tiny dancer.

sisters dance recital was this weekend, girlfriend finally got to dance again on da big stage.  of course, she was perfect and we all grinned ear to ear as we watched the cutest little dancer take the stage in all her glitter for her one minute of fame.

i had to work friday night and when i put her in the bed, she said, "caca, is mister brad coming to see me dance tomorrow?" as i was shutting the door.  "yes, honey.  he'll be there."

i thought about joining them on stage since i knew all the moves, but i didn't want to steal the show [in the worst possible way] so i stayed in my seat.

you can breathe now.
maybe next year i'll be a ballerina.

cupcakes with sprite.

she likes doughnuts and milk every monday after ballet.  

her cookies with apple juice.

and her cupcakes with sprite.

(except she doesn't like sprite)

at least that's what she told me today.

tiny dancer.

girlfriend taps her foot when she's nervous.

saturday was her first ballet recital.  and my lord, it was cute.  she was cute.  and of course, perfect in every way.  i told brad that at a two year olds ballet recital, there will be either crying or waving,
but not a whole lot of dancing.  

about half way through, OCD lost her spot.  so for ten seconds, she was focused on that masking tape on the floor, until she found her tape and then looked out at the crowd and smiled a little more.

so, maybe i geeked out and was all over that first row, camera ready, cell phone camera ready, hand ready to wave, and repeat.

and who knows if she will take juilliard by storm when she is older, but i do know from experience that being a little girl is fun.  

and saturday she had fun.  

and when you are two, that's all that really matters.

somewhere between loosing my mind...

being a good wife and nanny - i decided that the two hundred people that my mom just gave me the addresses for the invites that i am creating for their 50th anniversary needed to be homemade.  like handwritten.  because i want them to be cute and perfect, it's not every day you are married fifty years after all - and what's even worse is i am pretty sure i am the only person that will appreciate the work that i am about to put into the invites - but i want them to be perfect for my parents - so the to do list just got two hundred things longer.  note: if you are a parent or about to be a parent and have one child that happens to be a girl - have another and try for that girl to have a sister because if there is just one girl in the family, well, guess who gets the brunt of planning a huge party?

confession:  i am a control freak just a little and i love to write.  so i'll be fine, i just sat down to write a blog and decided that i would start out on a complaining note.  whatever has gotten into me?

and to beat it all, when the going get's tough - we can't even go out to eat.
please feel sorry for me.

last wednesday was a rough day, like really rough.  all day long there were burst of tears and i was just sad.  i would tell little bit when she was being two, for lack of a better word, that she was going to make caca (she calls me caca, if you are suddenly alarmed that she is calling my poop in spanish...i know, i know...i am caca to her...) cry, and since i was already crying it wasn't really a stretch.  today i was thinking about last wednesday and how hard it was and thought about the times in high school when we were in devotion (i went to a small christian school) and one person would raise their hand during prayer request and say "unspoken" and then every one else in the class one by one would raise their hand with their "unspoken" request.  only to make everyone even that much more curious...as to what was going on...why was it unspoken?  oh memories.

back to the shoes in the above picture - my boss and friend felt so sorry for me that when she came home for the day, she had gotten me these new TOMS for a present.  instantly the tears disappeared as i slipped those bundle of joys onto each foot.  i am considering crying at work today as well, i really want the black sparkly ones.

with the new TOMS, i suddenly decided that i was even more artsy than i really am.  granola even, so with my new shoes and a brand new set of crayolas (the only crayons that actually work...) i decided to be an artist.  then when i got the the profile sketch, i decided that you might, perhaps, need more than a new pair of shoes to make yourself an artist.  maybe i needed talent as well.

oh lord.  let's remember those handmade invites i am about to do...
let's all pray for jessica.

and on the subject of shoes, i had to take lil bit to get some new ballet shoes.  the kind she had were slippers and tuesdays ballet class was the last day we got away with the ballet teachers heeding i took lil bit to get some new ballet shoes.  real ones.

which is really going to affect her dancing.  i.  am.  sure.
granny liked her cut of hose and the shoes.
it was a look.

and last but not least...i did some shots of my friends last week and am in the final stages of making them all pretty and i adore this shot.

i love the way he is smiling and full of joy to be with his family, and how she is just as happy to be in the moment and the kids are just having a good time.  perfect.  candid.  and a moment.

love.

back to work, thanks for letting me be distracted.  i have invites to create...say a prayer for this girl.
please?

random thoughts = blog. the end.

we are two weeks into kindergarten at the little fellas house and lil bits...lil bit started ballet or "bawwe" as she calls it two tuesdays ago and then this tuesday she started going to preschool two days a week.  and i miss her.  i miss her sweet face always with me and her being my shadow...that no matter where i was in the house, unless i was vacuuming...she was right there.  often slipping her little hand in mine as we went throughout our day.  i miss her little voice saying "fun caca!" when we are just doing our norm...unloading the dishwasher or maybe folding clothes.  

sappy sappy nanny.  so i like my job.

lori is getting married september 30th at the beach and this past weekend was her first tea at her parents church in clarksville.  i brought my camera to capture every moment, then i got stuck writing the gift list. stuck writing the gift list is kinda a dream though seeing that if i could not be a nanny or a mom or a photographer or and interior designer or martha stewart, i would want to be a calligrapher.  i love writing and all things associated with making letters and how they are shaped and formed.  

no telling what i was telling her.  apparently i wasn't very believe-able.  and holy moly jessica has long hair.  good grief. i just cut bangs too, it's my ever evolving attempt to be cool.  it's a hard job.

i am weird.  hear me roar.  

i can not tell you the countless hours i have probably spent in my life time just thinking about my childrens names and what they will look like written out.  i have even had to veto a few great names just because when written out they are not pretty.  yes, i know...that's a little extreme and crazy.  look, don't judge me.  it's my blog. 

at least you have my greatest assurance that when brad and i do have children that we will pick a name that looks great when written...

                      merry christmas!

          love, 

brad, jessica and whatever the childs name is.

oh yeah.  i do this too.  write it out and trust me it looks great.  i would tell you the name of the child's name that i have been writing since i was five but then you might steal it because it's awesome and then we would have kids with the same name and that just wouldn't be cool.  so you'll have to wait.  i know you are on pins and needles.

ugh, and after the shower sunday when i got home there was this guy.  and then he was in our back yard again on tuesday morning.  let's remember we had the mouse invasion on monday night.  the whole wildlife is about to do this girl in...  so what's your verdict?  ladies...hand the computer screen to your husband and ask him too.  is it a coyote, because i think it is?  is it a grey fox?  dog?  it's NOT a dog.

he is like living in our back yard, he has a den back there and i don't like it one bit.  what do i need to do about this varmint? because we are not taking actors for the fox and the hound 2 around here...help me.

and then there is this every day when i get to work, except we were headed to the pool to meet her brothers this day and i kept saying, "hey, hey, let me see your swim suit!  let me see your belly!"  and run away she would and say instead, "no caca not.  no pictures."  

 but i will say a week and a half into kindergarten, these big boys in this house are tired.  it's hard being in school all day all of the sudden after a carefree summer.  and we are feeling it.

one day of school and all she wants is a 'clues clues' marathon.  laying there without moving.  tired.

 

like i said, tired.  every last one of us.  here's to thursday 

...

and friday just being around the corner.