Sugars for Sweet Dreams

The hour or so between bathtime and bedtime is by far Sam's happiest, most playful time of the day. Somethin' about feeling all clean and full from dinner and having both me and Daddy all to himself. It's apparently a good combo.

So right after bathtime, Sam actually runs around naked a little bit. This is not on purpose. He's just hard to catch. But one day he's gonna be grown, and he'd be mad at me if I put pictures of that on the internets, so we'll skip to the next parts!

We've been reading books at bedtime pretty much since we brought Sam home. The Going to Bed Book was the first book I read to him. He liked that one for a while. Then we went through a Kiss Goodnight phase. He's a big fan of both Little Blue Truck books. And one of our friends got him the cutest Itsy Bitsy Spider book that he wanted me to read over and over again for about two weeks. I don't think it's exaggerating to say I've sung that song hundreds of times by now.

His first picks lately have been an HEB special called Demolition (it's as boyish as it sounds) and Red Truck. There's also one we picked up at the Cottage in Jasper that sings Jesus Loves the Little Children. That song is probably gonna break the Itsy Bitsy Spider record here pretty soon.

You might be laughing at me thinking that he actually has favorites at his age. But he definitely has pretty strong opinions about which ones he likes and doesn't like. I bought him a cute little copy of Jamberry months ago ('cause I liked it when I was little), and we have yet to get past the first page. No joke, he closes the book every time I start reading it to him. Jamberry was a flop.

So after we had sweet, calm story time tonight,

Daddy got his turn. And we got this:

We're teaching him to read and wrestle early. Both indispensable life skills, after all. At least it gets him good and tired for bed.

He is also a Peek-a-Boo pro. He used to put a bucket on his head and peek out from under it. Now he prefers that his daddy do all the work. He just watches and giggles. I got the sweetest smiles from Peek-a-Boo tonight!

Then we gather up the puppy dogs. They are both necessary for good sleep. (Yes, he's chewing on the first one's tail. He normally carries them by their tails. If we ever get a real dog, we'll teach him not to do that. Promise.)

Then after a "sugar for a sweet dream"

he's ready for bed.

Sleep tight, y'all!

Jenni

Oh the Selfies You'll Take!

It's been about a month since we got back from our Fancy Schmancy New York Trip. I have so many pictures. We saw all the things. (And took almost none of them seriously. Just a teaser, Brandi touched ancient history. Stay tuned!) 

But tonight I give you, the Fancy Schmancy Selfie Collection. Some are sophisticated (see if you can spot the Met). Some are whimsical (we saw Matilda). Some gave us away as tourists (selfie in the taxi?) and at least one is in a bathroom that is fancier than my whole house. 

All of them are second takes, 'cause nobody gets the first pancake right. 

God bless, y'all! 

Jenni

Pretty Please!

A lot of y'all follow me on Facebook and already know that I applied for a Chase Mission Main Street Grant. They're giving 20 grants worth $150,000 each. The application process is fairly simple, but the tough part is that I have to get 250 votes by October 17 just to be considered!

I already have 182 votes! I'm so blessed to have so many people who are willing to help me out! But even though that's a ton of support, I still need 68 votes!

I know most of the people who read this blog have probably already voted - so I'm asking for even a little more help! Will you forward this link to any friends and family who have a Facebook account and would be willing to vote for me?

https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/2937

Y'all's support means so much to me! I will keep you updated on my progress! 

God bless y'all,

Jenni

Jill & Dean's Engagement Little White Church Engagement Session

I loved everything about this session! First of all, Jill and Dean were so much fun, and if their marriage is anything like their engagement shoot, they will be laughing together a lot! I have a lot of shots like this one:

And more than a few like this one:

He hollers randomly. I think it's something akin to a love language. You don't have to understand it - Jill totally does, so it works.

In between cracking up and trying to get Dean to behave, we took the pretty pictures!

Another reason I loved this session is that Jill's family founded this little church out in Thorndale. She has wanted to get married there since she was little, but her guest list got too long and the small church can't accommodate everyone. So she decided that having their engagement portraits taken here would do.

Deep down roots, belly laughs and pinkie promises...that's what marriages are made of, right? Looks like that's what Jill's and Dean's will be made of!

Congratulations, Jill and Dean!

God bless y'all,

Jenni

Three Happy People on a SeeSaw

While Michael toured D.C. a couple of weeks ago on a business trip, Sam and I spent the week in my equally exciting hometown of Jasper.

I mean, does D.C. have a Gammi and a Grandaddy who will not only seesaw with you, but also let your momma take a picture of them seesawing with you?

Or help you climb the wrong way up a slide over and over and over again?

Or swing with you? 

Or push you waaaaay high in the baby swing? 

Bonus: There is also an old twisty slide that goes way faster than the stupid new plastic ones. 

Nope. It does not. Jasper wins. 

Throwback Tuesday

I'm mixing it up on y'all. We're throwing it back a little early in the week with some of my favorite images that I've ever taken.

They're special because they're some of my firsts. I took them in college for my one and only photography class at Baylor. All but one of them were taken on film and developed in a dark room, which I really miss. It was so slow. As far as workflow goes, I am grateful for digital cameras! But there's something about something that takes a little time...

I took this one at Mozart's here in Austin. Michael was already living here when I took my photography class, and I drove down one weekend to do a project. I like the conversation going on through the middle window. I caught that on purpose. Totally.

This one was also in Austin - there used to be an antiques store down at 24th and Lamar. The one with the Eiffel Tower in front? Why, oh why, did I not buy this dang top hat?! It was velvet. I love this photo, because you can tell it was shot on film.

Hymnals in the Pioneer Village behind the Mayborn at Baylor. I love it. I wish it was a real church. And I wish you could see which songs they're open to. I don't know if I even looked at that when I took it.

Something else I wish I had bought! At the time I thought it would've been silly to buy just one teacup, but I would drink from it every day and pretend like I am fancy if I had it now. I was proud at the time of my composition and how sharp the lady with the bustle is. Although, I actually had to do this shoot twice. I screwed it up bad the first time and came out with, well, nothing. Blanks. The second time was better. These were at Spice. I go there every time I drive through Waco if it's open.

I think about this picture all the time. It's the only one not taken on film, and I'm pretty sure I just took it with a point and shoot digital camera. The conditions must have been perfect. I love how simple it is. I've always thought of it as "quiet." It's just a quiet picture to me.

Just thinking about where I started.

God bless, y'all,

Jenni

Sleepy Smilin' Sam

Of course, I have about one bazillion pictures of Sam I haven't put up. This is one of my favorites, 'cause he's smiling at me so sweet!

Michael took that picture. My camera is too heavy for selfies. It would at least sprain my wrist!