A night in the life...

One of my New Years resolutions was to start blogging my sessions. My first blog I basically wanted to extend my bio and show you a night in the life of us McKinnons. They revolve around our son, Mason. After dinner we play with whatever toys he is feeling for the week. As most parents know they can have the same toy for months with no interest in it and all of a sudden it's the one and only toy they want to play with. This night, it was his dads K'nex rollercoaster that was a Christmas gift from me. I had no clue how much time they would spend together as a result of that gift. As you can see in the picture he was taking it apart while dad continuously put it back together, but thats what we do for those little monsters right? Some moms might think "monster" is too harsh to describe their little angels but if you knew my Mase Man, you would know that it's very accurate.

Parenthood isn't always flattering or easy. With bedtime usually comes a couple meltdowns. Which most 18 month olds are VERY prone to. If you know anything about mental "leaps" you know that the 10th leap comes around 16 or 17 months and lasts about a month and a half. We are currently at the end of this leap and let me tell you, it's been something else! With the fun times also come the hard times, that applies in lifestyle photography as well. Not every shoot is fun and games. There is usually crying, breaks and bribing.

Once some of his energy is burnt off we head to the bath, which has become his favorite! Bath time consists of repeatedly filling up a cup from the faucet, dumping it and filling it again. Bath toys have become obsolete... this week at least! Our first "baby", a 6 year old German Shorthair mix, is also a main component to our nightly routine. Mia hangs out in the play area with us, follows us to the bathroom where she lays in front of the heater and then continues to his room where she lays in front of the heater, again, hogging as much heat as possible. She doesn't miss a beat and is the definition of a "family dog". Our other fur baby, also a 6 year old German Shorthair mix, is scared of the basement so she holds down the fort upstairs. She is one that marches to the beat of her own drum. She's the "Phoebe" of our family, but we love her anyway.

After bath time he runs to his crib in an attempt to snag his paci... most nights he's successful...

Getting dressed, brushing teeth and winding down isn't his favorite part of the day unfortunately. Getting dressed comes with a meltdown and so does brushing his teeth.. at least when we do it for him. He loves doing things for himself but most parents know your toddler isn't going to brush their teeth efficiently enough to make up for the cookies mom snuck him that day, but he puts in a good effort!

Despite the stress and exhaustion his meltdowns can cause, these are the nights and moments we will someday long for. When it was just the 3 of us in our house on Grace, Mason not wanting to go to bed and Mia's tail knocking on everything in the room while we try and sneak out with the lights off shushing her... these are the nights we'll always try not to take for granted.