a favorite photo

Share a favorite photo of yourself and why...

I've been thinking all day about what picture I should share for this one. I went through all of the images on my computer from the last year, and there were some good ones, but none that I would say are my favorite. I started thinking of one specific shot, of me and baby E, sitting on my parents porch swing in 2009. I thought of that one because I loved my hair when it was taken. Short with some blonde -- oh, man, I want to have my hair done like that again... I looked through my folders several times, but I couldn't find it. But there were a couple of pictures that caught my eye as I was looking, and I finally decided on one. I chose it because (again) my hair looks awesome, but also my make up, and it was back when I had my red framed glasses that I loved. Never mind that it was taken in the car -- Boss and I went to a wedding reception that night -- and never mind that I'm not smiling. I still think it is a very flattering picture.

But, just as I was preparing to upload that picture onto a post, it struck me. I totally have a favorite picture of myself, and I know exactly where to find it! It's the picture on my school i.d. from my senior year.

As soon as I saw the picture, I knew it would be a long time favorite. I remember the moment it was taken. I was sitting on the stool in front of the camera in my high school's cafeteria. Mom was standing to the side of the photographer and was pleading with me to smile so she could see my teeth, but I didn't want to. I think one of my friends came up about then, and joined my mom in her pleading, only my friend was being more silly than serious. I was trying to hard not to laugh, and rolled my eyes, which is when the picture was taken. Every time I would look at my i.d. I would smile. And even after I had my senior picture re-taken (the i.d. picture and yearbook picture were separate, I never would've done re-takes if this had been the shot going into the yearbook!) and was issued a new i.d., I kept using this one. Aren't I cute?

missing

Catching up, this was Sunday's challenge: what do you miss?

I miss the last house we lived in before moving to Colorado. I miss the wide open living room and kitchen, I miss the yard and how well our landlord kept it looking.I miss the great big tree in the front yard, even though it made us a bit nervous any time it got very stormy. I miss the great big peony bushes that our next-door neighbor kept along the border of our two yards.

I miss walking around that neighborhood, and the veiw of the mountains from our street. I miss how quiet and peaceful that neighborhood was.
I miss my family. I miss being able to hang out with my sisters. I miss living within walking distance to my moms (We're going back about 6 years there.) I miss the neighborhood I grew up in, even though I didn't appreciate it as much at the time – always wishing for something better when I already had something pretty great. I miss the building I grew up going to church in, I miss the stain glass window at the back of the chapel.

I miss my high school art class, I miss having access to so many materials and time where I could just listen to music and make beautiful messes.

I miss California, and hope to go back for a visit soon.

I miss all of those things, and sometimes that feeling of missing hurts. But all I have to do is look around myself now, at my messy living room and giggling children, at my less-than-ideal neighborhood and the great view of the sunset that I get from my front porch... As I look around at each imperfectly perfect part of my life right now, I'm able to forget the pain of missing a little bit. And I know that, even with the imperfections of this time in my life, in a year or two down the road, when things have changed as they do with time, I will find that I miss this. And that is why I take a million + 1 pictures every day.

happy things

Even though I keep missing days, I don't want to give up on this bedim challenge. Obviously, I've failed the "everyday" part, but I really love the prompts. And, yes, seeing a larger number of page visits feels nice, too. So, I'm going to keep trying, and play some catch up. For starters, here's the post that should have gone up yesterday. Here are 10 things, from the past couple of days, that make me so very happy:

this is me.

Well, I skipped yesterday's prompt -- an embarrassing moment -- and posted about S instead. I'll have to do that one another time, if ever I remember a juicy one. Today's challenge was to sell yourself in 10 words or less. I gathered that it meant something like sharing 10 words that describe me positively. So, I got to thinking, how would I describe myself? And then I wondered how others would describe me. I sent out some texts asking a few of the people who know me best how they would describe me in just 10 words. These are their responses:

From my younger sister, G: motherly, beautiful, amazing, loving, quirky, artistic, faithful, fun, silly, geeky
From my older sister, S: You're my younger sister but you married an older man.
From my mother-in-law: artistic, talented, loyal, sister, wife, mother who desires to succeed
From my mother: pretty, smart, happy, kind, talented artist, nurturing, frazzled, sweet, lovable
From Mr. Boss: voluptuous, cantankerous ("oh wait," he says, "that's me, isn't it?"), apprehensive....
(Then he decided against trying to come up with another eight words, and sent this instead:)
Loved by four wonderful children and one very happy nerd.
From my younger sister, S: artistic, creative, loving, strong-willed, intelligent, decisive, assertive, unique, eccentric, and persevering
From my sister-in-law, A: undeniably strange with a hint of goofy charisma and charm

It was fun reading each of those messages, and seeing which descriptions were repeated, (beautiful/pretty, loving/lovable/loved, artistic, talented, smart/intelligent). I think it's interesting to learn what others think of you, and I enjoyed reading what some of the most important people in my life had to say about me. I was also curious as to how their responses would compare to the way that I've described myself. There are a few new ones, and a few similarities and repeats.

