Category Archives: Photo Journal

19 Month Photo Session: Four “B” Word Rejects

We actually had her monthly photo session on the day she turned another month older! The past few months have taken a few days, but we’re back on track and even did it early instead of right before bedtime.

We started with the same setup as all of our sessions, sitting her in the rocking chair with her favorite bear. Whoa, unplanned rhyming is the best!

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It looked like she just might cooperate for the pictures at first, but then….

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…off with the bow clip! Okay, that’s normal, maybe she’d enjoy reading a book instead.

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Hey, look at that, she’s calm and reading! This might turn out to be the best session we’ve had in a lo…

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Whoops, spoke too soon. But the bear is still there and he’s usually the first to go.

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Oh, okay, solved that…errrr, problem? How can you get upset with that angel face though? Not possible. After a few rejections of the bear, we thought maybe her big bunny would have better luck at staying on the chair.

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One look at the plush gray bunny was all it took before he went the way of the bow, book, and bear.

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“Uh oh” is a word she’s been saying a lot lately, and it was used frequently throughout our 10 minute photo shoot. That made four things that start with “B” that she rejected; her bow, book, bear, and bunny. Maybe we should try a different letter next time. In an effort to get some pictures of her smiling, we tried the “catch the fly” game she’s been loving lately and got one pretty good shot.

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After that, she seemed a little bored of our multiple attempts.

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So she wandered around her room for a minute. Almost looks like Beavis acting as Cornholio. If you’re in your 30’s like me, you should get this reference.

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But then it was time to climb back on the chair, with a little help from Dad.

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After trying to stand on her head….

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I thought she seemed happy enough to bring the bear back for one last try.

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Her look made it apparent the plush animal would meet the floor within seconds. Sure enough…

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…Rejected again! We asked if she’d ever cooperate for her monthly photo session, but all we got was a nonchalant finger gesture.

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Whether that was an “I’ll think about it.” or an “F you!” gesture, I’m not sure, but guess we’ll find out a month from now!

19 Memories From My 19th Month Since Going Dad

Ugh, it’s this time again already? Stop growing, Avery, not all of us want to get older! Plenty of memories being made daily in our home, and we’re loving every second of it!

Who am I kidding? That’s a quasi-lie, and I bet any parent knows what I mean. That poop in the morning that filled the entire diaper to where no white cloth was exposed? Yeah, we didn’t love that. Crying about something and we have no idea what for….nope, could do without that too.

Such is toddler-hood I suppose, so we’re making the most of it. I’ll cut right to the chase and get started with my list of memories this month, number 19….ay de mi! <—-Thank you, Spanish teacher in high school, for saying this 100 times/day.

1. Mommy and I have been waiting for you to actually get into books and sit all the way through as we read to you. Now, you’ll sit for not just one, but you’ll go and get another after we are done….and then another, and another, and well, we read to you a lot.

2. Your infatuation with lights has been around for a while, and now you’re a pro at turning them off and on too. Of course, the touch light in your room is the coolest because it requires no switches and you can reach it yourself.

3. Also, as seen in your video above, you no longer need us to read to you as you obviously know how to get into a good book by yourself.

4. At our neighbor’s, you decided to sit and play right in the water run-off where you had your first experience with a water gun. You weren’t sure what exactly to do with it, but really hated having to leave it there when we left. Don’t worry, we’ll be getting our own soon enough. 🙂

5. I think you dancing has come up in my previous memories posts, but you continue to amuse us with your expanding skills. Pecking like a chicken and spinning are some of your new moves. Must be from your mom. 😉

6. At another neighbor’s house, we stopped while walking one day and you kinda played catch with your peer, Tanner. His Daddy is a huge baseball fan and I expect you guys will play catch a lot more as you get older. You got a few good throws in too!

7. Since I have 19 of these things, I’m bringing up your dance moves again. While your motor skills have increased, your coordination still has some catching up to do. No worry, you take it all in “stride” quite well.

8. You have grown fond of having a spoon during meal times, but rarely ever use it to eat. Instead, Mommy and me still mostly feed you with our utensils, or you grab food right off of them. And of course, goat cheese is pretty much a daily thing we know you’ll eat.

9. We went to Nana and Papa’s house for a fun little cookout where you kept your cousins Taylor and Ashlee busy playing. You also brought back your demon face in full force which made it difficult to get a good pic with you and Nana.

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10. While there, you got to see your aunt Lindsay and even put away the demon for a real smile. I think she appreciated your kindness.

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11. This past month, we finally took down the baby prison play area in the living room which gave all of us more freedom and less obstacles to step over. It’s amazing how much bigger our home feels when not filled with gates.

12. With our new space, I thought it would be worth trying to make a couch fort just like I used to do as a kid. Turns out, I need to work on my fort building skills and she might need to be just a little bit older. Or destruction is just her way of saying “Your fort sucks, Dad!”.

