I have been trying to make a conscious effort to pick up my camera at home.

My iPhone makes it way to easy to capture all those daily moments of cuteness and hilarity that make my heart skip a beat, and with every Instagram upload I feel like I've documented the memory. And while yes, I have, it's sort of a false sense of fulfillment... because once those snapshots get lost in my Instagram feed and texted to the grandparents, it's gone. Never edited, never printed, never treasured. It's not just capturing the moment I want to do, I want to capture the moment in a way that allows me to treasure it. For me, that means picking up the ol' camera at home and documenting the sweet nothings of our day. Easier said than done. I have a busy toddler who is fascinated with lenses and lens caps and yanking the camera off the table by the strap (can you say "heart palpitations"?). I like to keep my camera safe and out of sight, which means I have to be more intentional about using it at home.

Yesterday, like most days, involved baking. I picked a delicious looking cookie recipe out of my Christmas Cookie magazine and whipped up some - if I may say so myself - pretty fantastic little treats to gift to some of our neighbourhood friends. It's a yearly tradition that I love, and it allows me to spread a little holiday lovin' to those near and dear. The leftover cookies were, of course, up for grabs. Neve took one for the team and had a few. As I stood there in my kitchen, leaning against the cold granite countertop and watching my wide-eyed girl lick the icing off her cookie, I thought "I want to remember this moment forever".

We bake a lot, and homemade treats aren't exactly hard to come by around here... but there was just something about this moment... the way her cheeks were still a bit flushed from her nap, the soft light peeking through the window, the Christmas music in the background, the sheer delight and focus in my girl's face as she systematically licked off all the icing, ate the candy cane bits and nibbled on the cookie without saying a word. It was a quiet, perfect moment. One that I never wanted to forget. I grabbed my iPhone and then put it down, running instead to the office where my camera was safely tucked away. I'm so glad I took the time to capture this simple, sweet moment that warmed my heart so very much. These photos are so precious to me!

-xo