When my daughter was born in 2011, a friend suggested I do a 365 project for the first year of her life. Meaning, make one photo a day of our world until she turns one.

Brilliant! I’d never picked up the camera before, but had a small DSLR camera and knew how to push the shutter in Auto-mode. 

It started as simple as that.

Without much thought, I’d make pictures (or ask my husband to make a picture) of whatever moments spoke to me. I started learning about the makings of photography and how to use my camera.

When the project celebrated one year, I continued, and didn’t stop until a quarter into the third year—after we added a son.

Instead of doing an annual yearbook, like many photographers do, I liked the idea of a “First 5 Years in Parenting” book. The transition from the beginning of the book through the end is bold and beautiful and feels fast—much like the way time is in real life.

The book starts October 31, 2011 and ends October 31, 2016. As I write to you today, November 1, 2020, it’s absolutely wild that I have just one more year and I can make the next 5 year book!

I love the season we’re in, yet I know it’s only because of those first 5 years that we are where we are (and who we are) today.

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