and I can't wait for everyone to meet our youngest son. I have also lots of plans for my business. One that I'm most excited about is incorporating video into my family sessions.  Video adds an element to photography that I didn't even know was missing. Seeing the motion and hearing the sounds, especially of little ones who change so quickly, is wonderfully captured with video and I can't wait to offer that to my clients!

Wishing you the best in the New Year! This post is a continuing post of our monthly Around Our Clocks documentary blog circle. Follow the circle to see what 10am looked like for Meghan Nesom.

Around Our Clocks: 3pm | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

This month in our Around Our Clocks blog circle, we documented the 3pm hour. 3pm in our house is relatively uneventful and varies from day to day. It's not an hour I find myself photographing regularly, like morning when the light is best in our house.  So, this month, I had to plan a little better and really consider what is going on in our family right now that I want to remember.

I chose to document 3pm on a weekday because I wanted to preserve a bit of the last days of my maternity leave.  For me, these weekday afternoons have been a mix of quiet hours before my older son gets home from school and usually involve a cycle of naps, diaper changes, and often an episode of Game of Thrones (a special maternity leave project ;-) ). It was important for me to get in the frame as well because I want to remember (and want my son to see) how much fun I had with him.  And I also want to remember the repetitive baby care and unexpected opportunities for self indulgence while he's so small (and immobile), because I know life will change quickly and what is routine right now will be very different even months from now.

Continue the circle and check out what 3pm is like for Michele.

Around Our Clocks: 8am | Northern Virginia Family Photographer

Mornings have been fun, if a little chaotic, around here lately. Without the pressure (yet) of needing to be at work on time, I'm able to indulge a bit in the fun of trying to capture the messy, sometimes harried business of getting a three year old out of bed, with clean teeth and a somewhat balanced breakfast, to school on time. Pair that with a baby who doesn't have a predictable schedule yet and who's still not sure if he likes car rides all that much and you've got a mama who's ready to pull her hair out by 8am some mornings.  And that's saying nothing of remembering to feed the cats and let the dog outside.

In the midst of the chaos and sometimes constant urging to hurry, though, I'll get the sweetest nuggets of life. A glimpse into my older son's budding personality in the form of an observation that seems beyond his three years. Or in an unexpected, unconditional grin from my two month old, who doesn't hold a grudge even when I leave him fussing to tend to his brother. 

I don't know how I'll keep my sanity when maternity leave is over, though I know it will work out somehow. For now, I'll just keep trying to preserve these little moments of childhood and parenthood for as long as I can.

This post is the first of the "Around Our Clocks" documentary blog circle, which features a group of photographers documenting an entire day over the course of one year. Please continue the circle by visiting Petra Silie's blog to view her "8am" post.

These are real-life moments. Ones that I want to remember and ones that i love preserving for other families too. Learn more about my family documentary sessions here. And sign up for my newsletter below to receive tips for documenting your own family.