a favorite january face.

so.  usually i enter my personal photos over at i {heart} faces.  but my most absolute favorite face photo this month belongs to a brand new baby boy that i was honored to photograph ...

i cannot believe that people give me this privilage to meet their brandnew teeny tiny babies and spend a few hours with their brandnew family and that they then feel that my "art" is then ok enough to adorn their walls ...

pinch me.  someone.

this little face is one of my favorites from the session.
i'm not sure why.  maybe because it's a glimpse of that newborn little baby hairs. 
(if you have children.  you know what i mean.  the hair that you refuse to cut because it is so unbelieveably ... soft.  which feels like such an inadequate word for the softness ...)

or is it the most absolute calm of babyness.
that sleepy. 
perfectly still.  quiet.  calm. 

scrunchied-up.  baby face.




collective sigh.

want to see a few more images from this session?
(cute baby alert)
http://www.jenniferlivphotography.com/

one year.

oh finn.
one year already.
really?

it just doesn't seem possible that you have been in my arms for an entire year now.
and out of my arms and in my arms and out of my arms and in my arms and out of my arms and in my arms.
(you've become a bit of a mover and a shaker.)

and a walker.
and a climber.
and a talker.
and a crazy crawl towards the dog dish and stick your hands in as quick as you can before mom notices-er.
my finner.

finner.  finners.  finnamon.  finny.  baby boy blue.  baby blue.  blue. 

we all love you so.  sosososososoSO much.

thank you for choosing us to be your family.

even if i do draw crazy pictures of you driving a vw bus ...

and now.  like i do for all my babies.
on your first birthday ...

here is the one (and you have no idea how hard it is to narrow down to just one) thing i love the most about you.  right now.  at this very second.

your cuddles.

i love how you crawl crazily across the floor to simply lay your head in my lap.  or how you grab your most favoriteist blankie and pull it along in order to snuggle.  or how you just lean in for hugs and kisses.  whenever possible.

i love you finners.
to the moon.
and back.

happy one year, little boy.

read my first letter to finn here.
finn's arrival here.
and his birth story here.

my cora ... wonder in her eyes.

over at i {heart} faces this week they are looking for images of innocent wonder.

such a simple picture of my cora.
completely in awe of sand falling through her fingers at the beach.

innocent wonder.

check out i heart faces for more beautiful entries!

luck.

could someone please tell me how i got this lucky?

(collage courtesy of http://www.evermorephotography.net/)
find it ... HERE.

winter wonderland @ i {heart} faces.

brrrr.
it's flipping cold outside.  and i just don't feel like going out there. and the baby is napping.

we live in minnesota.  winter wonderland should not be a problem.
you would assume that we could enter the winter wonderland i {heart} faces contest this week.

so.

indoor sledding it is.

the girls thought i was a bit crazy cakes.
but fun.

and we didn't even have to put our boots on.

visit more winter wonderland at i {heart} faces ...

i never dreamt of you.

i never dreamt of you.
and i feel guilty when i think about that.
i had my girls.
i had my two children.

when i found out that you were nestled within me, i dreamt of adding another bit of pink to the house.
when i found out about you ... i cried. 

sobbed, actually.

my heart wiped away those tears the moment you were born.

and then i turned thirtyfour.

there's beauty in the days.
the monotonous.  the continuous.  the noisy-ness. 

i realize there's also a certain beauty in doing the unknown.  the unexpected.  the unloud.

but those options are rarely available to me.
and i'm ok with that.
most days.
because i'm kind of a homebody.  a someone that doesn't take risks.  i like knowing what is going to occur. 
even if it's something that i'm fairly certain will not be the highlight of my day.
like bedtime.  for instance.

in the days leading up to my thirtyfour.  i managed to go out.  by myself (sorta) to a movie.  a movie that i would have never chosen to see in a milliongazillion years on my own.  (mostly because i don't like the unexpecteds of a thriller-ish movie) and then i went out to dinner.  and drank a beer. and  i managed to get carded - which i'm fairly certain was just some higherups way of reminding me to go and get my license renewed the next day. 

and then the day before my birthday i wrangled two children at the dmv.  and then proceeded to a friend's house while we drank coffee and listened to the children play.  (and watched finn.  because my dear boy would. not. take. a. nap.) 

and then my birthday came.  and i turned

and there was no big todo.  no party streamers.  no party hats. 

