120/365

Today I am thankful for how happy my girls are when Lee Lee is here - or any of their grandparents for that matter. Lucy is just so happy to tell Lee Lee about everything and show her everything. She wants Lee Lee to do everything for her. It really is precious. Even though we live hours from any grandparents, both girls have no problem giving them lots and lots of love, and that makes me very happy.

We had an incredibly busy day today. We went to First Monday, which is a gigantic flea market type thing. It is so much fun to dig through the junk and see what treasures you can find. I was in search of some cute little seats to use for sessions, and I found several things for dirt cheap. They need a little paint, but they are going to be great. We were there for hours. We got home late in the afternoon and everyone rested. Then tonight was Lucy's school's fundraiser Carnival. We ate dinner there, got Lucy a balloon and left. It was crowded and to be perfectly honest, this flu thing is starting to really freak me out.

I have to tell a cute story about Lucy so that I don't forget this one. On Monday when I picked her up from school, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Those other kids weren't listening today, Momma." I asked her if she was listening and she told me "Yes, I listen. Not the other kids though." So when I dropped her off the other morning, I had to ask her teachers about it. They confirmed that the kids were very unruly on Monday. I told them that Lucy said that she did, in fact, listen and I asked if that was true. They told me that Lucy was telling the truth on all accounts. I just died laughing and so did they.

I didn't get my entry up for I Heart Faces this week. It has been too crazy. :( I have two more sessions tomorrow. I can't wait for either. One is another pumpkin adopted from Vietnam and the other is my tiny newborn! Woot woot. Work with me here, weather.




High fives!

119/365

Today I am thankful that Lee Lee is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was supposed to get in at 6:30 and we didn't end up getting her picked up until about 8:30. I was going to take pictures of the day with Lee Lee and the girls, but Annie was cracked and went straight to bed. By the time we got home it was 2 hours past her bedtime and she was HUNGRY. This is definitely the closest I have ever gotten to not getting pictures of her. Lucy could not possibly be any more pleased that HER Lee Lee is here.

I am outta here because I want to watch TIVOed American Idol and catch up with my momma!

118/365

Today I am SO thankful that the weather cooperated this afternoon so that I could get my two sessions done while Justin was home to help with the girls. In fact, the weather ended up being kind of perfect. They were both sessions for dear friends, and of course I wanted them to be perfect. I will have sneak peeks up on the La La Blog sometime tonight. I haven't even had the chance to glance at the pics, so it is going to be a while. Trust me, the babies are super cute! I actually can't wait to look through them.

I had to take my computer in to the Mac store this morning. The speakers stopped working and were making this really weird noise. Thank goodness they were able to fix it in the store because I could not send my computer off for a while. After that, Justin, the girls, and I went to a late breakfast at our favorite diner. We had to go to the grocery store nextt and then it was nap time. I went to work while Justin watched the girls. The day just flew by because it has been so busy.

My pictures are greatly lacking today since I was busy taking other pictures. Justin took the ones of Annie taking her bottle and I love those because they are just sweet. I am off to look at pictures.

She is COVERED in drool all day. I had to just take her clothes off because they were so wet. I can see 4 teeth right at the surface just waiting to break through.


Loving on Bianca.

117/365

Today I am thankful for another great day for Annie eating. She did awesome today. It seems that we have a really great day and then a few not so great days. So I really am so thankful for the days that she does so well. I am especially pleased because today when she saw the food and the spoon and started doing her happy kicking legs and mouth wide open smile. That means that she is very excited, which is huge for us. She often starts to cry when she sees the food and spoon. I am just so pleased with her progress.

I am a little bummed because I had a newborn shoot today that has to be rescheduled. A teeny tiny newborn who is under 2 weeks old and doesn't even weigh 6 lbs. Heavenly! It was just too dark and dreary to do it. Obviously it is an indoor shoot, but we need pretty bright light. And it is supposed to be raining for the next 10 days. Not good for me since I have 4 sessions scheduled in the next 4 days. I will get my newborn in this week. Surely the sun can't actually hide for the entire week, right? Right. I am thinking positive thoughts here.

We didn't do much at all today. The weather was just too nasty. I ran a few errands during the girls naps, Lucy had school this morning, and Justin took Annie to therapy while I got a lot of work done. Not much else going on.

I have a question. Do you guys notice a lot of people in public belittling their children and treating them with no respect at all? I feel like I keep seeing this over and over and every time it makes my skin crawl. Here are some examples that I have seen lately. At the zoo, a man and wife (I am assuming they were married) with 4 children. The kids were perfectly behaved. But any time the dad wanted them to do something or go somewhere, he would speak so rudely to them and move them along by kicking them. I don't mean super hard kicks, but still using his foot to get the kids moving. And this wasn't after he told them and they didn't move along. He would kick simultaneously as he rudely told them to get moving. The kids were so well behaved that I know that they would have moved had he simply asked them - no kick involved. And one day when I was going into the Arboretum, there was a mom on her way out holding her son (around the age of 3) and she was yelling at him about what a horrible child he was and how he was never getting to go anywhere again because he was the most awful child. She was yelling so loudly and just kept saying the most terrible things to him all the way to the car. You could tell the little boy wasn't even listening. If she wasn't yelling, you would just think she was carrying him out. He had completely zoned out and was oblivious to her ranting. I promise that I know how hard it is to deal with a 2/3 year old who has a mind of his or her own. My girls are pretty good most of the time and I know how fortunate that is. Most of the time I do not think that kids are wild or "misbehave" because their parents did something wrong. I know you can be an awesome parent and still have a spirited child. Kids do what they want to do - and it is really hard when that is not what is considered socially acceptable. But I just wouldn't tell them that they were the most awful child or tell them that they are horrible. I feel like I see this kind of stuff a lot. And it breaks my heart every time. There have definitely been times when I have totally lost it with Lucy. It is impossible to not reach a breaking point at times. But I still wish that parents wouldn't talk so harshly and rudely to a 2 year old, which is really still a baby. Kids are hard, no doubt. But I still don't think that makes it acceptable to be disrespectful and downright hateful to them. I HATE seeing this kind of thing.


