A sneak peek

On Sunday my family had the awesome opportunity to work with Jaidean Baker.  She's a photographer that I've been blog stalking for quite some time.  I love how she captures families, especially children.  To say I was excited about this is putting it mildly.  I may have been known to have a countdown running on our calendar. 

As we chatted about the session, I told her that I did want a family shot, but mainly wanted her to capture those candid moments.  She did not disappoint.  The pictures of beautiful. 

Thank you Jaidean.  I'm beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to work with you.  Thank you for capturing our girls as they are. 

She has a sneak peek of the session on her blog. 

Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day it's Cinderelly

Growing up, when I wasn't spending hours of time talking to myself in the mirror, I would spend the rest of my time playing dress-up.  My mom had gone to Goodwill and bought a bunch of clothes for me and my cousin to play with.  I can remember this white shawl with fringe that I thought made me look much older than my 4 years.  Then again it could've been the tennis balls I stuck down my shirt to channel Dolly Parton a la 9 to 5.

I have no idea why I did that, other than I've always wished I had been born with a little more up top.  That's a story for a different time.  Or never.

The point is, I dressed up constantly.  Then I would get out the tape recorder and sing some song or have my mom interview me because the tennis balls made me famous.  Just like Dolly.

In the last couple weeks Zoe has started to enjoy dressing up.  She has some jewelry, butterfly wings and princess shoes.  Her current style is Cinderella.

It warms my heart to the point of almost bursting to see her enjoying dress up.  It's going to take our tea parties to a whole different level.

She already has the stance of a princess lounging ever so dramatically after a long day. 

Please excuse the laundry on the princess's throne, her maid is a little behind.  She doesn't have any mice to help her.

Which she is very thankful about.  The frogs are enough.

Wordless Wednesday

I love boys

I have the coolest nephews on the planet. They are awesome hockey players, they like to blow stuff up and they still, in a very quiet whisper tell me they love me. You can't say it too loud for fear of losing your cool status. Honestly, I'll take it any way they're willing to give it. I'm honored to be their aunt.

Yesterday my nephew T-Dog turned 8. I still remember the first time I held him, told him how much I loved him and he smiled. Then he tooted. It bonded us for life. There have been many times in the past 8 years where he has liked to relive that moment. Now it's accompanied by smell. Something his hour-old toot didn't have.

There is a totally different dynamic with boys than with girls. When I bring out the camera, D, E and Zoe pose, smile and totally ham it up.

My nephews, both T-Dog and MJ, ask me to video them turning their faces red. On two, totally separate times. Apparently they like to make those veins in their foreheads pop out. The best part is trying to get them to break. Here is my quest.

Thanks for being two of the coolest guys I know. I'm honored to be your Aunt.

Next year, I'm hoping my youngest nephew, Con-Man will let me video him grunting. That would be the trifecta of cool.

Cuddles

I read one time that you fall more in love with your husband when you see them as a father to your children. At the time I didn't understand what that meant. Over the course of the last 2 years, that quote has been hit home more times than I can remember.

You tell me how true that quote was:

There are two differences though: Zoe has grown and instead of napping on you, she'd rather watch Yo Gabba Gabba with you.

Tell me about it stud or something like that

Growing up I would spend my days at my Grandma's and Grandpa's house while my mom was at work. I loved being at their house. It was a magical place where I could do whatever I wanted. I remember jumping on the spare bed until the mattress fell off the bed. I would get out the Light Bright, get bored after 5 minutes and then want to jump on the bed again. My poor Grandma would always let me.

I'm sure she loved seeing me go home as much as she loved spending time with me.

One of my absolutely favorite things to do was spend time in their bathroom. The walls were tiled half way up. They were this green color with white abstract swirls in them. I would try to figure out what picture the swirls made in the tile. One of them looked like the profile of an old man.

When I wasn't finding pictures in the tiles, I would be spending long periods of time with the door shut. They had a full length mirror on the back of the door. I remember spending hours studying my face. I loved how my face changed with each emotion. I would talk to myself and then laugh at how funny I was. Being an only child does that to a person. My Grandma was busy cleaning up the spare room. My Grandpa was getting down the tape recorder for the bazillionth time that day. I had some free time to talk to my BFF in the mirror.

I practiced lines from Grease. I always wanted to be Sandy. I'd show up to preschool in my new pair of Seattle-blue jeans, my flip-flops with rainbow straps and my favorite Snoopy shirt I got at the San Diego zoo. Jeff, my pre-school crush, would see me across the room and want to play with me on the playground. Then I would make that "tell me about it stud" look that I had been practicing in the mirror and he would be wowed.

You can imagine my delight and horror when I Zoe did this:

She's a couple years from perfecting her "tell me about it stud" look. I think we'll work on it this weekend. She does have Sunday School!

When worlds collide

A couple nights ago N got home from work a bit early. He offered to put Zoe to bed so I could get my clothes and gym bag ready for the next morning.

As usual, in 8.5 minutes he was out of her room and she was snoring. I have no idea how he does that. It takes me 30 minutes or longer to have the same result. I like to think it's because Zoe finds our girl bonding so enjoyable and not that I'm a sucker for all her cute antics.

N sat on the bed as I was figuring out what to wear. He pulled out my make-up bag to look inside. He pulls out my lotion and asks what it is. "Ooh, it smells citrisy." I can tell he's enjoying this.

Then he pulls out my acne spot treatment. "Do you just put this on the zit? Then what? Hey is that why you don't have any?" I love how romantic he is.

I use a mineral make-up. With that kind of powder foundation you have to get a make-up primer so the stuff stays on your face. N takes out the primer, reads it and says, what do you use primer for? Is it like the schlacking you put on before you texture a wall."

Why yes, yes it is. It's my face schlack. Doesn't my wall-o-face look smooth.