The wind plays with the snowy cotton tufts of your hair and lifts the freshly washed sheets you pin to the line. Timid of the “Hulk” that chased your beloved birds the other day, I gather a bouquet of silver, velvet willows I was certain came from kittens.

Tonight, after I fumble with the familiar fruits and flowers collected on your fridge, we will follow the yellow brick road and you’ll shield my eyes from the witch. I’ll watch dancers magically twirl to twinkling music among your jewelry.  Then I will snuggle up against your soft, warm cheek in a fit of giggles over a made up game of “Peep, Ribbit.”

As I lay on my tummy lost in Saturday morning cartoons, you’ll bring me a tray with orange juice and a perfectly buttered English Muffin. When I go back home, I’ll ride in your lap, your arms a protective seatbelt laced across my rounded, little girl tummy, feeling loved by you and forever five.

“I made a wish and you came true.” Those were the exact words that came to mind when we took that photo and it so accurately describes how I feel about you. You are the light and joy and Grace and sunshine of our family. I love that your birthday falls near Thanksgiving because we are so thankful to have you. Words cannot fully convey to the outside world how much you sparkle…how you love with all of your heart…how you seem to accomplish every goal you set for yourself with confidence and ease…how comfortable you are with running around in your cowgirl boots and hair streaming behind you…how you can keep up with your brothers but end up leading them in the process. You are a special gift to us, a perfect surprise, and you have so much to give the world, though we’re not quite ready to share you with the world just yet ;-). I love you.

The first year at our kids’ school, a friend told me that they go all out for Dia de los Muertos. Honestly, I didn’t even really know what it was, but sure enough, our school did go all out and I thought it was beautiful, even if it didn’t particularly mean much to me at the time.

By our second year at the school, however, we had lost 3 very close family members and suddenly, Dia de los Muertos became an event I had been both dreading and anxiously anticipating. We made it through the processional, but the emotions stirred during my 2nd time ever in that march were overpowering, but uplifting.

This year, we got the kiddos  up at 6 a.m. this morning to do their sugar skull makeup. My husband and I were working so hard, we may or may not have been a tad late to school today. But it was soooo worth it! The kids looked amazing and they were so proud of their makeup!

This year, our children each made very thoughtful and beautiful ofrendas to honor our lost loved ones: Grandma Rosie, Uncle Jim, Pop, and even our pups, Kona and Storm:

More images from the day:

But the real treat of the day came by the dance and musical performances of the students for the entire school. I posted some video clips on Instagram (one, two, three, and four), but those really don’t capture the incredible energy and vibe and sound and color and beauty of the celebration. The kids were SO into it! Such a treat to watch my own children get caught up in the magic, too. All of these students are quite lucky to have such talented and creative teachers, staff, and volunteers to pull something like this together in such a short timeframe. Wow!

My little sunshine has been under the weather for the past few days and I’m anxious to start seeing this smile of hers again. Every year on our land, the Gayfeather (aka Blazing Star) comes into bloom and it always makes me think back to 5 years ago when I first photographed my daughter in them. I always think about revisiting that shoot, but somehow it never works out. I was determined to make it happen this year. Doesn’t even seem like the same little girl to me. Well, her beautiful spirit hasn’t changed 😉 [My absolute fav HERE].

Then:

THIS group…my oh my! I’m not sure I have ever laughed so much at a workshop. Some super witty ladies in this bunch and I’m quite impressed we still managed to accomplish all of our lifestyle workshop objectives in between our constant brainstorming and amusing conversations. I think that’s what so amazing about any workshop group, actually: when you get a group of women together with so much in common, there is a bond, no doubt, but we all understand we still have work to do and are incredibly eager to do it! Did you see I even earned my own Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” meme? P.S. My underwater “assistant” would probably kill me for that last pic up there, but I couldn’t resist. I won’t out her here since you can’t tell who she is, but she knows. Oh…she knows.

Day one was spent talking all things related to the business of photography complete with headshots in the now infamous Wal-mart parking lot sunflower field:

The next day, we headed over to my sister’s house for our in-home newborn photo session demonstration. I was honestly a little afraid to use the twins as my subjects for this workshop because I knew it would be hard for me to keep my emotions in check. Sure enough, as with pretty much ANY photo session I do for my baby sis, I started out so choked up, I couldn’t speak, but we worked through it:
Aren’t my twin nieces  just so deliciously adorable? And have they not changed SOOOOO much??? Oh, and did you see they’re kinda locally famous now, lol?

That afternoon, we headed out to one of my favorite spots to cool down and photograph a dear friend of mine and her beautiful family in the creek:

And then we all got up before sunrise the next day to do a little practice maternity session at the greenhouse along with a bit of underwater photography:

It was a fabulous end to the summer Texas workshops! I haven’t looked at all of the posts yet, but I can’t wait to start going through the images in our blog circle from this group. Make sure you hop over and see Beth’s take on the Pinkle Toes Workshop:  The Queen B Photography – Houston Family Photographer!

