awards & late nights

last night, i won an academy award.

well, ok, not even close. but, i was pretty proud of myself. i've been taking a photography class at a local college since the beginning of february. i've always been interested in photography and fascinated by the amazing photos that photographers have taken of harper during her first year, and decided that now was a great time to learn more about it. michael gave me a nikon d60 digital slr camera for my birthday in october, and i've been itching to explore all the options this camera has, hoping to unleash its potential. i'd love to take not only better photos of harper, but possibly of other families as well. i am loving this hobby so far, and hope that i am inspiring harper to follow her dreams and to do whatever her beautiful little heart desires.

so, last night, our teacher starts class off by showing us a few of his favorite photos from those that have been posted on our class's flickr sight. he did this the previous week as well, and i was bound and determined that i was going to have at least one photo chosen as a favorite of his during one class. last night, he added five (five!) of my photos to his favorites list. i was proud that i was learning something and that it was paying off. i felt like i was back in school as the teacher's pet. (me? no. what can i say? i like to impress and show i can do good things.) i felt even better knowing that i am setting an example for harper that you're never too old to learn or to follow your passions. or to impress your teacher (or boss).

here are the nominees. and the winner is...






photography is a good thing, especially when you are able to catch the unexpected moments. michael has been working crazy hours recently, and i've really been trying to hold off harper's bedtime just by a few minutes when he's running really late so that he can at least see her awake once during the day. so tonight, we were waiting for daddy and skyping with family and friends. while i was finishing up my skype conversation with my sister, harper walked to the cupboard and exclaimed open; i want cheerios. typically, i don't allow her snacks right before bedtime, but she hasn't been feeling well the last few days and really hasn't eaten much dinner, so i figured she might actually be hungry and didn't think a few multigrain cheerios would be harmful. i opened the cupboard and went back to my computer. harper pulled out the cheerios box, and in all her independence, proceeded to pull the bag from the box, reach in for a few, and then dump the rest all over the floor. right at that moment, the front door opened and daddy walked in. lovely. yes, michael, this is typically how our day ends. with food all over the kitchen floor and our beautiful little daughter sitting right in the middle of it, exclaiming something at the top of her lungs. tonight it was, hi daddy!






on another note, we received some new bows today from my friend, kellie's, stepmom. harper was so excited to open the box and see all the new hair barrettes, she just had to put on in. isn't it adorable?? thank you anna's mo!