charley star photo

NAVI FIGURINE

 

 

16/52: HAPPY

Oh, Keats.
You turned ONE this week!
Bday pics to come, but i'll share these for now.  He's pretty happy don't ya think? :)

 

Sweet Navia

Sweet Satine.

xxo

 

"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013"

FAMILY PORTRAITS: HALLWAY CAMPING + 14/52

we have three big hallways in our house. they get a lot of play.

as a kid, i remember shutting all the doors to make the hallway pitch black, and playing "space" or "rocket ship" or whatever else me and my sis's little imaginations could dream up.

so happy to see my three littles now doing the same. i found them like this one day, to my surprise, cuddled up in the hallway. they pleaded for me to shut the door 'cause i was "letting the light in!"  (that thing in satine's hand is a penguin flashlight.) i had to run get my camera before i ruined the moment for them.

i strive to get the kids (ahem, myself) out of the house most days to play and discover, but it's always so nice to have a relaxing day at home, and give them space to unfold into the day...

they usually create far better playtimes for themselves than i could ever dream up.

simple really. 

for hallways camping all they needed were

sleeping bags (or blankets) and some pillows
flashlight
balloon
books
and a daydream....

i mean, just look at navia, above, contemplating the whole world.... 

 

xxo

FAMILY PORTRAITS: 13/52

tini + navi:  mesmerized

my two girls...  

a rare moment of stillness and captivation....  

we save screen time for the weekends, and as you sat and watched our go-to-family-fave in the late-afternoon glow, i sat on the floor and watched you...   also mesmerized.

mr. keats in joyful exuberation

you simply cannot get enough of being thrown into the air.  

this week you are loving being thrown, your cow, and most of all, your toothbrush.

also, keats took his first 2 steps this week! not long before i'll be chasing you all over creation. oh wait, i'm already doing that. :)

FAMILY PORTRAITS / THE 52 PROJECT

 

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Satine in Contemplation

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Keats in color (version of this)

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last year i was inpsired by deb to take more photographs of my own family.  i was so busy with client work and juggling motherhood/pregnancy/newborns the past couple of years, that i haven't documented my own family as much as I'd like, or if i did, the photos are buried in my computer somewhere.

i've also enjoyed looking at others' 365 Project seen all over the web.  I've seen the 52 Project around the web, and was inspired to do my own when i saw my friend elizabeth's 52 project.  i've been wanting to do something similar for so long, but didn't think i could commit to that type of daily/weekly/monthly ritual.  i mean, look. here i am 10 weeks late, er, in, and just now getting it together.  

but perfectionism is for the birds. right?! right! a domestic-mentor-someone inspired me to adopt this motto:  "You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?" which is totally appropriate for this situation... so here we are.  jumping in at 10 weeks.

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, {uh, most weeks} in 2013."  

especially since i'm still on maternity leave from client shooting, i've really enjoyed getting out my "real" camera again, instead of just iphone snaps, and giving my family some of the photo-love attention that i give to my clients. we'll see how this goes.  some weeks might be portraits, some weeks might be more of a photo essay like deb's... my goal is just to re-commit to taking photos of my family the way i used to... 

anyone else doing a similar photo project? would love to see/hear about it.

xxo

 

Life Lessons from a Toddler

As I am striving to slow down, be present and soak in all of this time with my Littles, I find that I'm at my best when I follow her lead... when I stop the whirlwind of To-Do lists and mental clutter, and just be present.  My toddler does this so well, and everyday reminds me:

Slow down.
Be Present. 
Stop trying to do so much, but whatever you are doing, do it fully....
Then move on.
And when you are feeling overwhelmed, or tired, or 'hongy' (her word for hungry)?  

Simply grab an orange, sit on the floor, and take in the wonder outside your window.

I guarantee it will be the best moment of your day. 

xxo

MY LIFE IN A INSTAGRAM (april/may)

been a while since i've gone through my IG pics... life is so full, and so superfast for everyone these days that it's hard to get the full impact of the amazingness of a life, all of these wonderful moments, except for in reflection. anyone else feel like that? like, you know it's pretty cool, this moment you're living in...  maybe it measures a 6 on a 1-10 scale.  but in reflection, it's somehow become a 10.5 moment. i dunno, maybe that's just me. but that's why i love looking back on all these pictures... so that i can more fully feel that tenderness, that sweetness, that beauty and joy of life. soak it in a little more fully... (except that my littles are growing up so fast it make me wanna cry! sniff sniff!)

i think most of these are from end of april/may, starting from when Keats came home. and if it weren't for having a camera in my back pocket (the one on my phone) i would've probably forgotten these already. sigh. thank you iphone.

hope you are having a good week!

xxo

my life in an Insta-gram

one of the downsides about working as a photographer, is that i hardly ever want to pull out my "big camera," (as it's become known around my house) to take photos of my own life when we're just hanging out. and isnt' that when the best photo ops occur?  as soon as that black beast is in my hands, i'm in "work" mode  and out of the moment that inspired me to want to take the photo in the first place.

thank goodness for iPhone + Instagram. 

here are some highlights from the past month or so:

- satine lost her first tooth -- and a second one 2 days later!  
- the bun in the oven is cooking away. i'm 32 weeks now.
- navia grace is 15 months, more and more engaged and alert and curious with wonder about every. single. thing. and such a sweetpea. 

are you on Instagram? come find me & say hello. my username is:  charleystar
Let's connect! 

home life /// the sunday sessions

sunday mornings.

snuggling in.

home life.

something about these three things together rate as one of my all time favorite things.  in the early morning light, my daughter comes crawling into bed with us, squeezing and squirming her way in between me and her dad (and now her sister, too), finding her rightful place in this family dynamic. with eyes still closed, my arms reach out and guide her into the snuggle fest.  tired as i may be, especially now with the nighttime nursing marathon, i know that these are those times... the times when memories are being formed... the times that, when they're grown, i'll remember with such sentiment that it'll bring me to tears i'll cherish it so.

and as i lay there absorbing all this amazingness that is my family -- as im sure you feel about your family -- i hugged and snuggled my daughters, and my husband, and i rejoiced in their glow, and i willed myself to open my eyes, and put my feet on the floor, and go grab my camera...

so that i wouldn't forget.

so that i wouldn't take for granted the specialness of this time:

the beginning bonds of sisterhood...

the curl of her body...

the sleepy, tired, handsome face of my husband...



the complexity of this child that i discover anew each day...

and the discoveries awaiting me in this one...


i reached for my camera so that i could fall in love again and again and again....

and could forever cherish the landscape of her face

and the joy de vivre beaming from hers....

and her dirty feet and goofy smile and her delicious heart and her pride at being a sister... and the angelic Navia who makes my heart burst from tenderness...

i reached for my camera so i could discover the new dynamic of my family... and because it was warm beneath the covers, and it was sunday morning, and the light was coming in just so....  and i knew in 2 months, or 2 years, or 2 decades, i would need to remember this particular morning on this particular day during this particular time.

xxo

 

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