ludwig family

“She is changing so fast right now, suddenly she’s making all of these different expressions and little faces.  I want to remember that.  I also want her to know what we looked like when she was a baby.”

This is what five month old baby M’s mom said to me when I asked her why they wanted to have portraits taken.

I cannot think of a more perfect reason.

We want to remember our kids at every stage, every moment.  But… how lovely is it for them to also have a piece of us when they are grown, for them to be able to see themselves with us when they were babies?  And for them to be able to see just how happy they made us?

I have a photo on my nightstand of my mom, younger than I am now, holding me when I was about two years old.  I cherish everything about that photo- the (very late- and awesome!) 70’s attire, the wonderful reminder that all I am doing for my son, my mom also once did for me, and being able to see what she looked like before I was old enough to remember.  I’m sure she never dreamed that photo would end up on her adult daughter’s nightstand, but I’m grateful that it has.
Sometimes we get wrapped up in documenting our kids lives for ourselves that we forget just how valuable those details might be to them one day.

I have this beautiful family to thank for so eloquently reminding me of this.