Around here…

We’re in that time of year when Collin and I frequently feel like junky parents on the weekends. All I have to say is Thank the Lord for family. And I say that in absolute seriousness. The grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins are there to entertain and love on our sweet babes when we are away working. And Mak and Miss CB have way more fun with them than with us…but still…I miss them. Saturday was fun. We had a day FULL of Boys Will be Boys sessions. Seriously, some of the cutest, most well-behaved children I have ever met. They were a joy to work with and we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. Clara Beth came and hung out with us in the morning while Mak was with cousins and grandparents, and then after lunch they switched. Mak came with us while Miss CB stayed back with family. It was nice to have some one on one time with each of them, even though we were working. They’re growing up. Which is fun and sad, all at the same time. Sunday we headed out for a picnic lunch after church. Mak and CB were in complete silly mode, as you can tell from the photos. Love ’em.

Speaking of growing up, guess who has a snaggle-tooth smile now? Oh my Word, he melts me!! I realize that we’re a little behind on the whole losing teeth thing. He was pretty behind on getting teeth as well. He was 10 and a half months old before he cut that first tooth, and 7 and a half when he lost it. That tooth has been loose for about two months. I was actually happy and excited for him to see it go. BUT, I did get a teensy bit weepy on the day that he showed us it was loose. We were just finishing up a newborn session, and I had spent the last hour and a half snuggling with a sweet 10 day old baby boy, reminiscing about my own baby boy days. Then he shows up at the studio door with a very wiggly little tooth. I immediately teared up and he laughed at me. Monday night when we tucked him in he asked me to give the tooth a twist. I did, kissed him and Collin and I went downstairs. About three minutes later we heard a very scared “Mommy, come here! Something happened! I think I lost my tooth!” Poor kid was so shocked that he was crying. There was a little bit of blood and sure enough, that teeny little tooth was in the palm of his hand. We jumped up and down cheering him on like parents do for every little achievement in their kids’ life, and his tears turned to excitement. Sister came downstairs to join in on the tooth party and we all did a little happy dance then sent them back to bed. Gosh, I love those kids. Being a parent is seriously the MOST FUN JOB EVER. And little moments like that are what it’s all about. The tooth fairy came (even though he doesn’t believe) and we also had a Momma/Mak date at Sweet. Have you been? YUM.

School. I haven’t updated since Baby Girl came home to join us, but it is going really really well. It’s strange, but adding her into the mix has actually made the day go smoother. Not gonna lie, we are no longer starting our day at 7:00. It’s more like 8:00. We’re also working a little later in the day than we did last year. It’s okay, though. They are both pretty great at independent work as long as they have each other in the room. Last year, Mak was AWFUL at independent work. He needed someone in the room with him. This year, he has that. And as far as our family dynamics go, it’s perfect. Okay, maybe not perfect, but it works really well with our schedule. I’m able to get them started on school for a couple of hours, then slip away into the studio for a session while they continue to work. They ask each other for help which I LOVE. It’s amazing to see them working together to figure things out. Yes, there are difficulties as well. Sometimes they get tired of each other, sometimes they get tired of me, and honestly, sometimes I get tired of them. It’s not all sunshine and happiness and that’s okay. We all need breaks from one another, so we take them. I realized the other day that if we were doing traditional school this would be the first year that I was home all day alone. I would have my days free until 2:00 every afternoon. Sometimes that sounds a little bit tempting. But not really. I mean, it would be nice to meet a friend at Starbucks at 10:00 on a Wednesday…but not nearly as nice as watching my 5 year old learn how to tell time or my 7 year old learn about carrying and borrowing. As a whole, we’re still loving this homeschool thing.

He’s pretty proud of the hole in his mouth. In case you couldn’t tell.

And we’ll end this post with one last photo of the gap in his mouth. Just try to point a camera in his direction this week. He’ll immediately give you wide mouth cheesy smile and point at the gap. I love this kid.

Oh, and one more thing. Hot topic of the week in the photography world (at least part of the photography world that I follow) is that the blog is dead. What do you think? I definitely don’t blog as much as I used to, due to facebook, but I still spend time reading blogs. Do you? I don’t know…I’m just not ready to give up the blog totally. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. =)