FFF: Quiet, Sweet Time with my Firstborn

Here's my favorite photo from the week. Natalie and I sat in the hammock after dinner - while mommy was feeling oh-so-nauseous - and talked about all kinds of things. I am loving this new conversational phase. Of course she can answer my barrage of questions, but she is also getting so good at expressing her thoughts. Our chatter and giggles almost made me forgot how awful I was feeling. I was just loving every minute of our time together ... just the two of us. I am already realizing that those moments will be harder to come by this time next year. (Didn't see Natalie's special announcement? Click here.)

Thankfully, my sweet husband had the forethought to grab the camera. Who am I kidding? I totally shouted through the open window - into the kitchen where he was cleaning up the dinner mess - and suggested that he come take a picture :) He climbed the spiral staircase leading to the loft above our garage and captured this overhead photo. I love our expressions, the way we're kind of intertwined, and the textures of the hammock and grass below.

More than anything I love spending quiet, sweet moments with my first born :)

Want to see other "favorite" photos from the week? Head over to Kiss the Frog 4 Me!

FFF: Memories

Earlier tonight, hubby asked me if Natalie was walking this time last year. After a quick pause to calculate and reference her first birthday, I was a little surprised myself to realize that she wasn't even walking yet ... one year ago. She waited until after her first birthday. By the way, knowing my propensity for how quickly she does grown up, you probably know that I was totally okay with that! But it really is amazing to think that my beautiful, smart, extremely dexterous and mobile dumpling wasn't even walking just one year ago. My how time flies!

Anyway, that conversation coupled with the memory theme of this week's FFF, promptly took me into the photo archives ... back one year ago today. Notice she's on her rear or hands-knees in all three shots. Today she was on her feet and running all pretty much the entire day. And look at how short her hair was ... these were her pre-mullet days ... for sure! Oh, and I love her toe in the last shot; she still pulls that big toe away from the others ... don't know why, but it's so cute!

Head on over to Kiss the Frog 4 Me if you want to see other adorable memory-inspired photos :)

FFF: Favorite from the Lake

Our wonderful friends Ashley, Colin, and their cutie Morgan had us over for an impromptu BBQ last Saturday evening. They live on a lake - it is a beautiful location, for sure, and it was a gorgeous NW evening. We had a fantastic time, and I snapped lots of photos ... but I forced myself to choose just one, my favorite.

I decided to "make an effort" with Natalie's hair ... just for the occasion :) Yes, I wrestled her baby fine hair - the mullet part - into pigtails. I just admit, she did look pretty cute. I can also say that I haven't done it again since. I, too, have baby fine hair and a very tender head; that combination makes for one heck of a time with any hair style. Which explains why I've had the same hair style, or lack thereof, forever, and why the most elaborate I've gotten with Natalie's hair is a clippy bow to hold her bangs back.

Anyway, the weather is finally shaking off all the dampness and clouds. The sun is making an appearance on a more regular basis, and I am excited for the outdoor activities to come. The lakeside BBQ was a great way to kick-off the season ... both the warm-weather season and the pigtail season :)

Check out other great photos at Kiss the Frog 4 Me.

FFF: Giant Tortoise BLOOPER

We have this great little zoo in our community. The sculpture animals out-number the actual animals, but NHV doesn't seem to mind, not one bit. In fact, she runs among the bronze animals and happily pets them, hugs them, and pulls on their tails. All of which is clearly not safe to do with real animals! And I love the photo ops it creates ...

During a recent visit, she had a little BLOOPER with the giant tortoise. At my urging, she backed up in between the tortoise's front legs and ... BONK! Hit her cute little noggin. Oh, look at that expression ... poor baby! (I couldn't help but chuckle ... just a little!)

I didn't actually take two photos - I just cropped the photo to show the "details" of NHV's expression ... priceless!

This was also the same day as the "nose dive on concrete sidewalk" incident. Amazingly, NHV still asks - almost daily - to go back to the zoo to see the animals.

