As you all know, yesterday was Mother's Day. A day where everyone reflects on their lives as sons and daughters, mothers and granddaughters. Social media is filled with pictures of mothers with their children. But do you know what I noticed? Many of those portraits are from years and years ago, or from when their children were first born. Many of them aren't recent images. I also noticed some of my friends who were mourning the loss of their mothers. They had some pictures of their moms, either with their children or alone. But it was those friends that inspired me to post this blog. 

We, as moms, tend to not be IN portraits with our children. We usually have a million and one excuses as to why we're not in the pictures with our children. We're behind the camera. We're not happy with how our bodies look. We don't have any make-up on. We don't need pictures of ourselves. Etc. Etc. But let me tell you this: Your KIDS need pictures of you. They don't care that you don't have any mascara on. They don't care that you have 10 pounds left to lose. They don't care that you are wearing a sweatshirt that is from 1999. They don't care about any of those things, but they DO care about you. They want to be in pictures with you, and those pictures will matter even more to them once you're gone. No one likes to think about that, but it's absolutely the truth. One day, you won't be there anymore, but they will have pictures. They SHOULD have pictures of you with them. You don't want them to say "Where was Mom?" when they look at the family albums. You want them to see pictures of you smiling and laughing and playing with them! So, forget about not having mascara on, forget about those last few pounds, hand someone else your cellphone or hire a photographer and get in front of that camera!! Get in your pictures! And here's the best part about getting into portraits with your kids: When you're in pictures with them, and they're snuggling you and smiling? YOU are glowing. You have that beautiful smile of pride and calm and JOY. Those faces of joy are absolutely priceless to your children. Those are the moments that they want to remember and should be able to look back on to smile all over again.

To celebrate Mother's Day, here are my favorite images of Moms with their children. Happy Mother's Day!

So, to all of you mothers out there, I hope that you had a wonderful Mother's Day and that you remember to get INTO the portraits with your children. They deserve it, and so do you!