/Letters to My Children 2015/ April

Dear Emma,

My darling girl... my almost 4 year old. What a joy it is to be your mama. I get a front row seat to the sweet, hilarious, fierce, thoughtful, creative wonder that is YOU. Spring has brought on a new, more mature phase for you... morning goodbyes at school are easier, you're taking on new responsibilities, and you've become so observant and curious about the world and people around you. We even have a special time before bed dedicated to you asking me whatever questions you want. Which always leads to more questions, and more questions after that. I think you'd stay up all night asking me questions if you could.

Your obsession with all things princess continues to intensify, and I'm slowly coming around to being okay with it. I always try to remind you that what makes the princesses we learn about most special is how kind, brave, and caring they are - not how pretty they are or how fancy their outfits may be. I don't know how much of that is sticking, but a mama's gotta try.

More than anything, what's best about this phase is how incredibly sweet you are with your brother and what an awesome big sister you're becoming. You've always been a great big sister, but now that Jonah is bigger and you can really play together it's clear what an important role you're going to play in each other's lives. You are so quick to show him things, share your food and toys, and comfort him when he's sad. He's still learning and not always the best at reciprocating your desire to share, but you're pretty understanding.

Nearly every night at bedtime, you say goodnight to Jonah by singing a song you learned from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. You just randomly started singing it to him a few months ago and we had no idea that you even knew the words, but it was pretty much the sweetest thing we'd ever heard. It goes:

"The moment I first held you, you seemed to me / The most wonderful gift to our family / Goodnight, sleep tight / Dream dreams as sweet as you"

Emma's goodnight song for Jonah from Allison Shellaway on Vimeo.

He'll learn to love it. ;)

We love you so much, my sweet girl, and are always so proud to be your parents.

Love,

Mama

Please head over to Melissa’s blog to read her letter, then continue around the circle until you land back here!

/Letters to My Children/ February 2015

Dear Emma,

I've been so drawn to taking portraits of you lately... You're growing into your personality more every day and I so love capturing all the many sides of you. You're oh so silly, and astoundingly smart, and most of all incredibly sweet and thoughtful. You're also emerging as a bit of an introvert, which isn't surprising since you hail from a looooong line of introverts. We're working on helping you be more social around people you don't know, but daddy and I are so proud of your maturity and independence. Even when you're in a new situation where you don't know the other kids, you happily find your own way.

In school news, you've been making awesome progress with your moveable alphabet, and just this week started writing words! With no help from me, you sounded out and spelled "hat" all by yourself. You were so proud and excited. "Mama! I spelled a real word!!"  It's like it all clicked for you and after that you wanted to write every three letter word you know. Dad, cat, bat... You were on fire and it was truly awesome to watch. Not too shabby for three and a half. (Thanks, Montessori!)

We love you so much, bubba, and are so proud to be your parents. 

Love, 

Mama 

Please head over to my very sweet friend Ally’s blog to read her letter, then continue around the circle until you land back here!

/Letters to My Children/ October

Whew! What a month October was for us! We usually try to avoid throwing a ton of change at you all at once, but this month it was pretty unavoidable. We kicked off the month by moving into our new house, and while Daddy and I were super worried about how you'd react to the move, you handled everything with patience and understanding well beyond your 3 years. You really seem to love the new house, having more space, and you especially love having a playroom.

Only a few days after moving, we left for our long awaited beach vacation. You were SO excited to spend a whole week at the beach and couldn't wait to dig your toes into the sand. We ate lots of Kohr's ice cream and we even bought you your very own kite. You loved running with Daddy to get it up in the air, then you'd take over the string and fly it all by yourself!

You and Zachary ran each other ragged each day, laughing one minute and bickering the next (like typical toddlers!) And you got lots of special time with Nana and Grandpa Ed.

I'll never forget you feeding the seagulls on one of our last days there. You were completely fearless, holding up the bread and letting them snatch it out of your hand. You were in heaven and could have spent all afternoon running around feeding those birds.

Not long after we got home from the beach, you had a school closure and we got to spend a special day just the two of us. While it's often hard for me to manage work and play on those days, I always look forward to them because spending time with you is one of my all time favorite things to do!