Check out a few other BLOOPER photos at Kiss the Frog 4 Me.

FFF: Happy Mother's Day!

This week's FFF theme is Mommy, and it only seemed fitting for me to take a little stroll down memory lane ... to the day I "labored" my beautiful girl into this world!

Not sure I would say this is the day I became a mommy, but the photos bring back truly wonderful memories and they certainly evoke some strong mommy emotions. It's amazing how the human mind just blocks out the pain. Guessing that's the best way to ensure mommy's will do it again, huh?!

Anyway, I can really only remember JOY ... and that stupid IV in my hand was driving me crazy ... and I was really, really hot - hotter than I had ever been in my life. Most of that four and a half hours of my life are such a blur; other moments are so crystal clear.

Be sure to head over to Kiss the Frog 4 Me to see more of this week's great Mommy photos.

If you're interested in more of my labor story, this is from the journal I kept of Natalie's first year:

Your Birthday

At about 8:00 pm on July 14th, I was in the loft above our garage when my water broke - what a surprise! With a bit of panic in my voice, I yelled to your dad - he was in his workshop - “Babe, my water just broke!” As I expected, he was shocked but also calm, and he immediately came up with a plan. Call the doctor, take showers, and pack a bag. So that’s just what we did. While I showered, daddy started putting all kinds of things in a suitcase - books, CD’s, clothes, snacks, … none of which we needed, but I’ll get to that. And then while daddy showered, I called your Auntie Heather and our friend Liza; it was so good to hear the voices of friends who had been through this before. I must admit, I was getting a little nervous at this point.

In the car on the way to the hospital, I called Grammy to tell her the exciting news, and that's when it really hit me ... "I'm having a baby!" I started to cry - tears of both happiness and nervousness. I was about to become a mom and talking to my own mom gave me a sense of calm. Grammy was very surprised and a little sad; she was disappointed that you were early and she wasn't here to go to the hospital with us.

I had 5 hard contractions on the way to the hospital; to be honest, they didn't hurt as much as I expected.

We didn't really hurry to the hospital because we assumed that many hours would pass before you actually arrived. That's why daddy packed so much stuff! But it ended up that he barely set our suitcase down before "things got interesting" and a very short time later you were born.

To my shock and surprise, I was already dilated 7 centimeters; more than halfway to being ready to push! The nurses asked me if I wanted something for the pain - an epidural - but I looked at your daddy, which made me feel very brave, and decided to give birth naturally.

Doctor M arrived at about 11:00 pm. I pushed until 12:36am on July 15, 2007.

Those first few minutes after you were born are kind of a blur for me. I look back at the pictures that daddy took, and I am so glad to have them. He really captured the excitement and chaos ...

Run if you want to ...

Run if you want to

Run around the world

Run if you want to

Without anything but the love we feel

~ B52's

Ugh! I am the worst when it comes to song lyrics. (There's the infamous "Baby when you're crying" mix-up that I am fairly certain never to live down. Who confuses crying with grinding?)

Anyway, I just did a search to confirm the above lyrics, and discovered that it isn't "run;" it's "roam." Imagine my disappointment! I've been editing these photos from earlier today and singing that darn chorus over and over again in my head. Feeling all clever and what-not. All the while thinking that it was "Run if you want to." How perfect is that with these photos?

In case you haven't figured it out yet, this week's Favorite Foto Friday (FFF) theme is RUN (not roam). And if my lyrics don't match, at least my photos do. It was really a challenge to capture the movement of two almost-two-year-olds. The lighting late in the afternoon didn't help the situation, either. But I did my best, and I feel like I really captured the FUN of the moment :) NHV and her buddy O had a blast. I must've said, "Ready, Set, Go!" like a million times!

You really should click on over to Kiss the Frog 4 Me to check out other photos.

