"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in my 26th year."

She had so much fun with this umbrella. There was just enough wind for her to be pulled around by it, but not so much that she lost control.

I believe the sentiment was, "ew, Mom, this does NOT belong here!" And yes, I put my camera down and yanked it right out of her hand and threw it in a trashcan.

This week Lena turned a corner and now I really feel like she'll be walking any day now. Standing on her own, walking along the wall with one hand... She's getting so big, so fast.

"Don't worry Mom, I figured out how to put the clips in my hair myself." Don't worry Marley, I won't worry.

a portrait of my children, one a week, every week in my 26th year

a portrait of my children, once a week, every week in my 26th year

Gentle mornings have shifted in this house. My once docile, sleepy-headed, late-sleeper has taken to waking us up with screeches and rough housing.
Saturday morning was an all-out assault on the parental units from two over-energetic little munchkins. The littlest munchkin has never really been the calm, docile type but she was feeling especially wild and screechy yesterday morning.
I suppose you can't expect your kids to be unchanging.
And it was a hell of a lot of fun tickling the shit out of my husband who just might be more ticklish than M, certainly just as giggly.

 

*edited because after looking at the pictures for five minutes my brain wanted to explode... so I ran a different process on them.

This week on a scale of one to ten has been a 9 overall. Setting goals, setting out on my grand adventure, feeling confident in myself and my abilities - hell even working out at least five times...  Marley started dance camp on Monday - which is weird because she's never been in daycare or gone to any kind of camp. She seems to really enjoy it and I know Lena enjoys the mornings with Mom and Pops.
Because fuck yes! My lovely husband is back on swing shifts! That means no early mornings that lead to tired afternoons that lead to grumpy evenings that lead to stupid nightly arguments.
Because in this house, we like to sleep in. We like to start the days off slow with a leisurely cup of coffee. And we like to take 45 minutes to get our feet on the floor after we wake up.
Some might call that lazy, but I call it bliss.

Without further ado, I shall finish writing this little blog post that I started three days ago.

Lena, in the bath with her ridiculously long bangs.

This week Lena demonstrated her mad patty cake skills by doing the motions all by herself without prompting. She is ADORABLE. Also, she said Pops. Once. I think.

Marley in her tutu and mud boots, practicing her dance moves in the rain. She thought the elephant ears made perfect umbrellas.

Marley has taken an interest in the body - as most kindergarteners do I suppose. So yesterday we did a taste test and learned about the nervous system. We have this book from the library and it's pretty awesome.


This year will be the best yet. I'm sure of it.

So I follow the blog Che and Fidel quite regularly. Mostly because I love the beautiful highlight reel that it shows of a family's life in Australia but also a little because I can hear my dad's scoff and admonishment of such a dirty commie name for a child and blog (and holy shit if you ever read this Jodi - I personally love your children's names and think they are wonderful).
But I find that the family at Che and Fidel is enchanting and Jodi does such a lovely job capturing her children and their life.  It just seems so perfect. Days filled with tea and warm knits and yoga. Berry picking and homemade organic foods. Perfectly styled bedrooms and outfits.
And I want MY life to be that beautiful. And I want MY world to be that picturesque. And I want. I want. I want.
But then, oh, wait. It is that beautiful.
I realized that keenly a few months ago when I went back through roughly two years of instagram photos. Two years of my life captured on a silly little app from a silly little iPod and then recently a silly little iPhone. And guys - my highlight reel is amazing. Absolutely AMAZING.
Sure, I'm half crazy and mental disorders spring up every other month and the kids can be shitheads and whine. And there are lean times and small apartments and dog vomit on the floor. There are bruises and bumps. Temper tantrums and nuclear meltdowns. There is a slew of processed food, shiny plastic toys, and a host of inorganic everything. There are plenty of arguments, passive aggressive bullshit and raw nerves.
But my oh my.
The highlights?
They are HIGH.
In that spirit, I'm starting a project - started (inspired?) by Che and Fidel.
It's pretty simple.
A weekly portrait of my children in my 26th year.
Yes folks. I'm putting that fancy camera to use once more (well at least 52 more times).

And without further ado:

L and her smirk, playing with big sister's shaving cream

M covered in shaving cream with a rare genuine smile while the camera is out.

This week I set out to take a portrait of my children at a specific time together. I'm not sure I'll do that every week. I think I'd like to have a more organic capture of life, keeping my camera ready.