Perfection, Part 2

{here's part 1}

jump for joy

...because Grama Bama

is on her way!

Hooray!

And it's Friday!

Double Hooray!

No jumping in this picture but it's too good to not share.

*pictures from here...but you already knew that.

pictures with my mom

{my mom and me last summer}

I recently answered the call to be a part of the 30 Strangers Project. I didn't make the cut. I have no idea why. I mean, I told them that I am exceedingly beautiful, my mom is lovely AND I offered to bring pie to the photo shoot. I also mentioned that my mom is Canadian. That might be what lost it for us. I'll never know.

It doesn't matter though. I received an email from the kind photographer offering to take our pictures anyway. We just wouldn't be included in the big project. That's ok with me. I was just hoping for some amazing pictures of Grama Bama and me. Looks like that's what I'm going to be getting come June 23rd. The best part, it's only $45 instead of 5 times that much. Good deal.

I'm excited. My hair will be longer and I'll be eating sugar again. Maybe he'll work some miracles in the photo editing and erase my wrinkles.


Speaking of mother/daughter pictures, here's my all time favorite of me and my own daughter (taken by the amazingly talented Candis.)

Cate was 5 weeks old and still as tiny as can be. I'm not too proud of my chins, neck wrinkles and ginormous upper arm but at least my crow's feet and gray hairs aren't showing.

Plus, I've never been so, ahem, well endowed in my life.

Just one of the many blessings of having a newborn.

sometimes

"Sometimes," said Pooh,

"the smallest things

take up the most room

in your heart."

...and the biggest chunk of your bank account,
and every second of your free time,
and the last bit of patience you possess.
But that's beside the point.
They're mine
(kicking my trash to the curb or not)
and I love 'em.

cloth diapers

Look what my friend (hi, Debra!) dropped off for Cate yesterday morning.

Cloth diapers for her Big Baby.

Are they stinkin' adorable or what?

She made them!
Like with fabric and a sewing machine and her own two hands!



I wish she could have heard Cate's reaction when she saw them.

It was a lot of Ooooooooh! Ooooooooooh! Ooooooooooh!
Toooooot! Ooooooooooh!

(tooooooot means cute, by the way)

She was thrilled.
And so was I.

Thank you, Debra!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Thank you!

I'm going to just go ahead and let this be an opportunity for myself to be thankful for the talents and kindness of others instead of feeling like a crappy mom who doesn't know how to make cute cloth diapers for my child's baby dolls.

That's what I'm choosing.

* * * * *

And for the grandparents,
a picture of two babies who have never had a cloth diaper on their bums a day in their lives.

Perfection

say cheese

We missed you, Abby and Emma.
The girls were sorely out-numbered.

To whomever was praying for well-behaved kids that day,
THANK YOU!

It worked...mostly.

I'm just pleased as punch that the FotoFly guys were able to make Grandpa smile...mostly.

My sisters and I sure do make beautiful babies.

Christmas card preview

We had a little photo shoot a few weeks ago with our favorite photographer extraordinaire.

I'm thinking about using this one for our Christmas cards.
What do you think?

If a picture's worth a thousand words,
this one pretty much says all 1,000 of them.

I know. I know.
You're just dying to be on my Christmas card list now.

Go ahead and leave your address in the comments and I'll make sure you get one.
They're going to be the hot commodity in a few months.
Can you just picture this one on display on your mantle or fridge?
Ushering in the joyous feelings of the Season.

Featuring
me, letting my true feelings shine through
Dan, showing his quick legs and strong hands
my baby girl, with cheeks so cute I want to eat them

Not featuring
my darling son, the photographer for this particular shot

I love this family of mine.
More than all those 1,000 words can say.

a preview

My sister, Judy, lovingly informed me this evening that she clicks over to this blog several times a day hoping to see more of the pictures from our latest photo shoot with Candis.

I was just trying to hold off sharing until I had picked which ones I wanted to include on our Christmas cards. I still haven't decided but here are some that might not be on it.

But they might be. I'm not promising anything.

I believe this picture was taken a split second before Cate started squealing and pushing Danny away. You can see her left hand already starting to rise. I love the look on Danny's face. That's his "loving on Cate" face. For some reason, he clenches his teeth when he goes in to hug her.

And here's Cate punching me in the lower part of my double chin. I'm a little sad that Candis didn't do some photo lipo for me on that one. I love the reflection of the tree in the window though. And Dan has a nice smile. He'll think he doesn't, but he does.

I was really hoping for a good shot with Cate's shoes in it because I think they are so stinkin' cute. Too bad she was so stingy with her smiles. She didn't have a long nap so she was in a semi-grumpy mood. She's still adorable though.

Look at those eyes. And those eyelashes. And those eyebrows. He's such a handsome kid.

I'd like to think this was a smile, but I'm pretty sure it was just another beginning to a squeal of protest of one form or another. Still cute though.

This one's bringing a little tear to my eye. When did my babies get so big?

Still handsome.

I'm loving this picture of my non-blue-eyed little girl. I'd still love her if here eyes were blue, of course.

When I first saw this picture, I told Dan, "He's so cute even when he's not smiling." I love his smile but I also love his serious face. I think we got him to smile after this by playing the "Don't Smile" game. It works every time. He loves to disobey.

This is one of my favorites. Actually, I guess I think that about all of them!

then and now

then

June 1997...young and dating


and

now

November 2009...old and married


Thanks to Candis for the now picture.
Where were you back in 1997 when I needed you?
Oh, yeah. Probably in junior high.

That's ok. You're here now.
And for that I am exceedingly grateful!

Speaking of
where were you back in 1997 when I needed you...
comb?
brush?
eyeliner?
lip gloss?
fashion sense?
The list could go on and on.
I'll stop right there so I don't have to mention
padded unmentionables.

Please do not feel the need to leave a comment and add to my list.
Just bask in the beauty of improving with age.
There's been improvement, right?

Whatever...thanks, Candis!

couldn't resist

another flashback...

one year ago today...

my almost six-week-old baby girl

pictures by photographer extraordinaire, Candis

my babies

Thanks to Candis for these perfect pictures.

Thanks to Dan for these beautiful babies.

Thanks to Grama Bama and Kris for going on a wild goose chase with me to find this park.

Thanks to Aunt Judy for letting me borrow the bench.

Thanks to me for restraining from posting all 48 pictures.
It was a challenge indeed.
If you want to see all of them, go here.

I need to go brush my teeth now. These babies of mine are just too sweet.

cate

Cate spent some time in a little photo shoot last week with my neighbor, Candis. She was stingy with her smiles (Cate, not Candis), mostly because she was just into her somebody hold me part of the afternoon. Here are some of my favorites.