nine best. week two.

as i mentioned last week,

my assignment for this week is to return to the same subject and take more pictures.

i feel like i'm doing what i normally do and put tons of pressure on myself to be the best...

when in reality, i'm in week two of an introduction class...

meaning, even at the end of the course,

i won't be taking pictures like this...

but maybe someday.

i'm learning to chill'ax and enjoy the learning process...

because afterall, i'm doing this for fun.

here we go...

His.

Sanctified Blood

pouring out

enveloping me with grace

filling in the cracks

of my broken heart

and my open mind

making me whole

making me His.

nine best. week one.

i'm taking an introductory photography class at RISD because i desired to take better pictures of mykenzie and my future babies and all of their cousins. it's important to document with pictures since i'm failing in the baby book department.

this week, i basically took a zillion blurry pictures. 

 the assignment was to use the manual setting only and play around with exposure controls.

  exposure controls???

yeah, my iphone doesn't have those so i'm starting at the very beginning of my photography knowledge. 

thankfully, i only had to pick nine of them to turn in as my "best". 

here they are!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

number four is underexposed, but i just loved her little face so i included it.
plus, i NEEDED nine for my class and even with 300 pictures, there weren't many to choose from.
number nine is my favorite.
she looks like a little strawberry cupcake.

my next assignment is to go back to my subject and take more pictures using a different approach.
i'm so thankful i picked such a cute subject.

i've gone indy.

little girl has low standards...

and so it works out perfectly...

she doesn't care about songs that rhyme...

songs in key...

or even songs that make any sense at all.

she stares at me with those big eyes of hers

and thinks i'm the greatest thing in the world.

she hasn't told me that, but i can tell.

my songs usually go a little like this...

"go to sleep, take a nap

you'll feel better in an hour

sleep your poodiness away

and i'll give you a bottle when you wake up"

or (sung to the tune of "the wheels on the bus")

"the baby on the bus goes drool, drool, drool

drool, drool, drool

drool, drool, drool

the baby on the bus goes drool, drool, drool

all over mommy's shoulder"

see?? basically, it's the same thing as talking, but with a horrible melody as i desperately search for my next word...

the Wiggles have contacted me because they're impressed.

but really, i've never received such glowing reviews

as i have from baby girl.

she's the best thing ever.

and apparently, she feels the same about me.

hey look.

"i'm teething and forfeiting naps 'til further notice."

poor swollen gums making way for krikorian teeth. yikes.

fortunately, she gets baby teeth first.

mission possible.

nate plays guitar...

and with that comes the discovery of guitar picks in random locations of the loft.

starting january 1st, i began a confidential mission to confiscate...uhh...collect guitar picks

 that met the following criteria:

1. it had to be found somewhere other than on top of his amp, guitar stand or any other equipment.

2. it had to be in that location for at least 24 hours.

you have no idea how often i find picks just abandoned on the floor

or dizzy from a spin in the dryer.

i was fed up!
 and although this mission made me laugh,
 it was initially a rather mischevious plan to punish nate in some way.
i wondered if nate had noticed them missing. he didn't appear to.

last week, i couldn't keep it a secret anymore. i finally told him of the secret jar

of orphaned guitar picks hidden under my bed...

total count: 29 in just under 6 weeks time. that's an average of 4.8 found each week.

 just sayin'...

he cracked up and pleaded for his favorite red ones, but i wouldn't budge.

(if anyone else is confused about the motive of my mission, you're not alone.

 it's four parts:

1. to punish

2. to rescue
3. to make a point.
4. to hold hostage?)

today, i decided to use my power for the good and give these guitar picks new life with a simple (emphasis on simple) project...

the guitar picks are no longer abandoned orphans, but joyful, rounded, triangular pieces of plastic happily residing in our frame collage above our bed...

i think they're happy.

i am.

i think nate secretly likes it, too.

in a funny way, i feel like they represent how i feel there should be a place for everything...

unfortunately, it's also a reminder to me that nate doesn't agree. sigh.

( in case you care:

these frames have been above our bed for almost 2 years and i still have 4 frames to fill so don't look too close!

the other frames are filled with

a picture of mykenzie,

a picture of the three of us,

a picture of nate playing guitar {all of these are in my sidebar and taken by our friend, Pasha},

a maternity picture of me holding an "M" taken by our friend, Matt at Blueflash,

an image of a "Z",

zachary's footprints (which a nurse misspelled "november" on...grrr...)

mykenzie's footprints at 4 months old,

and a printed art that i bought off of etsy that says "our love rocks" with an acoustic guitar head that has hearts instead of tuning knobs  (that's where i got my blog name from!)

baby's breath.

something special.

so soft.

like a whisper.

a soft breeze on my face.

so clean.

it's baby's breath.
more specifically, my baby's breath.

i love picking mykenzie up and feeling the short exhale on my face...

i realized that i had never felt that with my little boy.

for a moment, i felt regret...

grief...

but then i felt the overpowering sense of healing once again...

there are days when it washes over me so purely...

and i can see the beauty in a thing like spit-up breath...

i can reconcile the things that never will be here on earth...

and recognize the miracle in the warmth of her life-filled breath.