For me, pictures isn't the issue. I love to take pictures! It's documenting the events or writing things down before I forget them. I was so good when I had one child. Baby book was up to date and the first year scrapbook was done shortly after her first birthday. The photo album was a work of love. I remember spending hours on it while she napped and even worked on it with friends. I believe this was around the time of the Creative Memories craze!
Second child, baby book is little more complete and her first year photo album was also a scrapbooking masterpiece (ok, it really isn't that great, but I still took lots of time on it!), though it was finished closer to her 2nd birthday.
Third child…well... his baby book is more of a baby scrap book in that there are scraps of paper in a box with things written down I don't want to forget. And his one year photo album was complete by his 4th birthday with the help of a digital photo site….oh my how time has changed! I don't know what I would do without Shutterfly! At the same time I don't know what I did before Shutterfly.
Luckily for my kids the one thing that hasn't changed is my love for taking pictures!!!! They don't like it one bit. Taking pictures of them often involves bribes of some sort, especially when on vacation! It may have something to do with the overkill on the number of pictures I take. However, in my defense, in order for me to get one decent…not great….but decent, picture of all three it takes on average 8 pictures. I am not joking. You would think my kids would realize that if they just smiled their "nice" smile it would be over in two to three pictures. Especially since my younger two children know it could take longer for their sister with special needs to look at the camera and smile. If they are always ready when she looks, I can point, shoot and move on. Needless to say with the images below, they prefer to complain about the many attempts instead! Lucky for us, there were not many people out on the marsh walk the evening these were taken!
#1
#2
Eli wasn't in the "mood"…but now Anna Cate is looking and smiling a little!
#3
Still wouldn't smile….and now she is starting to look away….and I may have started to blink….
#4
Now she is looking away and he is still not cooperating….
#5
Anna Cate is coming back, Betsie has EARNED her ice cream and Eli is lucky if he will get breakfast in the morning!
#6
What is with this kid….come on Eli!!
#7
And she looks spot on and he looks down…..
#8
She is looking….and Betsie, bless her heart blinks…I will let it pass…and Eli is realizing he
could be missing lunch the next day!!! And my eyes may be open and may not…
#9
Anna Cate thought that was funny….Eli is cracking a smile….
#10
….and then does this on our LAST attempt…so he thought!!!
#11
Changing it up…Betsie blinks…Eli smiles and AC is looking straight on…..
once more…..
And this is the decent picture I get!!!! Attempt #12
I love taking pictures. Truly. I wish a part of me had enough time to take a photography course as I love it that much. Ever since I was old enough to hold a book, I have loved flipping through old photographs and looking at slides on a projector.
What I love about pictures is you do not need words. They speak for themselves. When I look at a picture it brings up so many memories of the moment that was captured. I especially love looking at pictures with my children and hearing them narrate about the memories in their own words. What do they remember? What was a highlight for them? Seeing the memory through their eyes is a memory in itself.
When I started my first blog, Her Climb, it was for Anna Cate and her journey with Rett Syndrome. Then I wrote a blog for one year, 365 Gifts from My Non-Verbal Daughter, which I loved writing. Actually it was this blog that made me realize how much I truly enjoyed writing, about as much as I enjoy taking pictures. However, it also made me realize I hardly write about my other two children unless it has to do with my oldest daughter or our family. And this made me sad, as my other two children are pretty fantastic kids too!
And so Our Everyday, Finding Color Amidst the Grey, was born. I wish I wrote more…like every day. But now I need to "feel" what I am writing. I want there to be purpose to each entry. I want to make you come back to read more.
As school is about to being I find myself looking over at my children when they do not realize it and staring at them. I honestly can't believe my baby is going to be in first grade. He just turned SEVEN and in only SEVEN short years he will be two years away from driving! I know we hear everyone say, time flies; they grow up so fast, etc. But when you stop and look at your child with no interruptions and watch them it truly is scary how fast time does go by! I want to bottle them all up and keep them little just a little bit longer.
Looking at my baby the other day hit me harder when I realized he is it…there are no babies after him but my grandchildren (and I CAN WAIT FOR THEM FOR SURE!!!!). I need to do a better job of keeping up with writing about all my children…that was the reason for this new name of my blog. Even though we have this grey area (Rett Syndrome) in our lives, there is still plenty of color.
In honor of my third child, Eli, I would like to share pictures of his 7th Minecraft Birthday Party. While he has been seven now for 6 weeks, its better late than never to share pictures. He truly completed our family seven years ago in more ways than one. He always has a smile on his face, is the most empathetic child, very inquisitive, funny, kind, loving, smart, still lets me give him kisses, still wants me to tuck him in and will still sit on my lap. He is a mama's boy and his future wife is going to have big shoes to fill…..just sayin'! He is my baby and always will be. Happy Birthday Eli!
Eli and big sister Anna Cate
Eli and big sister Betsie
The whole family
Steve (aka Eli) and Creeper (aka Betsie)
Bricks for Kidz came to do his lego party!
Creeper (aka Eli) and Steve (one of his friends)
Playing a lego relay game
I hope you made a big wish buddy!
Always smiling, always laughing!!!
This school year I am going to try and "get organized" with all the kids (most importantly Eli's) baby stuff and hopefully by his 8th birthday I will be all caught up!!! This is also the year for taking it all in…one day at a time…enjoying every moment of every day.
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Our Everyday
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