Feeling a little neurotic

for taking SO MANY photos of my child. I know, to any outsiders (meaning anyone other than doting grandparents) that this blog seems to be somewhat overboard on photos of the same poor, poor child. I really don't mean to portray the complete imbalance it appears I have. I just have this deep, deep desire to improve because I have found such a passion for photography and I can't seem to put the camera down. Unfortunately for Quincy, she happens to be my only model on a daily basis and well, I just don't ever get sick of her although I can't imagine she shares the sentiment. If you're here, reading this, then you already know what to expect next. Yep, a whole new batch of the little red head that could...

The photos below are from the past few days. Quincy decided on such a cute dress on Friday that I decided to try a mini "shoot" that I've always wanted to try. I couldn't let her just run around the house looking so ravishing! We headed to Party City and picked up a dozen balloons, making sure they were perfectly coordinated with her dress. She was so excited. What kid doesn't love balloons? We didn't have much time before her nap so we just stopped at a field behind our house. Everything was perfect. The field was green , the sky was blue and the weather was perfect. Only problem was the slight breeze. You see, the second we opened the doors, Q began to freak. She was convinced the balloons were going to fly away even though I make darn sure they were weighted down. Silly me, thinking I could reason with her once we were out of the car, decided to carry a crying toddler, camera and balloons over a barbed wire fence, through the mud, into the weeds and over a canal only to find out she refused to leave my side and was in such a panic about the balloons that the tears wouldn't stop rolling. Fun, fun. Not my idea of a successful photo shoot. After traumatizing my child, I threw in the towel and tried to salvage the few photos I did snap and that were barely in focus. Who knew balloons would cause such drama. Anyone who has a child NOT terrified of flying away with a bunch of balloons, let me know! I'd still love to experiment with the idea with a more willing model :)

FOUND!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so it was a long night between Quincy's random wimpers for her bear through the night and my turning over to discuss how sad I was with Marshal all night. Marshal went first thing this morning back to the restaurant parking lot for one last look in the daylight. He came back empty handed and we were all disappointed. Just as he knelt down to give Quincy a hug, he looked into the dining room and said, "What is that?" I got down and looked and YES, it was bear under a chair in the dining room! I ran over to grab it and showed it to Quincy, who immediately lit up. Then, I said, "Yay Daddy! Tell Daddy thank you for finding it!", to which she replied, "No, Mommy found it." Poor Dad. Where's the justice? Anyhow, let's just say it was a much happier day in the Wood Home than I was prepared for! Yay!

LOST

I always dreaded the day, but never really thought it would happen. Little pink bear is LOST. I am so distraught I can't even believe it. It's just a dumb little pink (well, now brown) bear, right? Well tell that to a two-year-old or a very sentimental mother! We went to dinner tonight and of course, bear was in tow as usual. I remember tossing him into my purse as we packed up out things to leave the restaurant and that's the last we saw of him. After turning the house upside down and driving BACK to the restaurant, wandering up and down every parking lot aisle with a flashlight and searching the lost and found at two restaurants, he is yet to be found. You better believe I'll be there first thing this morning searching again. I haven't been able to sleep thinking about all the precious moments Quincy has had with that little companion. The way she would snuggle with it to her nose and wrap her little finger in its ribbon. My heart is breaking. She went to sleep okay with her last words being "You're gonna find my bear?" Now, as I lay awake, I hear her say over and over in her sleep , "My beaow? My beaow? (or however you spell her pronunciation). Ahhh, I feel so helpless! This is horrible. I am so, so sad. Pray we find it tomorrow in some silly, random place. I just ordered a new one online tonight, hoping it's the same one, but of course, it won't be the same.

Ironically, I just took these photos earlier this week. :(

Look at me child!

Why is it that I can not get my child to look at me EVER? She is just so darn busy that she can't take the time to throw me a glance. And, when she does, my shutter is always a millisecond too slow and her eyes are half open. We're working on it, but as you can see, without much success. Here are just a few pics from this morning at the pharmacy of all places! I knew we'd be waiting a bit for our prescriptions to be filled so I threw the camera in the car. I really need to find a new form of bribery before her teeth fall out. Anyway, it's just lazy Saturday so far. Quincy is going on day number five of NO ACCIDENTS! Yay! We may have made a major breakthough here! Knock on wood.

Time Well Wasted

I have a personal list of to-dos piling up, but I decided to dedicate at least one night to the poor, neglected blog. With the pitter-patter of rain coming down and the babes (both of them) in bed, I guess I can waste a little time designing! For a new year, I've slightly given the blog a face-lift. We'll see how long this design lasts!

Along with the new design, here are a few random photos outlining the past few weeks:

First, just a typical day at home. I stayed in my PJs ALL DAY for the first time in forever. Quincy spent the day in the princess dresses over her PJs!


Hey Quincy, Smile!


Bribery at it's best.

DISNEY ON ICE! Last weekend Quincy and I picked up Tessi and headed over to the west side for the weekend. We'd had Disney on Ice plans for months and it was finally time! It was so much fun and a wonderful adventure for Quincy, Tessi (and myself too). Grammy, Papa, Aunt Barb and the rest of us rode the light rail into downtown. Quincy LOVED it. Once we got there, we met up with my friend Alex, her mom and her daughters. Quincy was so excited to see Cora and "hang out" in their matching Princess dresses. She even got to see the "real" Cinderella and Tiana. A dream come true!

Can you tell how much they like each other? Okay, so they were just warming up to each other and as usual, Quincy was mocking Cora.





This was just taken before school the other day. She insists on wearing dresses EVERYDAY so I am having to get creative with keeping her warm. She's so girly. Getting pants on the child is a major ordeal.


Lastly, we experimented with the camera out in the rain today. It was the only time we stepped foot outside. Not easy to handle a lollipop and an umbrella, but where there's a will, there's a way!

Remember me?

I thought the new year would bring a fresh start with lots of extra time. WRONG. Between being incredibly busy, we've all been sick at some point too. Hopefully things will get back on track in the next few weeks, but for now, the blog will have to wait a bit longer. I do have plenty of stories and a few pictures to add, so stay tuned. I've also been working on finally designing the entire purpose of the blog—the "blog book" that covers 2009, so that's where a lot of my time and energy has gone as well. Can't wait to finish it! Stay tuned!

Oh, and for those interested, Quincy had an accident-free day at school today! Yay!

Wrapping up the year

It's Sunday night and it's back to real life tomorrow. I'm just wrapping up some photos from the past week. Marshal and I are fortunate enough to get the week between Christmas and New Years off, so we've been spoiled for the past several days. We didn't do much but we fit in a trip to the zoo (on the coldest day of the week) and a camping trip for New Year's. Although I always have my camera with me, I think I've gotten extremely lazy when it comes to picture taking. One of my resolutions is to get back into actually trying to take a good photo! The photos below are proof we were there, but not proof of how much fun we had! I think Quincy's eyes were closed in almost every photo from the zoo!

PHOENIX ZOO: Don't they both look thrilled? They were all smiles before they saw the camera in their face!




GATES ROAD CAMPING—NEW YEAR'S EVE: The camping trip was a blast as usual. There is nothing like New Year's Eve by a campfire. Quincy had her fill of girl time, that's for sure! These girls aren't afraid of a little dirt.