Before I Was a Mom. . .

In honor of Mother's Day and to all of those wonderful mothers that I know, here's a little something that I received by email and thought was very cute and even more true. Enjoy!

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom.

I Heart Faces - Constructive Feedback Friday

Today is Constructive Feedback Friday over at I Heart Faces!

I decided to participate because I'm a newbie to both photography and photoshop, and would love some constructive criticism. I really enjoy *trying* to get natural light shots of my daughter, but I'm not always lucky enough to get the exposure right so I usually wind up trying to correct/improve in photoshop.

I love using MCP Actions and the free actions so generously provided by P-Dub, so please do check those out! I'm horribly addicted to both of their blogs as well. Very talented ladies.

So, back to business...

Here's my submission for this week. Anna was hiding behind a shelf in her playroom and playing peekaboo with me. When she would stick her head out to say "boo", I just loved how the light from the window was hitting her face so I grabbed my camera. This is the best one I got between the natural light and the fact that she was moving so fast. Not a lot of time to focus and get the shot. Fire away! (But please be gentle!)

SOOC

Canon Digital Rebel XT

50 mm Lense

f/2.5

ISO 1600

MCP Actions: Basic Exposure Fixer, Snap, Eye Doctor, Color Flair, Light Fog Fixer

MCP Vanilla Ice Cream

Flying

When you're a little girl, you can do just about anything. . .

. . .with just a little help from Daddy.

Derek, I know you're going to be sore in the morning, but I also know that every ache will be well worth it for these faces and the giggles and squeals that came along with them :)

Words We Haven't Mastered

In our house, there are some words that really need some pronunciation work. And until we get around to that, we're just going to have to try our best not to say them:

1. Posies (As in "Ring Around the Rosie")
2. Ashes (As in "Ring Around the Rosie")
3. Frog

I'll leave it at that. If you can't figure out why these words are not a good idea for a toddler with some pronunciation issues, you don't want to know ;)

Sick Day

Anna stayed home with me today with a little sinus and ear infection. As you can see it was complete torture for her as she relaxed with - count them 1, 2, 3, 4 - FOUR of her babies.