13. As I said before, you love sitting down with us to read a book, and you walking backwards to sit down in my lap has become one of my favorite times. Instant stress relief!

14. Before the Texas heat hit us, I took advantage of the cooler weather for a few babywearing walks with you. It had been awhile since I last walked with you in our Onya, but to see you running up to me with a smile when I get it out is priceless. I will never forget these times, sweetie.

15. Now that the heat is here, so are the flies…inside our house. They have me swatting at the air constantly, and you’ve caught on. Now you will point at bug flying and say “fly” and then clap your hands just like I do when trying to kill the pests. You do this at dinner in your high chair and anywhere in or out of the house. It’s cute and hopefully you’ll be a great little helper soon.

16. Swimming has quickly turned into a fun activity for you and we’ve already gone more than last year alone. That’s not saying much, but I know we’ll be there a lot this summer, just throwing you in the air (maybe too high) and kicking your legs to make big splashes.

17. This month we celebrated getting rid of your baby bottles! You weren’t too keen about it the first day, but quickly caught on to the “big kid” leak-proof sippy cups. You made sure to savor every last sip of your last time to use the bottle though.

Milk Life, Feeding America, #MilkDrive

18. With the introduction of your new cups, I now have another person to make a daily green smoothie for. I wasn’t sure how you’d take to them when I gave a few sips, but you quickly signed for more and I knew it was time. Now you down one with Mommy at night and I save extra for you to have in the morning. I’m not sure, but I think they make you a little happy.

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19. And finally, to end this month’s list of memories, it’s apparent you are a growing girl. No longer is anything safe on our kitchen counter as you can reach up to the edges quite well. We have to be careful it’s nothing dangerous on the end, but it is sometimes nice when you can get your own drink. Not so much when you try to put it back and it spills though.

If it wasn’t for Instagram, I may not be able to remember these memories, hence why I have so many pictures from my account. I’ll have to keep the Insta-pics going for next month’s 20 or my old 31 year old brain will have trouble thinking on its own.

After 24 months, I will have to find a new way to capture my monthly memories, maybe with a top 3, but until then, I’ll be back next month on the 15th to share my top 20.

What memories do you have of your kids from the past month?

Midyear Photo Timeline & An Apology to My Neighbors

Can you believe half of 2015 is already over? Where does the time go? I know everyone asks this as a rhetorical question, but I’d seriously like some answers! And, if possible, maybe how to get some of that time back…….even if we don’t have a flux capacitor, or DeLorean.

Speaking of time travel, I would start by going back to when I wrote my post from yesterday. Yeah, I’m an idiot dummy supreme asshole for referring to something about many of my kind and undeserving neighbors. I have since removed it and there’s no need to bring it up again, but just know I’m basically king asshole in asshole land and wish I could take it all back.

It only took one of my neighbors to call me out about it and as I reread the post, I developed that dreaded lump in the throat feeling of major shame. And my wife is on their side, she let me know how much of an ass I am too. Sometimes, we need others to let us know when we’ve done wrong, and this is one of those times for me.

So, to all of my neighbors, I truly and deeply am sorry for my words and ask that you please forgive me. I love our close-knit community and would hate to be shunned from hanging out with you. I’ll say it again, I am sorry and if there anything I can do to make it up to you, please tell me. Even if it’s some sort of public humiliation, I’ll do it…….to an extent. Hell, I bet Kelley would even bring the camera to post it all over social media. Whatever it takes, I just want to keep our friends!

I can’t shake this guilty conscience and it’s weighing heavy on my mind. Times like these I find solace in looking at the countless pictures of Avery from the past to present. I started wayyyy back to a year ago, but it’s crazy how much she’s changed since just the beginning of 2015.

Yeah yeah, kids grow, blah blah, I know, but it never ceases to amaze me just how much and how fast. So I went through each month of 2015 thus far and found a pic to share. Enjoy!

January 2015
January 2015

600 photos from January and I wanted to post them all, so I just pointed my mouse on one and clicked.

February 2015
February 2015

Only a little over 400 pics this month, but figured I’d keep with the chair theme.

March 2015
March 2015

No chair this time, but we did go back up to 500+ pictures. Her curls are starting to appear this month.

April 2015
April 2015

We put my childhood boots on her and caught a few good pics. We need to do this again soon. 470 pics this month.

May 2015
May 2015

We really slacked last month with only 315 pics. Geez, are we bad parents or what?

June 2015
June 2015

Only 61 pics so far, but we have plenty of days left in the month. Her eyes are so beautiful and they just really stand out here.

I can’t imagine what another 6 months will do for her growth, but I’m not rushing anything. Of course, it would be nice if she’d just tell us when she poops!

One more time. Neighbors, I apologize and hope you’ll still greet me with a smile and wave when we see each other. Please, if anything, let me know how to earn your forgiveness.

Have you ever said something you immediately wished you could take back? How did you handle it if so?

Do you look back at pictures month-by-month to see how much your little one or ones has grown?