When Brynna was 2 weeks old, the stomach bug ravaged our household. I remember we had to push back our newborn photo session a couple of times, as it just took SO LONG for that nastiness to go away. After we pushed it back a 2nd time, I was so brokenhearted that she would be “so big” and “so old” by the time we had her session, that I had Ben take a few pictures of just me holding her (and I took a few of him as well). This has always been one of my all time favorite pictures!

When her first birthday rolled around, I came across that picture as I was prepping her birthday party and birthday blog post, and I knew it needed to become a tradition for all her birthdays, so my dad captured this one of the two of us at her birthday party.

This year, she was an absolute mess on the day of her little family party (I now know why, but obviously had no idea at the time!). Easter was a couple of weeks later, and as our families gathered at our house for an Easter meal, I grabbed my camera and asked my dad to snap one of Brynna and I. I almost didn’t. I had wanted to do my hair, but ran out of time. I felt harried, exhausted, and a little overwhelmed, but we carved out 2 minutes to snap a few pictures. You guys. I am FOREVER GRATEFUL. Forever.

This image was taken 1 week before the worst day of our lives. The leukemia was raging inside of her right here, and we had no idea. When I came across this picture this past week, I realized how utterly important pictures are. As moms, as parents, we often don’t get in the pictures with our kids. I hear it all the time, but it never hit me so much as it did this week. We almost lost Brynna. She’s still not out of the woods, and has a long road ahead of her. Her beautiful blond curls are gone and will never be the same. Yet, we have this moment, captured in time, forever. I know that we have dozens upon dozens of birhtdays ahead of us to add to this collection, but for right here and right now, I am so thankful we took the time.

All that to say, TAKE THE PICTURE. It doesn’t matter if you change your shirt and have PJ bottoms on. It doesn’t matter if you DON’T change your shirt. It doesn’t matter if your hair is a mess, you have little or no make-up on, or the bags under your eyes are huge. Take the picture. You will always be thankful you did.

And really, my mom is actually the one to thank for getting the pictures. On Brynna’s birthday, she wanted to do a grandparent/grandchild picture, with all 4 grandparents and our 3 kids, but since Brynna wasn’t having it, we decided to do it on Easter. Brynna wasn’t having it on Easter either, but we did it anyways. It made us laugh at the time, but looking back we realized how sick she actually was here, and are beyond thankful we snagged these, even if she was crying.

And as a side note, you know that picture that has become our Brynna poster child picture? I almost didn’t grab that one either. I’m pretty positive she is still in PJ pants. Her hair is a MESS in the back, but I grabbed a bow, and made it look decent from the front. And she dazzled with her smile. Probably the last “real” smile she gave us before getting so sick.