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.

upon taking the afternoon to scout some new photo locations downtown, we delightfully landed upon an old-fashioned candy store.

glass jars lined up like an apothecary…full of penny candies and sweet things with swirls.
and a sea of colorful salt water taffies…homemade in a hundred different flavors. flavors like peppermint, rum butter, tutti fruit and key lime.

i splurged on one espresso truffle and fell victim to her cute little puppy dog noises and pointing so i gave her a candy necklace and a necco. not that she needed them seeing as she earlier tried to…eat the candy garland!

the candy necklace later broke and landed a hundred colorful spheres onto the floor of my car. not to mention, her carseat straps are now coated with something blue and sticky. perhaps some tutti fruity taffy.

i’m not a fan of babies + sugar, but moments like these are too priceless. i know i write about decorating cookies and dates at the ice cream parlor and satiating her whines with candy necklaces and tutti fruity. now that i mention it, it does sound like a lot. but, it really is few and far between. and besides, i’ll take a little sugar over red dye any day.

oh, willy wonka would be so proud.

poor lily isn’t getting her picture taken much on these outings because she’s strapped to my chest.

we finished the afternoon out watching boats from the dock and slipping in and out of tourist traps that sell rope necklaces and polished shells…from indonesia. figures.

despite our lack of snow in december, i really, really do love where i live.

~enjoying the sweet things. ~k

friday night, our friends opened their deli for the first evening of mingling and merriment.

it was that good-kind-of-loud where you could close your eyes and still “see” the energy from the sounds of friends and catching up and live band music and kids dancing outside under the florida moon and laughter and pizza and beer and babies sleeping through it all (okay, my baby sleeping through it all)…and…all the good stuff that makes a night at a family pizzeria just divine.

we mingled and ate good pizza dipped in the best marinara sauce this side of the mason dixon line…and donna, your place is now christened because i took a self portrait in the bathroom mirror. carry on.

more fun crazy nights at lucarellis to come. they’re now open at night!

and shifting gears…lainey’s room is now back to my heavenly little everything-is-perfect room i dreamed it to be being that the big target rug we put in there while she was crawling has been pulled out and replaced with the original rug i madly searched the internet for while i was pregnant. i love her room. every single nook and cranny is everything i dreamed of. it’s heaven, and now that her little christmas tree is up, i go in there at night with just the twinkly lights on and rock in the big white chair…alone. and i try to remember rocking in that room every night with my big pregnant belly trying to imagine what it would be like…to have a baby girl and love her like everybody said i would. expectations madly exceeded.

oh, and i do believe i mentioned a cute little hustle…

across the driveway she goes, her pixie little legs whisking off to find a ball or to chase the dog or to run and look back to make sure we’re watching to see just how cute she can be. *which we always are.

and finally, despite what “the books” say…
we’re lovin’ our bottle. it’s our friend. all of ours, and we’ll be sad the day our friend leaves our house. we all take turns–austyn & brandyn included– pouring the cold whole milk into it while she waits patiently at our feet, and smiles when it’s handed to her. they have a bond, she and that bottle.

and, this may be random but very important indeed.
if i were five, i would be asking santa for this and this and this.
because, secretly, i am five. and, i’m sorry, but living in a five-year old toy land is pretty darn cool.

oh, wizard of oz is on tbs, and i do think it’s time for some late night couch. seeing as i have seven photo shoots this week, i’m going to make it a point to enjoy all the in-between this week. even more so.

…enjoying the small things. ~k