Happy 5th Birthday, Sweetheart!

Words cannot express the joy you bring to my life.

You are my love, my daughter...my whole world.

Happy 5th Birthday, Baby!

You take my BREATH away!

(and I am so grateful for you every.single.day!)

Sunday Snapshot: Style vs. Sensibility

Sweetie is BIG on Style. 

She's a Fashion DAWG!

I'm not so sure if she would have been had I not been her mom.

I mean, she does have an innate sense of style for sure...
but her 4 year old style leans to, er, ahem...hip hop....
which is NOT my favorite genre 
(more on that later)

I was once quite the fashion plate.

Anyone who knows me knows that there were many a ball gown in my closet.
 They were tailored exactly to me and they saw lots of events.

They ranged from avante garde ensembles...eclectic, cutting edge and dare I say....skimpy.

Fast forward to today....

I look back and realize that Life has gotten in the way.

Well, not necessarily gotten in the way but rather, life has happened.

I no longer have that hourglass figure that made the men swoon and the other girls green with envy.

My feet hurt if I wear heels higher than 3 inches for greater than 3 minutes (ohhhh....gasp!)

I leave the house without makeup or my hair done and I admit....
I wear track suits sometimes...
yes, I'm DITA and I'm a track suit-a-holic.

I do ONLY wear black...right down to my skivvies....so, for that, I am grateful (and you can be too).

But when it comes to my GURL....well, that's an ENTIRELY different story.

For my baby, well....THE WORLD.

Life is KODACHROME...and for good reason...this little peanut has a personality larger than life.

Nope, there's not a color that doesn't look good on her.  

Believe me, as an elder of my gender I tried...yes, I have to say....I tried....and though its not pretty to admit it...darn it....I TRIED to find something that looked horrid on her...

and I'm here to report I failed.

I failed EPICALLY!

She's perfect.

Did you hear me?

I said SHE'S PERFECT!

Imagine how grateful I am that she's my OWN daughter or all HELL would be breaking loose over that statement....
(I'm jealous kinda girl, PEOPLE...the worse color GREEN kind of jealous. You know, that green color that doesn't look good on ANYBODY!)

But with her, my heart is all rose colored and giggly and swoon-worthy and well,
 sweet as sugar-laced cotton candy lollipops...

Because there's only ONE girl in this whole world that I get to shout from the rooftops and say..."that's my baby"...yep, and I'm proprietary like that....and oh, so incredibly blessed!

My baby and I had so much fun with these "kiddie heels" she picked out
but at the end of the day comfort won out;

 SENSIBILITY trumped STYLE...as it should
...and we celebrated every step.

Sweetie and I enjoyed our day together with our two favorite men....these handsome devils need no introduction here but, as fate would have it....they get more stunning with time so be forewarned...

Alas, our Hunky MEN!

If you think a look can't get'cha anything you want
Then you don't live here around these Darlings...I succomb to their sweet faces every single day.

I took these with my 85mm on my Canon 50D.

I'd tell ya the settings if I had one clue.
I'm kinda a hit or miss kinda gal.
Some days it works...some days it doesn't.
People tell me I must have a good camera.
I guess I do....some days.

The first shot was edited with
 MCP Fusion Mix & Match but that's not telling you much because geez, the tweaking can go on for hours so I'm not gonna lie...I have no idea what I did with this one or any of the other shots after I hit that button.
I know....L.O.S.E.R.


However, there's a blog party goin' on.
And I was kinda invited (ok, I crashed it....)

Whaddya say? You didn't hear about it?!!! 

Well, high-tail it over to Stefanie's blog and join in the fun!!

That girl's ALWAYS got room for one more!

Sunday Snapshot: My Ray of Sunshine

See this little ray of sunshine?
She's my shadow.
Glued at the hip, she and I...
and I wouldn't have it any other way.

She's an explorer, just like her Mama.



She's curious...curious to see it, smell it, touch it
and absolutely compelled to talk about it...

to anyone and everyone who'll listen.




She's a chatterbox, alright...she must get that from her father.





She's plenty capable of amusing herself no matter where she is.
But I'm her favorite playmate so there's little chance of me getting ANYTHING else done when she's around.

And, of course, she has to add extra DRAMA because, well....it's just in her blood!
She's a Diva on Training Wheels.







She's full of energy, happiness, smiles and boundless kisses all day, every day.
She runs through the house and kisses me for no reason at all
(which is clearly the very BEST reason I can think of)

And, did I mention, she always gets her way?
I didn't really need to mention that, did I?

Well....just look for yourself.
Take a gander at her "moves"...she's got 'em all down pat.
It's impossible not to give in to her...kinda like trying to keep your eyes open when you sneeze.
Nope...its NOT happenin'.



In a few short weeks my shadow starts kindergarten.



She keeps reassuring me and reminding me not to worry because I'll be okay while she's gone...
and she tells me not to cry when the school bus pulls away each day.



I knew it was inevitable...she'd be off to explore new things
but I never thought about the fact that she'd be doing that exploring without me.
Nor did I imagine that the time would come so soon.

My little Miss Confident.



Don't grow up so fast Little Girl.




I just want to savor the sweetness of another wonderful day
 in the life of me and my very BEST friend.

All images were taken with my

Canon 50D

85mm 1.4

The first image settings were: 

ISO 320

f 2.2

It was processed in CS5 with MCP Fusion and then

I then used several curves and level adjustments to give the image as clean a look as possible.

Be sure to visit Stefanie at Ni Hao Y'all.

She's always up to something over there

and there are some amazing photographers linked up just waiting 

for you to discover the beauty in everyday.

UPDATE: Thrilled beyond words to report: I was featured as a the weekly winner this past week on Stefanie's  Sunday Snapshot at Ni Hao y'All!

And, therefore, I proudly display this exquisite blog SWAG 

provided by one of my all-time FAVORITE blographers....

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshot: Freezing Time

Some of the most beautiful moments in life are those we glimpse accidentally. 

I am blessed beyond measure to stare at this precious child most of my waking hours.

I am, likewise, blessed in that my camera (and desire to grab for it) is never far from my reach.

So when my daughter has moved on from her childhood pursuits to follow the path of her own life's journey...

I will not have to go far to look back on these moments that took my breath away and relive my own life's journey over and over again in the images of our lives yesterday, today and tomorrow.

What a gift to freeze time, if only for a moment.

Here's my time machine:
Canon 50D

85mm 1.4

ISO 800

f 2.2

The first image was processed in LR with MCP Quick Clicks

 then in CS5/Dodged and Burned 

then layered with 2 free Jerry Jones textures.

Be sure to visit Stefanie at Ni Hao Y'all.

It's never a dull moment over there

and there are some amazing photographers linked up just waiting 

for you to discover the beauty in everyday.

UPDATE!!!

I'm tickled pink to report that Stefanie chose me as a runner up in this week's Snapshot Sunday...so I get to decorate here with some exclusive Ni Hao Y'all official blog swag!

BEHOLD......
(don't be a hater!)

Sweetie Grows Up

 As I was getting my baby ready for her second dance recital last week I found my mind wandering  applying the requisite makeup she certainly didn't need  her flawless skin....

I imagined myself catapulted 20 years...to the day I will hold this same exquisite face (the one I've kissed 10,000 times and will kiss a million more) in my hands on her wedding day.

A force to be reckoned with for certain

Sweet perfection

And everything in between....

She is...

forever my daughter

my heart

my every.single.thing.