Many of you know that my daughter, London, is my WHY for my business and my philosophy. You can read all about London here. However, when I started my business, my boys were little. Although losing London transformed the way I thought about childhood and raising my boys, it was my sweet boys that fueled my passion for photography back then.

Of course, the camera is their enemy at this point in their lives (they’re 18 and 14), so I look back on their childhood and just bask in those moments when they wanted me to take pictures of all of their adventures! Haha 🙂

My oldest son, Jagger, turned 18 on September 7, and it truly just blows my mind how fast it goes. Of course, there were moments when I couldn’t wait for them to be more independent! I couldn’t wait to walk across the floor without Legos piercing my feet. I couldn’t wait to be able to watch something I wanted to watch on TV (other than cartoons and WWE Smackdown – Haha!!). I couldn’t wait to have a house without all the “toy clutter”.

Well, I blinked, and I’m there. All the toy clutter is gone. The Legos are put away, and I’ve saved their favorite WWE wrestlers in a box in the storage room. They watch their own shows in their rooms, and our home is nice and tidy.

I literally blinked.

Although my days of capturing my boys doing karate kicks, playing with rocks, running “super fast” in their new shoes, and “jumping off the top rope” onto the couch are long gone, that age still makes my heart so happy.

Yesterday, I got to photograph two little boys who remind me so much of my own boys.

After their session, they decided they needed to get in the creek for a few minutes (of course they did)!! haha 🙂 I absolutely love that their parents had the approach that the clothes will wash, and they can wipe off with baby wipes in the car! 🙂 It would’ve been so easy for them to say “absolutely not” and head on home.

However, the adventure these two experienced in a short 10-15 minutes of time was absolutely priceless! Shep & Everett were so happy…literally living their best lives! Their parents were so happy & living their best lives, too, just watching their boys experience childhood at its finest!!

I could go on and on about embracing childhood and how the little things are really the big things! But for today, here’s what I’m saying…just LET THEM BE LITTLE!!

It goes by so fast. Whether it’s letting them play in the mud or “baking” (aka making a mess) in the kitchen, just remember that someday, this opportunity to enjoy these moments will be gone. The clothes will wash. The kitchen can be cleaned. They can take a bath. Towels can dry a mess. The evidence can be cleaned up…erased, if you will!

But NOTHING…and I mean NOTHING can erase the amazing memories that you & your children will make just by letting them be little!

I hope you have a wonderful day!!

Ashlee 🙂