A Walk

While Christian and Michaela were at Bible study tonight, Eliana and I went for a walk around our block.  We had our respective missions.

Mine involved being still.  Hers involved a lot of movement.

There was some conflict.

I was hoping to get some pictures of her eyes.  Have you tried to photograph a two-year-old's eyes in the nice light just before the sun goes down?  It requires a very wiggly person to STOP WIGGLING.

I got a lot of this...

or this...

(although her eyes do look nice there)

and pictures along the lines of this one...

(no eyes, but you can see that she had M&M's as well as milk earlier in the day...note to self:  wipe off your child's mouth before photo session)

Oh, here's a good one for "Mission:  Shoot Eyes"...

(but look at her fingers...aren't they sweet?)

Now.  This one I love because it looks like pictures of me when I was little.  (Not the afro one, but further back, when I was actually cute.)

Oooh, there are her eyes!

And then some girls on bikes came along and they were much more fun to look at than my camera.  I got her cheeks, though.  I could kiss them all day.

Eyes, elbow dimple, and paint-bonus!

She is a people watcher...the choir members were showing up at church for rehearsal and she wanted to know what each person's name was.  "Who is that?"

I will say that while our missions were not fully synchronized, we each were able to accomplish what we set out to do.  And we had fun, too.

(You better believe I touched up that picture...man, I've got some wicked wrinkles.)

Beachy Keen

Oh dear.

I was already looking forward to our time at the beach this summer.

This just makes me think it will be even more fun than I thought.

I might take a few pictures.

What do you think?

Keep the Change

 This is going to come as a huge shock to you.

My two-year-old

is

a stinkpot.

You are reeling from this news, I'm sure.  Who would have thought that she would ever be so...strong-willed?  Opinionated?  Determined?   

And yet I still can't help but squish her in giant hugs and cover her with kisses all day.

Seriously.  The kid can throw a wicked temper. 

But, seriously.  I love her to death.

And while there are some things that change as she gets older

I'm grateful that there are some things that (at least for now)

remain the same.

Hands On

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces focuses on hands. (And by the way, I never know if I should write it "Iheartfaces" or "I Heart Faces", so it will probably never be the same two times in a row.  Or maybe I'll be consistent within a post, but not from post to post.  Just to drive everyone crazy, because I KNOW you are paying that close of attention to what I write.)  Before I realized that they were deviating from their normal look at faces and giving a little attention to hands, I perused our digital photo library looking for pictures that depicted their challenge title - "Hands On".

At first I was thinking hands on faces, like peek-a-boo or a look of surprise.  Then I thought it could mean a picture of something that is a hands on task or job.  I suppose it's always up for interpretation by those who enter the contests.  I picked out a bunch of photos to narrow down, and then saw on the website that the challenge was about hands, and did not need to include faces, although they could, of course.  I went back to all my choices (and I won't say that I didn't go back through a lot of the other pictures as well) and finally decided to crop one and focus on the hands that were in the picture.

For this picture, I'm going to tell the story...

Several years ago I lost two babies.  The first time I knew something was wrong, but waited it out, hoping and hoping that I was incorrect and worried about nothing; I miscarried at around eleven weeks.  Many months later I suspected I was pregnant again but there was some ostrich action; I did a little sticking of the head in the sand...I didn't want to face head-on the possibility that I might lose another pregnancy.  I talked with my sister-in-law about it quite a bit (while trying to hide from it!), since we were together at the beach, and we had had many conversations about why I might have lost the first baby.  One thing that came up was an imbalance in progesterone levels; she encouraged me to talk to my midwife about the possibility as well as what measures I could take if I got pregnant again.  (I really am trying to keep this short.  It's hard because I think it's a good story!)  In the end, I got a prescription for the progesterone, but I started it too late that particular time.  I ended up losing the baby one week after finding out that I was pregnant.  I felt guilty for not being more proactive.  I began taking the progesterone monthly, just in case, until one month I had a strange experience about which I will withhold all the details.  Let's just say it seemed  fairly obvious that I was not pregnant, and that I couldn't be. 

