Things Overheard

Tell me that doesn't inspire you to do more in your relationship? Because I hear these phrases repeatedly during editing rounds - and I mean I'll go over the same phrase 20 times or more - those words sink from my mind into my heart. It's those words that make me ever grateful for the marriage I do have and the husband God has placed in my life.

To my couples out there: After 8 years of marriage so far, I can assure you that these words spoken from the altar are tried and true. Going through the hard things together and being each other's biggest fan and advocate, deepen the bond you have.

I'd love to hear the tidbits that you've picked up so far. We can inspire and encourage each other!

Photograph Your Newborn in 4 Practical Steps

Greetings Peeps!

I shared my oh-so-traumatic experience of attempting to photograph our newly minted family addition ending in tears and being covered in unpleasantries. Not wanting to be bested by our little fox, I took up the challenge and attempted our photo session again. This time = success! Here's what worked for me:

Step 1: Feed the baby
A substantial milk coma did wonders for coaxing the little one into doing whatever I wanted. I waited for the aftermath as well - burps, pukes, and poops. It was like dropping Mentos into a 2-liter of Coke. Feed and wait. The pressure built. The countdown began! Then came the explosions that quickly become predictable (they had to after cleaning poop off the wall a few times and changing tops twice in a 5-minute span).

Step 2: Stick a finger in it
Whenever the little fox would resist the adorable places I found for her, I would stick my finger in her mouth to woo her back to sleep. A quick coaxing was all I needed in this case. This included snacks. Once upon a time, in ideal Parenthood-Land, I felt this pressure to keep baby on a strict eating/playing/sleeping schedule and to only feed when hungry. For sanity's sake, I was more than happy to take a quick break and get some food in her when she was getting overly fussy with my poking and prodding. It was a nice break for me too.

Step 3: Keep baby safe
It was so fun to think of places to mold a very moldable and snuggable baby, but especially since I was attempting this myself, I made sure she was securely propped up and contained. I was also within arm reach when taking the photos. I must have been my usual famished self because I reached for a mixing bowl and stuffed it full of rolled up blankets for her. The inside was deep enough that she fit just like a batch of my pumpkin brownie mix. I even laid our little fox out on our bed for some of my favorite shots. How easy was that? There was no way she was going ANYwhere (I hope she'll still be this compliant when she's older).

Step 4: Get Naked
The baby, of course! The key for me was starting with our little fox fully clothed so I could get my bearings and she could get hers. Happy coincidence was that once I started putting her back into day clothes, she was still in milk coma status. That meant I could play around with amazing photos showing off that little potbelly of hers.

I was so happy with how these came out and there was practically NO stress. We took our time and I waited for her cues before scrunching her into her next pose on whatever surface I could find in the house, ever handy with a quick snack or pacifier. I happily threw out all of the baby book rules out the window for an hour or two to be able to play like this! And I confess that I have since thrown out most of the baby book rules permanently.