Daddy's Littlest Girl

This post is dedicated to my wonderful husband, who, without fail gives our family his best.  He loves our little girls so much.  This past weekend, after a more than grueling week at work, he took little Ella out for a walk in the woods & to see the stream that runs through our property.  Sure, she will never remember it, but I will and I am sure Michael will as well.  These girls are so fortunate to have a dad that invests in them.  I just hope that one day they look back on the memories I've captured & realize how much we love them.  Here are a few snapshots of Ella & Dada on their walk.

My handsome hubs...I thought this was a cool pic due to shallow depth of field

Really like Ella's expression here

She liked the running water of the stream

Little pudge

Reality Check....

If you are reading this blog entry and you're wondering what my next photography experiment will be...you'll just have to wait.  Let me start by saying if you are a mom & you feel like my life seems perfect & wow, don't I have it all together, you would be incorrect.  I am just as tired and frustrated as you are.  Although it is true that I have many blessings and I am very thankful for the life I have, it is far from perfect.  If I have made myself or my family seem different than that in this blog, don't believe it, that is just me trying to give folks something happy to look at through their day.  As I am typing this entry to you, I am dealing with a migraine, a baby that refuses to nap & is teething, a toddler that left me a "present" on the carpet & a cat that is neurotic.  My home is not as clean as I would like it to be and there are so many things on my to do list that I don't want to even look at it.  This is the truth of motherhood.  Whether you are a full-time working mom, a stay-at-home mom, or a part-time working mom (by the way I've done all 3--yes, I did work some full weeks right after Jessica came), we are all in the same boat---we all have far too much to do & not enough hours in the day.  Before I had children I knew it would be demanding and that I would have to shift my expectations of myself, but truly it changes everything.  Of course, the good times, outweigh the bad, always, but there are times where I just really need a good cry & a piece of chocolate to make it through the afternoon.  The Bible says:

Romans 14:13

 ¹³ Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

If my blog has made you stumble I am truly sorry.  I do this for me & for my girls, so that one day they will have a good representation of what their childhood was like.  Of course, I like to paint the best picture possible because I always want my girls to know that I love being with them, but it's not always rosy around here.   If I have made you feel inadequate as a Christian, mother, wife, blogger, pretend photographer, baker, crafter (don't really know if that's a word), anything, then I am sorry.  If you are jealous of me & wish you had my life, I am sorry.  If you are envious of the marriage I have, I am sorry.  Michael and I are far from perfect, but do love one another & share our faith daily.  If you are wishing that your husband had a relationship with your daughter(s) like mine have, I am sorry.  If you desire to be home with your kids, but can't, I am very sorry!  All I can say is that everything I have comes from the Lord & am grateful daily for what I have been entrusted with.  You're all probably wondering what brought this on, well, it has recently become apparent that people are jealous of me for various reasons & truly I don't know how to deal.  I have always been the ugly girl from Alabama who didn't know about the world & had some potential, but people questioned whether I could live up to it or not---you can see why people's jealousy of me does not resonate.  I will NOT continue to apologize for my life or my family as I am very proud of the life/family that my husband and I enjoy.  If you are one of these folks that are jealous of me, either consciously or unconsciously, then please don't read my blog, problem solved.  If you believe that I don't deserve the life I have....I would agree.  I am incredibly blessed & fortunate.  The truth is that I only have 1 year left to do my blog, as I will be returning to work then, so please do me a favor & don't ruin my fun over the next year.  My sincerest apologizes to those who dislike me, my blog, the photos I post of my family, or my ability to do a blog altogether. 

P.S.  I will return with happier blog posts tomorrow.  I considered not returning to blogging at all, but this is important for my little family so I will be back with a vengeance! 

P.P.S  If you like reading my blog & looking at pics of my kids, please continue.  I hope that it brightens your day!

Little girl in grey sweater

The other day while at the park I took advantage of the pretty weather to snap a few pics of Ella near an old tree.  I think they turned out pretty good, although, Ms. is still teething & the expressions leave a little something to be desired, but they are still cute.  Can't believe she's going to be 1 before we know it & 10 months on Friday---crazy!  Enjoy & have a wonderful day!

