Any of you mothers out there can attest to the fact that our job is dirty. We are constantly dealing with all sorts of things we have to clean up.  Of course there are the dirty diapers that need changing, dirty clothes that need laundering, the dishes, counters, and don’t get me started on the floors.  I hate doing all those things, but I don’t mind cleaning up my baby. His little folds of fat need cleaning out regularly, and luckily he outgrew his hatred of the bath. Bath time is now a great time I get to spend with him one on one, smiling, laughing, tickling. After they’re all clean and fresh it’s one of my favorite times for pictures. Try it out with your little ones.  Have your camera ready for bath time.

If you saw the pictures from my post about my daughter’s birthday you might recognize her outfit here.  You see I found this scene in my backyard and had to get my camera. Why wasn’t I invited?

See this kid? Yes, the cute one in blue. Today he took over and decided he was the boss of me.  Sure he’s only 4 months old, and cannot walk, talk, or use the toilet. It doesn’t matter. He’s in control, and he would like to be held 24 hours a day thank you very much. Don’t even attempt to put him down, no not for even 1 second.  He seems to think I should do nothing except attend to his needs. I mean really, the nerve of me needing to even clean his spit-up off of the floor. He would rather I leave it and play with him. Those other kids that live with us? They can fend for themselves. They don’t need clean clothes, help with homework, or dinner. After all the world does revolve around him. Yes, he is one demanding boss.

My baby girl is 5. I am sad. Five means she’s going to school all day 5 days a week. Five means she’ll want to cuddle less, and leave home more. I know I shouldn’t be sad, but I am. It’s silly really because she doesn’t start Kindergarten for another 7 months, but  time flies by too fast.

She talks to me all day long. She tells me every single thing she’s thinking and then some. Her little squeaky voice is sweet and endearing, and of course exhausting when I’m craving quiet.

When she wants something she is relentless in pursuing it. Just last week she decided she wanted short hair. I tried to put her off, and tell her we could put it in a pony tail, or wait to decide. She wouldn’t have it. She wanted it done right away. I’m sure you’ll notice she has short hair now.

She may be small is stature at only 33 pounds at 5 years old, but she’s amazingly sweet, completely brilliant, and a gift from God.

Sadie came to my house last week. We had such a good time bonding just the two of us.  This little girl makes me laugh. She makes me laugh all the time just watching her explore the world around her. She’s so full of life, and has so much energy and spunk.  Sadie will always be special to me because I was so lucky to be there when she was born. It was one of the best experiences in my life.  She was also one of my first newborn models. She gave me a smile then, and I was hooked.  I love this little girl.

I think there’s a song that says it never rains in Southern California.  Never may be too strong of a word.  It hardly ever rains in southern California may be more accurate.  I think that’s why we love the rain.  It’s a change from our usual sunny days that can get boring.  My dad has always said we don’t need a weather man because it’s always the same here.  We laugh at the “Storm Watch” reports on the local news.  The reporters dig out their rain coats and go around town interviewing people about the rain.  Of course we don’t laugh about the huge increase in traffic accidents because people aren’t used to driving in any kind of weather, or the inevitable dog or person who falls in the LA river and needs rescuing.  At our house life goes on as usual, except that playing outside involves our huge umbrella, old hand me down rain boots, and jumping in the few puddles we can find.  Our winters are tough I tell you.

She’s my oldest, and she’s double digits. She turned the big one o on the 10th.  She invited all her friends over for pizza and games. As you can see below we decorated with lots of 10s everywhere in her favorite color.  Oh my it was loud in our house.  The giggles and high pitched squealing lasted for a good 3 hours, and at the end they still wanted more.  Those girls wore me out, but they had tons of fun in the process so it was all worth it.

Before Christmas I did this maternity session. This gorgeous mom now has her sweet twin boys at home with her, and I’m sure she’s much more comfortable. I was in awe at how great she looked being so far along with twins. Doesn’t she look amazing?

My baby brother is now a Dad. My baby brother who is the youngest of 6 kids. Being one of the oldest I had the privilege of changing his diapers, and they were cloth diapers… with pins. I fed him baby food, made him bottles, and babysat him for my mom all the time. How can it be possible that he’s now someone’s Daddy? Well, he is, and she’s so very sweet and lovable.

Adrianna has a sweet story to her birth.  Four days before she was born our grandmother passed away.  My grandmother had red hair, and of course loved the redheads.  My brother and I had some red hair growing up, and of course my daughter now has it.  She has been the only grandchild with it so far, until little Adrianna was born. Coincidence?  I think not.

I’m smitten with this little guy.  He’s growing fast and furious these days.  He’s already over 17 pounds at 4 months old.  I remember that my daughters were 17 pounds at a year old. He smiles like this at me all day long. Each time I feel so grateful that I have him in my life.  It wasn’t easy to get him here, but it was all completely worth it.  He’s an amazing blessing in all of our lives.