5/52

  "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2017."

4/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2017."

3/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2017."

2/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2017."

according to everly - [what I want to be when I grow up edition]

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what do you want to be when you grow up: I want to be a teacher.

why: because I like being a teacher.  I want to be one when I grow.

what do you want to teach: I want to teach about my kids.  I want to do stories about faraway places when people grow up and sing.

how old will your kids be: four, I think they are going to be a little small.  I think they are going to have moms.  And I'm going to be their teacher mom.  So they will call me teacher.  Actually, they will call me Miss Lewis.  I will like how my kids do everything.  I know I really really want to be a teacher.  I want to be a good teacher.  Everyone will listen.  Actually, I'm going to teach high school. They will learn how to cut. [she's currently cutting paper, but it all works really]

how old will you be when you start teaching:  4

so you are starting this year: yeah

how many years will you teach: 100 days, and you are going to be at my class. but you don't need to train me, I know all the rules. I know about when they don't do stuff, I'm going to put them in timeout.

any last words on teaching:  Um, I want to be a very good trainer and I want to help people that don't listen.  And if they don't listen, they are going to go to time out.  and then I want to be a regular teacher that doesn't have a name, the kids will just call me teacher.

1/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2017."

according to everly - [disneyland edition- because those were the only questions she would answer]

who's your favorite princess: Jasmine

what's your favorite ride: the roller coaster, the one I go on

what's your favorite thing to eat in the parks: rice, yes mom, they have rice there

what's the first thing you do when you enter the park: go see the princesses!

what's your favorite dress to wear to the parks: Rapunzel

what souvenir do you want to buy next time we go: a kitty cat, the one with the little bow, from aristocats

what ride do you not like in disneyland: the roller coaster, the big one, where you hear all the people screaming

what's your favorite drink in disneyland: water

favorite dessert: beignets 

fourth year of photo challenges [the 52 project]

while going through some old posts, I realized that I'm about to start my fourth year of participating in the 52 project!  I'm excited to share my first portrait of the year here soon - but for now, I can't help but to share a few of my favorite photos from the first two years of my weekly portraits.  the one photo top center was the very first weekly portrait I ever took!  swoon.

it is so fun to see these little changes and transitions all in one place.  from head bows to the tiniest piggy tails that anyone ever did see.  and I think there is only one thing that I miss about our rental home - that exposed brink fireplace on our front porch, man, that was pure photo magic. the house was always so dark, but that porch was my saving grace.  I now have a pretty sweet brick fireplace wall in my dining room, and a garage door of my dreams, both perfect photo spots, so I guess I'll do just fine finding spots for photos, but I digress.  

see our participation in the 52 project here.
and a look back at our third year in the project here.

excited for another year of weekly portraits...now with my four year old!

a look back at the 52 project for 2016

it's amazing how quick the weeks fly by.  joining in on the 52 project has been one of my favorite blogging adventures.  lately I find sharing a thousand photos of a single event here just too tedious, and instead, my passion in this past year or so has been making our mini-films.  however, as much as I love those little films, there is still something to be said for the simplicity of a good photograph, and that is what the 52 project has allowed me to focus on.  one photograph of my daughter, every week of the year.  here's just a little sample of a few of my favorite 52 portraits I took of everly this year. look at that baby face taken at the beginning of 2016, and then full on little girl in the last photo taken on christmas day.  I can't think of clearer proof of how my little toddler is no more, and I'm clearly raising a little girl these days.

52/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with your charisma. you love going into 'teaching mode', exploring always, trying new things, probably not food, but experiences, yes. pretending to be a snow bunny while sinking into mounds of fresh powder.  and I melted, in this moment. 

51/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with your spunk and determination.  you didn't care that it was in the 40's on Christmas day, you were going to wear your new Moana dress from Santa, and because Santa's magic is real, your size 3 Moana skirt fit you perfectly! it made your day even sweeter. and I melted, in this moment. 

50/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with how thoughtful you are.  as excited you were to open your presents, you were just as excited to find presents for everyone else to open under the tree.  and I melted, in this moment. 

49/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with how much your sentences and phrases are changing everyday.  at night you will ask me about christmas when I was little, asking if I ever heard santa's clatter, or if I had sugarplums dancing in my head. and I melted, in this moment. 

48/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with our christmas traditions we are forming. getting to see these trees every year with you, such a special little trip right before the holidays.  and of course, your excitement when you found a Back to the Future themed tree.  and I melted, in this moment. 

47/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love.  and I melted, in this moment. 

46/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with your Christmas crafting obsession I've started.  today, we will add to our craft supply collection and bring out the glitter again.  I think my house will look like a scene from Elf by the time Christmas comes. and I melted, in this moment. 

45/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love when you correct me in the most grown up way.  When I stated that Thanksgiving was 'turkey day', because that is what you have called it all this time, you sweetly replied, "no mama, it's Thanksgiving." and I melted, in this moment. 

44/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm sharing so much joy in this christmas season with you. so little and so grown up at the same time.  yesterday, you said you would be sad when the christmas season was over, and I'm afraid you share my same sappiness for life. maybe it's just because we really love every little moment. and I melted, in this moment. 

43/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, you had the best day ever.  and I melted, in this moment. 

42/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with the way you look at the world. your eyes are open, your mind is open, your heart is open.  and I melted, in this moment. 

41/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm so sad for this day.  I'm so sad that the hope I had for our future, is going to look very different now.  I wanted to celebrate history with you today, and instead, I'm silent.  and I melted, in this moment. 

40/52

 "A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2016."

in this moment:

right now, in this moment, I'm in love with how grown up you seem these days. last night we were reading "the little old lady who wasn't afraid of anything," and you decided that you preferred the character in the story to be little red riding hood, and not the little old lady.  by the third page, I was 'reading' the story correctly in your mind, and read instead, 'little red riding hood'.  when you realized I had done it right, you looked right at me and said, "good job mommy." and I melted, in this moment.