We finally trekked out to the pumpkin patch at Gaver Farm, and you had a blast. I think you tried every single activity they had, but your favorite was the cow train. (Which of course I didn't get a picture of!) You also had a school field trip to Mayne's and got to pick out even more pumpkins. It was so fun getting to see you with all your little school friends. 

Lastly, the day you'd been waiting for most of all - HALLOWEEN! There is no article of clothing you've been more excited to wear than your Rapunzel dress. (Even now that Halloween is over you like to go into your closet and touch it, and your whole face lights up!) You looked perfect, and having Jonah as your Pascal made it even more fantastic. Once it was time for trick-or-treating you were super shy at first, but after a few houses you really got the hang of it and were running up ringing doorbells all by yourself. We were very proud of you, and it was impossible not to stand back and feel like you were growing up right before our eyes.

It was a month for the record books, my little love, filled with memories that I hope will last a lifetime. <3

I encourage you to head over to my super talented friend Renee’s blog to read her letter to her children.

\Letters to my Children\ April

I’m continuing my “Letters” project this year with a new group of my very dearest photography friends. Each month I’ll write a letter to one of my babies.  This month it’s Emma’s turn…

We had Spring Break this month, which meant we had a whole week to hang out and do fun stuff. We started by making homemade moon sand. It was too cold to play with it outside, and I'd already gotten you excited about it, so I braced myself for a mess and let you have at it. My instructions to "make sure it stays inside the bin" apparently fell on deaf ears, but you had a blast and that's all that matters. :)

Next up we painted your toenails! You love having me paint your toes and you even got to pick out a special color at Target ("the red store"). You, of course, picked your favorite color - purple.

The next morning you let me do your hair in special braids and you looked like SUCH a big girl. No more braids for a while because mama can't handle how grown up they make you look.

Then it was off to Green Meadows, the local petting farm and one of your all time favorite places to visit. You know all the animals and especially love feeding the goats. That particular afternoon they even had an easter egg hunt! You were very excited to pick out your eggs, but weren't such a fan of the costumed Easter Bunny they had strolling around. People in big furry costumes aren't your thing.

I think your favorite part of the week was going to our dear friend Leslie's farm in Central Virginia with Titi and your cousin Zachary. You kids had a BLAST feeding the animals, running around the huge property, playing with all of Leslie's toys, and generally being complete goof balls.

After our sleepover at Leslie's we headed back to Titi's to play and get everything ready for Easter. We stayed the night there and, as usual, you woke up way too early. This meant iPad time until everyone else woke up. Hmm, no wonder you like waking up early!

You and Zachary were SO excited to get a very special Facetime call from Nana and Grandpa Ed! They were on a boat in Paris and we could see the Eiffel Tower in the background. You're obsessed with Madeline lately so that part was especially cool.

I apparently got tired of taking pictures at this point, so you'll have to take my word for it that you had an awesome Easter, filled with family, fun, and lots of yummy food. More importantly, we had SUCH a fun Spring Break! I loved having so much time to hang out with you and can't wait for our next day off together.

I encourage you to head over to my friend Ann’s blog to read her letter to her sweet boys.

\Letters to My Children\ February

I’m continuing my “Letters” project this year with a new group of my very dearest photography friends. Each month I’ll write a letter to one of my babies.  This month it’s Emma’s turn…

Well, you are officially two and a half. With. A. Bang. I was naive enough to think we'd somehow, miraculously skip over the terrible twos. But it turns out you're a normal kid with big feelings and you're having a tough time managing them. Daddy and I are trying our best to help you figure out how to express yourself, but sometimes you just need to scream and cry and let it all out. It breaks my heart, but I always tell you that it's okay to be sad and frustrated and angry. I feel that way sometimes, too. We work on taking deep breaths and always talk through things once you've calmed down. Sometimes neither of us handles these meltdowns very well, but we always learn and that's the best we can do. Anyway, enough with the tough stuff... let's get to the good stuff!

