A Few of my Favorite Things

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Weeks are flying by for me as there always seems to be something out of the ordinary going on.  This week, our bathroom is being redone (wohoo!) so we are out of the house for a few weeks.  It's like a mini-vacation being away from my own house and to-do list, although we miss our neighborhood friends! 

As the weeks run together with travel, vacation, house projects and prep for baby #2 I'm aware of my need to re-focus on the important things and less on how much progress I made with my pregnancy-induced house purge (It's real.  Pray for Pete.).  I've realized that having a child might be the best thing so far to slow me down and make me grateful for small things.  Have you found this?  She says, "Mama, I luv you" once and motherhood is all roses for that morning.   

Here is a quick summary of our spring and summer so far, in pictures of course.  I love that my favorite things include big events like vacation and beach along with a favorite lunch on a favorite plate (eggs, kale, and good bread on a handmade plate gifted to me by my sister, in case you were wondering) and a walk in the rain.  

Wishing you lots of favorite things this week! xo

(All iphone photos.  Photo above: a small part of the crew at Cape May this summer.)  

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Our "Spring" Weekend

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It was cold ("raw" as my dad would say) and somehow snowing and raining, but Pete convinced me that we all needed to get outside.  He was right.  This - wet and unkempt, crazy dog included - somehow sums up our family for me and makes me smile.  

Here's hoping for spring weekends soon!  xo

It's January already?!

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I wanted to peek out from behind my desk and hundreds of files I want to edit (today!  ok, this week!) to say hello.  The quietness on the blog means I've been scurrying around in these cold months happily photographing babies and weddings.  

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When I'm not behind the camera with a client, I'm amazed at E's transformation to a little girl.  One day, around New Year's, she just started talking.  A lot.  

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Friends that hadn't seen her for a few weeks could suddenly understand her and she all of a sudden loved their attention.  How do things like this happen over night?  

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I'd like to remember the phrases ("doe-doe bad; no eat poop."  Ahem.  Yes, she remembers when our dog Chester found her diaper and Mama gagged for an hour.), the frilly pink skirt she suddenly loves, and how many times a day she asks, "Mama hold you".  Pronouns are still confusing.  

These are the small, lovely moments of my days.  

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They aren't productive or clean and I now get why mountains of laundry is a common phrase among authors who write to moms.  ;)

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I've had to go back to a few friends and apologize for disappearing for a month or two.  The calendar and to-do lists calling from within my (rather close together) four walls loomed large around the holidays.  It's ok to have busy times, but I look back and see I threw away the things that usually are built in to my days to keep me sane and grounded, and I felt it.  

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I usually treasure the first few weeks of January as slow times to purge the house, read, drink tea, clean up a bit - you know, hit reset.  Those slow weeks are coming a little late for me this year, but I'm more sure than most years that I need it.  

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  Those friends didn't go anywhere (do they ever?  It's why they're the good ones.) and I'm grateful for them and to have some dates on the calendar to see them and a little more bandwidth to get over the hurdle and start regaining control of my mornings. 

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So, here's to January!  To new beginnings, good friends, amazing (and wise, generous, caring) grandparents, to times of prayer, to growing as a person and a photographer, and to living with a looser grasp on things I can't really hold on to anyway.  

How are you?  What are you looking forward to in this new year? 

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A friend of mine had this verse written under the brim of a favorite baseball cap in college: "...his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning...".

Wishing you joy in 2016 and new mercies every morning.  xo.

On Kindness and Being Small

It's been a good fall for thinking.  And inspiration.    

I've been thinking about what it means to parent with kindness.  And what it looks like to work with heart and purpose (here's one way).   

Or realizing the tension between embracing the smallness of one life versus the perceived masses of social media.  I stumbled upon this podcast (episode 10) around the same time and am still happy for the timing of it all.

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It was a good reminder to be present in my own life.  I'm not striving to live for the masses but instead to be here with the people that I know and love - this wise woman calls it smallness.  Sometimes that means engaging with that little ponytail, celebrating birthdays of folks worth celebrating, early morning coffee dates... or meal prep in the kitchen (again) because it's time for another meal and, thankfully, there is food to eat I have able hands.  Simple, right?  What do you think?  

What's been on your mind?  Where do you go for inspiration?  xo

All images from my instagram feed.  Follow along or browse more here.