"take a picture of me like this, mom!"

i oblige these requests, always. duh. how could you not?

express.

i've hardly had/found any time to write lately, but i've been craving it so maybe soon that'll happen. until then i want to share something i've been falling in love with... zoe's new phase of dressing & accessorizing herself. it is the cutest stinking thing ever! i always loved when i'd see three and four year old girls traipsing through grocery stores with costumes and crowns and mini plastic glittery heels - all wrapped up in their land of pretend.

i used to nanny for my cousin and her three kids when zoe was just a few months old. merrill, who was three at the time, would dress herself most days and i would take her to preschool twice a week. her mom would say "if she's not embarrassed, i'm not embarrassed." i loved that. i do realize that there is a time and a place for some things (like glittery mini heels) but for the most part, i want to do anything i can to encourage self expression.

three years old's get told what not to do a lot, and why they can't do it, and how they need to do it differently, and why that's what we're "supposed" to do. i love having an area where zoe is free to express herself however she feels like it. watching her put together her outfits in the morning (and throughout the day) is something i am totally cherishing right now. i know it's a phase but it's one that i'm hoping hangs around for awhile and transcends into many other awesome forms of self expression when she's older.

i snapped these the other day while she was finishing her ensemble and then as soon as she realized i was taking any pictures, she walked away. she's in a "no pictures please" phase, too. which is why i love instagram so much, i can be much more discreet without a big hunky camera in my hands.

anyway, i freaking love her.

happy monday!

pieces; part 1.

i've wanted to do something like this for awhile. i don't know why i haven't until now - maybe because she would never voluntarily sit this still for any length of time - but today it happened. and i quickly soaked up all of my favorite little things about her. sometimes when she wakes up in the morning i swear she's bigger and her vocabulary is growing exponentially and sometimes she knows things that i don't know (seriously). my baby is turning into a little girl and sometimes i feel, a little woman. i want to remember, so vividly, how her eyelashes lay and her funky little feet and her wispy blonde hair and the tiny little pores on her skin. my favorite freckle, her perfect little lips, and the beautiful shade of green that her eyes seem to have settled into in the past few months. i love photographs (and macro lenses) for being able to bring you so close to those memories. i've been trying to find something that i want to blog "regularly" - an installment of some sort. i think i figured it out today. and while they may not always be just of zoe, i want to remember, closely, some special pieces of life. [this is the face of a three year old, mid-story, telling about a witch eating a crocodile. [and this, forty seconds later, is what i mean by "little woman."]

do you like my pieces idea? anyone care to join? :) i'd love to see your favorite pieces, too.

finding time.

as the rain falls and the ground is covered with all of tiny little petals from all the flowering trees that have surrounded us with so much beauty, i have so much gratitude for these photos we took a couple of days ago. on a random thursday, i just wanted to go explore a pretty little place that caught my eye. we parked our car on the side of the road and the three of us walked to the "fairy tree tunnel" and played together. i wanted to take photos of my girl and to not be limited by anything other than what drew me in. her sweet little movements, expressions, laughter, inquisition, exploration, intention, joy.

pretty snow!

i was holding out hope that we'd get one more snow day before winter was over, and it happened! this winter has been freakishly warm (which i love) but i also love watching zoe catch snowflakes on her tongue and eat handfuls of snow and stand in wonderment as snow falls all around her. i wanted one more day of going out until our fingers were red and cold and coming in and making hot chocolate. i have no snow pictures at all from this year (we were either out of town or sick on every snow day we've had so far) so i'm happy that we got to enjoy what will more than likely be our last snow of this season. so serious. :) happy snow day!

happy birthday, dad!

last night we had a little low-key celebration for my dad's birthday. food, mario kart, and lots of musical instruments made for an awesome celebration. in case anyone was wondering, i have apparently not retained my mario kart skills from college and came in fourth place (last) four out of four times. my dad is an incredible guitar player and i have my fingers crossed that zoe inherits some of that musical genius, since it completely skipped me. she's definitely drawn to music and instruments of any kind, so i took the opportunity to take a million photos of her experimenting. if she does end up to be some bad ass guitar player one day, that will be pretty sweet to look at. even if she doesn't, not much is cuter than a tiny girl with a giant guitar. "happy birthday tooooooo papaw joooeeee" love you dad. the evening's band: after i gave up on trying to beat them... today is his actual birthday so... happy birthday, dad! we love you!

grace.

watching zoe in her dance class was one of those moments as a mother where i got to see my daughter pour herself into something she felt proud of. something that was at first a little out of her comfort zone, but she soon realized she loved every minute of it. my heart was beating extra fast and i had a ridiculous grin plastered on my face the entire hour as i watched her twirling and jumping and holding her teacher's hand and observing and listening with pure intention. we usually peer through the wooden blinds to catch glimpses of our girls in their element and we giggle and can never get over how cute a group of three and four year olds in tutus are. i am so happy i was able to be on the other side of the glass this particular day to capture some of the special memories that she's making and that she will hold dear. i know i already do.

seeing her with her little buddies just melts my heart! love. i love you, girl.