I did not continue with the progesterone at that time, since it seemed pointless.  I thought I would just save it for the next month.  One week later, however, I felt like I ought to take a pregnancy test.  My boobs were super sensitive just from putting my shirt on...something had to be up.  They were normally non-existent, much less not sensitive.  The test was positive before I even finished peeing on the stick.  All righty then.  At this point I was a week past the time when I should have started taking the progesterone...but I started it anyway.  Things progressed well, in spite of the late start with the medicine.  God showed us that He is truly in charge, and was weaving and forming something amazing, in my womb and in our lives.  Eight months later, there was this...

We were blessed with a baby girl.  We named her Eliana; it means "the Lord responds".  We cried out to Him and He did indeed hear our cries and answer.  Before she arrived, we couldn't wait to get our hands on her.   Once she was here we were able to put our hands on her right away.  And we were and are reminded that the Lord has His hands on, and over, and under, and around, us.

Just like faces, hands are full of stories to tell...head on over to I Heart Faces for more.

 

Picture Perfect. Or Not.

The pictures that are coming up are straight out of the camera.  I did not edit them, because I feel that leaving them the way they are adds to the point that I am making.

Did you know that sometimes I try to make a point here?  I know.  It is impossible to believe.  But it's true.

In Eliana I had found a most willing subject as far as photography goes.  Not that I am talented or anything.  In fact, taking pictures of my kids has made me painfully aware of how very little I know about taking pictures of people.  Especially small people.  Who move a lot.  And quickly.  I know just enough about photography to be frustrated by it.

But, I could always count on Eliana to smile for me.  Or grimace.  Whichever one you would like to say is all right with me...it's a fine line.  I could count on her, though, to be willing.  Until lately.

Lately, she has been such a stinker.  Now, she is two.  And she is really coming into her two-year-old own.  The temper tantrums that make the neighbors' fingers twitch to call the police...she's had 'em.  In fact, the other day, as I was walking through the church, after picking Christian up from school (remember - this is also the place where my husband has a job) she began screaming to get down.  She went from zero to 160 in 1.3 seconds; there was no intermediate phase.  She was pitching such a fit that I didn't want to reward her bad behavior by giving her what she wanted.  So I practically sprinted through the front of the part of the church where most of the special gatherings take place (basically the fellowship hall/reception area).  Of course, there was a special gathering taking place, just on the other side of the walls.  I think all of the pastors in their offices upstairs must have heard her, she was making such a ruckus.  The poor lady sitting at the receptionist's desk kept her head down, but I could see her eyes looking up at me.  She was smiling that "I've been there...I'm so sorry" smile.  The worst part is that I had to walk up the street carrying her screaming and kicking like that, since we live so close...there was no tossing her into her carseat and shutting her noise up in the car.  I thought for sure a police officer would stop and interrogate me about whether or not she was mine, where I was taking her, and why she was screaming so.  He (or she) might have thought,"This looks very suspicious..."  Then he (or she) might have said to me,"This child sure is crying hard.  Is she yours?"   I would have said,"Yes.  But if you want to take her downtown for questioning, she's all yours!"

What in the world was I talking about?  Did I actually say I was going to have a point? 

Yes.  Pictures.  I have been trying to take her picture lately, and she is now resisting.  Resisting!  If I say,"Eliana, Mommy wants to take your picture!" she shakes her head violently, or makes a crazy face, or covers her eyes with her hands. 

I repeat...she is a stinker.

Today, I tried again.  I am a fool.

She put the camera strap around her own neck...this makes it very difficult to get a decent photo of your subject...

She wanted to be in my lap...also a very difficult photography situation...

Being in someone's lap while said someone takes your picture makes for large noses, and big lips.  It also results in white foreheads and dark chins.  Just some tips from a pro, for those eager for photography advice!  And it's free!

Well, almost free.  Your time has been spent, and I'm sorry to say it cannot be refunded.  Not even if you are not satisfied.

So...let's look at some more, then, shall we?

Ah, here's what I was going for!

I think she was contemplating what photo inopportunities she could create...

Weird.  Just weird.

Goodness!  What's up with her crazy eye?  Do you see it?!

Oh!  So close.

She slouched way down on the couch so that even though she was still and not covering her face, her neck disappeared.  Not a good photo op.  I like her eyelashes, though.

I do think these two are decent, as far as capturing her at this time...

(And I have to confess I lightened this first one, since I previously said no images were edited.  I was trying to get her eyes to show up better.)

They were all right.  But I had to work for them!  And I still say...she's a stinker!

I'll keep her.

But...

She.  Is.  A.  Stinker.