After months of telling anyone who would listen that she was “going to Pre-K swool!” (she has a lisp and every “s” word gets adorably butchered) – she seemed startled when I told her that the countdown had narrowed and only in a matter of days would she be “a swoolgirl.” I guess the wait had been long and arduous……..(another word I rarely use in real life.)

Back-to-school night was oh so exciting, except we received an unhappy earful from her – thanks to the confusion involved in visiting but not getting to stay and play in the classroom. Yikes. Glad we don’t have to do that again for another year.

At her school, they take naps in the afternoon, and Annabelle is especially PUMPED for nap time. Instead of protesting mightily (as she does whenever her dear mother suggests a little “rest time” at home) – she seems pretty stuck on the idea. She’s never had a sleepover before and apparently a nap mat is the next best thing. She kept remarking how fun it would be to spend the night at Pre-K Swool……….despite us clarifying, repeatedly, that no, she was not going to spend the night at Pre-K Swool. Just a nap. And then she’d sigh and say, “Ohhhhkay. But you’re going to leave me there, right, Mom? You have lots of work to do, right? I get to play with the kids all by myself? All day long?” Jeeze! Yes, child, I’m leaving you at school. Try not to be too sad!

When I walked her inside, we passed the director outside and she immediately told her, “HI! I’m reporting for Pre-K school!” which made me nearly fall over from laughing but fortunately Annabelle was too wrapped up in the excitement to notice. She bounced all the way down the stairs, found her name tag and away she went. Her teacher asked her if she wanted to say goodbye to her mom, and she was like, “What? Hey, can I try that water fountain?”

She managed to not eat a bite of her lunch and was a little bear in every grumpy sense of the word when I picked her up. She also went into full-on begging mode. “PLEASE let me spend the night here! PLEASE! I’m TIRED! I NEED TO SLEEP! PLEASE JUST COME BACK TOMORROW!” She seemed shocked when I told her the teachers needed to leave and go pick up THEIR kids from school. “But don’t my teachers spend the night at Pre-K swool?”

Whew. I guess it’s time to camp out in the living room and feign some sort of sleepover!

I’m so glad her first day was wonderful.

(She said her favorite part was when she ‘asked the girl in the green dress to be my friend, and she said yes!’ ……..melt me.)

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Maybe I should start consulting her for my what to wear posts! Studded jeans, a bikini top sized for 2T (she wears a 5T), Barbie sunglasses and what she calls “my daddy’s gardener hat.” Just what my clients always want to wear to their photography sessions! Perfect.

When I couldn’t quite hold back my giggles at her ever so unique ensemble, she got a tad bashful and said, “Oh, Mom, I was just KIDDIN’!”

Whew.

My silly girl.

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Annabelle started school last week. As she shook me awake at 6:01am on Thursday, the first day of school – which, I might add, doesn’t even start until 9:30am, I suppose her words summed it up very well: “Mom, Mom, wake up, I hafta get ready for Pre-K school. I’m a grown up girl!”

This summer has been bittersweet, as I’ve known that I’m going to miss my little dumpling while she’s at school. (It’s only two days a week, but STILL!) Yet her excitement is so contagious, and she’s been feverishly playing school for what seems like months now.

I’m going to miss our daily impromptu photoshoots.

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Drew came over and I was super excited to capture his four-month-old chub. He’s just the most content little guy I’ve ever met.

LOVE him.

He must have the yummiest hands ever. Slurp.

There are cute baby bottoms, and then there is Drew’s baby bottom. The Cutest Baby Bottom Ever.

Isn’t he just the chunkiest lump of love? He dozed off for one second. This is the ONLY capture I have of him asleep – because the shutter click woke him up! But he was still happy as ever, one-second-nap or not.

Yes, hi, you’re adorable.

I love this one.


Ha. LOVE!

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We read several books.

And we colored. A lot.

(She’s pretty intense about coloring. And I totally get it.)

Those eyelashes kill me every time. Even in 100+ degree weather.

We walked across the street to our favorite lunch spot, The Mixx. And they have gluten-free vegan cupcakes nowadays… which makes Annabelle a happy camper.

Oh, so exciting.

I love our summer days together!

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M
O
M

I love it.

I love her.

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I went to go meet him this past week and of course I had to take along my camera and sneak a few captures! He was 15 days old, and I think that’s the oldest I’ve ever attempted when curling sleepy newborn babies. I tried to restrain myself from bringing my entire newborn studio along for our visit, ahem, and just brought a few things since this was more of a playdate then anything else. I’ve known Peggy for the last ten years – she used to be my supervisor in another life, long before I discovered photography – and her older kids are really special to Annabelle. (Here’s a picture of her with the two of them from last summer!) Aren’t they the cutest? The three of them got to play while I caught up with Peggy and held this gorgeously adorable little guy! Dimples!!!!! From his mama. It was so nice to meet you, sweet baby boy. blogged at http://www.blessedlifephotography.com/blog

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blogged at http://www.blessedlifephotography.com/blog

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These two little pretties were so fun and such troopers, letting me play with the gorgeous sunset light shining off their golden hair and sweet smiles.

Before we even got started, I was checking my white balance in the parking lot, when Parker came into my viewfinder and said, “HI! I’m ready for my pictures!!!!” and then gave me this squeezably adorable smile.

And yes, she was ready! She sat right down and gave me one expression after another, asking to see the results each time. So cute!

I just love her dimples.

Paxton’s turn! I think her favorite word is “no,” but she says it awfully cute. Funnily enough, whenever I repeated it for her, she’d look right at the camera or start smiling. (Ha.)

And then… SO quickly, since the light was just beginning to fade… we threw their sweet mommy into the mix!

Love this! Paxton’s like, “Are you still here? With that monstrous lens of yours?”

I just love the last one. Makes me happy! Thanks for playing, ladies!

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Have I ever told you how scrumptiously yummy I find you to be? The last time I saw you, I found myself so distracted by your intoxicating scent that I lost all my words and “mmmm” was about all I could muster. Even my husband – who rejects midwestern pizza most of the time – says you are just simply irresistible.

You and I have lived all these years in the same Kansas City and yet somehow our paths didn’t cross until one day, I realized my severely allergic child had never tried pizza before, and magically – there you were! – much to her delight.

So, thank you, Waldo Pizza. Thank you for being so sizzling hot and mostly, offering a gluten-free and dairy-free option for those of us with little ones who deserve to experience a night out at the pizza parlor with Mom and Dad, just like every other kid. And thanks for the wait staff who doesn’t mind when Annabelle stands up in our booth to signal the server and ask for “another macaroni pizza, please.” (Somehow, they always know she means pepperoni.)

With lots of little love bites,

Abby

(To read more about Annabelle’s allergies, click here.)

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