This is how I describe myself: quiet. messy. dreamer. writer. creative. chocoholic. mother. believer. teacher. awesome.

8 months

On Wednesday, I was thinking that it felt like the last month went by pretty slowly, to the point where I almost thought I'd forgotten to do 7 month pictures. But I did, so I guess that means the last month was just slow. That was nice. But now my baby boy is eight months old. No kidding.
At eight months, S still weighs and measures the same as last month.
Also, mobility has begun. Although, at this point it still seems to be mostly unintentional. When on his tummy, he reaches for things, but usually ends up scooting backwards and away from what he wants. He's also been rolling a bit, but he doesn't seem to have caught on to how this can get him anywhere.
He still has just the two little bottom teeth, but his top gums are swollen and I'm keeping a daily look out, and trying to guess which one is going to pop out first. I'm thinking he'll end up being a vampire baby for a little bit, like all the others were, because that's where his gums seem most swollen.
He has been pretty clingy for the past week or two. He doesn't like to be set down, he'll fall asleep in my arms while nursing, but when I try to lay him down he wakes right up and yells at me. It's been a bit stressful, but I'm trying not to let it bother me too much, because how much longer will he be so insistent on cuddling?
I'm still the favorite, but he sure does love being with his daddy, too.
I tried feeding him some rice cereal a few times, but he doesn't seem to understand the concept. He eyes the spoon, but seals his lips. The best is when I finally get a bite into his mouth and he spits it right out, because he thinks the best time to blow raspberries is when his mouth is full of mush.
He's still charming as ever, but has begun to be a bit more wary of unfamiliar faces. His admirers from church have had to work just a little harder to get him to smile at them.
He's been sleeping in his bed most nights, but has been waking up around 3 and 4 am lately. My guess is it has something to do with swollen gums, but I could be wrong.
This little monkey has my heart. Even when he gives me a hard time, he is a dream. But seriously, eight months? That came fast.

three moments.

The above photo was taken just a few minutes before I sat down to nurse the baby. Of course, just as soon as I'd started, there was a knock at the door. It was my neighbor warning me that my car was about to get ticketed. I immediately went to remove S and, in the process, may have flashed my neighbor. I'm not sure if he saw anything, but I kind of didn't care. I grabbed my keys, slipped on some shoes and ran out to move the car. As soon as he saw me, the parking enforcement guy drove off. I don't like thinking that my neighbor saw a bit more of me than either of us ever wanted, but a possible accidental flash is way better than a ticket.

Then there was the moment I was walking from the kitchen into the living room. That's when I found that S had gotten his socks off, and was pretending to be a puppy.

Lastly, I want to share this little moment with you. S and I were standing with the curtain over our heads, watching the rain fall outside our window, Z joined us for just a moment before climbing back down. I'm so happy that we're getting rain and not snow. I don't even care that it's been rainy every day this week. Rain is glorious.

spring and advice

Thick grey clouds have colored the sky for most of the day. It's the sort of day that would normally leave me feeling a bit gloomy, but not today. Because when those great grey clouds released their moisture it was in the form of rain, not snow! Oh, glorious day! Not only that, but I'm finally seeing some sure signs of spring. The most cheerful being the forsythia bush around the corner, the one I told you about, with the blossoms that had shriveled up. It has sprung back to life, and little yellow blossoms are popping open all over it:

And this:Yay! Spring!

Today's prompt is a piece of advice you have for others. At first I was thinking that I could share some tips on what has worked for me as a mother. But I decided against that, because something better popped into my head.

Do what works best for you. I could go on and on about the things that have worked for me, as a mother, but also in other areas of life. Preparing speeches, writing papers, appreciating nature, blah, blah, blah. All that I could say isn't really any good. Just because something works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you. Just because something comes easily to me, doesn't mean it will to you. So, follow your heart, figure out what works for you and do it, and don't let anybody make you feel guilty or stupid, because they only know what works for them (and their children). Only you can know what is best for you (and your children).

Also: smile more.