Little boys. While adorable, in their early years there is a certain bit of crazy hardwired in these little guys. Now that I'm gearing up for my second Mothers Day as a mom of two, and I've escaped the fog that is the early days of baby #2, I am absolutely marveling in the relationship that is developing between my boys, however wildly in manifests itself. As I look toward this Mothers Day, I feel so very thankful that my little wild men are who they are. That they are completely different in every way, from their looks to their personalities and quirks. Colin is a snuggler, a chatterbox and gives up his smiles regularly and without much cajoling - his humor is infectious - and Asher, while known to give a mean stink-eye (pictured below), only wants to love on his brother while saying "ba-ba-ba-ba" on repeat. He is more serious, more of an observer, but when he decides to let you in to his circle of trust, you're in. What amazes me is that not even a year and a half into their relationship as brothers, their love for one another is fierce. Fierce enough sometimes that they tackle each other to the ground (and if that isn't #onebighappy love tackle, I don't know what is).
I wanted to take some photos of the two of them together now that the world is finally looking more green than brown. As a photographer, I sometimes find that I put more pressure on myself to capture the magical "both boys looking at the camera smiling" image that nearly every one of my clients wants. But as most of them know, capturing a 15 month old kid doing anything but running in the opposite direction of you is often sheer luck. Those little ones who are too young to bribed with candy in the critical photo moments will make you sweat. Combine that with a road trip to grandma and grandpa's house, minimal sleep for all of us, and one evil molar on its way, that perfectly posed shot was not meant to be, and somehow, I don't even mind.
This year, for Mothers Day, while I doubt I will capture myself that "money shot" of both boys looking and smiling, their slobbery kisses, "I love you's" and overzealous hug-tackles will be more than enough to leave me content to have celebrated #onebighappy Mother's Day. And a chance to sleep in wouldn't hurt either.
PS. I was lucky enough to be offered some fabulous clothes from Gymboree to ensure that my guys looked daper as ever for these images. I love that Gymboree offers the option to look through their clothing as "outfits" on their website, so that when you're looking to style your children for a photo shoot, it's very easy to envision how each child's ensemble will look, and how they'll look together. And a tip from what I've learned re: sizing, if your child is borderline between sizes (or even newly wearing their current size in other brands), Gymboree's clothes run a bit big and wide (at least on my bean pole of an almost 4 year old), so I would size down. Especially if you're buying clothes for photos, a slimmer fit always flatters the body best (although I'm biased and think my big guy still looks adorable swimming in his clothes). Thanks Gymboree for outfitting the boys!