after weeks like these, when friday eve finally arrives…
i literally melt like chocolate into a tub of warm milky suds. and candles. and lavender aromatherapy. and quiet. and the new us weekly. and… if i’m lucky, i don’t see the long brass handle of the bathroom door jiggle and turn to reveal a frazzled one-and-a-half year old who wants to join me and rip up my magazine and blow out my candles. okay, relaxation aside, that’s a pretty welcome sight too. but still…a snippet of solitude is pretty nice.
tonight, daddy gave her her own bath in the guest bath while i took mine in our bath. and even though my water pressure was slightly diminished, it was…heaven.

however, my bath was pleasantly interrupted when daddy yells across the house…
“mommy! come look! quick!”

quick towel drapage and wet footprints later, i walk into this…

…which was pretty funny, i have to admit.

we made the best of our busy week. our house is completely holiday bedecked and we are enjoying listening to christmas music and playing “oh twissmas twee”…which, in short, is circling the tree over and over, singing “oh twissmas twee, oh twissmas twee.” followed by her little “mo-mo” plea and another round. and so it goes.

i don’t really have the brain power to make an organized enjoying-the-small-things list, but if i did, it would go something like this:

i’m lovin’ how our tree sparkles through the front door at night and how she looks like quite the little hostess in this picture: “welcome to our humble holiday abode.”

…and i’m lovin’ how i basically have to lie prostrate on the cement in our driveway to maybe…just maybe, for the love of all things holy, get a decent picture of her these days.

…and i’m lovin’ how she gets all excited and breathes heavy and has this major crecendo of energy before she gets ready to throw a ball. and then it putts out of her hand and rolls like, two inches on the ground. all that for nothin.

…and i’m lovin’ her little raspberry noise she makes all the time now and how cute she looks doin’ it.

…and i’m lovin’ the buena vista social club and their rockin’ rendition of this song (and, now that i mention it, she actually looks a little like ibrahim ferrer in that above photo. it’s the hat. and maybe only brent, emma & molly even know who ibrahim ferrer is) and the anticipation of macy’s thanksgiving parade and turkey and gravy and sweet potatoes and family next week. and actually running the heat and our fireplace and sweaters and hats in this florida cold weather. and the fact that my father-in-law’s winning photograph was actually one of AOL’s top news stories on their homepage today.

…enjoying the thanksgiving-is-coming things. ~k

i’ve known niki for several years and am thrilled she’s found “the one.”

the major bonus: he comes with this amazing add-on who had me at “hello.”

in her little tinkerbell voice, she serenaded our photo shoot with sweet little songs.

she is pure love and i can’t wait to photograph her again.

check out little tinkerbell’s face:

congratulations, mark & niki. can’t wait for the big day.

…enjoying the happy-for-my-friends (and the cute three-year-olds-make-me-weak-in-the-knees) things. ~k

somewhere in the middle…

of the celebration of a first year…

and the mark of of a new one…

lies a little thing we like to call a half-birthday.

although just half a year, we are very whole in our joy of another six months.

if eighteen years makes you an adult, what does eighteen months make you?

it makes you spilling personality and humor.

it makes a simple look of your face melt the innermost cells of my being.

it makes your little soul draw even closer to mine, for with every turn of every page in the book of your life comes a magnetic force between everything that makes me “me” and everything that makes you “you”. i think it’s called love.

it makes a little area in our hearts set aside for the pride we have for your accomplishments grow a little bigger.

it makes the wings that will someday grow strong enough to carry you off to the big world where you will make your mark start to become evident.

it makes a brighter, clearer window into the person you will be. the talents you will use to make the world a little more beautiful. the words you will find to inspire others. the achievements you will make to strengthen your confidence. the ways you will discover to spread love. because i know you will. it’s your name.

it makes the ache inside our hearts throb a little deeper.

it makes you a toddler. our toddling, waddling, running, kissing, giggling, comforting, soul-sparkling little you.

eighteen months of loveliness. lainey loveliness.

that’s what eighteen months makes you.

at the half-way point to the big deux, she….

…says “ow” if anything barely touches her. sleeps with her mommy and daddy. could seriously make baba drinking a competitive sport. makes a “scrunchy face” on command. likes to sing karaoke in the stereo microphone…and dance…naked. can be found several times a day in her rocking chair in the corner, reading books. has a secret hiding spot where she retreats to go #2. gives the best kisses in the history of mankind. loves hats and shoes and pretty things. likes to carry two purses, one on each shoulder. whines to push the buttons on the debit machine at the grocery store. likes to be held in the morning for a good half hour after she wakes up. can clean off the grocery cart with a germ wipe by herself…because she is her father’s child. can milk her daddy for all he’s worth. can milk her mommy for all she’s worth. can milk her brothers for all their worth. can take the dogs out, holding the leash, all by herself. can spot a stain or a dirty spot on the floor from a mile away and will whine until it’s been wiped clean.

…and a few thousand other things too.

happy eighteen month birthday, little love.

…enjoying the half-birthday things. ~k

oh, wait. this is a twofer. a two for one special. i did my first senior shoot tonight and it was just fabulous. a new place. a new face.

meet julie…fabulous and fun.

i didn’t have to worry about her wardrobe as she’s got the fashion thing down on her own and chose fun, photogenic outfits…not to mention wicked shoes.

oh, and did i say photogenic?

julie, you are fabulous and beautiful!

oh, and i guess i should mention i’m open for senior business now.