Alligator (Alice) and Elsinator (Elsie).... :)

Before Christmas, I was able to take some pics of one of my best friend's newest little one. So sweet... in these pics he's 2 1/2 weeks old...

As I was editing them, staring at that little one's face, it hit me: this is Jenny's little one! The girl that I grew up with, dreamed of the future with, shared so many major moments with...this baby is hers!! Oh, how far God has brought us... so much has happened. Jenny and I are no longer innocent playmates... rather grown mommies trying to embrace life without losing our minds! Every time I'm with her, I come away with a heart overwhelmed with gratefulness... so grateful to God that she is still a part of my life, so grateful for what God is doing in her life, so grateful for her friendship. I'm especially grateful today that I was able to help her commemorate another major event in her life...sweet baby Sylas.

Alice and I are very different. Our personalities are not at all the same, which sometimes makes it hard for me to understand her or relate to her. But there are a few things that we do have in common: Frizzy crazy hair, dark brown eyes, and a love of art and all things creative. I don't know if my other children will be artistic or not, but I am grateful for this common area of interest with Alice. Alice turned five in Sept. and right now she is very into drawing animals, especially lions. She's such a tomboy :) She loves to watch me do graphic design or photo editing on the computer. The other day in Target she told a lady, whose attention she had captured, how she was a Graphic Designer. The look on the lady's face...it was hilarious! To watch her passion for art grow, to see her develop creatively, to share that with her is such a blessing. I love to think about who she'll be when she's grown. I know a love of art will always be a bond for us... and that's a Happy Thing! :)

The other day I picked up a turquoise suitcase (thanks Carisa)! TURQUOISE!!! Do I even need to explain further? Today Sadie was wearing turquoise, so I pulled out my new turquoise suitcase and stuck her in front of our turquoise wall... ahhh...beautiful. Time to take pictures! A turquoise suitcase which can be used not only to decorate, but as a photo prop...now that's a Happy Thing! :)

All it took was maybe 20 minutes to get some cute shots and to get really cold! So worth it though :) I was just tell Jeremy the other day: after I take pics of a particular child, I become on a small level instantly bonded with them... That may sound strange, but you become so aware of their smile, their expressions, their features. And then you spend a significant amount of time editing the pictures... by the time it's all done, you can't help but become rather fond of them :) Just another perk....

I take pictures of my girls alot... but lately I've been so busy taking pictures of other people that I haven't taken any real pictures of my girls. I wanted to fill a few frames in the house, make a new header, and find a picture for Sadie's birthday invites, but low and behold I had no good pictures! So, I scheduled one. With me. Well, Jeremy had to help. So last week we dressed up the girls, did their hair, and headed out... beyond the front yard. We decided to use an old church nursery crib of my moms for Sadie... that child is crazy active. She won't sit or stand still for a second!!!! So it was necessary to confine her to the crib for every picture... oh, well. It was kinda cute. And yes, the crib is really in the middle of a dirt road... I did not photoshop it into an existing photo :)