Saying Goodbye

Yesterday, my family said goodbye to an incredible man.  Vovo (Portuguese for grandfather), as the grandchildren lovingly, adoringly called him.  We are all sad and tearful, but we are also relieved and experiencing a sense of joy and excitement for him.  He was tired.  He was 94 and in the last year had experienced some significant physical changes that limited his independence.  He missed his wife, who he said goodbye to unexpectedly 10 years ago.

However, sad and miserable these things were to him, he never gave in to bitterness or resentment or "woe is me."  He carried on strong and steady in his faith, in his hobbies, and in his relationships with his family and friends.  He brought humor and lightheartedness to most every situation.  He remained a lifelong learner and pursuer of knowledge.  He loved crossword puzzles and intellectual conversation.  Every gift I have received from him in the past few years has been a book on some intriguing and mind-growing topic.  He cared about his family deeply and always obliged his granddaughter's (six of us) requests for pictures and dancing.  He lived his entire married life answering to the name "Cow" because in my grandmother's thick Portuguese accent she could not, for the life of her, pronounce the "r" in his name to say Carl.  He was devoted, kind, patient, enduring, steadfast, thoughtful, and in all things, practical.

A month ago, he chose to accept Hospice care.  He did this with full mental capacity and a readiness to "let nature take its course."  He humorously referred to his death and this final stage of his life as "his project" and would routinely ask the hospice staff, "how am I doing on my project?"  Well, his project is complete now and his family is left to continue on this journey of life without him.  As my dad said, "He set the bar very high for us to follow in our own lives and our gratitude for his presence in our lives is boundless.  We firmly believe that he will soon be with his wife and, more importantly, with God. We are firm in our conviction that death is not a finality but a stepping from one plane of existence to another, much better one."

Thank you Vovo.  I love you.

It's the Emerson Show

I know its pretty much turning into the Emerson show around here and I apologize for that, but I just can't help myself... and, its my blog : )  So my sister came up to visit recently and stayed for two weeks.  She is getting ready to start medical school in August in Miami and so she has been trying to soak up her freedom and mobility as much as she can until then.  When we get together we become "project girls" and pour ourselves into all kinds of recipes, crafts, and "projects."  One of our projects for her last visit was to make Emerson a pillowcase dress.  As you will see in the pictures below, the dress ultimately became a shirt.  It was probably one of the more frustrating projects that we've tackled, but we persevered and Emerson now has a cute little tunic shirt with drawstring pants. Don't look too closely at the outfit... it's alittle rough around the edges : )

I couldn't decide between color or B&W... I love this one!  She is smelling a flower.

Showing off some dance moves.

Head and shoulders, knees, and toes... we usually get stuck on head.

a beautiful bouquet that we picked up from this local farm

Aunt Olivia, aka Viva

She thinks everything is a cell phone, but just happened to get it right this time.

Always on the move.

Absent from Blogging, Present in Life: Suffolk, VA Photographer

I'm ashamed at how much time has passed since my last post.  I've had quite a few moments over the past few months where I've thought to myself, "this would be a great blogpost,"  and then I would think to myself, "but I don't want to miss being in the moment with the ones I'm with."  So, this is just a little post to say Hello!  I'm still here! And I'm loving the ones I'm with!  David and I enjoyed Emerson's first puddle stomping experience a few weeks ago.

Emerson - Suffolk, VA Children's Photographer

Finally!  So, the perfect storm occurred (a good storm): no one was sick, it was not raining, and everyone was in a good and patient mood : )  I scrambled to grab a few things that I thought might work well to keep Emerson entertained and distracted long enough for me to get a few shots of her without giving her time to put leaves or grass in her mouth.  I made her little "one" banner a few weeks ago when I was still dreaming of a fully loaded and extravagant session with her.  I'm still learning that simple is better when it involves kids : )

So, we played around in the backyard and chased balloons and read books.  It was a lot of fun and David and I managed to get a few shots with her too.  I tell ya... we are crazy about this little girl. 

Enjoy!

Love this little profile.

Are we done yet!?!

This is the look I always get right before she takes off running when I say, "I'm gonna get you."

So pitiful with her popped balloon.

My Little One Year Old, Suffolk, VA Children's Photographer

Behind this blog post is a mix of frustration, gratitude, defeat, triumph, fear, faith, exhaustion, and overwhelming JOY.  I have a one year old!  Emerson... what on earth would life be like if we hadn't had this little Emerson on the journey with us this past year!?!  She has pushed me to my limits- physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually... at times producing a sense of failure in me and at other times a sense of accomplishment.  What a crazy and wonderful thing it has been for me to be a mom.

What I love most about Emerson:  Her SMILE and her bright and cheerful disposition!  She really is the happiest little thing and just loves to smile.  I love watching how happy she makes other people too- grandparents, strangers at the grocery store, babysitters, anybody really!  Her curiosity and energy are unmatched... this girl started walking at 10 months and I don't think she has slowed down since.

What has been the most challenging part of motherhood so far: 1- I had very high expectations for getting her on a good sleeping schedule.  My plan was to have her sleeping through the night by 10-12 weeks and napping well throughout the day... courtesy of Babywise (which I do still support, but in moderation), but her plan was to take 30-45 minute cat naps during the day and wake up at 1:00 am, 3:00 am, and then for good at 6:30-7:00 am until she was eight months old!!! Oh, I have never been so tired or felt more defeated in my life!  Thankfully, my expectations have mellowed and Emerson now sleeps through the night almost consistently. 2- Nursing was so not easy for us.  My goal was to nurse her to about 8-10 months old, but we only made it through four months.  Lots of lessons learned and hoping, given the chance, it will go better with child #2 (whenever that time comes).

I wish I could say that after sharing all this with you, I am now going to unveil these glorious one year photo session images of her.  Ha ha... as life and nature would have it, we just finally got about 30 minutes worth of an impromptu session last Saturday and I haven't even begun to go through those images yet.  The weather has either been FREEZING or raining or one of us has been sick, keeping us from a photo session,  and our house doesn't have great lighting or set up to do an indoor session.  However, I do have a few images to share from a lazy, Saturday morning recently.  More images to come very soon!

Enjoy!
Lindsey

So here are some recent Emerson tidbits:

-She will eat just about anything- food or non-food items : )
-She loves watching music videos with her daddy.
-She constantly says "da da" and has for several months now.
-She is just now starting to say "ma ma."
-She sleeps from about 7:30 - 7:00ish... praise the Lord!
-She LOVES her paci and this random little pink and brown soft mini blanket.
-She loves books, blocks, and baby dolls.
-She loves playing hide and seek and being chased.
-Anytime the fridge is open she runs over and steals mustard out of the side door.
-She practically runs everywhere and has been walking since 10 months old.
-She smiles 90% of the time.
-If she is upset or crying, all you have to do is sing the Veggie Tales theme song to her and she calms down.
-She growls, claps, and turns around in circles in the middle of the kitchen (sometimes all three at once : )
-She thinks her hair is a napkin because that is where her dirty hands go at the end of every meal... lovely.

She felt the need to take the shelf off and bring it over to me : )

curious little hands