Best Fact Photo - I Heart Faces

Time for Best Face Photo of January 2011 at I Heart Faces. Hmm... what's my favorite face photo of the month? There are several, but I think I love the simplicity and happiness of this bath time photo:


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Go check out other best faces at I Heart Faces and vote for Georgia's picture (it's #529):

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Rub a Dub a Dub...

Bath time is daddy's job. I am at work until 10:30 p.m., well past Georgia's bedtime, so my husband is in charge of her daily baths. The only time I see Georgia in the tub is when I can't fit my shower in during her morning nap and she ends up taking a shower with me.

On Monday, my day off, I'll admit it's usually Georgia's skip day - no bath time. But overnight she peed all over herself (yeah!), so bath time it was.

I must admit, I enjoyed just watching her play and splash and explore. Bath times are surprising peaceful, even when Georgia aims her splashing at my camera or dumps a cup full of water OUTSIDE the bathtub. Still, much more fun than a rushed shower with me as I'm on the "get ready for work" path.

And you heard me mention the camera, of course I had to have it there. It's been quite a while since I've snapped some pictures of Georgia in the tub.


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Innocent Wonder - I Heart Faces

This week's theme is "innocent wonder." That describes Georgia's entire trip to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't her first trip, but it was the first time she was old enough to "get it." Everything amazed her, including the penguins.

Here she was trying to grab them as they darted by her.


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Go check out other faces full of innocent wonder at I Heart Faces:

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Coloring the World

We crossed over into another one of those really kid-like moments, you know, the things that just scream, "I AM A KID!!!" These moments always make my heart skip a beat and as I look at my daughter, make me say to myself, "by golly, I'm a mom." Yeah, I know, like the food throwing and the horrid-smelling diapers and the child flailing her arms and rolling around on the ground don't remind me often enough. But there are those certain things the define childhood, and when we come (or stumble) across them, it makes Georgia even that much more real in my life.

So Georgia now loves to color. She didn't get it for the longest time, she just wanted to see if a red crayon tasted and different than a purple one. And she ended up with red and purple teeth several times. But one day crayon connected to paper and an artist was born.


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I could watch her for hours as she searches for just the right way to hold the crayon, as she tests out each color, as she creates masterpieces to her mother's eye. These are magical, colorful moments.

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15 Months and Counting....

15 months + no dates = not so good.

This is what I have learned. My daughter was born 15 months ago, and it has been 15 months since my husband and I have had an evening out alone. To say (or type) that out loud is a little shocking actually. In 15 months there have been no romantic dinners in a dimly-lit restaurant, no nights at the theater, no dessert and coffee while talking for hours about things that fascinate or puzzle us, nada.

We did have one lunch with just the two of us on our two year anniversary. But we had to do that over Ben's lunch break, so it was quite rushed. Then there was a Monday afternoon where we dropped Georgia off to go see a movie. But there wasn't really time for a meal and to be honest, it was kind of an awkward afternoon. So I'm not counting either of those.

There have been plenty of rushed meals out to make it home before Georgia's nap time or my leaving for work, several movies on the couch with the volume down low so as not to wake the baby and pausing it every time she does stir, trips to the zoo, walks in the park, meals out that include me scrapping up half-chewed food and syrup-covered crayons off the floor before we leave - and all of these have included Georgia.

Not that Georgia-in-tow is a bad thing - we love her company - but we are WAY overdue for some Jaime and Ben time. So what's stopping us?

Hmmm... pretty much that I haven't wanted to leave her with anyone who isn't family, and our nearest family member is a 12 hour drive away. And even if we did live near family, I can only think of three family members I'd leave Georgia with alone anyway. (I'll withhold those names to keep everyone guessing). Bottom line is, I'm picky when it comes to my baby, perhaps too picky, and that pickiness is not making things more romantic around this house. There's a reason why you should not move too far from home, and that reason is all too obvious to me right now. When they say it takes a village, it sure the hell does!

Now if I can just find my village... and a couple of candles.

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Break Over... Back to Blogging!

After a post and picture(s) almost every day of 2010, I would like to say I took myself kicking and screaming into 2011 with a "no new post for a while" requirement. But only part of that is true. I have to admit, there was no kicking and screaming. I need to put the laptop down and step away from it. I needed to not feel pressure every night when I came home from work to stay up until one a.m. to edit pictures. I needed to not find a reason to snap pictures of Georgia every day. Perhaps all of that was some New Year's resolution I neglected to realize until this moment. Whatever it was, it has been nice.

But I must admit, I've missed sitting down to type out thoughts and feelings and attempts at humor on this small glowing screen, so here I am tonight. It seems fitting that I'd get back to it on the 13th. After all, don't all the good things in life happen on the 13th? :)

Georgia is 15 months old today. We're getting terribly close to 18 months, which will then be terribly close to 24 months, which all means this mama can't believe her baby's so dang big! Wow, 15 months, really?!?! But what's even more of a slap of "my baby is a toddler" reality is how grown up she is acting. Wow, does this kid have some attitude when she wants to have it. My, my, whomever did she get that from?

She can throw a temper tantrum with the best of them when she doesn't get her way. She's started pointing and things and just doing this half-grunt, expecting my husband or I to jump up and get what ever she's desiring at the moment. She is asserting her independence. No, let me repeat that, she is ramming her independent streak down our throats. Where did this mini adult come from?

Georgia's vocabulary is also growing, as is her comprehension. She has known what a tree is for a while and would call our dogs a dog, but now she does it for dogs on TV and in magazines and books too. She points at a car (or a truck or a van) and says "car." She knows what a freakin' car is! She will also say cup and has tried out fish. Mama has become mom or mommy. It is amazing to watch.

And we went to the zoo a couple weekends ago, and for the first time Georgia actually "got" the zoo. It was so much fun.


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Zoos are exhausting (notice the new stuffed lion she's holding).

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December 31, 2010 - Good-bye 2010!

Wow, what a year it has been!

I started 2010 with this tiny little being who I still barely knew, but who at the same time was more familiar to me than myself. Now, on this last day of the year, that little being is a baby no longer but a little girl. She is walking, she is talking, she tries to assert her independence, she truly has her own little personality - strike that, a very big personality - she has become Georgia. I question whether we will ever see another year with so much change in those 365 days.

I can sum up the year with just a few words - oh how I love that little girl.

So here's a look at some of my favorite things from this year and things I've come to appreciate:


Toys are now the new decorating tools I use in my home, coffee is my saving grace, little tongues sticking out of little mouths, a refrigerator now covered in little girl artwork...

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Little girl smiles and a finger that always seems to find her mouth, hand-me-downs (this one a toy from my sister), little fingers and sippy cups, a little girl liking Nutella (or in this case the store version)...

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Tiny toothbrushes and training toothpaste, my husband who gives me strength and shows me love and keeps me sane when he's not driving me crazy, friends and family members (and the ones who send Christmas cards get bonus points), colorful plastic spoons that fit tiny mouths and just scream "a little girl lives here"...

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Little girl yawns, tiny feet minus shoes, hair that now brushes her neck and occasionally sports tiny curls...

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And here are some of my favorite pictures from 2010. Bear with me, this could be a little long, but I hope you enjoy the look back. :)

December 2010

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November 2010

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October 2010

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September 2010

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August 2010

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July 2010

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June 2010

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May 2010

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April 2010

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March 2010

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February 2010

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January 2010

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"In my daughter's eyes, everyone is equal, darkness turns to light and the world is at peace. This miracle God gave to me, gives me strength when I am weak. I find reason to believe in my daughter's eyes."

Hello 2011.

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