Your ability to communicate beyond your years continues to blow us away, and I love seeing the wheels turning as you work something out or make up something silly. You're becoming more and more curious about the world around you and have started asking questions about everything... "Is it Saturday? Yes or No?"... "Is this a boy or a girl?"... "Can I have 2 books or 3?"... "What are these kids doing?" And just today you read The Little Blue Truck to me and Daddy, and I was a big old sap and started crying halfway through. I know you were just reciting it from memory, but it was a glimpse into a day, not too far from now, when you are really reading to us. I felt so proud of you, and so excited for what's to come as you get a little older.

Lately, you've gotten really into playing with your Legos and I just love watching you build your "circus," as you call it. You'll build a tower as tall as you can reach, and then gleefully knock it down so that you can build it up again.

I think my favorite thing about you at this age is how sweet, cuddly, and generous you are. You always have a million moochies (kisses) for me and Daddy and Jonah, and you love to cook for us in your kitchen and share your loveys with your little brother. It makes you so happy to make us feel loved and cared for... it's one of your many qualities that I hope never goes away.

I love you so much, boo boo.

I encourage you to head over to my lovely friend Gwen’s blog to read her letter to her children.

Letters to My Daughter: December

Well, my little love, I can't believe this is my last letter for this project.  It has been a year full of changes for you! This was you a year ago in my very first letter: You were still such a baby then, and now you are - without a doubt - a little girl. A year later, and you've weaned, potty trained, turned 2, got a big girl bed, become a big sister, and started at a new school. Some of those changes were easier than others, each one shaping this little person you're becoming - a person I am so insanely crazy about.

You blow me away every day with how smart, funny, and independent you are. "I can do it myself!" is something we hear several times a day, and you even requested a ladder for Christmas so that you could reach all the things you can't currently get to. (Sorry kiddo, not going to happen.) If there's one thing I know for sure about you, it's that you will walk through this world in your own way and in your own time. And when that's not driving me bananas, I find it immensely inspiring.

I can't imagine how much more you're going to change in the coming year, but I'm so glad I get to be along for the ride. I'm especially looking forward to seeing you grow in your role as a big sister... you've started having little conversations with your brother, and you're so anxious to share your toys with him. Trust me, he'll be crawling after you in no time.

I know I've said it in all of these letters, but I sure hope you know how very much I love you. I feel like I won the kid lottery with you and Jonah. Here's to another year of laughter, love, and lots and lots of hugs and moochies.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ve been writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my dear friend Kristy’s blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!

PS... While I'm sad this project has come to an end, I'm very excited to start a new project in 2014 called 10 on 10, which be like a monthly "day in the life" of our little family. Look for the first post in a few weeks!

Letters to My Daughter: September

This is my last letter to you before you become a big sister. Your brother's arrival means big changes for all of us... joyful but tiring times for me and your dad, and maybe some frustrating times for you. You seem very excited to meet your baby brother, but we know it won't always be easy to have to share us with him. Your brother will need a lot of care and attention in the early months... he won't be able to be as independent as you for a while.

All I can do is promise you that we'll do everything we can to make sure you never doubt how very much we love you. You are so special to us, so uniquely you... and nothing will ever change that.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Kelly’s blog to read her letter to her son.

Letters to My Daughter: August

Oh my sweet girl... it's a time of BIG changes in your life and you are handling them all so gracefully. This week starts your first official week in Pre Primary, and despite our fears about new teachers and a new classroom, you've been nothing short of ecstatic for this new adventure.

And last weekend we moved all your old furniture into your brother's nursery and you got your very own big girl bed, which you LOVE. We were worried how you'd react to handing down your furniture, but you simply said, "That's for the baby. I'm a big girl." and that was that. You love sleeping in your new bed and haven't once attempted to leave your room when you were supposed to be sleeping. You haven't even tried to get out of bed! (Knock on wood.) :)

I worry about you a lot because I'm your mom and that's part of my job, but you are showing me every day that you really are a "big girl" now. This was more clear to me than ever when last weekend you saw these gigantic slides at a new park we visited and immediately wanted to go down the tallest one. It had to have been almost 2 stories high, but you marched right up those stairs and proclaimed "wheeeee" all the way down.

Your dad and I really are so proud of the big girl you're becoming, but if you still want to be my baby every now and then I'd be okay with that, too.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my dear friend Kristy’s blog to read her sweet letter to her daughter, Makenna.

