He's Got It

"I got it!" Those three words are like the chorus to life's song around our house. We've moved on from the track "mine" and now have "I got it!" on repeat at top volume. While Lawson is quite sure that he's got it, be it climbing the stairs on his own or picking up a toy when he's been asked, I'm not always as sure. He could be attempting to drink out of a glass with 99% of it dribbling down his front and he'd still be sure that he's got it! My confidence is shaken a bit more easily. I am convinced that I don't have it when just the smallest thing goes awry. I'm taking a clue from this little guy, though, cause I think he's on the right "track" - even if the song is getting a bit overplayed. Overall, I've got it. And Lawson certainly does, too!

Holding mommy's hand up the hill is a thing of the past...

...cause my little monkey has "got it!"

Blue

This photo has been framed atop a bookshelf in my living room for coming on two years now. It's one of my favorite pictures of Lawson. The look on his face speaks volumes about his personality. It's my entry for this weeks' "Blue Challenge" over at I Heart Faces.

Crawling Towards Crawling

Kimberly Laird September 2009

Naomi is working hard at learning to crawl the last few days. Notice that chubby little knee getting in position? She actually manages to pivot herself in a circle and scoot forward a bit. It won't be too long and she'll be mobile! Look out Lawson, it's payback time!

Lindsay's Photos

Yesterday, a wonderful afternoon was spent photographing my dear friend, Lindsay. I was ridiculously giddy all day long and was still hyper and excited at midnight trying to fall asleep. It was just too much fun! We turned my daylight basement into a mini studio, searched the yard for perfect light and ate burritos along the bay while waiting for the "golden light" when the sun slips below the skyline. There is magic in a sunset. It was a fantastic day and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

Static

I took this photo after my baby shower in May. Mr. Lawson was dancing around the living room with a big bunch of balloons, creating a really nice flow of static through his hair! I snapped a few dozen pictures, but the lighting was so low that my low shutter speed gave me a bunch of really blurry pictures. I know there is some noise in the photo, but the look on his face and the fact that this moment was even captured mutes the noise for me! So, my entry for this weeks' I Heart Faces "Completely Candid" photo challenge is Static.

Golden Slippers

Naomi is getting bigger, older and wiser. She's packed on a few pounds and as such, has advanced into a whole new wardrobe of 3-6 month clothes. It became clear to me that the time had come to start introducing some basic principals of fashion. I always say, "it's the little things that count" so we started with accessories! Naomi May wore shoes for the first time! She stared down at her feet, a bit confused, and then sighed with delight and stared and stared some more. The love affair between the girl and her shoes has begun! Her first pair of shoes are a pair of yellow mary janes by See Kai Run's baby line, Smaller, which are luscious, soft and adorable. We paired it with a purple bamboo dress by Kicky Pants, which is also as soft as butter and just as yummy. It was quite the statement and she pulled it off well! She couldn't have been any more pleased with her shoes. She actually cried when I took them off. She is ALL girl.

The shoes.


Giving them a good once-over

Liking what she sees

Officially in love.

She also seems to like her dress... at least she likes to grab at it and suck on the hemline.

In other news, my baby girl is apparently now Lawson's Num Num. Yesterday morning Lawson claimed her as his with a, "Num Num. MIIIIIINE!!!!" He then asked very politely if he could "pwease hode" her. She now spends the first part of the morning waking up in her brothers arms on the big, comfy chair. It's the sweetest thing to watch him hold on to her as they both smile with their puffy sleep faces and he gives her kisses.

No better place to start the day than in each other's arms.

The Seed of His Anger

Dustin calls this one, "The Seed of My Anger"

Lawson, I love that as we go for our daily walks you can barely contain yourself from jumping out of the stroller and picking every wish flower we pass. "Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh!!!!", you say. "Pweeeese???" And as I hand you yet another wish flower, you smile like it's the first one you've ever seen and blow your wish into the wind with a squeal of delight! Your daddy says that you can make as many wishes as you want, as long as they aren't in our front yard. I say, make as many wishes as you will, wherever you want, Little Man! And if your wish pops up as a little dandelion in our grass, well that's just another pretty flower for you to bring me with that sweet smile of yours and a chance at more wishes to come! And if by chance, dad wins the war on the weeds and we don't have any more wish flowers for you to blow, the house at the corner has more wish flowers than you could blow in a lifetime, so I'm sure they wouldn't miss a few.

