“I’ll get photos once I drop 10 pounds”

Hey there, I hear you. I didn’t use to get it, but I get it now. Being a mom changes your body. It may be a body you no longer recognize. From the mom pooch to breasts that look like deflated water balloons – I hear you. I see you. It’s difficult to be in pictures when you don’t feel comfortable in your own skin.

I was that photographer telling moms that they were missing out on memories if they didn’t book that session. I still believe it, but I realized I was eating my words. Do you see that mom pooch?! Yep. That thing that I see first in the image while everyone else sees out faces? I didn’t want to get photos because of it. I feel like an apple on toothpicks!

Somehow I weigh less than before I got pregnant, but I’m wearing 3 sizes bigger. I don’t know how to dress my body anymore. Its proportions are funky and It’s frustrating to me. Yet I look at my beautiful baby girl and I wouldn’t take it back at all. My body grew and created such a masterpiece.

I didn’t lose weight breastfeeding. Funny fact, not everyone loses weight breastfeeding their baby. In fact, breastfeeding kept me from losing weight. Yet it’s the experience I wanted, and I wanted the benefits of it for my baby. I totally lost my supply around 5 months. It was really difficult emotionally, but physically it left me frustrated…. again. My body kept changing.

We were going to Arizona and I decided I really wanted a session with cactus! I looked up my friend Jessica Ajman Photography who was a past student and second shooter. I love her work and was excited to have her take our photos! As time got closer I was exhausted, frustrated, and insecure. What would I wear? How do I dress my body? What even looks good? Sean had just lost 30 lbs and looks great. I didn’t know who I saw in the mirror.

Then I realized my role in life changed, a lot changed, and that’s okay. I’m a mom, and I have a mom bod. My body didn’t bounce back and that’s okay.

Sure, posing can help, but at some point, we have to realize this is just where we are at physically at this moment. THIS MOMENT IS WORTH REMEMBERING. Let me say it again! This moment is worth remembering.

I want to remember every stage of development, every day, and every moment with this little girl. I want her to look back at family pictures and smile.

Recently I was looking at a family album of my grandmother as a little girl. Her parents blessed their posterity with extensive photos from her birth and even into adulthood. One thing we noticed was her father, Orin, was always in the photos with her and on her level. It automatically drew us to the conclusion that he was a proactive father who loved and played with his children. We don’t have too many of her mother with the children. Why? I’m willing to bet it’s because she was always the one taking the photo. Well, that and Dads tend to drop the ball with taking the picture. Ha!

I want to be remembered as a mom who was in the photo. A mom who was actively participating in her children’s lives. In order to do that, I have to get in front of the camera… and you do too!

So, do it. Book the session. Get in the photos. Love yourself. Preserve memories. Babies don’t stay babies for long. Kids grow up and move out. This moment, right NOW, is worth remembering.

Thanks to Jessica Ajeman Photography for capturing these priceless images for us! I love them! If you find yourself in Arizona I highly recommend her! Check out some more of our family session below!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Photo Credit: http://jessicaajemanphotography.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jessicaajemanphotography/