Letters to My Daughter: July

You and your dad have become ridiculously cute together lately. You've always been a bit more of a mama's girl, but you're starting to realize how awesome your dad is. No one can make you giggle like he can, and watching you two together makes my heart all kinds of happy.

You got pretty lucky in the daddy department... not only does he take incredible care of you, but I know he's going to be such a great example for you of what a good man is - how a man should treat the people he loves, how involved he should be as a father, and how he continually puts the needs of his family ahead of his own. He'll be a pretty tough act to follow, but I can only hope you'll find someone as wonderful as he is someday. (Your dad would prefer that day be a long long time from now.) :)

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to my friend Carrie’s blog to read her honest and heartfelt letter to her kids.

Letters to My Daughter: June

My sweet girl, you are TWO! I would say "where did the time go?" but it's been a long year filled with lots of changes, so this milestone feels fitting. Most days you actually seem well beyond your two years...

It seems like every time we're out at the park or the pool, someone comments on how fearless you are... and to see you climb the playground equipment or how comfortable you are in the water, even I have to remind myself that you're only 2. Confident, curious, and brave, yet somehow (miraculously) not reckless, I find myself filled with such admiration for you. The enthusiasm you have for new adventures - be it a book, a park, or even just an art project or helping me in the kitchen - is so infectious, and the courage you display when you fall or things don't work out as you would have liked makes me so proud. If there's one thing my dad did for me that I hope to do for you, it's to make sure you know not just how much I love you, but how much I genuinely like you as a person. You really are the sweetest, funniest, smartest kid that I'm certain has ever existed, and I feel so crazy lucky that I get to be your mama.

Watching you grow and change into this amazing little girl has been such a privilege, and I'm so excited to see what this next year brings for you - especially as you figure out your new role as a big sister. I love you so very very much.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Christine’s blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Emma!

Our sweet Emma is TWO! I can hardly believe it. I'm way more emotional than I thought I'd be about all this, and I have a ton of sappy mama stuff I want to say to her, but I'll save all that for this month's letter post in a couple of days. For now I'll just leave you with this look back...

Lucky me. :)

GONE FISHIN'

It's official, our girl LOVES the outdoors. We were up at our friends' cabin in PA for the weekend, and it was all we could do to get Emma to come inside to eat.

She especially loved her new fishing pole. I figured she'd play with it for 5 minutes and give up when it inevitably wound up in a tangled mess, but I seriously underestimated her. She got it right away - dropping her line in the water then reeling it back in... over and over and over and over again. She must have done that for 45 minutes straight, which is like 5 hours in toddler time.

She also loved playing with her friend, Shane, and their cuteness was off the charts...

It's pretty much guaranteed that if you give Emma a big open space to play, she will run around like a mad woman until she tires out. She loves to say "Goodbye! Adios!!" then run away until we shout "come back!" and she runs at lighting speed back toward us saying "Hello! Hola!" Even better if there's a hill involved.

I knew we had an outdoorsy girl on our hands when not even the cold mucky pond water phased her...

She finally started to tucker out our last morning there...

...of course, that was until we stumbled upon this awesome roadside playground on the way home. :)

I'll be honest... being pregnant at the cabin in 90 degree heat is no picnic, but seeing how much fun our little girl was having made it all worth it, and I can't wait to get back there next month.

Emma's First Phillies Game

Sunday was a huge day for our little family... we finally took Emma to her first Phillies game! We were busting at the seams to tell her, but knew we had to wait until right before we left the house otherwise we'd enter the never-ending cycle of "yes we're still going, just not right now." We gave her the Phanatic stuffed animal we'd been hiding from her for the past 2 years like the mean toy-limiting parents we are, and she started catching on that this was really happening. She was so excited to go to the "ballpark!" and even more so when she found out that my mom, stepdad, sister and her family were going, too. We took the Metro downtown, which was another new adventure for Emma. She loved the "ding" sound the train made before the doors closed, and standing on the platform saying "hi train!" and "bye train!" I loved making a trip like that with extra people to carry the stroller and my ever-growing toddler. (Okay, okay, family is great for other things, too, but after doing it on our own for the first year, I'm still super grateful when we go somewhere and don't have to feel like pack mules.) :)

Once we were at the ballpark, she had more fun than you can really expect a 2 year old to have at a baseball game. She loved cheering "Go Phillies!" and tasting all the yummy (i.e. terrible for you) ballpark eats. She clutched her Phanatic stuffed animal the entire day, and even more so when the reality that she hadn't napped all day started to set in. We feared impending doom, but Emma was a trooper.

