Amanda-landa

there's not much better...

...than having a sister.

And I think these two little ladies agree!

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin!

quarantine

Here we are stir-crazy after being at home all week (really...ALL week!) with sick kids. Today my husband did something really selfless when his lunch plans fell through. What would I have done given the prospect of an unexpectedly free hour? I would tell no one & go somewhere that isn't infectious. What did he do? He came home to be with kids--kids with snotty noses, kids on steroids, kids who are currently coughing constantly--so I could go for a glorious hour of lunch with friends. I think they ("they" being our children, not my friends) are on the mend & we're just hoping to get well & stay that way for a while.

{Ellis took this picture of Lily earlier this year after a similar week of shared sickness. I think it is really beautiful, though it doesn't actually have anything to do with this post.}

my Stella sweet

I'm a loser, baby

It was a worthy goal, & while I've been a miserable failure at posting pictures, *we've been faithful about taking them (only forgetting a few times). Obviously I have issues with follow-through/"closing the loop"/whatever you choose to call it, but for your viewing pleasure here are some of my favorites from the last month or so...

first week of June:

second week of June:

third week of June:

fourth week of June:

* If you have a favorite, Rishi was probably the one to take it (just to give credit where credit is due!).

a picture a day

Sunday night as I was sorting through bins of Ellis's baby clothes to hand down to baby Matthew, I had one of those how did this happen? moments...you know, how did the very same baby who fit into these teensy-tiny onesies & sleepers grow into the boy who now wants to wear his Baylor hoodie every single day (even through the sweltering Texas summer)?

In a futile attempt to slow this stuff way down, or at the very least to feel as though I'm actively doing something to remember these days that are so fleeting, I've resolved to try to take a picture a day for a year. On Fridays I'm planning to post one or a couple or a few of my favorites here:

Memorial Day gardening

* remind me to tell you about Lily's strange confessional style sometime

the finished product

those eyes just kill me

do me a solid

One of the perks of having a husband who also happens to be an amazing photographer is that I get the pleasure of having extraordinary pictures of my children's ordinary milestones. Like these, from today, when Stella got her first taste of solid food. She's waited patiently for six months (unlike her older sister, who managed to hijack a forkful of sweet potatoes on their way to Rishi's mouth during Thanksgiving dinner for her first solid food), & today she got to start by trying rice cereal. The best part was how she would reach for the spoon [see picture 2] until it hit her mouth, then she would tuck her hands up in tiny contented fists under her chin [see picture 3]. The next best part was the videotape that Ellis made, complete with his commentary about the process ("Oops...my fingers got in it...I'm sorry.") & Lily's clapping in the background.