This month, one of my super amazing clients agreed to give us a peek into her world by writing March’s Day in the Life piece! I absolutely adore the way Kristin so honestly and beautifully captures lifestyle sessions, from newborns to families. More than that, she inspires me with her passion for capturing what she calls the “glorious ordinary” moments in her own life. Kristin has SUCH a huge heart and strives to spread kindness around like confetti wherever she can. Her spirit is the bright yellow light shining through even the most gloomy days. See what a typical day looks like for this photographer (and prepare to be totally #jealous when she talks about how her husband watches The Bachelor with her- I can’t even get my guy to nap in the same room as me when I’m watching it!).
Day In The Life: February 22, 2017
Hi! I’m Kristin Cornely, a newborn and family lifestyle photographer at Kristin Cornely Photography located in Northern VA. I love focusing on the little things in my work that you will want to remember one day, long from now. The connections, the details, the love. Doing a Day-In-The-Life project is right up my alley and I’m excited to let you in on a typical day for me as a work-at- home/stay-at- home mom and photographer.
Today begins like most these days. I’m in my third trimester with a bouncing baby boy and I mean that literally…he bounces and kicks and gives me heartburn allllll night long. Our girls, Charlotte (almost 4) and Lila (almost 2) have recently moved into the same room together and are adjusting. That is code for they wake up all night long too. SO! At the buttcrack of dawn, they are in bed with me and everyone is super pleasant as you can tell from the photos.
After some lounging in bed, we start to feel alive and head downstairs where my amazing husband, John, has already showered, gotten ready, taken out the dogs and cooked us breakfast. Sometimes he even gets up at 4:30 to go to the gym!! I have no idea what I would do without him. He is truly my superhero!
Charlotte and John love hanging out at the bar during breakfast while Lila and I hang at the table where I usually do a quick email/social media check to see if I need to follow up with a client, etc. Today, I had an email letting me know that someone had ‘liked’ a photograph of mine in a photo competition I had entered. I am anxiously awaiting the results!!
Following some sweet hugs goodbye to Daddy, the girls play for a bit while I tidy up from breakfast and do a chore or two and then we head upstairs to get ready for the day. Both of my girls LOVE to be independent, which can be awesome and frustrating at the same time. Charlotte is now at an age where she truly can do things by herself (most of the time) but Lila isn’t. Here she is cheerfully dressing herself. A few minutes later, she screamed bloody murder when I had to finish the job for her. I am not against screaming and crying photographs, but I literally had my hands full so I didn’t get any of those moments for you. 😉
Oh yeah, here I am! I don’t take nearly enough photos of myself with my family so I vowed during this day-in-the-life project that I would set up my tripod and get in the frame. Except, I can’t find my tripod attachment soooo looks like I will have to improvise!
After the girls are dressed and teeth are brushed, I throw on a DVD in our bedroom so that I can get ready. Today that involves dry shampoo and makeup, leggings, and a sweatshirt blazer. I can live without a shower or doing my hair, but I can’t live without make-up! If I didn’t put make-up on then you know I must be on my deathbed. The sweatshirt blazer is the most awesome way to look like you tried, but really it’s just a dressy sweatshirt. You’ll see it later on in my grocery store photos…I got it from The Limited!
My favorite DVDs for this time of day are the “Signing Time” shows that a friend let me borrow. The girls love them and they have learned so much from them! I catch Lila signing stuff all the time and I totally credit the DVDs for teaching her all of her colors! Over next to the bed are our dogs, Lily and Daisy. They are the most tolerant dogs in the whole wide world letting the girls climb on them, pull their fur, and use them as a step stool (not kidding!).
After some more playtime, we drop Charlotte off at preschool and then head to the grocery store. I’m pretty lucky because my mom and dad live close by and are able to give me a helping hand when I need one. My mom comes over once a week to watch the girls so I can blog, do bookkeeping, edit, etc. In addition, my dad has been helping me lately at the grocery store.
If there is one piece of advice I have for work-at- home moms (or moms in general!!), it is to not be afraid to ask for help! I was SO glad he was there on this particular day because Lila fell asleep in the car and woke up a total cranky pants. She screamed and cried any time I put her in the cart so all of the photos I thought I’d take at the store went out the window along with most of my sanity. I got one with the help of my Dad and you can see that the car ride home was fabulous! 😉 Dad helped me carry all the groceries up the stairs when we got home and Lila finally settled down with a little lunch.
Following lunch time, we headed upstairs for naptime. I was cursing my lack of a tripod for these, but oh well, I used a self-timer and a plastic storage tub to get the job done and I’m glad I did. I would definitely have preferred a better angle than a direct shot of my butt, but still love thinking about our pre-nap snuggles and I think these capture those moments just fine.
Naptime on days when Charlotte is in school is my “Power Hour” time. I try to cram things into that time that require thought and no interruptions. On days Charlotte is home, I try to do lighter tasks so that I don’t get frustrated with her since she doesn’t nap anymore.
Today as I wrapped up my work time, I snapped a photo of my office gallery wall that is SLOOOOOOWLY coming together. In fact, I have a few more items up now and I’m really loving it. I’ll be dropping off these goodies to a client after preschool pick-up and can’t wait for her to have her printed photos and album in her hands. Each of my clients gets a Starbucks gift card for themselves and one to give away as a “random act of sunshine” as a thank you present!
Kim really helped me define my brand and make the experience for my clients a special one. Her advice and encouragement has been invaluable!! This year, I was able to quit my teaching job and pursue photography full-time due to her help and planning. It has been a wonderful journey and I’m still figuring it out, but I do not regret it for one second. Hiring a business mentor was the best investment I have made into making my dreams a reality!! Love you Kim!!
Lila wakes up from her nap and we get a few snuggles in before it’s time to pick up Charlotte from preschool. She was all smiles after an exciting day….and then asleep within 10 minutes as I drove to my client’s home to hand deliver her order. Two for two kids with car naps today. And of course when she woke up, she was a total grump as well. Do car naps go well for other people?? Because they are totally my arch-nemesis.
John and I got back home around the same time so I asked him to take a quick bump pic for me since I didn’t have my tripod (I have barely taken any this pregnancy!) before he started wrestling around with the girls. The dogs even joined in on the wrestle match too!
Meanwhile, I fixed up some yummy dinner (soup and grilled cheese sandwiches) and we ate while listening to the girls’ favorite songs on John’s phone. I stood up to take a photo of the fact that, yes, we are indeed listening to Pitbull with our children, when Lila totally stole my sandwich and took a few bites.
Following dinner, John carried the girls upstairs and did bath time. They always love bath time with Daddy because he is WAYYYY more fun than I am. They listened to stories and we tucked them into bed just in time for our weekly tradition of watching The Bachelor.
It was in so many ways a completely ordinary day, but in so many others it was so much more. All of these little moments are the stuff that life is really all about. It’s about being there, loving, learning, growing, and changing.
I feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time with our family and I love capturing these moments through my lens. It’s why I pick up my camera and why I encourage others to make the investment in photography. One day, I will look at this very ordinary day and it will tug at my heart knowing that my little ones aren’t so little anymore. I’m so glad to have this project to remind me of the treasure and gift that is this day.
Want to see more of Kristin’s heartfelt work? Check out her website, hit her up on Facebook, and get to know her on Instagram!
Do you struggle to remember to capture those glorious ordinary moments in your day to day life? Let’s change that! Leave a comment and let me know how well you would rate yourself in this area from 1-10, and let’s all pinkie promise to make March 2017 the month we started pulling out our camera (even if it’s the one on our phones!) a little more often!
PS Kristin- I love you, too! 🙂
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