texture tuesday {beach babe}

oh, my! he's hardly a babe anymore, is he? in just over a month, he'll be one year old! my little baby is growing up. {*frown* *sniffle* *sniffle*} 

how did that happen? i truly can't fathom it. really. others may think it's just an expression when i say it seems like i just brought him home from the hospital. but it's not. it really does feel that way. if his first year was a blur... gosh, what will the next seventeen be like? and if the years seem to go by faster the older we get {and i'm already forty}, i best pay attention. if i blink, he might have graduated and moved out to college when i open my eyes!... eeeek! i don't even want to think about how old i will be then...

well, i have not done texture tuesday in a long while. and i really wanted to post this, one of my favorite florida pics of isaac, from our recent trip. so i'm doing both in one shot! 

{i've used kim klassen's embrace and be still textures. i did not purposely pick those two for any particular reason, but now that i think about it, they are appropriate here... normally, i can not get isaac to sit still for any good close-up shots like this. but because he was in the sand and it is yet too unfamiliarly uncomfortable, he was quite still. he just sort of sat there and observed the texture of it... not quite sure what to think. so there's the "be still" part. and "embrace" is perfect for this, too... because all this photo makes me want to do is run up to him and hug my little man... squeeze him tight!}


speaking of beach babe... i almost forgot about something that happened on the beach that was rather hilarious. i was in the sand with the camera, taking pictures of isaac in mr. b's arms as they waded in shallow waves. isaac was still not yet accustomed to the water and was sort of half whining, half crying while his dad held him. out of the corner of my eye, i saw a jogger approaching from the left, so i lowered my camera to let the runner pass and so as not to have a blurry jogger in any of my shots. this person happened to be a gorgeous, thin, young woman wearing a bikini as she listened to her iPod and ran along the beach where the waves met the sand... right in front of isaac. as soon as this young sprinting beauty caught isaac's eye and attention, he stopped crying... i mean, immediately. and not only that, but his head spun on that neck as quickly as needed to follow her every step and not miss a beat. as soon as she was far enough away for him to care, he started crying again. but man, did that beach babe catch his eye! mr. b. and i laughed so hard afterward. busted, little man! busted!


just had to share that little side note.

anyway, i adore his expression in this photo. it's one i see on his face a lot these days. he has no concept of what wealth, status or popularity mean. he finds delight in pretty much everything... even his tiny green toothbrush. that kind of joy and innocence is the perfect antidote to the cynicism, bitterness or pessimism that can creep into old bones like ours. what a breath of fresh air he is.

i am daily amazed at the changes in my son. it's weird, but sometimes i feel like he'll go down for a nap and wake up a completely different person... like his personality, thinking or motor skills made leaps and bounds forward just in that short hour or two of sleep. often, the changes we witness are gradual. but i kid you not... there are days when those big overnight {or "overnap"} changes happen, too. it's one of the coolest and most surprising discoveries in regards to watching him grow up that i have come to know as a mom raising her first child.

he tests our limits. he makes more messes in less time than i have ever seen made by anyone else {thank God you can't see the condition of my home through your computer monitor!}. he has us pulling our hair out at times.

but our little squirt is, no doubt, without question, hands down, the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us.

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texture tuesday

when is the last time you just stared out a window...

actually, not simply stared,

but gazed... with delight... like it was the first time

you ever saw what there was to see

out your window.

i'd say, if you even have a window to begin with... any window...

you are a lucky soul.

i used to work in a building where there were no windows.

i was there more than ten years.

i don't know how i did that for so long.

we take for granted things like having a window to look out of.

but a baby who has just learned to pull himself up by a sill

sees it rather differently.

it's an awesome and exciting treat.

{you can't see it here, because he has already paused

to ponder all that his eyes were taking in when this was taken.

but when he first got vertical,

after having conquered the journey of crawling over to the window,

he squealed in delight at his new perched view.}

we live on the second floor of an older home... at tree-top level.

imagine what it is like for a seven-month-old

to see a view like this for the very first time on his own.

sure, i had shown him outside and the snow through the window before.

but each time was when he was less aware,

and they were all before he could get to a window on his own.

yes... it's all new for him.

and to you and i, looking out the window might not be anything new.

but is that because we just aren't looking for something new?

is it because we don't have the simple joy and appreciation

of a child?

if it is, should we try to get that back?

i think so.

