Those Cheeks! ~ Dallas Texas Child and Family Photographer

These are some of the 6 month pictures I took of my baby. He's 7 1/2 months now...so I guess you could say I'm a little behind!

I took these at the beginning of the year, right after he turned 6 months. I thought time went by fast with my oldest, but I swear it's at like warp speed now! Where did the last 7 1/2 months go? He's growing up so fast. And it doesn't really help that he is the size of an 18 month old! Seriously...the kid's HUGE. His growth is tapering off a little. Like he is now in the 90th percentile for weight compared to the 99th percentile 2 months ago :) Let me just tell you, it is not fun lugging that carseat around all of the time. But the payoff is definitely worth it. I mean, do you see those cheeks? I can't resist them. I kiss them and squish them and nibble them ALL DAY LONG. And that's not the only thing. You should see all the rolls! They're delicious. Rolls on his ankles, thighs, wrists, arms. Mmmm. I just love them.

My Grandma

I don't really know where to start. I've written and rewritten the first line of this post so many times I've lost count. Nothing really seems right. Or enough. This post really deserves an amazing writer. But I'm not an amazing writer. I'm just me. And I as inadequate as I feel as I sit at the computer and type this, I guess that will just have to be enough.

I don't usually do posts this personal. I guess I have a hard time opening up to the world. But for some reason I just couldn't "not" write this post. Maybe it's because there are pictures to go along with the story. Maybe it's because I was planning on posting these pictures before. Before everything. And even though it's all different now, and this is not the post that I ever wanted to write, it's the post that needs to be written now.

My Grandma is amazing. She's an inspiration to everyone I know. I have so many wonderful, perfect memories of her. And for that I am grateful.

When my family went home for Christmas I really felt like I needed to go up to Idaho to Grandma's house. I hadn't been to her house in almost 3 years. So I convinced my mom that we needed to go up for a day to see her and let the boys meet her. Luckily we went to Utah pretty early for my sister-in-law's wedding, so there was time before Christmas to go up.

I really wanted to take some pictures of what I remember from Grandma's house. I took these pictures while we were there. I wish I would have taken more. That I would have changed my lens and taken some different angles. I wanted to get a picture of just her hands while she was cooking in the kitchen. But I'm forever grateful that I have these pictures. That I went up to visit her that one last time.

Because my Grandma passed away Monday morning.

My heart hurts a little as I type that. I'm sad for a few very selfish reasons. I wasn't ready for her to go and I miss her a lot. But I can only imagine how sweet her reunion with my Grandpa was after being apart for 38 years. And I'm so glad that I KNOW. That I know that I will see her again. And that brings me so much peace.

I know that technically these images are far from perfect. Some are even out of focus. But every single one of them is precious to me.