Annapolis Newborn Photographer You just fit

Annapolis Newborn Photographer You just fit | Bosses and Babies

Have you ever put on your favorite shirt, you know the one.. its tagless, with the pima cotton material and the neckline thats flattering.. as soon as its on it just fits so good… or those shoes that you want to wear every day because of how they fit… clothes and accessories arent the only thing that fit to my body just perfectly… there are two tiny girls.. who no matter how much they grow.. they just fit. If you’ve taken notice, no matter their size when you embrace you always fit together perfectly… their hands hold to your hands just right, your lap is always just the right seat and somehow they always snuggle up into just the right way.. It makes me think about how God must see us, that we just fit.. that we are perfect… and he gives us so much grace.

These babies that fit perfectly, they need me to give them grace as well, and they deserve it, … I am given grace, more then I deserve, really none of it  I deserve so why wouldnt I extend it to them. Lately I have re-evaluated my parenting skills, not because I thought I was bad at it, but I certainly had ALOT of room to improve. One of the areas I am focusing on is giving them grace, and in that reminding myself not to sweat the small stuff, not to stress over something that wont matter a few days or even hours later.

Let me be transparent with you, I am exhausted, like legit TIRED.. my baby nurses on demand about 4-5 times through the night, my older daughter has night terrors now and then, my husband just had shoulder surgery and has very limited use, I run a more then full time business, and am actively involved in multiple different groups, outreaches, and the like. When I say I’m tired its because I am…  and sadly that means that I sometimes have a shorter temper,  shorter fuse, I react inappropriately, and even more sadly, that means the ones who fit my life just perfectly, the ones I love the most.. see me at my worst and often feel the brunt of my tiredness…. It was very important to me that a few years back I found balance, balance in life, work, and family… so that nobody suffers and I give my best to those who matter most… and those are the ones who fit, not everything fits..so in finding balance, I cant always keep everything, but rather those things that fit.. some weeks I take a break from work, clients, emails, and editing… other weeks I take a break from volunteering, because sometimes those things just dont fit, but my babies… my husband they always fit… they just do, and so sometimes you have to let go of the things that dont fit, to focus on what does.. and when you re-align with what fits in that season, you begin to find more grace, and you can give it more freely.

My sweet Emmaline is six…. man oh man, how on earth is she six already.. she is the best big sister, such a helper, and so compassionate.. this season of life I am working on giving her more grace… instead of giving her a hard time for the one small thing she may have done wrong, or differently then I would have liked, Im learning to let it go, to show her love and to praise the other great things she did all day… Im also reminding myself that even though she is such a mature big sister, she isnt the mom and she doesnt need to be that mature and I need to stop expecting that, and not ask her to do so much for her sister, if she wants to grab a sleeper or a diaper that is wonderful but I need to extend more grace and not expect her to do all of the mom jobs for me. Im reminding myself that the little things she is doing wrong are just that little things, and to not make them a big deal, but to move on and not let it ruin her day. Just because our children have a rough moment, doesnt give us the right to cause their whole day to be rough, instead we should be doing our best to help them make the best of their day even if it did have its rotten moment. I mean think about it, in your day to day what if you made one small mistake, or was rude just once.. but that one bad action complicated your whole day, and caused the entire day to be rotten, and not just that but your friends reminded you of that small failure over and over again…. no you cannot go outside to have a glass of whine on the deck because earlier you did XYZ, no you cannot have those shoes at the store because this morning you did XYZ, no you cannot have chocolate cake after lunch because of that XYZ….. it would feel terrible to have your one failure of the day brought up over and over again, and I refuse to do it, I dont want to crush her spirit only because she is human and WILL mess up… I mess up, all day long and thankfully nobody hangs it over my head… should there be consequences for actions? absolutely… are most of the small things she is doing worth a consequence of a daily reminder of the wrong done.. no not at all. If I dont want her to have, or do, or enjoy certain things, I need to stop taking the easy way out of saying no.. because.. and then the thing she had done… even though as parents that is the easy way out to deflect it back on them… they are CHILDREN, who need grace, deserve grace… just say no to whatever the thing is if they cannot have it… lets not crush these tiny spirits.. but rather extend grace… Im telling you the change I have seen in my daughter has been incredible, the sweet things she is doing and saying.. just because… are beautiful… because I have chosen to give grace, and praise the good things, and let go of the little things.. give it a try! (And I wont say I am good at this yet, I am not, I am working on it.. but the nice thing about giving grace is your children give it in return, they are so good at it, we could take lessons from them)

The same goes for this tiny babe of mine, who just fits my arm and my lap just perfectly as well… crazy right, two different ages, personalities, and sizes but yet they both fit the same arms, and lap just right.. they just fit.. they just do!

This tiny girl gets me up throughout the night, and i’d be lying if I didnt say that I love nursing her in the middle of the night, but sometimes I do wish for more sleep, I do wish she wouldnt have wide eyed parties at zero dark thirty, but then Im reminded that she is waking me up because she fits my arms better then she fits her crib. And sadly, we all know babies dont keep, and though she will always fit my arms, she will soon outgrown the very way she fits them just now, and instead of getting upset with her for not sleeping, I need to use that time to pray for her, to pray for her future, the things she does with her life, the place she will go, and the people she will meet… I dont want to look back later on and realize that I gave up multiple missed opportunities to pray for and love on my girl in the middle of the night, and give her grace….. maybe shes just not tired.. Im not always tired and lay awake in the middle of the night.. I mean I even wake up my husband sometimes to use as my sounding board for the ideas keeping me awake… I need to extend the same to her.

It’s in these silent moments, the ones where I choose to “give them grace” rather then .. making this a teaching moment, or putting them in their place, or teaching them a lesson… where i myself am learning the biggest lessons, the lesson that while my children will never outgrow my arms, they will quickly outgrow the way they fit just right in my lap, the way they can curl up under my neck, and to use those moments to show them love and grace, and to just be…… there will be plenty of teachable moments in the future.. but I’m mama, and these little jut fit… and I never want to regret the moments and how I spent them.

Annapolis Newborn Photographer You just fit | Bosses and Babies

Sarah Michele Photography specializes in Newborn, Family, and wedding photography in the Annapolis maryland and surrounding areas including but not limited to baltimore, westminster, pasadena, and severna park.