Our poor Phillies ended up losing to the Nats, but we still had a great time. It was a long trek home, but Emma finally passed out about 5 minutes from the house, woke up for dinner, then promptly passed out again. She still hasn't let the Phanatic out of her sight.

PS... I also got to have some fun with Jared's telephoto lens:

LETTERS TO MY DAUGHTER: APRIL

My sweet girl... this photo is very emotional for me because it depicts a time of great transition in our journey as mother and child. After nearly 22 months of nursing, you are officially (finally) weaned. I honestly never intended to or thought I would nurse you this long. You just never lost interest, and once I didn't have to pump anymore it wasn't really much effort on my part to let you keep going. You would wake up and do your little sign and look up at me with those beautiful blue eyes saying "melk!"... a mother is pretty defenseless to that kind of cuteness. But a month or so ago you started showing small signs of indifference, so when I went away on a business trip we decided that would be it.

Even though I was as ready as I could be, it was still bittersweet once I knew I was nursing you for the last time. You were my baby. You were my first. We've been on this crazy journey together, learning together... and there were many moments during those early days when I wasn't sure I'd ever get the hang of nursing, much less be able to nurse you until you were almost 2. But we figured it out, and it ended up being one of the most rewarding and beautiful experiences of my life.

Our last nursing session came and went, and we moved on to a new phase in our relationship. One where I feel much more like the mother of a young girl than the mother of a baby. You still ask for milk almost every day, but you're perfectly fine with my saying "no." We replaced our pre-bed nursing time with rocking and singing in the chair in your room. (This photo was taken during one of those times.) We sing the same three songs every time: "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley, "Golden Slumbers" by The Beatles, and "Murder in the City" by The Avett Brothers. Some nights you even sing along, which is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever heard in my life. Mostly I'm just glad that we still get our special time together. You're growing up so fast, and before I know it you'll outgrow wanting to be rocked before bed. So I'm treasuring what I can get.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Davina's blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!

Letters to My Daughter: March

My sweet girl, you are going to be a big sister! You have been very excited about the baby, and I know you’re going to be an amazing sister. You’ll be almost 2 and a half by the time your brother or sister arrives, so it’s doubtful you’ll ever remember what life was like without him or her. And while I know that life will only get better for us with the addition of this new little person, I want you to know how much I’ve cherished our time together as just us. I know the majority of my excitement about this baby is because you’ve shown me how wonderful being a mama truly is…

From the first moments I held you in my arms, I was filled with a love I never new possible. Your dad may have taught be how to be loved, but you my girl taught me how to give love… how to love someone so much you think your heart might explode every time you lay your eyes on her… the heartbreak you feel when she’s hurting and you can’t make it better… the joy you feel when she rolls over, takes her first steps, when her signs turn into words.

As you’ve grown, the bond we share has only grown stronger. I feel like we’ve been on this great journey together… from pregnancy, to navigating those first chaotic newborn months, to all the milestones of your first year, and now seeing you develop into (it’s hard for me to even say it) a little girl. It’s been tough at times, figuring out this whole parenting thing, but mostly it’s been a pure joy… and truly the greatest honor of my life.

And now I’m on a new journey… a journey that takes me from being the mom of one to being the mom of two. But I promise my journey with you doesn’t stop because of that. I will love you both the same, but uniquely. You will still be my little boo boo. You will still be the one who taught me what it really means to be a mother, and what an absolute gift it is.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we’ll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Carrie’s blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!