In Front of the Camera

Before I realized this week's FFF theme was ME, I had drafted the post that follows two days ago. And call me a double-dipper because - I decided to hold the presses - and use this as my FFF post ... guess I'm killing two birds with one stone; how I hate that saying - not what it implies - but it's literal translation.

Ugh, I am feeling long-winded! Keep reading ... or just scroll to the end to see ME :)

My good friend Deann - who happens to be a great photographer (among many other talents) - introduced me to this really great photography blog site:

Each week the site sponsors a photo contest with a specific theme. And, well, since I aspire to be a decent photographer some day, I find myself drawn - like a magnet - to this site and the hundred of photo entries.

This week's contest was a self-portrait, as in take a photo of yourself (and your little one if you'd like) and you must be holding the camera. That's a toughie, huh? Well, I didn't make the deadline ... and I've had pink eye since Friday ... so this probably wasn't the best week to take a picture of myself anyway. But after looking at some of the entries, I found myself feeling sad that I don't really have many pictures of me and my baby girl ... that's sad, right? I TAKE gazillion photos but that means I am behind the camera ... and stretching my arms out to include myself just isn't something I think about doing very often. But I vow to change that. I vow to put myself in front of the camera more often.

Anyway, I decided to scour the images on my computer ... I only went back to last June ... and here are a few of my favorites:

1. 
   
   My friend Missy took this photo when we visited her in Denver last June. I love Natalie's argyle BabyLegs! And my hair looks longish and not as flat as usual ... apparently, Colorado agrees with my limp locks!


2. 
   
   I took this photo one afternoon while we were playing on the floor in our family room. It's at a silly angle, but I just love the happiness on our faces :)


3. 
   
   Another afternoon play session turned photo shoot ... Natalie has a weird look on her face but I love her little hand!


4. 
   
   On a snowshoeing "expedition" this winter, Chad snapped this shot. She's looking up and saying, "Hold me." Sweet candid :)


5. 
   
   My friend Tammy was "playing around" with my new camera and Natalie was being grumpy, so we "posed" for this grouch shot ... but somehow I look a lot more grouchy than she does ... go figure!

FFF: Wet

When I first saw this week's FFF theme, WET, I thought of the obvious ... like the endless rain we've been having here and how WET everything is ... the grass (our backyard is a certified swamp), the mulch, slides, and swings at the park, ... even the cuffs of my jeans. Or the countless photos I have of Natalie in the bathtub ... obviously, she's WET in those pics, right?

And then I stumbled upon this series of photos I took on a rare sunny day when the light in our front room was really nice. I was mainly just playing with my new camera and learning to shoot with natural light and a setting other than "Auto." I was so wrapped up in the mechanics, I didn't give a lot of thought to my subject - cute as she may be - and it certainly never occurred to me that I should wipe off her dripping chin. It qualifies as WET, right? At the very least, I think we could call it MOIST :)

My little nugget has been teething forever! It wasn't until a month before her first birthday that she started showing serious signs of teething. At 21 months, she still only has 6 teeth on top and 5 on the bottom. And so, the dripping chin and wet shirt-fronts continue!

You really head over to Kiss the Frog 4 Me to check out some other great and wet photos.

FFF: Beach ... in Cabo San Lucas

This past February hubby and I stole away to Cabo San Lucas - sans little one.

The sunshine, the warmth, the fresh air, the fruity drinks, ...

it was an amazing time!

This photo was taken on our last night,

which also happened to be Valentine's Day.

How romantic :)

To see other "beach" photos, head on over to FFF.

BTW: Sorry this post is so late. I am actually on the east coast - visiting friends in VA. I had this post ready and saved before I left on Thursday morning, but I forgot to hit the "publish post" button. Silly me!

FFF: Then ... and Now :)

This week's Favorite Foto Friday theme is Then ...

and I took the liberty of adding the Now part.

The top photos were taken ... then ... last March.

And these were taken this month ... now.

Amazing how much she's changed.

But the ridiculous amount of pink in her wardrobe,

that has stayed the same :)