First Day of School

While this post is titled First Day of School, it could also be titled The Many Faces of Elizabeth Craig. I chose the former because today IS her first day of preschool. Gone are the days of "Mother's Day Out". She has moved on to big girl preschool, where the teachers write lesson plans and will teach her letters, shapes, and colors. Please don't think I'm some crazy overachiever mom who thinks preschool at the age of 2 is vital to her educational success in high school and college. Though my husband did say to me last night when I told him that Elizabeth had accurately named all the colors for the first time that day: "You're starting to sound like one of those moms who thinks their kid is a genius." "Well, she is a genius", I said. "Don't blog about this", he said.

So, yes. I, like every other mother on the planet, think my kid is a genius. And that she's gorgeous. And that she's the funniest person I've ever met. And she goes to preschool because I already recognize that she's an extroverted social butterfly and she absolutely loves anything like Mother's Day Out, or Sunday school, or preschool. She ran right in her classroom this morning, only pausing to look back once. When she caught my eye, she broke into a huge grin, waved, and ran off to play.

Take One:

Take Two:

Take Seven:

Take Thirteen:

Take Sixteen:

Take Seventeen:

What do you think she's trying to communicate to me with this look?

My happy girl. And her lunchbox.

*this first day of school outfit was brought to you by Carters*

dear elizabeth,

I never want to forget you at 2. I never want to forget how you begged to wear big girl panties, even though I really didn’t feel like potty training you yet. How 30 minutes later you are standing in a pile of your own pee, with a look of shock on your face, as you look up at me in utter bewilderment and ask, “WHAT HAPPENED?” I never want to forget how funny that moment was.

I never want to forget that ridiculously hot & sticky August afternoon. It’s 4:30 and it’s absolutely miserable outside. And you want to go outside to play in your tiny baby pool. Are you KIDDING ME? *grumble grumble grumble* as I fill up the little pink pool. And that isn't enough. You want your water "play tray" filled up as well. I'm sweating like a pig as I dig out all the necessary toys- pink shovel, plastic cup, dora the explorer watering can. When I'm finally done, you ignore it all & head straight for the hammock. I sit down on it, and you start to crawl up. “Oh, THIS is what you want. Why on EARTH could you not tell me this 10 minutes ago?” You laugh. You know I can be a little bit dramatic.

Soon we are on our backs, side by side, snuggled up like 2 bugs in a rug- swinging back & forth, back & forth- while I sing you are my sunshine, little liza jane, she’ll be coming round the mountain, row row row your boat, & any other children’s song I can think of. I can never remember any churchy children’s songs besides Jesus Loves Me, and sometimes I feel bad about that. But not today. It’s 100 degrees as we gaze up at the sky- seeing nothing but solid blue- and gorgeous green leaves from the trees our hammock is tied to. I never want to forget that moment. How it felt to go from utterly annoyed to completely content in a split second, when I realized that there is no other place I’d rather be on an unbearably hot August day than snuggled up in a hammock with you.

love, mama

Tuesday's Tip | houston child photographer

My friends sometimes ask me for photography tips. They don't want to become photographers. They DO want to take better pictures of their kids. I took the above picture last week of my BFF's baby. She adores black and white photos. When she saw this, she immediately asked me "HOW IN THE WORLD do you make your black and white photos looks like that?" Which got the wheels in my head spinning. What other things have I been asked? Hmmm...what other things might people have NOT asked me yet but really want to know? What do my friends not even know that they don't know about taking a picture?

I might take your baby's portrait a couple times a year- but the other 350-something days? That's all YOU. So what do you want to know? What would you like to know how to do? How would you like to make the everyday pictures you take of your kiddos better? Let's start a new series here on the blog called Tuesday's Tip. Think of a question & leave a comment on this blog post- or email me at sarah@fishlipsphotography.com.