{this is my third time participating in kim klassen's texture tuesday. for this week's texture link-up, we simply had to use kim's lovely "simplicity" texture, which i used on sophie, too. {here, screen mode, 100% opacity}. you can see the rest of the many link-up participants by visiting her texture tuesday page.

i'm not sure if i will keep doing these each week. i'd like to, but i already committed to several other weekly or monthly projects that i can do as time permits. this is a great one to be a part of... so many beautiful uses of textures with photography out there! have you been a texture tuesday regular? do you love it as much as i have enjoyed being a part of it the past few weeks?}

a short story

meet sophie... sophie the giraffe. she's isaac's newest friend {as of yesterday}. every giraffe has a story. this one is no exception... and for what sophie costs {even at 20% off with a coupon), she better have a story... and a good one!

actually, this toy is wonderful. of all the teething toys i've bought since isaac was born, this is the only one he likes and uses. he has barely put it down since i handed it to him yesterday morning. funny thing, too... i remember seeing it back when i was pregnant and registering, but i thought it was priced ridiculously high for a teething toy, so i did not add it to the registry despite how adorable i found it to be. it costs {i'm guessing} what all the other teething toys i've bought and tried for isaac cost combined. now i wish i had skipped them all and went right for the cadillac of teething toys.

let me just say... if you are pregnant or have a young baby who is about to start teething, or if you know of someone who is pregnant or has a young baby, this is one baby item purchase you don't want to skimp out on. {not that i ever skimp when it comes to isaac... he has all that he could ever need and want as a baby. but there are certain things where the less expensive version or a substitute of a baby item will do just fine... and there are quite a few things that parenting magazines and advertisements would have us thinking we need for baby, but never really use or actually need.}

anyway... tangent. back to my original point. i could explain why this toy is perfect for teething babies, and why it actually works {really well}. but why spend all that time when someone else did it for me... i.e. the manufacturers of the toy. they said it all with this cute little video... the story of sophie and how she came to be.

i actually came across the video accidentally, while looking for something else about sophie. it's cute, no?

here is what i was originally looking for... once upon a time, a simple story

it's a longer version of the "once upon a time..." story that is in the pamphlet that came in the box with sophie. {by the way, i know it's an uber popular name right now, but sophie is one of the names i would have wanted to name baby-b if we had conceived a girl... woh, now i'm really digressing!}

okay... back to le giraffe. i love her, because isaac loves her! for some strange reason, isaac would find anything but the other teething toys we bought for him to chew for relief... you know... remote control and other things we need but he doesn't. he tried the those teething "things"... rings and rattles and such. but none of them took. i think the fact that sophie makes noise, has an animated face, is easy to grasp, and is just the right chewing texture is what makes her the ticket!... and possibly the fact that this is the only teething object he has that has a name. *wink*

you'd think vulli was paying me to write this, wouldn't you? but they're not. i wish...

all i know is this... the next time i go to a baby shower, i'm giving this as a gift whether it's on the registry or not. it's not often i get this much behind a product because i believe in it. this is one i do, though.

and besides all that, she's just a cute little thing. and if she's makin' my boy happy while the rest of his toofers come in, then she's won my heart over!

.  .  .

{on my photo, i used the newest texture lovin' freebie texture from kim klassen. it's called "simplicity". and because it's tuesday, i linked up to join in some texture fun over here...

where the theme for this week was "story". i thought sophie's story would fit right in for this prompt.}

if i crack it open, i just might find some quiet there... and i might even reach page two hundred and ninety-nine

post updated 1.17.12 to participate in today's...

so i saw a photo similar to the above shot that i took
while i was on pinterest the other day,

and i thought to myself,

"i really want to take a photo like that."

so i did.

i honestly like the one i saw better.

but i like mine, too.

they are different in their own way.

but very similar, as well.

anyway, it was the vintage book in the original photo

that had me searching my book shelves for one of my own.

sometimes i am tempted to buy vintage books
solely for how charming they look

and how they might transform

a table or shelf...

or even an entire room.

but if i did that, i would have more useless clutter than i need

or already have.

so when i buy vintage books,

i try to purchase ones that are actually about

something that truly interests me...

something i would read,

whether the pages were old and perfectly worn or not...

whether or not the cover was frayed

or skin oils from hands that held it had seeped in to give it that oily sheen.

this is one such book.

it's about the life of franz schubert... my favorite composer.

i bought it so long ago,

and except for a couple skim-throughs,

i've not yet read it.

i'm so glad i sought it out and picked it up for this photo.

now, it's no longer out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

and now,

in my efforts to create a new level of quiet in my life.

i think i'll read this book

in place of any time i would have spent watching television.

being the music-lover that i am
and the kind of person that is more stimulated by film than i am by books,
i'm tempted to just listen to some schubert
or watch a documentary about him instead.
but neither of those are sans sound.
and because the one thing about reading that has always appealed to me
{even though i've never been a big reader}
is that it seems to provide a sense of quietness and focus and relaxation,
i am going to force myself to read about him, instead.

at my college graduation ceremony,

the president of the college
{who was also the commencement speaker}

gave this admonition to the graduates...

"always be part-way through a good book."

i think he meant always be in the middle of reading something,

or in other words, be constantly reading books, one after another.

i have not done that.

but {sadly} i've fulfilled his suggestion in another way.

you see, i've started so many books,

only to never finish them.

{i'm just not a reader.}

so i am {pathetically} always in the middle of a good book.

and when i say "middle", i mean way towards the front.

and when i say "always"... well, you get what i'm driving at.

i don't finish what i start when it comes to books.

i recall that in the past,

i have made "read more" one of my resolutions.

but it never really took.

maybe now, though, it will happen...

as a byproduct of seeking quiet out.

wish me luck.

approximately 300 pages isn't too lofty a goal, right?

what about you?

got any books you're planning to read this year?