five to take.

Months went by without a single photo of this little one in the bathtub.

{Insert big frowny face here} because I really don't like dropping the ball on photos I want to have, the moments we can't go back to capture again.

Thus initiating a new little list for myself that I would like to call the "Five to Take" list.
Each month I jot down 5 must have moments captured, based on stages the girls are at and the time of the year.
Over time I have definitely come to realize that I already know the pictures that we want to have, the pictures that we will look back at most, or ones we will use in video montages.  This has helped me and saved my time immensely (and memory space on our computer).  We have thousands of pictures of Quinn as a baby that quite honestly will never be used or even seen, so that was hours of my time with a camera in my hands plus hours of my time now deleting hoards of photos.  We probably don't need 150 photos of the same shot right? ;)

So here it is - my "Five to Take" for the month of March.

Sure, the camera will come out for other moments during the month, but this helps to make sure you don't miss the ones that you can't go back to later.  With a little baby it is easy to come up with the stages you want to capture before they move on, the little things they do that they won't do forever.  Andie is super snuggly on me right now, you better believe that I want to remember that.

A plan for me, but maybe it will help you too if you don't want to miss out on capturing specific moments, but also don't want to wear your camera as a permanent accessory.  You don't always want to be capturing moments you want to be part of them.  Truth - I have stopped taking pictures of present opening - I have discovered that we don't really look at these photos or use them and instead I get to be part of the fun and just relax and enjoy the excitement.  If anything, I might just let the video camera roll during that time so that I can use pieces of videos for a montage or to just remember the expressions and reactions.
Also, making a little list helps you remember that it is important for you to be in front of the camera too!

After Andie's nap, we are headed outside.  Spring is here!  Spring and Fall are my favorites - I soak it all up!