finn kicked the morning off with a big heart smile when he sing-songingly copied my morning "i love you" with

which sounds an awful lot like "i love you" from a soon-to-be one year old.

and in this thirty fourth year of mine ... i plan to try to let go of the little things.  because they aren't so big after all.  and i started that by letting the kiddos dress themselves.  stella pretty much could be found in a gold princess dress.  all day.  and well cora?

why yes.  that is a red "look out santa - here comes grandma" shirt with red pants and a turquoise and lime green tutu with a periwinkle and purple sweater

(complete with flowers) topped off with a flowered hat. 

dude.  flowers and flowers totally match. 

there was one surprise.  for my gift ... stella decided ...

and she scared the bejeezus outta me when she popped out of the box.

my mom and sister gave me the gift of a homecooked meal.  and cleaned up dishes afterwards.

apparently cora had her mind set to buy me a cup.  and jeremy and the crew were pulled through several stores before finding the perfect little cup for mommy.

it really IS a nice cup.

and that really was a nice birthday ...

(one year for my birthday i asked MY mom to write my birth story ... it's very sweet if i do say so myself.  click-here to read it.)

i heart faces ... my favorite face of 2010.

do you know just how long i searched through images upon images to find my most favorite-ist face of 2010.  i mean ... dude.  all of 2010.  in which i got my hands on a brand new camera AND a new baby.

i mean ...

a new baby AND a new camera.

whatever.

and through all of that ... i think my most favorite face is finners.  sick.  like 2 weeks ago. 

and so ... his face appears on the blog so quickly after i just posted it ...

though ... quite honestly ... if i wasn't such a sucky blogger ...

there would have been at least 10 posts between then and now. 

so ... it's like i'm actually giving you the present of time.

because you don't have to waste time reading it all over again.

and oogling over the cute sight of my dear finners all over again.

you're welcome.

and now.

because i saved you so much time ...

you should head on over here

and check out all the other amazing faces of 2010.

two thousand eleven

i meant to post this yesterday.  but.  um.  life.  got in the way.
in a good way.  but in the way.
which i guess what this blog is all about huh?

did you notice that big break there between december 14 and december 31?
you probably didn't.
it was  bigger in my life, than yours i would presume.

during that break i wrote several dear john letters to my blog.
in my head.
not because i don't like coming here.
and mostdefinitely not because i don't need the writing space.
but most probably because of time.

it's not you.
it's me.
you see ... i have this list of "things i need to do" that is filled with the things that i need to do quite simply.  and i want 2011 to be a year that completes some of these things.  for example.

i have these kids books in my head that need to be written at some point.  three of them, mind you.  gah. and they really are good.  i just have no idea what to do with them.  like how to get them out of here {pointing at head} and out there {pointing to you}.

i want to travel somewhere new and exciting.  at least long enough to realize that i want to come back here.

i want finn to stop eating shoes.  (may be accomplished by the end of today.  probably not though.)

i want to love my home.  and not wish for something bigger.

i want to spend more time with my kids doing the things that my kids want to do.

i want to chronicle our life in two thousand eleven.  in a book.  for my kids. 

and so i'm starting there.
(and i promise not to subject you all to each and every of the three hundred and sixty - five pictures.  maybe.).
our new two thousand eleven.  our life.  in pictures.  and a few words.

and i think it's best to start with a view of our life as we ventured into this new year.  complete with a yum dinner made by my dad and a fire in the fireplace.  and my favorite view of the night ... finners loving on the pup.  in front of the fire. 

and then we were all.  i mean ALL. asleep by 10:30 ish.  and heard fireworks exploding at. oh. say. about midnight.  when i woke up like an old grump and wished jeremy a happy new year before running to the windows to try and figure out which neighbor was keeping me awake.  turns out it was probably a city thing.  because they went on FOREVER.  while i laid in bed cursing the noise and potential wake-up-baby factors.

and then we awoke to a day of couch shopping.

which takes me to my first picture of two thousand eleven.

myloves.  on my new couch. 

this?

is my life. 

and i'm so in love with it.  and them.  and him.  though he isn't in the picture because after a full fourteen days at home - he had to return to work. 

(and believe it or not.  i actually didn't want him to leave in that entire time period.  except for that one moment that occurred in the first 2 days when i told him i wanted him to just leave because i didn't like him at that moment.  but we made it through.  and i miss him now that he's gone.)

what's on your must-do list this year?