last night, i dreamed i was back in college and was skipping a religion class because i wasn’t ready to hand in a severely late outline due weeks before. and somehow my uncle dale was a friend of my professor’s in the dream, and he called my dad and told him i wasn’t doing my work. and my dad called me. and he was mad. i woke up sick to my stomach about it.

so, today i shall turn in my outline. it has nothing to do with religion but everything to do with nothing.

A LOT OF IMPORTANT NOTHINGS

A. Recent Epiphanies

a. in digging through pre-baby photos on an old hard drive yesterday, brett & i made the following conclusion: we miss blonde. on both of us. we’re going to do something about that eventually. as brett so beautifully (and bluntly) put it: dude, we were kinda hot.

and there’s nothing more precious than your husband throwing in a ‘were’ in the same sentence as ‘hot.’

b. i love matilda jane. and my trunk show the other night was a great success earning us some major jane bucks for free clothes.

modeling the sample sizes…

B. Photo Shoots

a. sweet baby adrey who has killer eyes:

b. sorry, prof. i got no b.

C. Sunday Morning Cry(derman)fest

*threw some of my favorite pics of my girl in with this song and…the rest is so history.
click here to see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNtNsBoWaSk

D. brown-haired and older and apparently ‘less-hot,’…at brett’s best friend’s surprise b-day party last night, which was completely endearing and lovely and a complete blast:

there. pressure’s off. whew. i turned it in. so get off my back, dad, and quit being such a tattle tale, uncle dale.

~k

my favorite line in because of winn dixie:

sweetie pie thomas sucks on a lozenge, winces, then spits it out and says…
“that tastes bad. it tastes like not having a dog.”

i forget how great it is to have dogs when i yell at sophie for barking at the doorbell…and when it consequently wakes lainey up from a shoulda-been-two-hour, twenty-minute nap. when i have to clean off latte’s poop-encrusted tail again. when i’m exhausted and just hit the couch to be met with big take-me-out eyes. pee piles. running out the door late after mad-dashing to find something else to wear because the black dress i intended is covered in shed hair.

i forget.

but just for a moment.

until i see her unbridled joy from chasing them.

the secret language they share. their understood, unspoken love.

the way they put up with everything she dishes on them. like imprisonment to the shower to be washed and sudsed on one of her whims.

she loves her gagoos.

and it makes me love them all the more.

so it was on our little bike ride, down to the big lake with the big tree and the big field…and the little dog last night.

she loves them. and they love her. and without them…life wouldn’t taste quite so good.

you tell ’em, sweetie thomas.

~k

some photoshoots that are different.

special.

i’ve taken a lot of pictures of babies.

but today was different.
and i’ve been looking forward to this shoot since this little angel was born.

this is miah jane.

and her mama and daddy wanted her and dreamed for her just like every other mama and daddy.

except once the miracle of her life came along, her daddy sadly died in an accident.
and i can’t fathom what her mommy went through, but i’ll tell you this.
her mama is strong and beautiful, and one look at sweet miah jane tells me this little apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

she is loved by many.
and her mama is already making impressions on this little heart…impressions of the daddy who loved her so.

jeremiah was his name. and he was a surfer.
so, how fitting that the little love fell fast asleep on his long board…for the perfect announcement shot.

and when i took it, all of a sudden everything fell into place. she stopped fussing, grew quiet and settled right into the wax left on it from the last time he used it. i looked over at her mama and saw a river of tears streaming down her cheeks. and i couldn’t keep mine from falling either.

her little band-aid, mama calls her.
sweet miah jane.

joann…i am so honored to be part of your moments today. she is beautiful. special. and i have a feeling there are great things in store for her…and you. i am touched, inspired and a little more grateful for all my blessings.

and where all the sorrow lies…
great joy is slowly healing.

so, so much love. ~k