She's kind of obsessed with her tongue right now

I like how the tree in the background adds interest to the pic

She looks like such an evil genius in this one--she gets that from the father ;)

The hair...what can I say, it looks like a toupee--she keeps rubbing it off on the sides while she sleeps

Fun day at the Park

The other day we had lovely weather...it was actually 62 degrees & sunny, so the girls and I took advantage of the beautiful day.  We headed out to the park.  Now those of you with kids know that heading out to the park is not a light task & if you are anything like me you end up with the entire back of your car filled with "necessities" just for a simple park outing.  By the time I get the twin stroller, diaper bag, my purse & well, then there's the camera bag, but of course, that goes in the front with me.  There's also extra shoes in case it gets muddy, b/c Ms. Jessica can't stand dirty shoes....I know it's hilarious, but she just will not tolerate muddy shoes....she will walk around telling me "doo-doo shoes" until I give her a clean pair.  Then all the snacks, sippy cups, & bottles.  Well, you all get the picture.  Here's a look at these two playing at the park.  Eventhough it's a challenge to get them there it is always worth it.  Enjoy & have a wonderful day!

Looking so big

She saw a pup-pup so that's why we were smiling

My "preschooler"

Yeah, I get a lot of questions about how far apart they are in age (14 months) & then a lot of "wow, that must be hard"--the northern version of "bless your heart"

She loves to swing

Not so sure about the swing

I'd rather eat sticks, mama

Jessie's 2 year checkup

Well, the 2 year checkup went ok....Jessica is perfectly healthy, although both girls screamed throughout the appointment.  Jessica now weighs 25 lbs 8 oz & is 36 inches tall.  She continues to be right at the same percentile for both height & weight as she has been since her 1st birthday.  She's about 25th percentile for weight & 95 percentile for height.  As the dr said, tall & skinny!  We discussed potty training & also her talking.  Of course, while at the doctor, she didn't want to say anything, just cry, but I did assure him that she is now saying little 2 & 3 word sentences regularly.  He did finally say I can turn her car seat around so that she is forward facing...hallelujah!  The kid has such long legs that she's been scrunched in that seat facing backwards for a good number of months; however, with the new guidelines that came out in 2011, I didn't want to risk turning her before she met all the requirements.  The only shot she needed was a flu booster shot.  I was a little surprised that they even gave it to her considering she's been sick with a stomach bug this week, but the dr assured me she was fine to take it.  Ella totally flipped when they started touching Jessie & would not calm down until everyone stopped touching her. Surprisingly, Ella is very possessive of Jessie & doesn't like other people talking to or touching her.....weird, huh??  Jessica is the same way about her "bebe".  Here's a few pics of my "preschooler" in a new tutu that my mom made for her.  They are not the best quality as I had to take them indoors & it was a rainy day, but still cute, in my opinion.  Thankful for such healthy, thriving little girls.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

This little smirk cracks me up

I had to show you a full length shot...isn't that tutu cute??

She's so funny showing me she's 2

Such a pretty little girl

Love this, she was smiling b/c baby was trying to get in the pic with her

Snow baby

It's a good thing the party was in the morning on March 3rd b/c we began having snow that afternoon.  The snow continued throughout Sunday & early Monday until we had approx. 2-3 inches of accumulation.  Ella has been teething so bad recently, but I'm happy to report that one of her 2 front teeth on top (#F for those dentites out there) broke through & she is in a much better mood.  What does this have to do with the snow--well, seeing as how it is now March & I had a child that would not nap, I thought why not capture (hopefully) our last snow of the season.  Yes, we will say that I was trying to capture Ella's last snow of the season....really, she was screaming so badly that afternoon that I had to take her out of the house so Jessica could rest.  The results of my afternoon project are not bad.  I did pull out my telephoto lens again and found it's pretty good, although I need to practice with this one more.  Some of these turned out pretty cute & as usual Ella's face says 1000 words.  She was slightly annoyed with my putting her in a basket amidst the snow, but oh well, if you don't nap, then you have to do a photoshoot with your mommy ;)  Enjoy a look at our little snow baby!  For my photography friends: diffuse glow effect applied to almost all pics to give a "snowy" effect, dust/scratch remover applied to give it polished look, eyes brightened, skin smoothed, some of the pics I did hand color her lips slighter pinker.

Little snow baby

Told you she's teething

Pathetic little face, right??

My favorite....she's so serious!

Who doesn't love a baby in a basket??

Love this one too, at least the expression isn't so hostile

This is great...very annoyed

She's like, seriously, mama, are you really making me sit in the snow??

The only little smile I captured

Eating the snow

Mmmm...looks like she likes it