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Emma and Elmo have a tea party

I'm currently taking yet another amazing Clickin Mom's class called "Lifestyle Photography with Kids" and thought I'd share one of my first assignments. I've been wanting to take this class ever since I first joined CM, and I'm pinching myself that not only did I get into this sold out session, but I'm taking it with a bunch of my photographer friends from my very first intro class. The idea behind lifestyle photography is to tell the story of people as they are, as opposed to posing them in a contrived setting. It's similar to documentary photography, but you have the freedom to control your environment a bit by moving things into good light and removing distractions. This style of photography works particularly well for small children as it's nearly impossible to get them to do anything except whatever it is they want to be doing at that moment, anyway. :) For my first story telling assignment, I decided to throw a little tea party for Emma and her BFF, Elmo. Notice how my idea of this tea party was a kettle, two cups, and a sugar bowl. Emma quickly had other ideas...

Within about 2 minutes all the cups, a pan, utensils, a yogurt container, and a balance ball pump had joined in on the fun. We only bring out the balance ball pump for our fanciest tea parties. ;)

"Drink your damn tea, Elmo!" :)

Uh oh, I think she poisoned Elmo.

I have sooo much shooting to do this weekend for the next assignment, but I'm really looking forward to it... so many fun new techniques to try out! Also, if you haven't gotten on the CM bandwagon, I can't recommend their classes more highly. This is my 3rd workshop in 7 months, and I have another one starting at the end of April. I might be addicted. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

comfort

a girl and her nana

Letters to My Daughter: January

Hello, sweet girl. I haven't written to you since you were a few weeks old, when I was still so overwhelmed with the joy of your arrival (and with figuring out this whole parenting thing!) I held you in my arms and couldn't imagine life getting any better. But it has... in the past year and a half I've watched you grow into this amazingly smart, silly, and ever-curious little girl, and I find myself in a state of perpetual awe.

You bring so much joy and laughter to my life every single day... and since we don't get to spend that much time together during the week, I pretty much live for the weekends. I love our morning cuddles, having breakfast together in our PJs, going to the park, throwing the ball for Rocco... your excitement to play and learn and find new adventures is so infectious. I love watching you "read" your books aloud, in words I can't quite make out, wondering what story you're making up in your head to go along with the pictures. And I love how determined and focused you get during your independent play... it amazes me how creative you are with your toys, and how quickly you learn to use and manipulate them.

Mostly I love how completely and utterly silly you are. You're constantly singing and making up sounds, or dancing to whatever music we have on with the most ridiculous dance moves I've ever seen. Even after you've gone to bed, your dad and I find ourselves still laughing about something you did during the day, or because when we check the monitor we find you in your signature sleeping position - on your back with your arms folded behind your head like you're lounging poolside. We find you endlessly entertaining, and your love of life endlessly inspiring. I feel so immensely blessed - not just that I get to be a mama - but that I get to be your mama. So thank you... thank you for being you and for bringing me so much more happiness than I ever thought possible.

I am joined in this “Letters to our Children” blog circle by an amazing group of photographers and moms. Together, we'll be writing these letters every month in honor of our love for our sons and daughters. I encourage you to head over to Davina's blog to read her letter, and then continue on around the circle!

December's 12x12

Happy Friday, everyone! I thought I'd share a little photo project I worked on last month... it's called a 12x12 - 12 photos in 12 hours. It was a little challenging since you're not always in good lighting situations every hour of every day (how nice would that be??), but it ended up being a great way to capture our day as it really was. I liked it so much I'm planning to start doing a monthly 12x12. Even if you're not a photographer, I encourage you to try it. So many of our family photos are taken during events or special occasions... sometimes it's nice to see life as it really is - dirty faces and all. :) For December's 12x12, we were in North Carolina visiting my in-laws...

Okay, so things got a little klugy during naptime so it wasn't exactly a photo each hour, but no photo project is worth disrupting naptime. Aaaand, there's no #12 here because it's a photo of Emma in the bath that, while completely adorable, isn't something I'm comfortable posting for random strangers that might come across my blog. So let's just assume it's the greatest photo ever taken of a baby in the tub, k? :)

Have you done a 12x12? Send me a link in the comments! I'm planning to try the 12x12 again tomorrow to get some practice with my new Sigma 30mm lens and I'd love the extra inspiration.

Have a great weekend!!