Tag Archives: monthly photo

Life, Monthly List, Parenting, Photo Journal

19 Month Photo Session: Four “B” Word Rejects

06/17/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

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

“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.

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

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.

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

After trying to stand on her head….

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

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

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

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!

Life, Parenting, Photo Journal

Midyear Photo Timeline & An Apology to My Neighbors

06/10/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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?

Life, Monthly List, Parenting

18 Month Photo Session: Craziness Confirmed

05/19/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

The 18 month photo session has been the fastest one to date. It was late afternoon and we just brought Avery inside from the backyard where she was keeping busy.

She helped Going Mom with the veggie garden.

And by help, I mean rearrange the labels, or just pull them out and throw them on the ground.

Then she just roamed the yard like the little giraffe she is, falling over her own feet every now and then and getting right back up to go again.

We finally brought the ~~wild animal~~ our daughter inside where Kelley cleaned her ~~hooves~~ hands and told her it was time for her monthly photo session. I can’t tell if she liked this or not. What do you think?

Let’s just go with saying she was excited. I mean, she even helped get her bear in the chair and held him back for the best pose of the shoot.

Apparently, the bear and Avery exchanged words that didn’t quite agree with our little giraffe princess. As you can see, she was giving him a pretty hard stare-down for whatever it was he said or did.

Things only escalated from there and her bear was ejected from the chair.

The bear was replaced with a book and a bow. She’s become more interested in actually “reading” books and doesn’t try to eat them as often anymore.

Bows are a different story. Much like her refusal to wear them during her 17 month photo session, she rejected them this time too.

Fine with me, I’m not a fan of bows, but my wife is adamant about getting her to keep them on. I’m just excited about ponytails when her hair gets longer! Pony tails have always been my favorite way for girls to wear their hair, so I hope Avery is accepting when the time comes.

Until then, I guess we just put her in hats. She seemed okay with the one Kelley put on her head and even posed for the camera.

Be honest, would you say this kid looks like a girl if you didn’t know? I’m not ashamed at all since I fully support gender neutral ways, but c’mon, she’s pretty boyish here. We try to limit the amount of pink she is surrounded with, and I’d say we are doing a great job going off this pic!

I can’t believe how much our girl is growing and know there are many fun times ahead. Even better that my butt is almost fully healed and I’m close to being able to sit down without discomfort. No more reading hunched over, yay!

Are you a fan of gender neutral parenting or prefer pink for girls and blue for boys?

Any tips on ponytails you care to share for when Avery’s hair gets longer?