An open letter... {Sunday Snapshot}

Dear Renee and Annemarie,

Gosh, you both make me so proud. I want you to know that. It has been a joy and an honor to be your aunt. Between the two of you there is an abundance of kindness, genorosity, drive and spunk. I could not ask for better (or more patient!) role models for my girls. You are the very best kind of cousins...and to say that we all look forward to the weeks we spend visiting you in the summer is an understatement.



Your mom (who, by the way, has stood, not by my side...but just a bit ahead of me...protecting me, shielding me, taking care of me...and always telling me how it is...in perfect older sister fashion) asked me to get some images of you both together...and, well...she didn't have to ask twice. :-)



Renee...as you get ready to head to Fashion Merchandising Camp (does that sound like a fabulous time or what??? I know you'll take the Big Apple by storm!)...I LOVED how you styled your outifts!



Annemarie...as you get ready to take the Big Apple by storm in a different way in the next few months...I love that you were patient enough to let me take your photos. And thanks for not laughing when I forgot to turn my camera on. Multiple times. That was kind of you.



It was so much fun to head out without a firm plan in mind. Those unepected adventures have proven to be some of the best in my life...and I hope you both have many in your lifetime!



Your mom asked for "a field"...and we sure found a great one! :-)

All in all...a fun filled few hours that I will treasure for years to come. I will most certainly enjoy looking at these images from my arm chair vantage point as your lives start to take shape. I can't wait to watch you both fly. May ALL your days be full of sunny, happy adventures...and may you always take them on side by side.

Remember you have each other.

And your old aunt too. :-)

Love,

Aunt Katie

(The sun was SO gorgeous the night we shot. I loved this photo straight out of the camera!)

Unedited version:



For my edited version, I used {Classic Color} from Florabella at a very low opacity and did some sharpening.



Canon 50D

50 mm 1.8

f/2.5

Shutter: 1/500

ISO:200

I am joining Stef's Sunday Snapshot this week. Hop on over to see what all the fuss is about!

Accessorizing...

Getting those band-aids open and attached is not the easiest thing for Jillian. So when she got hold of a box at her grandparents and went to town, I didn't try to stop her. :-)

When she realzied I was going to take her picture, she ran and grabbed her little purse. OF COURSE it was the prfect accessory.

It's just the way she rolls.

All fancy and sassy at the same time. :-)

And well protected in the shin area.

Nana and Papa...we'll square up on that band-aid issue our next visit!

:-)

SumMer LiVin' {Sunday Snapshot}

We celebrated the 4th of July yesterday.

I know. :-)

It was actually an annual party that started as a 4th of July fete...but has evolved into apartysomewherearoundthefourthofJulythatnowhasadifferentthemeeachyear party.

My sister and brother in law, super fun party planners and hosts that they are usually give us a ring a few weeks before the party to let us know the "theme" for the year.

This year? Disco. Complete with a dance contest.

Right on.

Before the big dance off, we enjoyed some swimming.



Cousin love...



...and LOTS of lip licking good food!



Chloe wore her finest. Please don't mention to her that ties are for boy dogs. She doesn't know and was awfully proud of her poochy ensemble.



And the dance contest?

My girls brought it.

Good to know all of the hours we have spent dancing around the house have paid off.

Older cousins who organize and DJ a dance contest totally rock.



Lia took it seriously. Here she is listening to the rules.



And all that seriousness paid off. She won for the "best moves". All that sweaty dancing earned her a Gei*o headband and a bottle of cookie dough hand sanitizer.

Total score, right??

She could not have been more thrilled and already has plans to take that hand sanitizer in her backpack to Second Grade. :-) I love my slightly germ obsessed girl. And her awesome dance moves.

Jillian wasn't quite sure what to make of it all at first. Taking it all in but not sure what the craziness was about.



But soon the pulsing beat won her over and she got her boogie on.

Big time.

And even though she won no hand sanitizer...that little one's got moves too.

I'm SO proud.





Needless to say...a great time was had by all (I may have joined in to dance "The Hustle...but happily no photographic evidence exists. You're welcome.) and we are all a little "danced out" tired this morning. Such a fun party and we sure can't wait to do it again. In about a year. :-)

(My niece, Olivia. Always camera ready.)



I am joining in with Stef's Sunday Snapshot. Lots of fun and lots of great photos! Check it out!

