Photo Saturation

I can't believe I have no pictures from the 4th of July! BOO! Oh well. But I do have some from before & after. TRANSLATION: This is one of those posts with a bunch of pictures of my kids. Whatever. They're cute. This is your chance to click the back button or that little "x" up in the right corner.

Still here?

Good. I like showing people my beautiful children. I know - pride's a sin. Meh.

And of course it makes perfect sense that this would be the 1st picture I post after bragging about my children and their good looks. This is what happens when you combine my children, their father, him having access to my camera, and a random roll of painter's tape.

I love when my girls find each other more entertaining than other kids or toys. It warms my heart.

The summer has been quite cool down here in SoCal until about 2 weeks ago. Then it got HOT! The moment I could feel a trickle of sweat down my back we headed to the Splash Pad the next city over. (It's FREE!) The above picture, to me, just screams, "SUMMERTIME!"

For some reason, CC just wanted to "nap" the whole time.

See? (she can be a weird kid - I love her for it).

And then, the moment she decides to play, she gets Old Faithful-ed right in the kisser.

The kid's resilient, though. I give her credit for that.

My bathing beauty.

All of the above pictures are from the Orange County Great Park. We went there to ride the free helium balloon ride, but the wait was two hours and it was hotter than Hades. So the girls ran around the park for a while, rode the carousel, and that was that. Still a good time. We'll go back again to ride the balloon later - & earlier in the day.


This is the closest thing I have to a 4th of July picture. It was actually taken on the 2nd. Malia was wearing an old dance costume to her dance class that day because their teacher said they could dress patriotic.

She got to have a "star" in her hair that day.


I hesitated to post this picture because of Malia's adorable wedgie. And then I decided I had to post this picture because of Malia's adorable wedgie.

In case you're wondering if all I can think about when I look at my child covered in this much wet sand is, "Ugh! That's going to be annoying to clean off!" - then you'd be right. And in case you're wondering if cleaning it off was annoying - then you'd be right.

I like to take close-up pictures of my girls when they're not paying attention to me. I wish I had one of those really expensive fancy-schmancy cameras.

See? I told you. They're beautiful.

Kodak Moments

My baby sister, her husband, and their first adopted son were (was?) sealed in the temple to their 2nd adopted child on Saturday. Due to some recent unfortunate medical bills as of late, I was unable to attend. We Skyped on Sunday with her and my family members who were at her house. She said to "smile!" so she could take a picture of us through Skype.

She took it before we were quite ready. I promise this was not at all posed:

And yes, it IS my new facebook profile picture.

World's Best Daddy

*you may want to click on these photos to see them enlarged*

2011

2011

Ok, Mom. I Get It. :)

After writing this post 2 days ago, my mother of course sent me some pictures she has of me with my girls. She must have read the blog and most likely had a whole-hearted, reminiscent laugh about the whole thing. I'd seen most of the pictures before, with the exception of this one:

I'm not sure exactly when it was taken, but it looks like Malia has just started taking dance classes and CC is probably napping (if she was a newborn), which tells me I probably shouldn't be en pointe with a fresh cesarean incision (sh!).

It made me smile in my heart.

It's nice to have the happy reminders of the joyful moments in motherhood.... even when they do (ironically) come from your own mother (love you, Mom)!

Not the Tough Girl I Thought I Was

Malia has been kind of argumentative as of late. Probably no more so than most children her age, but definitely a lot for her.

Last night, as I was helping her get ready for bed, I asked her if there was a reason behind her feeling the need to argue with me so much.

Her response: "Sometimes I feel just so mad at you inside. I don't know where it comes from. But it makes me so mad."

It was a shock to my system to hear my normally very kind and sweet child with the amicable disposition say these things. And even more a shock for her to say it so matter-of-factly, without batting an eye. It surprised me when I felt a wave of hurt overcome me. I excused myself while she put her pajamas on.

I came back, thinking I was composed, and asked her, "Am I the only person who makes you feel this way? Do you ever feel this way about Daddy or CC or any of your teachers?"

Let me explain to you the objective in such a question: I thought I could use it as a teaching moment to help her understand her emotions and what triggers them and that I could guide her in how to deal with them in a positive way. Maybe explain to her that these feelings don't make her bad, but normal.

But then came another sting. She replied, "Nope. Just you."

It felt worse than when my 5th Grade BFF of 4 years said to me, "I don't want to be friends anymore. This time, for good." And it was for good.

I had to call David in because I didn't know what to say, and my feelings were too hurt to react logically. He explained to Malia that she was lucky to have the Mommy she has and that when I do things that make her mad, it's usually for her benefit; that she has restrictions and is asked to do things because that's how Mommy teaches her to be a better person.

After I tucked her in, and despite her giggles, hugs, and kisses, I felt defeated. I couldn't understand why my heart had been broken so badly by something so seemingly minuscule. Was it because I could see her innocence fading right before my eyes? Or was it just because I took it personally that I was the only person she felt that way about?

And then it hit me: FEAR.

If I can't handle this, there's no WAY I'll be able to handle the teenage version!

... anybody know where I can get me one of these?