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My life just returned to normal.  Like today, like just this morning when I woke up without a fever for the first time in 6 days.  The Flu.  It hit my home like a ton of bricks.  I've never been worked over like that and then to see my kids go down, one by one and realize I just couldn't even help them.  Luckily, we have The Dad.

He took that Flu and kicked its butt.  He doled out tylenol and cough syrup like a real nurse.  He made sure our Puker had a Puke Bowl at all times.  He kept the one healthy kid segregated and germ free.

Dads can be pretty amazing.  And it often shows on the photo shoots.  What Dad actually wants to do family pictures?  Almost none.  But there are a few Dads who can see how much it means to their wife and they do everything they can to make it awesome.  They remember the baby's favorite snacks, they crack jokes with the kids to make sure everyone's laughing.  And they make the best silly faces to get lots of grins and smiles....even from Mom.

Dads.  They can kick The Flu out the door.  And they can make a toddler belly laugh.  Super powers galore.

Smile and move on...

As Moms, we learn how to make life work.  We learn how to make sunrises fun instead of torturous.  We learn how to make frowning faces a game and how to find smiles instead of tears.  

And even when we can't (because kids do know their own minds and just exactly how to push our buttons), we also know how to brush our hands off, smile and move on.  We know how to find joy in the moment even if the moment is exactly opposite of what we had in mind.  And besides, we can remember it any way we want to.   

Firsts

     As a mom of four rough and tumble kids, it's hard for me to remember the quiet serenity of one baby.  It's not hard to remember the reality of the first baby.  I felt like I had been turned inside out, my whole heart was on the outside and I was trying my hardest to keep it happy, fed, healthy, growing.  And frankly I can't remember my son's first birthday, probably because I was already pregnant (SURPRISE!) with his little brother.  

    So when Jodie contacted me for photos of her son around his first birthday, I was so excited for her!  No matter how crazy life feels and the details start to blur, she'll have a real and tangible memory of its beauty.  

   Even better, she wanted photos both in their home and in their (our) neighborhood.  Sweet photos of baby, of course.  But also memories of his crib, his home, his community.  What a gift.