A TaLe of TwO SisTerS {Sunday Snapshot}

We have been home with Jillian for just over 7 months (whoa!). I remember reading a blog post by an adoptive mom several years ago where she suggested that it takes a good six months to truly start to settle in and feel "normal" again after the addition of a child (biological or adopted!). That kind of stuck with me (obviously) and before we traveled to China, I had prepared myself for {possible} rocky roads and a {possible} difficult period of adjustment for all of us.

Well...if you haven't gotten it from reading this blog...we have been extraordinarily blessed with a wonderfully easy transition with Jillian. She is SO easy-going, loving, trusting...just easy. She eats, sleeps, plays, cries, laughs and just generally meets each day head-on looking for the next adventure.

Having said that...I have to admit that it hasn't been ALL rainbows and unicorns around here. :-)

There's a new sheriff in town and the....ahem...OLD sheriff had a bit of a bigger adjustment than we thought she would.

Jillian adores Lia...





...and I know Lia loves Jillian too...





...but it HAS been a bit of a work in progress.

On a daily basis. :-)

We've been on summer vacation for two weeks...and I am thrilled to say it seems we may have tunred the corner onto Sibling Love Lane for good. While we still take a turn on to Squabble Drive or Give Me a Break Way from time to time (usually around the time I am trying to get dinner on the table each day!)...I see them each settling into a good routine with one another...a nice mix of doing their own thing and playing together as well.

Yesterday we took a short trip to a local historic park to explore a bit. I had my camera to scope out locations for some upcoming family sessions...but when I saw all those painted doors I HAD to get a few of the girls. Sometimes the bloopers are my favorites! (This truly makes me laugh...hilarious...and SO them!)



...and then of course...the kind of shot my husband insists I take. The children are as enthusiastic as me. We!love!canons! LOVE! Can you tell?? :-) (see Jim??? I DID put it on the blog...because we love you if NOT your choice of backdrops! Ha! :-))



But then...I get lucky enough to capture a quick moment between Lia and Jillian that makes all the struggles (photographic and other!) worth it. I stopped to reset my camera settings...and left to their own devices...this is what happened. Like I said...Sibling Love Lane. I have proof...and I am saving it to look at tomorrow.

Around the time I will be trying to get dinner on the table. :-)



I am linking up once again with Stefanie (third week in a row...shut.the.front.door!). Click on the link below to enjoy some more Sunday Snapshot goodness...you'll be SO glad you did. Good stuff.

{Don't FalL OvEr}...

...it's the second post in a week.

Because I am a younger sister.

Happily so, mind you...but a second nonetheless. And really? That's a good place to be. A LOT less pressure...and there's always someone to look out for you. I like it here in secondom (and with all that less pressure, it frees me up to coin new words. Like secondom...just sayin'...).

But it makes me just a bit more sensitive to things like noting all the important passages of life....and just the everydayness (again with the new words...to be honest I have been working hard to get a word added to the dictionary ever since Beyonce got credit for the word "bootyliscious"...but I digress...).

My Lia's younger years were fairly well documented...and well...I want the same for my Jillian. :-) It's not that any of HER moments are less important...because we have enjoyed every.single.one....but it seems to have more to do with how busy life is keeping us.

We have been home just over 7 months with Jillian...and things seem to be settling into a new {fabulous...but busy} normal. Time seems to be passing in warp speed...and I am already losing some of the details.

So...no promises...because, you know, that is WAY too much pressure for me, a second daughter and all...but I am going to try REALLY hard to document our life with Jillian just a bit better.

Whew.

Okay...got that out of the way.

Which means I can now move onto the good stuff.

About a girl and a sprinkler.

Old school summer fun at it's best.

Jillian hated it.

As if.



I actually have yet to find an activity the child does NOT love...





She took some time to explore...



...but mostly, like Forrest Gump...wherever she was goin'...she was running...



But always with a smile.



So glad I get to come along for the ride. :-)

{SerEnDipiTy} ~Sunday Snapshot

My life has not turned out the way I planned. I say that often. But I always follow up with..."it has turned out better than I ever could have hoped."

And it's all a marvel to me on a daily basis. I am so so thankful for so many blessings...but mostly for the three people I live with.

