It has been too long since I’ve posted on my blog or participated in the Kids Were Here posts.  I am determined to change that pattern for the new year.  Making sure I document my children is one of the biggest reason I am a photographer so it is important to get back on track.  One day, there won’t be graham crackers laid out on our coffee table or random dolls laying on the bathroom floor.  These little reminders of children living in the house will be gone.  These images are what help me better manage the stress that comes with the constant mess.  A reminder that it is all temporary…that they will be grown and out of the house before I am ready.  To make me take a deeper breath and soak it all in while it is here.  Below are a few images taken throughout the year.   I am forever for the Kids Were Here project for this perspective and for keeping me on task with documenting their everyday existence.  The following images are kind of a greatest hit from the past 6 months.  Miscellaneous images taken while photographing something else.  I keep finding them pop up in my files and don’t want to forget them as the new year starts. Things will be much different in a year’s time and this is a good reminder of the year 2014.  Happy New Year everyone.

Things have changed so quickly already…my daughter is no longer wants to use her high chair…she insisted on sitting in the “big people’s chairs” way early than her brother made the transition.

My son loves to draw.  Over the year, his drawings have become way more intricate.  This is an example of one when he first started drawing dinosaurs.  He has progressed so much since this drawing.

One of the very many favorite things about having a little girl is all of the sparkly stuff.  She is definitely way more girly than I was at her age.  Here are her first pair of sparkly shoes…she wore them everywhere until she grew out of them.

2014 was year of the dinosaur in our house. My son has a full blown obsession and it was completely indulged this past Christmas.  Everyone that knows him seems to be on dinosaur watch for him. This was a hand me down dinosaur discovered in a friend’s garden.  It is slowly making its way around our property.

One of my favorite warm weather activities is to bring the kids out on a picnic.  Peanut butter and jelly is a staple in our house.

I did warn you that dinosaurs were an obsession, correct?  These rocks are laid out are supposed to be fossils.  You can see it, can’t you?

Hitting the Jersey shore in September is great.  The beaches are empty and the weather is beautiful.  Bring an all in one bucket of toys and you are set.

Not sure if I am technically allowed to post this image but I couldn’t help it.  One of the ways I get myself in the shot is photographing our shadows.  I love holding little hands and will 100% miss this stage.

My mom got the kids little advent bags that they could open every day.  Just little things like marshmallows or bubbles.  Their favorite toy was the light up snow globes.  Isn’t he cute?

Getting to the stage where they can write their own letter to Santa is really heart warming.  I love seeing little kid handwriting.  There is so much innocence, joy, and hope in one letter to Santa.

Happy New Year from the Kids Were Here gang.  Please take a look at the work from so many other talented photographers in this group.