Leo at 8 months...

I got all ready for Davis to come for his portraits and realized it was the 18th!! Leo's 8 month birthday! Yay! He was so much fun to photograph. I wish I had help so that I didn't have to keep him safe (the set was on top of the dining room table) and get him to smile and shoot it because I shot a lot of these way too tight and it's a serious bummer. He is so cute though and was all smiles and fun. I have to say, I can't narrow down pics of my own kid. Impossible! I love them all! I didn't have time to edit these, but I think he's pretty close to perfect all on his own. 

 This is his special blanket. He loves it so much, as soon as I lay him down for naps or bedtime, I cover his body with this blanket and he grabs it with both hands, pulls it to his face and hugs it. I love it. If I am slow to get the blanket on him for some reason, he gets anxious. It's adorable.

 Penny jumped up for a few kisses.

Leo's Portraits, 5 days old...

Right when I found out I was pregnant I was telling Jennifer Wilcox to get me on her schedule for May. She is so good at what she does and I lover her work! She has been cranking baby miracle photo sessions out for three years now and has such an impressive rhythm to what she does. Leo was in good hands and let her mold him and tug him and pose him in all kinds of different ways. It took THREE hours to get the shoot complete...those newborn photographers really earn their money! Not to mention that his newborn skin is all splotchy and red anywhere he is touched...but she edits all that ugliness out. THANK YOU JEN! I love the outcome!

All I want for Christmas...

...is a gorgeous picture of my three gorgeous babies together. I shouldn't be greedy, I do have one gorgeous shot of them together, but it is over a year old and I want an update with Betsey all big. I have tried. A lot. It is a ton of work to prep three little girls for a photoshoot, and every time I get them all ready either I'm too late and up against nap time, or I'm so put out by the prepping process that I just don't have anything left in me (okay, if I was really done with it, I'd do it no matter what, but someone will be in the shower and the other will be in the hair drying process when the baby gripes so much and so loud I give up).

I had the goal a few weeks ago, and we went to my mom's house to get her help and nail something. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were all ready pretty early, and it hadn't been too hard to accomplish due to dear mom's help. But Betsey knew what I was after and she WOULD NOT give it to me. She wasn't distracted or happy about any of the things we were ready with to make her happy. It just didn't work, and we knew it was an epic fail when we gave up. BAH!

 This shot would be cute if I had others to group it with, but nope.

 Close, but Alice and Betsey need to be looking up and happy. I don't even care if they look at me, but happy and eyes open and chin up so I can see their faces would be essential.

 Okay, these two would pose for me all day, every day. They are so good to me.

Below is actually the first attempt...The pics of the three girls together are mine, the others below are from another photographer, Tina Flores, who offered to try and catch some happy shots of Betsey, which I thought was impossible. She did get some stuff...

I'd say I might like that last one well enough to print it. It's pretty cute. She's walking, she's happy and I think it is a nice shot in general. YAY. One of Bets.

I haven't given up. I have a plan for November 30th when my mom is coming down for Ruby's birthday, and I may try again on December 5th by myself if I can't get anything on the 30th. We are doing it in the studio, so I'll be able to keep them warm, let them dress up and play and I'll just hope something good goes down. Root for me on the 30th.

My three babies...

I have been wanting to get around to this shoot for a long time. I got it set up...but the baby was awake in her happy place the whole time I was setting up, and I missed my opportunity. I only got a few pics of Betsey...I looooooooooove this one (above)!

So the next day, I started the morning already set up (lights, background, props, etc.) and while the baby was still sleeping, I got the older two ready...there are more good ones of Alice for some reason. Ruby used to be my super photogenic girl, and Alice couldn't take a picture to save her life...now they have reversed roles.

I ADORE the above pic of Alice. That face is so her.

Finally, my very favorite pic of all. Too bad the color on blogger is so lame, because it really is a great pic! It just looks a little blah here. Anyway, I love it. It is going on my family room wall in a 20x30 float wrap for my birthday present (which isn't for another week or so). YAY!
For mother's day, I got a beautiful picture of my three girls and for my birthday I'll have it on our wall...forever.

Adulthood on the horizon...

Before my rant, isn't "K" a beautiful senior? She's heading off to college at BYU-Idaho in the fall. Watch OUT World!

There is something so conflicting about graduating high school! I think a part of me will always be trying to grapple with the fact that when I graduated, I was on a slippery slope to permanent adulthood and great responsibility. Sometimes when I'm around these bright, carefree, almost-adults, it hits me that in a few short years they might be paying a mortgage, putting in 50 hours at the office, toting toddlers around on airplanes and taking on other countless adult responsibilities. It is funny that I have this inner conflict because it isn't like I didn't live it up in college! I didn't get married young, I didn't have children before I was pining away for them, and I travelled, earned a degree, latin danced and crushed on guys with accents before I settled down with my man.

I think I secretly yearn for that fountain of youth...not just for myself, but for everyone. Even though I look forward to my children growing more independent, I actually feel a little remorse when they learn to do something new for themselves. Not remorse that they are growing independent of me (I actually LOVE that), but that they are gradually becoming responsible for themselves, and they don't even know it! Literally, when they potty train or move out of their crib or learn to ride a bike or brush their own hair, I think..."slow down, the mortgage is around the corner!"

Last year around Christmas, we were in the process of moving, and we had a glitch at the last minute with our loan (when the accountant sends you your tax portfolio, he includes a postage-paid envelope filled with original documents that you actually have to sign and mail to the IRS on your own) and two days before Christmas, I had to put all the packing and wrapping on hold to take care of the urgent issue. It was a crazy day, and when I got home and looked at my sweet babysitter, who was months from graduation, and had been babysitting for me since she was 14, I lost it. I actually cried! I told her, "I don't feel a day older than you on the inside, but I woke up this morning with two kids and an issue with the IRS, and Christmas presents for two whole families on the kitchen table--they should have been mailed three weeks ago!"

I begged her to stay little and sent the poor, baffled teenager on her way.

Life happens little by little, and it is all such a blessing and part of progression, but sometimes, there's a teenager in me that wonders how she got involved with all this adult stuff.

Anyone else ever have these moments?