A chance conversation with a co-worker at a part-time job led to the blind date with the man I would eventually marry. (See mom...Prince Charming really DID come knocking at my door!!)

A chance conversation with the {somewhat crazy...but that's a story for another time} Social Worker who came to do our home visit for a domestic adoption led us switch gears and find our first daughter in China.

The road to our Jillian is a bit more complicated but no less miraculous. In fact probably more so...and I know without a doubt that a much bigger Hand orchestrated it all.



...and in SORT of the same way...a happy accident led to one of my most favorite photo shoots ever.

The aforementioned accident happened during a visit to a nearby mall (in an attempt to escape the scorching heat) . And it required...ahem...the purchase of a new pair of {dry} undies. When I was buying them, I spotted the dearest little pink bathing suit. On sale. DEEPLY discounted. I did what I had to. It was a must have. Can you blame me??



...and even though I had promised (and held to!) my big girl to keep the beach shoots to a minimum...I had made no deals with the little one. Total score.



So...I had the suit...and visions of what I wanted to capture...but we had no swim cap. I sent my husband (I KNOW!) out to search the one beach store on our small island with no big hopes that he would find what we needed. And he came back with the perfect cap. For which he proudly told me had to ask for help to find. I was indeed VERY proud that he took the time to ask (which in fact MAY be the biggest miracle of this whole post... :-)).



That miracle was followed closely by the miracle of actually getting Jillian to put on the cap.



We kept Jillian up past her bedtime to take advantage of some beautiful light that we noticed every evening...at once pink and golden and soft...perfect.

She didn't seem to mind.



...and in true Jillian fashion, she did not disappoint.



I ended up with a series of basically unplanned photos that capture my girl at her best...and bring a tear to my eye every time I look at them. Serendipity. Those unplanned moments in life? I'll take them!



I'm playing along again this week with Stefanie at Ni Hao Y'all. To see some awesome Sunday Snapshots click the link! You'll be glad you did!

{JOy as BiG aS thE OcEaN} Sunday Snapshot

Last year at this time, we were here at the beach...dreaming big about the coming year and knowing that THIS year, Jillian would be with us. Truly, almost everything we talked about started with the phrase, "Next year, when Jillian is home..."...

...and now, here we are. We blew in to our favorite island Saturday, packed to the gills and looking forward to the week ahead. Although we spent a weekend here in the winter, we couldn't wait to see Jillian step on the sand for the first time...and experience the thrill of the ocean water (and really...here on the Jersey shore...part of that thrill has to do with the COLD water!).

We threw open the sliders while we unpacked the car...and Jillian was mesmerized by the "big kids" on the beach. Every time we told her we would go play in the water, she cheered loudly. And I am not kidding when I say she asked us 112 times about it. She is nothing if not persistent. :-)

By the time groceries has been bought, suitcases unpacked and dinner served, it was getting close to bedtime. But I had a plan for Jillian's first time on the beach...and I am so glad I pushed through. Several years ago, I brought a pink pettiskirt for Lia to do photos on the beach. She was so excited to see the water...and on a whim, I threw the skirt on the minute we arrived and off we went. I captured some of my favorite photos ever of Lia wearing that skirt, so happy and filled with joy to be at the shore. The skirt is still a bit big for my little girl...but in the words of Tim Gunn (who doesn't love that man??)...we "made it work"...to capture Jillian's reaction to HER first visit to the beach! (and she did not disappoint!!!). I am so excited to have "matching" photos of my girls...taken years apart...but sharing the same happiness!

Her fist glimpse of the ocean...



I wish I could share the giggles that came out of her when her feet felt the sand for the first time! It was a puzzler for sure!!



A little nervous about the waves at first...







But then...she decided she liked it...and I am so glad I had my camera in hand. Really...we were on the beach such a short time...but these moments will forever be etched in my mind. I am SO glad Jillian is home...and so glad I have the honor of being her mother. Blessed beyond reason...and so so grateful.



Edited to add this photo of Lia in the pettiskirt several years ago. When I posted the link on Facebook someone asked if I could post a photo from Lia's session. I didn't think I had any on this computer...but lo and behold...I found one!!! :-)

{photos taken with a Canon 50d (bought secondhand but works like a champ! :-)) and a 50mm 1.8 lens}

Join the fun and check out other Sunday Snapshot entries over at Stef's blog!!