Not her Halloween costume. But it could have been. If she left the glasses on that I kept trying to put on her.

P.S. Only ONE opening left (p.m.) for the Nov 22nd Xpressions!  BOOKED!

Like with bluebonnets and holiday pics, we’ve done pumpkin patch pictures every year. It’s tradition. You have to do it. Sadly, this year, thanks to us being sick and the resulting schedule conflicts, I really did not think it was going to happen. Then, when we showed up at the pumpkin patch to find it FILLED with school kids on a field trip, I really thought it wasn’t going to happen. And when my middle child got bonked in the head with a pumpkin (???) and had total meltdown before I even snapped the first picture, I knew for sure it wasn’t going to happen. But it happened. And mama is very happy.

Here.

Isn’t it odd how beautiful children can be when they’re sick? My husband and I were commenting on this the other day while caring for the boys. Something about the flushed cheeks and lips…and the eyes tend to get darker, richer, glassier. Ugh, but I feel so bad for her.  Well, I felt bad for all of my kids. So incredibly frustrating to not be able to take away their discomfort.

Happier times just a week ago.

Hopefully we’re getting close to the light at the end of the tunnel. The only one left to get it is the hubs, but I think he’s faked himself out into being some sort of super human dad. Fine by me. We need him!  I’m back to shooting tomorrow, but terrified that I won’t be able to keep up (breathing has been tough).  More than that, I’m afraid I forgot how to use my camera.  Sigh. Let’s hope baby girl gets some good sleep tonight and the morning will look different.

To say the past #???? days have been miserable would be an understatement. More than 1/2 of our household was hit with the flu…and hard (including a 2 a.m. trip to the ER). I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever had the flu before, but I can tell you that next year, we will *all* be getting flu shots. My boys have finally recovered fully, but I still feel like I’ve been run over by a train…a couple of times. Oh, handy tid-bit: trash bags make great pillow protectors when you’ve run out of options ;-).

So, needless to say, I’m behind.  On everything. (You don’t even want to see the laundry pile at this house.)  If you’re waiting on an e-mail or phone call from me, I will start tackling that tomorrow.  THANK YOU to all of my clients for being so understanding and willing to reschedule our missed sessions.  I really appreciate that and it helps me not to fret so much.  And to the mother of this stunningly beautiful redhead above, I am almost done with her proofs and will send them your way very soon.  Thanks for waiting so patiently.

Back to collapse in bed. Again.

ETA:

1. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but my husband is definitely going to win "Husband/Father of the Year" this year. I love you bee bee and thanks for taking such wonderful care of all of us.

2. Also, I have THE best clients, photographer friends, and online friends in the world. Seriously. Thank you all so much for thinking of us. I know there are people out there with much worse troubles than ours, but you still took the time to send along notes of encouragement and that means the world. (That includes you, Lyndsay.)

It is sooooooooo lovely to see you!

(I’m going to take advantage of having a willing model for as long as I possibly can.)

Some of you may have seen this image I tweeted from the San Antonio Zoo the other day. It was taken with my iPhone and the quality is well, iPhone, but I LOVE this pic! I so wish I could blow it up and hang it in our house.

I’m out for a girls’ weekend with my mom, sis, and baby girl.  I’ll get back to messages, etc. when I return next week. Evidently, the boys have big plans while we’re away. I’m pretty sure those plans involve Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese and movies that feature robots and monsters.

I am in complete denial that she’s going to be 1 year in a couple of months. I think it’s just too much for my little mommy heart to bear. I genuinely, truly, absolutely do not want her to grow up. This has been one of the best years of my life and I don’t want it to end. When will I come to grips with this?

I’ve been itching for a while now to try something a bit more edgy, different, more hip for babies and kids. Tonight I had a willing model ;-) and we gave it a go. LOTS of possibilities here for a *very* different and unique kind of children’s portraiture.

The boys ate my birthday chocolates today. Dad made them write me apology letters. The letters made me cry.  At least they were writing. :-( More homeschool updates here.

The October Xpressions Sessions are officially booked up.  If you’d like to be put on a waiting list if we decide to do more this year, please let me know.

…eggs benedict ready for me in the morning.

…flowers gathered from the yard by sweaty, tawny-haired little boys.

…handmade gifts proudly hidden for a week.

…a whole box of my favorite chocolates happily shared.

…a card from the princess that made me cry.

…anticipation of a birthday cake to be made this afternoon.

…a loving husband who put all of this together while juggling so many other things.

…looking forward to dinner with my sis on her birthday this week.

…realizing my mother has been at this for 31 years.

…another year closer to 40.

…being totally okay with that.

…feeling grateful for these 31 years.

…happy on my birthday.

*************

You know what? I feel like giving a gift today. I pledge $0.50 per comment on ANY of my blog posts today to Texas CASA.  Pass it on!