Austin Kids Photographer

I just did a quick search for old posts about her and I had to stop looking through them lest I force myself into the rabbit hole of nostalgia and melancholy. She started Kindergarten this week. Her first year of school. This is not a new thing to many parents. It’s not even a new thing to me. I’ve been there, done that. But this time, it was different. This is my baby. My baby isn’t a baby. This is not something my heart is willing to accept. And as if to add insult to injury, she lost her very first tooth the day after we did this photo session. And to further rub salt in my wounds, she is happy. How dare she????? No tears. No, “Mommy…I miss you! Stay with me!” Nope. I’m old news. My poor little mommy heart was not made to handle all of this “growing up” business. I am not properly equipped. It has been admittedly difficult for me to accept this week. Don’t even get me started on when any one of my kids decides to leave the next in just a few short summers. But I’m still proud. I’m still joyful. I still feel blessed beyond words that I am one of the lucky few that actually gets to experience these bittersweet gems in life. So I’ll quit my whining. For now 😉

When my sister had to check into the hospital due to PPROM–quite literally the day after her baby shower and and just one day shy of 25 weeks–the time was so tenuous. Pretty much all of her pregnancy has been tenuous and full of worry and fear. Not knowing how much longer she would be able to carry the babies, we did a few quick pictures of her beautiful belly as best we could in her hospital room. Love how Uncle Chad expertly covered the IV’s and hospital bracelets ;-).

My sister has been in/out of hospitals since January and spent every.single.day cooped up in a hospital here in Austin for the last FORTY days and counting. Really. Incredible. And things are still going well, girls are still getting stronger. These chickadees have made it PAST 28 weeks (a magical milestone) and PAST 30 weeks! They are so amazing! And lest we forget to thank Uncle Chad, who has taken diligent care of his wife while working full time and trying to maintain the house. Yup. This family is full of fighters…in a good way.

Oh, I can’t wait to meet these girls and let them know how proud we are of them. And of their parents. Not much longer, my friends. We could welcome them safely any day now and that is in an amazing place of happiness to be in right now. Sigh…

All this to say, I have joined in our family’s team for March of Dimes in Austin this May. While Jen’s babies are doing well and we don’t know when they’ll be born yet, we are much too aware of how many babies are born prematurely and the immeasurable challenges they face because of it. If you have just a few minutes and few dollars to spare, I would be so grateful if you would consider sponsoring me in the walk.

xoxo,

Me

And it made me happy. I don’t do it as much as I used to, but when I do, it makes it that much more refreshing.

Ever since this article ran on The Define School blog, I’ve been struggling. Well, I was struggling before that…obviously…that’s why I wrote the article in the first place. But then, when my much loved 365 album arrived, I began to teeter on my resolution to stop taking so many pictures of my personal life. Over the past three months, I’ve taken considerably fewer pictures of our daily lives…even fewer iPhone snaps. Yes, I am happier to be able to have the freedom to live in the moment more, but I am still mourning the loss of images I didn’t ever take. I don’t think I’ve quite struck the right balance yet. I have a double standard, my friends. Especially in light of how I talked my sister in to letting me take a couple of maternity pictures for her in the hospital yesterday.

So, I took a picture today. I took it just because I wanted to remember this part of my girl’s life and for no other reason. I got her the “artistic” shirt as a gift because it’s SO HER and she’s been wearing it for days, lol. She sat down and painted a series of canvases all on her own. My husband and I watched her, so gracefully perched in the chair as she thoughtfully worked for hours. This particular canvas, she gifted to her oldest brother because he is sick right now. Drawing and painting the way she does is something that I always did myself as a girl and I longed for my boys to do the same, but they never were interested. But she just loves it. She has blue paint all over her hands and marker/paint is usually permanently embedded under her fingernails. There are flecks of paint on her new shirt as well as in her hair. I imagine (hope!) that this will simply be part of her for the rest of her life and that she will always wear the marks of an artist.

And above all else, your wishes and love, for these two little stars, precious gifts from above.

Originally slated for May and then April, the baby shower for my sister was bumped up sooner and sooner as we were worried the girls would make their appearance before we had a chance to properly celebrate the pregnancy! So, in about a week’s time, my mom, Jen’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and myself threw this little party together to make sure Jen would have time to relax and enjoy some of the perks of being pregnant. She’s still on bedrest, so we made certain she stayed seated with her feet up and let us shower her and the babies with love.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped put this together and especially to those who braved the rain to hug Jen in person. The canvases (printed by SOLart Designs) turned out so beautifully; I loved the pink lemonade in Mason jars (specifically requested by my sister herself); the bundtinis were so yummy, sprinkled with edible gold star glitter; Jen was pampered with much-deserved glamour by Katie with Modern Muse Beauty); and of course delicious food by Jen’s Mother-in-law, homemade star lollipops by Jen’s sister-in-law, and “star”gazer lilies from our mom! I hope that someday the girls get much joy out of reading all of the wishes in their handmade star mobile…written by party guests and people who have been sending their love and support from all over the world! I am a little partial to the wish from their eldest cousin (my son): “I wish that I don’t have to change your diapers.”