Forgive me, this one’s a little long.

It should go without saying, but I love this kid.

She does everything with passion – draw, sing, laugh, cry, scream, listen, love, rage. She can be tough to parent. TOUGH. TOOOOUUUUGGGGHHHH. I’m so grateful that she’s bright and healthy, and I don’t have to deal with any challenges related to that. But, still, I think it’s fair to say that she can push me to my limits. I haven’t read it, but this book title captures just how CM makes me feel at times (unfortunately, I don’t have time to read it)! But, oh God, when I step back and watch her…or look at the photos of her…she takes my breath away.

Sorry if this is a few too many pictures. This has been a difficult week. I’m taking a cue from my old Childbirth class by going to my quiet place and focusing on a picture (or many) that makes me happy.

She is so like her dad in many ways. Same taste buds, mischievousness, curiosity, and, yes, intensity.  They are two of the most stubborn and persistent, and least likely to forget ANYTHING, people I’ve come across. You should see them lock horns. I seriously fear for the teen years. I guess the similarity is why I love them both so much.

I’m so curious to see how VC will fit into the picture as her personality develops.

Thanks for indulging me…I’m off to Atlanta for B&J’s wedding. I love this couple, love the location (it happens to be where my own wedding reception was!) and I can’t wait to share some pictures from it when I get back.

These girls are not only beautiful, but warm, passionate and fun. Just like their great mom, whom I’ve been friends with since we were younger than they are now. I love getting to see them grow as a family. Thanks, H-ladies, for spending the afternoon with me. I hope you had a great month of birthday celebrations!

Have you heard that country song, “You’re Gonna Miss This“?  It’s a corny country radio song, but the lyrics get me every time. It doesn’t hurt that I first heard it when I was stressed out and pregnant. These reminded me of that song…

For more about my style and philosophy about portraits, visit the About Portraits page.

Time to get serious about babyproofing. VC is mobile!

That’s her trying to sneak up on Big Sis.

Seems long ago now, but we recently took a vacation with the girls and all their cousins (so far). With five kids under five, the main activities were swimming, changing, eating, and napping. Pretty much in that order.

On our last day, it was down to the four of us. We took CM out for a big girl outing after her week of playing with/bossing around all the “babies.”

I am no gadget geek. I lived for many years without a television. My phone is as basic as it can get. My car doesn’t even have a cd player. Other than my entire life being organized by Google, I consider myself to be pretty low tech. But when the iPhone came out, I was in tech lust. Every week it seems I hear about some new application that I am positive will enrich my life and make it run more smoothly. I have declared that for the first year or two, instead of drawing a salary from my business, all I want is an iPhone. I don’t have one yet. I’m setting a goal for myself and the coveted gizmo will be my reward.

Here is the latest thing that’s making me salivate – iSketch. I found it on a blog/site that I love called 20×200 where you can purchase great original contemporary art for as little as $20.

What are your favorite apps? Any iPhone haters out there?

Those are lyrics from T&B’s song, and very appropriate for them indeed. These two have been through incredible challenges to get to their wedding day and they deserved to celebrate and be celebrated. I’m so proud and happy for them. And I was honored to be asked to document their day.

On a personal note, I learned a ton from my first official wedding shoot. First of all, that I LOVE doing it! Secondly, that I have a LONG way to go – but really I will probably always feel that way. I couldn’t just pick a few images to share here, so I put together some collages.

Getting ready…

Some of the details that they put much thought and effort into.

Ceremony…

For a guy who supposedly doesn’t really dance, B looked great on the dance floor…

Just a few more…

This has been a stressful week. No major crises, just feeling overwhelmed by a bunch of little ones. T ran the girls down the street to the park for a couple of hours this afternoon just so I could get some things done that were way overdue – like making sure our home is insured and our taxes are paid – and so I could have a moment of quiet to collect myself and not be miserable for our usual “Fun Friday” activity with CM (and VC, but she doesn’t care too much about it yet). Tonight it was sushi and a movie.

So when I came across this on the blog of a photographer whose work I admire earlier today, it helped me to keep things in perspective…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR0utofGLF8&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

In the end, I’m sure I’ll remember how CM has been adventurous about life, including food, from the start. Eel, pickled ginger and fried tofu are among her favorites. I know I won’t forget VC’s open mouth slobbery baby kisses, or her gummy smile that lets me know she knows (and loves) exactly who I am to her. And, according to the guy in the video, I won’t recall at all how our evening ended with me mopping up pee and doing the 28th load of laundry this week after a raging, screaming temper tantrum.

I’m just back from vacation and still playing catch up. Until I get around to posting pictures from T&B’s wedding and our vacation that followed, here’s a quote from a bumper sticker I recently saw that has stuck with me.

This is why I opted NOT to stress about impending work and business decisions that are looming for our family,  and not to work while on vacation even though I was dying to edit the wedding photos.

100 years from now, it will not matter how big your house was or what kind of car you drove. But it will matter how you raised your kids.