Oh my goodness, I love these images of two weeks old Lumae and her family. She is such a sweet teeny punkin, which is probably accentuated by the fact she’s got two full-of-energy older brothers! It’s such a privilege to walk into someone’s home and capture their intimate family moments.
Thanks, Lindsay and Case, for having me over. Lumae is a beautiful baby.
Nothing says Happy 4th of July like a fully-lined knit penguin hat.
Livia’s Auntie Bean gave her this super cute winter accessory last weekend and of course Livia put it on immediately. Who wouldn’t want to wear a penguin hat while lighting fireworks?!
I love having Livia next to me while we bake cookies. She helps crack eggs, samples each ingredient, and then cleans off the Kitchen Aid paddle for me. Plus, with her, baking is an Event and we don aprons. Makes it more fun that way.
Shiloh gets in on the action, too. He cleans up the floor. Today he decided the bare arches of my feet needed cleaning—way ticklish.
We like to make this chocolate chip recipe from my Aunt Ruthie because it makes enough for a crowd. What cookie recipes are your favorites?
Yes, it is really hot outside. The egg-frying part is debatable.
No, these photos were not taken recently. But they do seem fitting for a hot summer afternoon.
Yes, it is really hard to avoid looking at Facebook.
Yes, I might blog a lot more until I get Facebook out of my system.
Yes, I do miss reading about the minutiae of everyone’s lives.
No, I am not giving in already.
Yes, I am loving Summer 2011, hot weather and all.
Question #1: Do you like hot weather or cold better?
Question #2: How often do you check your email or Facebook or Yahoo News each day? Are you as obsessive as I am? Is this a problem for you, too, or is your level of online activity totally fine for you? Just curious.
I was once accused of being a social butterfly. Seriously, my friend said it in a mean voice—Oh, you’re always the social butterfly, aren’t you—so I knew she didn’t consider it a good thing in that moment. But it’s true, I really like people and I like knowing lots of people and I want to know those lots of people really well. Clearly, this is an impossibility. But I think Facebook was made for people like me.
While I luxuriate in knowing facts about my friends and my acquaintances and my old high school classmates and the wives of my husband’s old high school classmates (see how ridiculous this is?), it’s just too much. Too much knowing. Too much potential for gossip and slander and idiocy and hurt feelings and jealousy. Too much life crammed into this online social platform. Too much time given to the brainchild of whiz kid Mark Zuckerberg.
It’s not only Facebook that sucks my time and energies. Email is just as bad for me. I’m obsessive about checking both web pages to see if anyone is communicating with me. What is it with the constant connection? Why do I crave it? Why is it hard to let it go? There is definitely an element of addiction here that I want to be free from for a time. I want to use my computer to edit photos, write worthwhile blog posts and articles, and keep contact with beloved friends and family. And then I want to close the lid of my laptop and put it away. I want to live fully and richly, away from all things world wide web when I’m in the real wide world.
Facebook is a great resource. I’m sure I’ll be back on it in due time. I love making stronger connections via Facebook and I consider it a huge blessing when it comes to marketing myself as a photographer.
But for now, goodbye. Adios to short statuses that crush my creative spirit. Au revoir to images of gatherings that I’m not invited to which make me envious of other friends. I’m off to enjoy my summer.
Livia Day involved our second salamander hunt of the summer. And while Liv has found snails and flowers and exercise and fresh air, she and Jeremy haven’t yet located salamanders. I don’t know that anyone’s devastated by that fact, however. The reward seems to be in the adventures had together. On Sunday we waded through wet grasses, crossed over railroad tracks and back again, went under bridges and over them, and worked up an appetite for a hardy lunch at a nearby diner.
It was a good day.
Pull on some shoes, grab a net and get hunting because it’s Livia Day!
Seven years ago today Livia Raine came into our lives and thus today is a day of celebration.
Thank you, God, for your grace in our lives. You have made us a family and you’ve blessed us beyond telling. May Livia never know a day she doesn’t trust in and rely upon Jesus. May you draw us closer to you and closer as a family. We are so grateful, Lord! Thank you for Livia.
From the first moment you held her in your arms to the way you play tickle-wrestle, from the sweet baby cuddles to the sweet big girl cuddles, from the soda parties to the lava games to the yard work by daddy’s side, you are the best daddy to Livia Raine.
I love parenting alongside you. Today is just another day where I tell God how grateful I am for Jeremy Tredway.
Happy Father’s Day to the men in our lives! To Jeremy, to my dad David Lawton, my father-in-law Bill Tredway and my brother Adam Lawton. We are so grateful for you!
It’s a dark and rainy morning and my newborn photo shoot is officially on a rain delay. Mumford is blaring over the speakers while I catch up on email, Facebook, online life as it is. The dog rests behind me, ears flattened a bit—I don’t think he appreciates Roll Away Your Stone as much as I do. I’m finally finally finally easing back into a normal existence after having elbow surgery five weeks ago. Being down and out for that long was both depressing and enlightening. Apparently I’m not much of a patient patient. Back to Mumford & Sons. They played in Council Bluffs two days ago and I. wasn’t. there. Can’t tell you how unfair that seemed. I heard that show sold out in minutes. Ah well, good for them.
Jeremy, Liv and I planted some vincas and impatiens and begonias and lobelias the other day. We’ve got more work to do, but we made a good start using some amazing dirt from our compost pile. Livia loves planting. It wasn’t until later that day when she was contentedly watching tv and I was finishing the potting that I realized, Wow, planting by myself is much easier than doing it with her around! Always, a mama needs to slow down to adjust for younger fingers on a task. As silly as it sounds, I think sometimes we expect Liv to act like an adult. But it takes a long time to nurture this little soul–what a job we’ve been given to train up this child.
Enough with my Thursday ramblings. I’m off to conquer a few piles of laundry.
