Damien and Alex

Sometimes, life gets away from us. Sometimes, we think we have all the time in the world--but then we are faced with reality as we watch our children grow too fast for us to truly cherish. One minute, they are babies just learning to walk; the next, they are running around, making friends, and voicing their opinions about what to have for dinner. I have made it a tradition to photography each of my kids every year (around the start of the school year) in order to capture some of those special moments as they grow. Not saying I don't do impromptu sessions all the time--because I do, like every week!--but this is a more formal session, with special items and something showing their age. I also really like to capture at least one moment of them being siblings--the happy kind, not the fighting kind. 

There is nothing I love more than seeing my two kids playing well with each other--it seems like they spend most of their time fighting, so these moments are rare in my eyes. The times when Alex starts to cry when Damien leaves for school because she already misses him; when Damien is playing his RealmCraft game on his Kindle and Alex wants to watch, he scoots over and lets her see what he is doing. 

Damien turned 7 back in April, and he is at a new school this year. He has grown so much since last year, it is insane. He is taller, more articulate, more opinionated, and so freaking smart. He has wanted to be so many different things in his short life, but there has been one occupation that has stuck with him over the last year: he wants to be in the Army. I really think he chose that as what he wants to be because his step-dad, my husband, went into the Army last year in November. He seriously idolises his step-dad, because of everything he has been through--my husband stepped up and actually acted like a father to the kids, which did wonders for both of them. 

We chose to include his Teddy because it is something that means a lot to him right now--it has meant a lot to him for a while now, but this was the first year he really wanted to include it. He has trouble making friends, so having his Teddy means that at least he has someone around to play with and who will listen to him when he needs to talk (cuz sometimes he doesn't want to talk to his mum, even at this young of an age). With the top 3 photos, I wanted to capture the concept that he will be moving away from his Teddy soon, that he will make friends. 

Alex was a bit more difficult to deal with--she didn't even realise that Damien had already done his pictures because she was too busy running around with their new friend (never got his name). I tried to pull her away to do pictures, but she was too distracted by playing, even though I had told her we were doing pictures first, then she could play. We finally got a good set after a few attempts, and then she was off. She couldn't decide what she wanted to be when she grows up, so we didn't write anything down--I always tell her she can be anything she wants, so she takes that to heart and just can't pick!

It's funny how difficult a child under 7 is to direct and pose. Alex had such a hard time following directions--granted, she was pretty focused on what Damien and their new friend were doing, so she wasn't really paying attention to what I was saying! She is very inquisitive, so finding something that sparked her curiosity was a must--the dandelion did the job perfectly, and even provided for a wonderful photo-op! 

All in all, we had a wonderful time playing outside at a new park (we usually go to the main park on Fry Blvd, but since there was a carnival going on this weekend we ended up opting for another large park closer to where we live). The grass was green, there was a nice breeze, and the lighting was wonderful! I even got a few candid shots of the kids!