Embrace the camera ~ a Wedding

My Smiley and I in the hotel bathroom 

getting ready for her big day

(yes, I really should have turned the flash off and yep, I fed her chicken strips via room service while I fixed her hair and painted her toe nails ~ now that's multitasking!)

As Flower Girl :)

you can read about her antics by clicking here!

And Action and I 

~ hangin' out at the reception ~

embrace the camera 

it really is the little moments that can mean the most

A 2 year old in a white dress

Saturday was the day.  

The day Smiley put on her beautiful white dress and enjoyed playing the role of flower girl.  

Or, did she?

Here's how the day went down.

Smiley and I arrived at the church at 2:15 for pictures.  

And while she was waiting for her turn in front of the photographer's camera, there was:

Spontaneous Posing

Twirling

Playing

And

Assessing

Then, we moved locations and headed to a field.  And luckily after a few swipes from some baby wipes, her dress remained..... mostly clean :)

Five hours after we arrived for pictures, it was time for the wedding.
She and the ring bearer walked down the aisle beautifully.

She took her place next to the bridesmaids.

Gently placed her flower basket on the floor and proceeded to make a face
that looked something like this:

unfortunately, this was so unexpected that I was NOT camera ready ;(

Giggles engulfed the congregation.
From my pew in church, I finally convinced her to pick her basket back up, but she had to give her sister one last look:

She continued to stand in the front of the church.  As I watched her, I could tell she was beginning to "zone out" and daydream.  All of a sudden, she dropped her basket and the flower petals inside spilled out onto the floor.  She looked at the floor.  She looked at me.  She looked at the floor and I watched.  I watched her little face begin to get sad.  Very sad and soon she was sobbing and running down from the alter to me.  She felt so bad about dropping her basket.  

One of the bridesmaids reached down and picked up the petals and basket.  No worries.  

Smiley was still worried.  When I finally convinced her it was no big deal.  She decided it would be ok to go take her place in the front of the church again.  She walked up and forcefully grabbed HER (hee hee hee.....) basket from the bridesmaid.

And then, she looked at me.  And it was the look.  The same look she had when she dropped her basket.  And the tears came again.  I'm not sure why ~ maybe nerves, maybe she was a little tired, maybe......who knows, but it started again.  The tears began to fall.  She came running down from the alter back to me.

She continued to sit on my lap until almost the end, at which time she made her way back to the front and proceeded to walk out with the ring bearer.

With a little help from the Maid of Honor and Best Man.

Then we were off.

Off to dance and..... have cake :)

Smiley, who loves music and to dance, actually began rolling around on the dance floor
before the music even began.

And when your sister is lying on the floor, you must jump over her:

When the music finally did start,  man did that girl dance.
Actually, all three of these fabulous kiddos danced like crazy.

They danced and danced and danced.

When she had to sit out a dance.  She crashed.

Hard.
(and yes, it was midnight)

She was a BEAUTIFUL flower girl at a beautiful wedding.
What a fabulous weekend, that of course, went way.to.FAST!

Embrace the Camera

Just me and my softball lovin, coffee makin', fun spirited, book readin', loving, girl.

Reminding myself...

As the new school year approached, I wondered more than once, how Smiley would handle the change.  I know it was just her and I home together last year, but this year was different.

She was older, and all summer she had found companionship in her siblings.  And while she loves her big sister, she and her brother really began to play well together.  They would play cars, trucks, boats, and any other kind of motor vehicle they could find.  Don't get me wrong, they would begin to wear on each other and find ways to push each others buttons after awhile.  However, they would always come back to each other.

Obviously, school started.

Smiley did well with the "big kids" going to school.  But lately, she has been crabby, demanding, whiney, and just plain feisty.  Yesterday, well, yesterday was one of those days.  I had to facilitate a meeting for our church's parents group.  Smiley cried when I took her to the daycare ~ with kids and adults she knows.  She laid face down in the aisle of the shoe store (DSW to be exact) and wouldn't budge.  I'm still not sure why.  She stared me straight in the eyes and screamed at the top of her lungs when I told her she couldn't have a popsicle until after dinner.  She stuck her hand down the back side of her pants at Action's football practice and when I asked her to taker her hand out, she stuck it in farther and took off running across the field.  Bath time, which she loves, turned into screaming and crying when it came time to wash her hair.

She's coming down with a cold, and No,  typically our days don't include all of this fun rolled into one day.  But yes, definitely pieces of fun daily.  So last night, when she tried to crawl into bed with us at midnight, I gently walked her back into her room (like I do every night), tucked her back into bed and got her a drink of water.  Then when she woke up coughing at 4am, I went in her room, leaned up against her bed and just held her.

As I held her, it took me back to those middle of the night feedings only a short (ALMOST!) 3 years ago.  When it was just her and I, snuggling and rocking.  I felt bad for feeling so frustrated with her only a few hours before.  Time is fleeting.  She is growing, and changing and wanting so desperately to become independent.

I held her until the cough subsided and she melted fast asleep into my arms.  And then, I held her some more.  Because, I don't know when I will get moments like that again.  Finally after awhile, I gently laid her back in her bed, covered her up and went back to my own bed feeling a bit sad at my frustrations. So today, I'm going to try to embrace her stubbornness, her feisty nature, her independence and her beautiful heart because all of these qualities are what make her...... her.  And she is truly one of the loves of my life.