I call this one, "Spreading Dad's Anger"

p.s. Neighbor with the horrible, overgrown yard, if you are reading this, I think you should know that you are being nominated for desperate landscapes. I'm pretty sure when blackberries are growing up around your house and locking you in, it's a sign you should get out and man handle them! And who knows, maybe under all those wish flowers, there are a few blades of grass waiting to have their 15 mintes?!

The Spirit of Giving

Last year during the holiday season, I found myself searching for ideas of gifts to give some people. I wasn't finding things that just begged to be wrapped up with their name on it or that I really wanted to give to them. I don't even remember what I ended up giving to them because I was giving out of obligation and not because I genuinely had found something I thought they would enjoy or would better their lives. It left me feeling a little drained and questioning what the spirit of giving at Christmastime is really all about. There was also a video floating around about the amount of money spent each year on presents and how much clean water it could buy for people in desperate need of it. Here we are blowing money on gifts we don't need, spending countless hours shopping for and wrapping gifts for each other when we don't really need more stuff and there are people who don't have shoes for their feet, a roof over their head or clean water to drink. Something is wrong here. I told Dustin after Christmas last year that I really wanted to donate to charity this year instead of giving gifts. He wasn't thrilled by the idea, to be honest, and so I didn't push it. Then I got this wonderful phone call from my sister-in-law Denae. She had the exact same idea and had already run it by her sister and mom and everyone was onboard for the most part!

I can't even tell you how excited I am for Christmas to come this year and have fewer gifts to open! For every present I am NOT opening, someone else is getting something that they desperately needed! How amazing is that! That is the true spirit of giving. Gifting to those who need it feels so much better than gifting to those who do not just because you are "supposed to". Not that I don't enjoy buying for people I love, but this is the gift that keeps giving. I think that Lawson and Naomi will receive some really great lessons from observing this form of gifting and we will all walk away with less clutter in our houses and hearts. Just another example of "less is more".

And Then Her Buns Screamed Out to Me...

....Take my picture!!!! Let me explain. Lawson's naptimes are always a great opportunity for Miss Naomi and I to spend a little time together without her ears getting twisted, eyes getting poked or hands getting tugged on. Yesterday, our alone time found her in a particularly calm, happy mood and as I went to put a fresh diaper, it happened! Her buns screamed out to me, "take my picture"! Okay, so her buns didn't really scream. That would actually be very strange and kind of gross. But they were so "stinkin" cute that I just had to snap a few pictures! Unfortunately, the camera is my crack and I just can't get enough, so a few pictures led to a few hundred pictures... seriously. At some point during our little photo session, Lawson woke up to find his Num Num in her birthday suit and couldn't resist jumping up on the chair with her to be in a few pictures. He also wanted a bite of her hand. You'll see what I mean as you scroll down...

Rockin' the birthday suit! A mighty cute one, if you ask me!

This one has been titled "DROOBLE" by Dustin. It should be known that he does NOT like drooble. At all. Not even pictures of drooble, like this one.

Jeepers! Creepers! Where'd you get those peepers!?

Her hand must taste really good

Seriously! Those buns!!!

Always have to throw in a little shot of the toes!

They kind of look related....

I can't really blame him for wanting to eat her... Sometimes I want to take a nibble myself!

I can't decide if I like this one. Does she look asleep or dead?

She's finally getting big enough they can roll around a little together.

