1/365

Christopher and I celebrated the New Year last night by staying up together on our over sized comfortable couch, watching Super 8 ordered off of itunes (which was excellent), eating homemade hazelnut chocolate spread, and rocking the teething toddler back and forth while she floated in and out of sleep on our chests.

Christopher took a picture of me and Evelyn as the movie was ending.



Its been so long since the baby held still long enough to love on me like that, I neverminded my awkward and unflattering position, and just let him take it.

One thing I'd like to work on in this new year, is our documentary. The way that it really is. I don't want to disguise who I am, or who my family is, for any reason. And most nights, well- I have a double chin from the way that I've collapsed on the couch after doing the post dinner dishes, my 3 month old dreadlocks look an absolute mess since I don't really believe in maintenance and usually wear them up in a wrap, and- well I want my kids to remember me the way that I actually am.

And I want to remember them the way that they actually are.

I'm doing another 365 this year. I did one for both Eleanore and Charlie a couple years ago, and I have so many beautiful shots of their growth and character. I miss that. I want that. Recently I've felt overwhelmed by keeping up with our documentary. Sometimes my camera will sit in its epiphane nest on top of the filing cabinet for a week or more, and then by the time I pick it up again, I feel so guilty for not having taken any pictures, that I over compensate by trying to hard to get a good shot. And of course by the time I've got the dang thing looped around my neck and turned on- the kids have scattered, and I end up with a shot of the back of their heads, and maybe a blurry eye if they so happened to look back to "neener neener" at me.

But what I'm really good at, and what I really enjoy- is the real moments. So this 365 that I'm starting is going to be just that- a collection of memories from my point of view. I won't fuss over the technicalities- a little overexposure never killed anybody. Instead, I'll celebrate the beauty of my family. No themes, just our life. One day it might be a photo of Evelyn, one day it might be the cat. Maybe if I'm really lucky, I'll be able to get a few shots of all 3 kids? Probably followed by 5 days of messes, laundry piles, and moving boxes.

Today was day 1.



Eleanore, the dear, lost her 2nd tooth the other night. And the next morning she stumbled down the stairs, bangs in her eyes, pout on her face, and she says- "The tooth fairy didn't come!".

...Oh Jesus. She was right!

What kind of an awful tooth fairy blows off little girls who have tucked their teeth underneath their pillows with adorable notes that read "I hope you find our house!"?

Ugh. Me.

...quick, I need an excuse!

"Well, you know what? I bet the tooth fairy was afraid to come, because of the chapstick that you smeared all over your wall yesterday. She could get stuck!".

Save.

"So you have to clean it all off, and I bet she'll come tonight while you're sleeping".

Win.

And Eleanore scrubbed that wall. Well, today we all scrubbed walls. And doorways. And bathrooms. And carpets. And ceiling vents. And anything else that might have dirt or dust and prevent us from passing our upcoming housing inspection.

The tooth fairy brought her 2 quarters. One for each tooth that shes lost so far.



Another personal project that I've got going, is having a green smoothie every day for breakfast. This is something that I've been doing, but thought maybe I could write down my recipes, take and share some pictures- make it a little bit more fun? And then this morning, I made a red smoothie instead? Oops. Way to kick start this project, right?

I probably won't post my smoothies every day, in fact I know I won't, but- maybe here and there? Maybe I'll just post them on my instagram account (if you've got an iphone, come find me? I'm TiaColleen).



This new year has a lot in store for us.