A Happy Girl

Swinging in circles,

Looping about,

Squealing, delighted,

Giving a shout...

If joy could be captured

And saved in a jar

It just might be pink

And full of bright hearts.

One of the Best, Anyway

A new year is beginning over at I Heart Faces.  This first challenge of the year is a doozy...they want us to pick our best face of 2010!  I can't really do that, but I will share one of my favorite pictures that I took this year. 

I love this photo.  I love her fly-away hair, the curve of her cheek, her sweet expression.  This is one of those moments that I will think of when I am old and remember her when she was little. 

There are many beautiful entries already.  This week there is no guest judge, but the pictures which receive the most votes for being the best (objectively speaking, of course ;) ) will be featured on Saturday.  Check it out, and vote if you wanna!

A Bid Dirl

Eliana is three years old.

I don't know how that's possible, considering the fact that I just gave birth to her a few days ago.  It is still so fresh and clear in my mind.

And yet...it is 2010 and not 2007.  That is something I just can't get around. 

This little person entered our lives August 18 three years ago...

and brought all kinds of loveliness and delight...

and enchanted us...

She snuggled with us...

and got round and happy, like babies tend to do...

She had the audacity to do things like grow teeth...

and learn to pull herself up...

and turn one...

and then two...

(which she did with great gusto)

That little person just never stopped growing.

The nerve!

And now another entire year has passed...

full of unique moments...

and each moment seems like it just happened yesterday...

Her personality continued to develop and shine...

and she experienced so many new things...

and had so...

much...

fun...

And do you know she kept getting bigger all the while...

 I can't make her stop!

As much as it's true that it feels like she just got here, even I cannot deny the facts.  She is three years old.  She is my big girl.  And she is my baby girl.  I suppose that's how it will be from now on. 

Is There Anything Else?

This week at I Heart Faces they are focusing on "Play".  There are many ways to interpret this theme...one can play an instrument, or a sport.  The pictures could be of a group, of an individual, or of a couple of kids sharing a fun moment with a toy.

Since I have kids and they love to play (I mean, is there anything else?) I am going that route. 

We had a church picnic the other night at the park just down the block.  As soon as we got there, the kids headed for the balls, the bubbles, the hoops, and any other play paraphernalia they could get their hands on.  I told them on the way there that this was their dinner, and they needed to eat.  I'm pretty sure they squeezed in a few bites between tossing, running, catching, waving, jumping, and falling.

I took several pictures of all the kids playing; they were throwing a football back and forth, they were playing with mini-lacrosse sticks, they were going for wagon rides.  I also captured Eliana on the swings.  She loves to swing these days, and insists that I push her higher!  Higher! 

I told someone recently that if she could stay outside all day she would probably be the perfect child.  She wouldn't throw a single fit.  She would be 100% content.  (Those would be Mike's genes shining through.)  Her smile keeps me out there.  (Believe me, the heat, plus the bugs, plus the heat, plus the bugs are MORE THAN ENOUGH to send me inside.)  But she just wants to play.

Go take a peek at all the fun people are having...whatever it is that they are playing.  Check out the judges, too...they are very funny people, and their pictures are so happy and colorful!

Just For Fun, and I'm Procrastinating

The other day when we were having our "blast to the past" fun, Eliana would not be left out.  She made it clear that her hair must go in curlers, and her picture must be taken.  She was indignant if I left the room with the camera..."You haffa take my pit-chure!!" she would cry out.

Am I one to pass up photo opportunities?

I think not.

For a long time I thought Eliana looked exactly like me, like the spitting-image kind of likeness, especially me when I was a toddler.  I think all of our children are a good mix of both Mike and me, but my memory of my baby pictures led me to believe that she favored mommy more than Michaela and Christian did.

While I still think she looks very much like me

when I look at our pictures side by side, I can see

there are differences that I couldn't see in my mind.

The big-time belly laugh is where I think the resemblance is high.

She has my very round cheeks, and pointed chin.  She has my goofy, charmingly close together, sticking out a little bit, will surely require braces and teeth extraction front teeth.  She has my happy eyes.

But look closely and you'll see my face is longer, and hers is rounder.  She has a small indentation on her cheek, that is barely noticeable except when she smiles really big.

There are certainly some clear similarities in spite of the differences, but I think this next picture is the best capture of how much she resembles her mommy...

Could there be any doubt as to where this girl came from?  My genes, they are strong.