Hillebrand Family

Angel attends church with my sister, Constance (see Connie, I told you I would start using your full name.) Angel is married to A.J. They have a son named Ari. Ari has blue eyes. You won't miss them. Take a look.

cheers, mel

p.s. I'm not missing Texas today because Fall in Texas doesn't look and feel like this!




This is Ari relaxing :).

AJ & Sarah

I'm related to one of these people. It's reasonable to think that I'm related to the beautiful woman, but you would be wrong. AJ is my cousin...specifically my dad's youngest brother's youngest son. Somehow he didn't get the short Clark genes! I was thrilled to take their engagement photos, and am equally thrilled for their wedding next June. What table will you be sitting at?

Connection

I was telling Stephen the other night that at that moment I felt most connected and attached to Schroeder. It's easy to connect with Schroeder because he's just down right cute 95% of the time. He is currently in my favorite stage. The "I talk but I don't talk back" stage. My interactions with him mostly consist of cuddling him when he's taken a tumble and revelling in his newest life discovery.

Maggie is mostly a lump. We are still in bonding mode, still getting to know each other. I take care of her basic physical needs, marvel at her smallness, and try to get glimpses of her emerging personality.

D'arcy and Julian aren't babies anymore. They require two moms. The mom who instructs and inevitably disciplines and the mom who steals a moment away from molding them and just enjoys them for who and what they are at that moment, silly, innocent, dirty, etc. I have to be the molding mom and the loving mom. And while I understand the importance of both, I find it difficult to be both.

What's my worst flaw as a mother? Well, I never seem to have wipes on hand. Ask anyone who has offered to change my child's diaper (mom, sister, etc.) Even if I buy them they seem to be in the other room, out in the car instead of in my purse, or just dry as a bone. I would be feeling pretty good about myself if this was my worst flaw.

Nope, In my assessment, my worst flaw is that I yell. Yelling can be effective when your kid is heading down the driveway towards the street, you know, when you need to get their attention quickly. I yell at those times, but I also yell when a quiet, stern bit of instruction would be more effective. It's not only that I yell but also what I yell. One of the things I've found myself saying in recent years is "What part of _______________ (fill in previous instructions) did you not understand?" When I look at my kids faces afterwards, I've thought, well I might as well just have told them they're stupid.

The other night while eating dinner, my daughter came over to me and said, "Mommy". tap tap tap "Mommy". tap tap tap "Mommy". tap tap tap....
All while I was trying to listen to the conversation that Stephen was having with his parents, Julian was babbling about something, and Schroeder was whining about eating his dinner. After the forth "Mommy", I turned to her and yelled, "STOP SAYING MY NAME!"

Everyone in the room fell silent. I expect to get some sympathy from all of you moms out there who have heard that word one too many times in a given day. D'arcy fell quiet, and I reminded her that she should say my name once and then wait patiently for me to turn my attention to her. We've been over this. She apologized.

Later that night, I felt sad that I had spoken to her that way. I went upstairs to take one last look at my sleeping kids. It's easy to enjoy them when they are asleep. Their angelic side is so easily found when they are lying still. I gave D'arcy's still chubby cheeks a kiss.

When she came into our room the next morning, the first thing I did was apologize. D'arcy's beauty is so apparent every time I apologize because she is so quick to forgive. She gave me a hug, and I realized how easy it was to connect to my kids. It simply takes an I love you or an I'm sorry.

So that's my game plan for being a mommy of four. I'm going to try to keep track of four "molding agendas", try to execute them with a minimal amount of yelling, try to steal a moment to let them know I enjoy them (messy face and all), and throw in an I'm sorry when I inevitably screw up. Check in with me in twenty years to see how it works out.

Solomon Family

I love Facebook because it connects me to High School friends and gives me an opportunity to photograph their super cute kids. Parker is super cute as you will see. We spent a nice fall afternoon at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. We missed part of the Colts game (they lost anyway :(), but Parker got to play some football with his two favorite people. He just had a birthday. Only those of you who are really smart will figure out how old he is now.

Baby Gavin

This couple didn't know me, and they didn't hear about me by word of mouth. The found me using Google. That means that MY HUSBAND ROCKS! He's been fiddling with my website attempting to get it closer to the top of Google searches. He succeeded, and I got the opportunity to meet baby Gavin. The beauty of a two month old is that their personality is beginning to blossom. They aren't just a cute lump anymore. Gavin gave us some smiles. Take a look.

Nowacki Family

Joel, Kellie, Ellie, Kole, Avery, Ezra, and now little Amara. This is the Nowacki Family. You might recognize Joel because he is a wildly successful DJ here in Indy. No lie, Track Seven DJ was voted Indy's #1 best DJ on WRTV's A-list for the second year in a row. You might guess Kellie to be a amazing fabric artist, and you would be right. You might also assume from these pictures that this family is super hip and loads of fun. Just the fact that they choose Calvin Fletchers coffee shop to do their session gives them loads of hip points in my book! It was great to see you again, Joel & Kellie. Congrats on adding baby Amara to your beautiful family.