Helping me get organized.

The most beautiful lashes ever.

116/365

Today I am thankful for Justin being home!!!!!!! He has been gone for two weeks. The girls have been great, so I am lucky there. But two weeks on my own while also balancing getting work done has been tricky. We really have been fine and the time went by quickly, but we all really missed him and are so happy to have him back. He swears that Lucy has grown while he has been gone and Annie has changed so much. She really has. We went to brunch today and Annie actually sat and ate, which is something he has never seen in a restaurant and only a few times at our house. Both girls were overjoyed when he pulled up to the house. There was no readjustment period, which was super nice and is not always the case. Lucy has been showing off for him nonstop and Annie can't quit smiling. Justin asked me if I thought her face hurt from smiling so big all of the time. I laughed because I have actually wondered that myself. We all really missed you honey and are so glad you are home!

The session from today was so much fun! Lucy was extremely pleased with mommy working because the clients brought her cupcakes!! Thanks so much Jo Ellen, Katie, and Hannah. The cupcakes are delicious!! I think you will be able to tell from these pictures how much Lucy enjoyed every bite of hers.
Annie loves rolly polies. She often catches them.

Lucy likes to look for bugs, but she has developed a totally irrational fear of bugs. If a fly happens to get in our house, all hell breaks loose. We have had some issues with ants, and let me tell you, if there is an ant within a 2 mile radius of our house, Lucy will find it and demand it smooshed or sprayed.


The remains of a bird egg. Oh yeah, we actually saw the woodpecker that Lucy hears and talks about all of the time. She was VERY happy about that.

115/365

I am in love with this picture.



Today I am thankful for Saturday morning donuts with Lucy. I did give Annie a small taste today, but this is still a special treat for Lucy and me to share. You should see her light up when I tell her it is Saturday, and we get to pick out a donut today! We always bring our donuts home to enjoy and Lucy sits and nibbles and giggles the entire time. She was being so cute today that I got her pictures done this morning, which is totally the way to go, but I just don't get it done most of the time. She has 2 donuts because when I ask her what kind she wants, she always chooses chocolate with sprinkles, but then she wants to eat all of my blueberry cake. And let's face it, I don't really want to share my donut. So, she gets two now and she just kind of eats around the edges of each - and then eats all of the sprinkles off. I always make a big deal about brushing our teeth after donuts and today I kind of forgot and she says, "Momma, I need to brush all of the donuts off of my teeth!" I am glad she remembered. I really cherish little activities that are extra special for Lucy and this is definitely one of them. Annie played so sweetly on the floor with a bunch of toys while Lucy and I had a little time to just chat.

One of the things that I work with Annie on at the request of her OT is to stand with her back against the wall. We have just started working on this and she is doing so awesome! It forces her to work on her balance skills. Doesn't she look so cute standing up so big?!?! She even dropped her book and sat down on her own in a very controlled way. She has been doing really, really well lately. A couple of people have asked about Annie and the testing and we are actually holding off on the testing for at least a month. Our doctor has said that it would be perfectly fine to wait a month or even three months and see how she progresses in the areas of concern. Since in the past 2 weeks she has made some big improvements, we feel confident in our decision to wait a bit and not put her through testing that is most likely completely unnecessary. We still might have to do it, but we are going to relax about it for a month or so. I feel really at peace with this decision, so I think it is the right thing to do. The tests involve anesthesia and I am not interested in giving her that if not totally necessary. And there is a good chance that even if they did see something, we would just continue on with therapy like we have been. So, we will wait a bit. I appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers you all have sent up for her. We are not out of the woods, but I am not feeling so frantic about it anymore.

The girls and I ran a few errands today, but it has been a pretty low key Saturday for us. I have a photo session that I am just giddy over tomorrow. It is 12 and 16 year old sisters who requested an urban shoot. I LOVE shooting babies - it is how I learned to take pictures - but the thought of 2 girls who actually WANT to look at the camera and won't run from me sounds like pure heaven. Oh yeah, and the fact that they don't have to be bribed makes them extra appealing! I would really love to get into the seniors market, but really don't know anyone who is a junior in high school. I am hoping this gives me some experience with that market. If anyone has a senior in the area that needs senior pictures, please contact me.

See how happy Lucy is when donuts are involved.


Her hair is getting so long again. It is hard to pull it back because she has a ton of new growth coming in that sticks out everywhere. It is crazy hair!

She has been having allergy issues. Her sweet little eyes are constantly watering.



Having a brief meltdown about getting in the crib to jump. I couldn't get her in there fast enough!
SO BIG!
I think I can, I think I can!

I made it!


This is so funny because she is trying to raise her foot like she always does, but it is caught in her dress.
She can get every book off of the shelf in about 5 seconds.