Letters to our children ::January Blog Circle::

I'm honored to be taking part of a blog circle project with a few fellow mamas I met through Clickin Moms in a group for fellow 365'ers. We decided to dedicate a post a month to writing a letter to our children, sharing a few photos in each post too. My first post is definitely an overshare of photos though ;)

With four kids, I honestly had a hard time figuring out who I was going to write my letter to this first month. But when I sat and thought about it, I realized I had to write to my first letter to my only daughter, Ellie. After all, she is the reason I fell in love with photography, and why I worked so hard to learn all I could about photography. So here's my letter to Ellie, the first in a series of Letters to our Children, be sure to follow the link at the bottom to travel through the other photographer's participating.

Sweet Ellie, When you were born in May 2009, my mother's day present that year, just before you arrived had been a DSLR, a Canon Rebel XSi. I had wanted one for years, but finally convinced daddy to get one under the promise of learning how to use it inside and out. and in September of that year while Daddy deployed for almost six months  I dove into reading every book, blog and forum I could while he was gone. I had your brother Gavin and you to practice on and keep my mind off missing daddy so much. It wasn't perfect, far from it...here's a "gem" from the early days...

You, of course were adorable, but it's a terrible picture if I take off my mommy goggles and look at it technically (Hello on camera flash!) I didn't know how to shoot manual at all then, but as each month passed I got brave and poured my heart into capturing your baby hood the way I wanted to remember it, with gorgeous pictures that showed our daily life. I took the camera everywhere, and we went lots of places to keep our minds off daddy being gone. Shooting daily helped me learn my camera and also gave daddy a look into the early months of your life he was missing.

 Picture by picture I slowly got all the technical stuff down and moved on to capturing your sweet spirit and the sass you've had from day one. By the time Daddy came home,

 I was quite proud of most of the images I was producing (though I still cringe a little or wish I could go back in time and shoot them differently from the technical side of myself, I absolutely adore that I started my project 365 while you were a baby, and I have been able to watch you grow up through the past 4 years of it, and can easily go back and see you and your brothers at each little stage).

As the years passed, I have watched you grow into a beautiful, smart and very sweet little girl.

 You helped me discover that being determined was a good thing, it helped me become the photographer I am and am continuing to become, and it is helping you to grow up strong and opinionated. You know what you want from life and are stubborn enough (in good ways) to get it done.

Sometimes (often times, maybe at three), there is drama but you always simmer down to your sweet little self and in your sweet soft newly Southern accent tell me you love me and snuggle in with "pink fuzzy blankie" for a little reassuring love. I love the joy you take in life, you bounce and twirl your way through every day and have given me so many sweet memories to capture. I hope you will always keep your cheerful nature and let me turn my camera on you for many years to come. Thank you for helping me develop a talent and show me how to appreciate the little things in life butter bean. And for showing me that even when things don't go as planned, like the "shoot" I had in mind for this post, life is still sweet and there are still beautiful moments happening I don't want to forget. Thank you sweet girl,

 Love, Mama

P.s. We still have years to work on your smile ;)

Follow this link to see the next mama's take on "Letters to Our Children".  Check out Ashleigh's letter to her daughter!