fourstonesoup.com

So on Monday, I start a long-term sub job for a girl who is going out on Maternity Leave.

And, of course, I had to go shoe shopping.

Because I have two types of shoes: Cute, kill-your-feet-after-a-couple-of-hours-on-your-feet shoes and my sneakers.

After two days of looking and searching and angst-ing over How Expensive Shoes Are (I feel like one of *those* people who pick up an item, discretely flip the tag, look alarmed, sigh, put the item back and shuffle away muttering about how, back in MY day, I could find shoes for 17 dollars…), I realized that there was NO WAY I was going to find uber-stylish yet amazingly comfortable yet startlingly cheap shoes without a proper stalking of Nordstrom Rack and Marshalls stores event and I was quickly running out of time for that.  So I gave up the ghost and bought shoes.  And since I was in a frivolous, devil-may-care mood, I was PRIMED for the salesman who saw me hovering over those Sketcher Ass-Toning Shoes.  So, Looooong story short, I am now the notsoproud owner of the Latest ‘Let’s Take Advantage of Frumpy Moms’ Gimmick.

I know.  I suck.

I am not generally drawn into stuff like that but they were there and I was there and I was feeling vulnerable and had just spent two days trying on pants that made my ass look progressively whalier and whalier (again with the made up word) and my skepticism lost to my vanity.  Actually rereading that sentence, I’m not sure I wasn’t date-raped by those shoes because I said “no” but after that much pressure I relented even though we both knew I didn’t want to.

Sigh.

BUT, I got to take Maternity Pictures for my currently pregnant SIL.  And it was FUN!  And when I got finished, I called Bryan and I was speaking in all caps with multiple exclamation marks because it was SO! MUCH! FUN!  And I suddenly realized that I would REALLY LOVE to take professional pictures!  And it was kind of startling.  But, cooler heads prevailed and I realized that

a) doing that professionally requires more advanced learning than ’skimming your owner’s manual’

b) doing that professionally requires an investment in equipment (lights, meters, flash, lenses, backdrops, etc)

c) I also wanted to be a ballerina and *that* didn’t work out

d) It is SO VERY EASY! to be excited about the pictures you happened to catch when you were photographing a beautiful adult who stands still, poses perfectly without any direction and is willing to endure my schizophrenic ideas.  And she’s gorgeous.  And not all situations are That Easy.

BUT!  I had SO MUCH FUN!  And I think I got some really good shots.

FYI: Code Daffodil Color: for excessive pregnant belly and too many pictures

Mom-to-be

OMG! Can you believe we are going to have a BABY to fill these SOCKS?

Young/In love

Obviously, her name is going to be Makenna

Cute Couple

The Baby Will Be the Focus

Pink Bow on Belly

Round

Ummm…I couldn’t narrow down my favorites to two or three…

Edited: I am going to eventually get around to adding ALL of them to my fourstonesoup.com fan page on Facebook.  I think.

… … …”And LOOK, MOMMA!  I drew a PICTURE of YOU and ME and DADDY and…OH, yeah, And DREW, too!  And see?  Here’s your CURLY HAIR and Daddy’s POINTY HAIR and Drew’s POINTY HAIR just like DADDY’S and MY Just straight hair.  Why is my hair JUST STRAIGHT?  I want it to be SHORT AND CURLY just like yours.  If I cut my hair will it start being curly? And HERE MOMMA, this is where I drew my Flat Cat named SHILRODSAFG and she eats FOOD.  AND YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD AT LUNCH?  GREEN EGGS AND HAM!  Haha! It was SO FUNNY!  But they were DELICIOUS!  And I loved them!  And YOU KNOW WHAT?  Let’s play UNO when we get home!  And then we can play CANDY LAND!  And I can get the ice cream card and bzzzzzzuppptttt, go all the way to the TOP and BEAT YOU!  And THEN, when Daddy gets home, he can read PETER POTTER.  Hahaha!  PETER POTTER!  I know it’s really Harry Potter but PETER POTTER is FUNNY, Mom!  LOOK MOM!  There’s TACO BELL!  Can I get those twistes with the sugary yummy stuff?  And Errrr…ooooo….aaaaaadd.  Ro-ad.  Ro-ad.  ROAD!  That says ROAD, MOM!  ROAD!  And there’s a truck with buh..errr…eeeee…a…d.  Bureeead?  bureead?  Oh, BREAD!  It’s BREAD, MOM!  I LOVE BREAD!  When we get home, can we have BREAD?  With some JELLY?… … …”

My 4 year old daughter…she speaks in Blog Speak.  All Caps.  Run-on sentences. Without stopping to allow any response on my part.

And…wooboy, she keeps us rolling around here.  And I love her.  So much that my heart expands a la Grinch and I fight back the tears as I bury my face into her hair (her talking The Entire Time, of course…”Why are you snuggling me so hard, Momma?”).

But Holy God, sometimes I would like a ‘Mute’ Button.

Or maybe just volume control.

But other than that, she’s…well…she’s perfect.