So, what began as an opportunity to snap a few pictures of Naomi's buns turned into a full blown photo session. Oh, well! They had a lot of fun rolling around on the chair together. It somewhat made up for the boredom they experienced earlier on in the morning as I busted out my can of Whoop A$$ on the garage! It's finally a little organized. And I always feel better when things are organized. But that's not what this post is about, so I'll leave it at that and wrap this one up. Perhaps with a pretty bow?

self: Lame. Wrap this one up with a pretty bow? How bout slap a big "L" on your forehead!? Geeze!

Now What?

Pensive I Heart Faces, Kimberly Laird 2009

This week, over at I Heart Faces, the challenge is "contemplative photograph". I've been hanging onto this one for a while and never could figure out what to do with it. But, I think it fits the "contemplative" bill perfectly and it has become my entry for this week!

Seasons of Change

April 2009 Kimberly Laird

I'm missing spring a little bit now that we're heading into fall. I want flowers and rain and the prospect of an entire summer with a new baby back. This spring, spending my last few months with Lawson as an only child and looking forward to Naomi's arrival was wonderful. I spent day after day feeling her kick and watching Lawson grow into what would soon become a big brother. It makes my chest ache thinking about it. I went to sleep each night reminding myself to slow down and enjoy life in it's current state because each day seemed to have gone by quicker than the last. It's only sped up faster and somehow we have reached the end of summer and the end of Naomi's newborn phase. She sat up without me holding her today and that made me sit up and take notice that she was no longer that fresh little baby with the frog legs and tight fists. And that made me long for time to slow down. She no longer wears her tiny little newborn diapers, she rolls over, she "talks' to me all the time and takes naps on her own just like her brother. I also put away a big box of clothes Lawson has grown out of and realized that he's nearly three feet tall. I don't put a big cuff in his jeans like I did just a few weeks ago and new words are coming out of his mouth all the time. He looks like a little kid and just yesterday he was my baby!

Seasons are changing, the kids are growing and time isn't slowing down for anything. And although it all happens gradually, sometimes it slaps me in the face and grips my heart with the realization of what has already passed while I was busy with life.

Ramblings

I began this morning with a JOLT of caffeinated goodness that has been working on me like a little army of energy. Just having said "ta-ta" to my latest photography muse, I'm trying hard to get my fridge restocked and the surfaces inside my house clean, as my father-in-law is headed North on the train to help install our wood floors. BUT, my brain is racing around faster than a Sprint car and keeping me from being fully productive. The sun is shining outside and calling me name. I hope we make it out for a walk later, but for now... nose to the grindstone! Enough with this swirling mess of thoughts. It's time to focus on my kids, my messy house and our menu for the next week. If I'm lucky, my mind can wander as I push the weight of my kids around in their chariot, aka Big Bob, while the sun sets beneath the treeline and another day is over faster than I can wrap my mind around.

You Want to be a Cowboy, Haley

Kid Rock lyrics aside, here are the photo's from today's shoot with Haley:

Portrait of a Haley

Our house has become the Laird Inn this summer and we've been booking months in advance. It's been non-stop and so much fun! This week's visitor came to us from Oregon in the form of a sassy, red-haired songstress named Haley. She and I go way back and are about as close to sisters as two friends can get. This may be one of those weeks Dustin stays at work just a little longer than necessary to avoid being confronted with an abundance of silly behavior and lots and lots of talking and laughter. Although, as loud and ridiculous as we are, we can cook up some seriously good grub and I know he doesn't mind that a bit!

So, onto the point; this Portrait of a Haley. I am, obviously, a little obsessed with photographing my kids. Mainly because they are the most gorgeous things I've ever seen (I'm their mother, so I'm allowed to think that, right?) and because they are with me all the time. They really have no choice in the matter. This week, though, presented me with a willing subject, equipped with the ability to take direction and give feedback without having to stop for diaper changes. Call me an opportunist, but I jumped at the chance! I have to say, I'm quite pleased with the results. Getting some good shots was pretty easy thank to a gorgeous subject and great lighting by way of a solid cloud cover (WA weather is good for pictures if nothing else!). So here, in all her glory, is a Portrait of a Haley!