here ya go linds…
a little sneaky peeky at your widdle little.

sweet samantha is almost one!

ha ha. i absolutley love this next shot. love it. love it.

…and then just a few quick ones of a not-really-her-first haircut because we only had a bang trim. i had a haircut the other day and took her with me. angelic, she was. laid on my chest during my shampoo. sat in my lap during the cut. let me put curlers in her hair…had everyone laughing at her.

so, we are trimmed and looking very cute indeed.

brett just returned from rockford tonight, and i must go join him in the driveway. we’ll sit in lawn chairs and drink beer and watch lainey get her jammy feet black while she runs around in the dark, chasing dogs. so un-naples, and i love it. we are that family.

~k

i like airports.
i like finding a bench where i can perch quietly, coffee in hand…and sip, watching every interesting person that happens to meander past me. and i wonder where they came from and what their story is.

i like parties. shaking hands. hugging. meeting new fabulous souls and listening to every interesting detail about their life. i like leaving wondering if my new introductions will lead to life-long friendships.

i like facebook’s rampant 25-random-things-you-didn’t-know-about-me questionaire and finding out hidden treasures like the fact that my friend amy finished all four courses of the wilton school of cake design or that brett’s little sister can eat her weight in corndogs if the opportunity presented itself.

i like stopping to notice the waitress’ name printed on her badge and making it a point to call her that the rest of the evening.

because i like people. i love people. all different kinds of people. and when i meet new souls, i store them in little files in my brain to keep. because there’s a reason for everything, and even a simple chance encounter can carve significant impact on life. on futures. on inspiration that leads to becoming the very best version of yourself possible.

which is why i love a photo shoot.
the incredible opportunity to meet new people. and connect. and watch how they love, how they interact, how they breathe life into each other and maybe…just maybe…stop time and capture it.
i love how the first ten minutes of photographing families is awkward. a bit staged. posing, moving, pushing for the comfortable level where they forget there’s a camera. and finally suddenly feeling that awkwardness melt away as everyone loosens. finds their groove. tips their head back in laughter. when the kids drop the cheesy grin and smile real. because they’re happy. when they high five me after a good shot.

i love the window into their life. how they call their baby love-love. how in seconds, i can pick up who’s a daddy’s girl. who’s a mama’s boy. who’s shy. who’s the family clown.

like i said…
i love people.
and i love how i get to meet new ones all the time.

tonight it was the demski family.
three sisters from chicago who have been reading my blog for quite some time…whose comments have made me smile for months…and whose family made me smile tonight with every bit of their colorful charisma.

and i’m wondering which of the sisters will leave her hotel room the earliest tomorrow to find a computer in the hopes that just maybe a little of tonight’s love was ready for viewing.

oh, for the love of pete…these are some of my most favorite-est shots. ever. seriously…the ice cream gets me every time.

a joy it was…tammy, april & kristin. your families are beautiful and so are your souls.

a pleasure, as always to meet new faces.

…and shoes.

~k

it’s dark. and quiet. and i’m cuddled up in the nook on my favorite spindly chair, with the afghan my mom made me. the afghan that is so long, every time i’m wrapped up in it i think for a moment how mad my mom must have been when ten rows into it, she realized she had to actually crochet that lofty length she set for another trillion rows or so.

brett’s in rockford, and i’m finding that when he is gone, i rise to the occasion more than i thought i was capable of. perhaps, subconsciously, i realize the importance of his presence. how much he loves and gives and puts out there. so, when he is gone, albeit a short time, i feel to some extent the challenge of stretching a little further to make up for his absence. not that i could ever fill his love quota in addition to my own. but maybe just a little extra.

so i clean a little more. cook a little better. read one more book to her. tell her she’s my favorite girl one more time than i did yesterday. put an extra load of laundry in. keep the car cleaner. run harder. and faster. in fact, last night, after her bath, i bundled her in the jogging stroller, laced up, tossed latte in the basket underneath and hooked sophie up in a halfway managable manner so she could stride as fast as she wanted to without rope-burning my hands. we said hello to the moon as we started a fast pace toward the street-light glow on the corner until, three blocks later, my burn-out pace got the better of me as i slowed down and reeled in sophie’s leash. except lainey apparently designated herself as my coach and yearned for the previous fast pace that wind-whipped her little blond hairs. she cried and pointed forward. …as i pumped myself up: brett’s gone. you’re the woman of the house. you can do this. run. so i kicked it. hard. ran through every cramp and ache until the wind practically blew lainey’s cheeks back with gale force and sophie’s legs begged for mercy. and, on our return, another book. and drink-her-in sort of bed cuddles that certainly made up for a missing daddy on the other side.

and i mopped today. and had a photo shoot. and another one tomorrow. and, regardless of the fact that women do so much more than this every day, it doesn’t belittle the fact that…well, i am woman. so hear me roar.

overcompensation? quite possibly, but it never hurts to give more than you’re asked.

and, of course it would so happen that, upon daddy’s absence, one of my scariest mama moments occurred today. five minutes after lying her down for her nap, i heard a horrible crash and a scream. and i bolted…faster than i did last night…to open the door and find my sweet little cubby face-first on the wood floor. and my heart dropped and my eyes pooled with tears and i scooped her up in mama speed to pull her into that newborn swaddle i did not so long ago, all the while scanning for dilated pupils, blood, bruises, broken bones…singing, kissing, humming words i didn’t even realize were coming out.

…and then it was okay. not a single bruise. and i prayed a million thank-you prayers tonight because i know we could have ended up in the emergency room. but we didn’t. and my friend had her husband at my door an hour later with a giant yellow toolbox and a mission to drop the crib mattress. and forty-five minutes (three screwdrivers, two wrenches and a few swear words) later, we have a safer crib…sans the bumpers too. it’s plain. but safe. thank you jeff for being a good daddy…and a good fill-in daddy too.

and, after my photo props were already dragged out tonight for a baby shoot, i killed another bird and got my happy girl…post fall, believe it or not.

(oh, this shy smile on the right…neighbor was dancing for her…and i just love that little shy face…tryin’ so hard not to smile)

and a bit more spring. oh, yellow is yummy.

and finally…the talking has recommenced with four new sweet little words this week. ladies and gentlemen, we have hot dog and brandyn and grandma (she yelled it into the phone at my mom the other day…to which grandma screamed) and thank you. and this clip right here proves our budding vocabulary. (see, dad. she does talk).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaQgQoDojys

oh, but wait…one more precious. today’s newborn little hailey. i get teary editing the newborn photos. just overwhelmed with the fact that babies are simply the most glorious thing on earth and that i am quite certain my heaven will be rocking a sea of these loves 24 hours a day.

her doting older brother, cameron…

and, oh how i love these mama and daddy shots…

and my favorites…

i have a little waiting for me to snuggle up close…~k