So, when my 18-month old Jack was still just a tiny little peanut, I had this idea to print 12 12×12″ square mounted prints for his room (roughly one per month).  It was a fantastic idea in theory and I only hoped I could carve out the time and motivation to actual follow through.  I have had 5 of the prints sitting on the floor of his room since February of 2010.  How they didn’t get completely destroy can only be explained by divine intervention (I do not recommend this storage method to my clients).  I finally edited and ordered the final prints last month.  Then all 12 prints sat on the floor of his room for about a week as I tried to get organized enough to hang them.  It took a good hour and half, two levels, 4 boxes of wall velcro, and my mom’s help, but they are finally up.

I am not sure I can put into words just how I feel every time I walk into Jack’s room and look up to see those images hanging on his wall.  His whole first year, his journey of becoming the little person that he has become, is right there in front of me.  I remember when he was one, two, three months old, holding him while he slept and thinking, “Who are you, little Jack?  What are you going to be like?  What will be your little quirks, your talents, your struggles?”  When I look up at his wall, I remember so strongly those moments.  I also remember him trying to crawl at 4 months, succeeding at 5 months, wanting to stand and walk far before he was old and steady enough to do so, the way his face would light up whenever he saw me, not being able to get anything done because he was permanently attached to my legs, laughing as he tried to toddle around on his bow legs, and how much he loved that first dessert.  I remember watching him become Jack.  And I marvel that I could have ever wondered about who he would be.  Because he is Jack.  He is intense and driven and mischievous, he is loving and shy and adores his family, he is absolutely beautiful and almost nothing but trouble.  And he is my Jack.

I feel so grateful to be able to do what I do–that I have these images that mean so much to me because I do what I do.