Baptism Photos

 This is a big deal for our family. Gwen is our first to be making this sacred covenant of baptism. The dress was a bridal train I found at a thrift store (talk about a financial SCORE!!!) and cut the diy pattern out. She helped with the design, just a bit. There was some pattern-fitting trauma bc she grew so much between drafting the pattern and finishing the dress. But I took a deep breath, wielded my seam ripper, and reworked it. I am glad I did. Fits her perfectly now! My favorite part is that the sleeves are jersey knit. TOTALLY a comfortable dress!

I took her out for a photo shoot (okay, 2 shoots) and she LOVED the special time with Mommy!

 This awesome rock staircase is a hidden gem! 

 She calls this the "Cinderella picture" even though technically Cinderella ran DOWN stairs rather than up. 

 This is probably the best pic I have showing the back of the dress. 

So proud of Gwen for wanting to follow Jesus Christ! I can't believe this time is here. But I know Gwen is ready to take this step. She has a fervent testimony and wants to be good. She loves the Savior. She loves others. She is growing up. 

Favorite Faces

I just had to share some of my favorite faces on some of my favorite little people from the past few months!

Emmett- finally getting happy in water!

Always content... when he is eating!

Keeping him entertained during sisters' swimming lessons.

He loves wearing shades! We've gone through a heart pair already but he doesn't show any signs of growing tired of them!

He loves to copy the faces his sisters make!

He's been a stinker of late about requiring arms to hold him, but we are managing the phase knowing that soon enough he'll be pushing us away bc mommy and daddy are embarassing/crunch his style. This face wins me over every time!

When I ask Caroline to smile, this is what I get. She has taken crazy faces to a whole new level!

Sometimes she shows genuine glee! Feet off the ground!

Not a face, but a nice pic of her naked out in the pasture...she stripped out there so she could get wet in the wheel line! 

close inspection of a worm.

The girl plays hard. I LOVE when she sleeps! This particular day she fell asleep DURING dinner.

Gwen loves being Emmett's older sister! She takes really good care of him and tolerates his constant demands for "lap". 

She is a little funny lately--- I think we are seeing the tip of the moody iceberg. Sometimes she just won't smile. Other times she hides behind food or toys so we can't see her mouth.

But when it suits her, she can still be coerced into being silly.

She LOVES riding her bike!

And swimming underwater

And she still goes crazy/silly when she dances and sings!

And there are LOTS of ridiculous poses.

Can't see her face, but this is a typical view of the top of her head when she is peering intently to examine something. In this case, trying to toast ants with a magnifying glass has her occupied. 

But this is my favorite because it is just SO Gwen: happy 2 seconds before, but now Caroline is touching her and she is just NOT going to be happy about it. 

oh, and while this one is definitely not a "face"... it is still an abs fave photo from the summer!

Perfect Imperfections-- the REAL story is so much more intriguing than the ideal!

So many 'perfect' expectations develop based on seemingly perfect Pinterest ideas or lovely blog photography. I find I love the real stories so much more than the Potemkin village ideals we feel like we have to live up to. I think the lyrics "love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections" pretty much sums up how I feel about the photo shoot  for family pics we had up at the cabin. My MIL is so talented and I look forward to photo time with her every year... confession, I may have been planning and scheming on our clothing selections for about 3 weeks. Maybe... I was a little anxious when the snow obscured the rust and golden colors from the landscape. What if our color scheme was affected? I needn't have worried. Plenty of golden colors around the cabin and the snow made the lighting perfect! 

Gwen is old enough now to actually follow photographer instructions, so hers turned out really pretty. The only 'perfect imperfection' is the hint of black eye that you can see in some shots--- she had a run-in with cousin F just a couple days prior to our photo session and got a good shiner for it!

But most shots you can't even see it, right? At least, I can't. And I know it is there. So I'm betting you didn't notice.

Wow. Such a boring story she fell asleep. Standing up. Outside in the cold. 

It was a comedic experience with Caroline! She was cold, so we'd take a few pics, slip on her coat and move locations, whip it off and take a few more... You'd think from the bizarre photos that we were demanding she sit perfectly still for a long time rather than asking for her attention for such brief moments! But I LOVE the collection of totally random photos, goofy faces, strange poses, and tongue shots we got when she was instructed to smile! 

There was no hiding this boy's goose egg. Right there on his forehead from a tumble on the stairs THE DAY BEFORE the photos! He was less enthusiastic about his personal photo shoot, mostly because he just woke up and is a rather snuggle-y boy for about 40 minutes or so after waking up and getting pictures taken meant he got set down. Tragedy. 

Getting ALL the faces to look at the camera and smile at the same time is honestly a Herculean feat! Goofy hooting face for Gwen and unimpressed Emmett. 

Emmett has had enough. 

Change of location? Silly smug faces...

or back of the head?...

Does ANYONE look good in this one? Is anyone even aware of the camera?

Seriously. Please tell me your photo sessions go like this too!

But we did manage to get quite a few successful shots! We have Grandpa's face-making skills to thank for this beauty!

But I have to say, I think this one seems so natural and fun, Caroline's arms so silly and Emmett's smile so genuine with that ever-present-teething-finger in his mouth... 

I love the perfect imperfection of it!

We got some really beautiful ones of the kids, too. My favorite of Gwen. 

And, miracle of miracles, despite all those crazy poses, we managed a beautiful one of Caroline too!

And this cute one of the girls together.

My absolute favorite of the whole shoot: Emmett's fluffy pokey-up hair, the little curls over his ears, his sparkly eyes... and that wonderful bluish knot on his forehead! Definitely perfect imperfection!

All photo creds to Mama Allan! Thank you!