Last monthly family post of the year – that means I’ve kept my promise for 2 years and although there have been months I’ve been a bit slow and the pictures have been a bit sparse, I still did it. I have to admit though, it definitely gets tougher as your kids get older. When they’re young everything they do is cute. They love attention (even from the camera) and don’t hide from it. As my boys grow up, I’m finding they want a bit more privacy – gone are the days I can snap cute pics with them in their underwear, seldom are they super silly in front of the camera – now they want to look cool and with that comes a wee bit of hesitation. I think I have to step back even more – give them space and shoot from afar. I won’t stop shooting – I can’t. I need these photos and they’ll be thankful in years to come, I think I just have to change the way I approach it. I’m going to keep going with this monthly project because one thing I know for certain… when I see a years worth compiled in a book, there’s nothing better.

(and if anyone out there has tips on shooting their older kiddos… what works for you, I’m all ears!)

And one more thing… that third image down on the right of Theo skiing, that’s not mine. That was taken by olympian and photographer Kelly Vanderbeek who came out to shoot the Sunshine Speedsters one day. I just had to include it as it’s the first shot we have this winter of one of the boys skiing – and that was a big part of our December!