True Confessions of the Momarazzi

It's official!

After years of hoping and praying and months of planning and preparation, I am SO VERY HAPPY to announce that Mary Alice Duncan Photography is official!!

This is a dream come true for me, as many of you know. So many people have encouraged and supported me along the way and I will be forever grateful. I have no idea who is even checking in on this blog anymore, but if you are, I hope that you will consider me the next time you need some photography work! I am specializing in children, families and expectant parents. If you know of anyone at all who might be in need of my services, would you mind passing along my link to them?

I hope you'll check out my new website and please, please, please feel free to leave comments there and link me from your blogs or websites. The ONLY way my business is going to grow is through word of mouth and I am counting on my friends to help me grow!

Thank you so much for reading the Momarazzi blog over the years - and don't worry, it's not going anywhere. I'll still be documenting Jack's story here - starting with the BIG 5th BIRTHDAY coming up next week!

(And PS - I couldn't end this post without a BIG thank you to my beautiful and amazingly talented friend Raven, who somehow got inside my head and designed a logo that could not be more me. I love you, friend!!)

Jack, this pretty much sums up life with you right now...

Always first in line for the fun, aren't you, sweet boy?!

Us.

Sweet Jack, it seems that I have thousands of photos of you. I even have thousands of photos of Daddy and you. Photos of the three of us, however, are extremely rare. I suppose that's what happens when your Mommy is a photographer and generally finds herself on the other side of the lens. I rather like it that way, but lately have been finding myself a little sad that we don't have more visual records of the three of us.

Since yesterday was Easter, I decided to set up a few shots and let Mimi hold the camera and snap a few pictures of us. I think she did great! Jack, I love who we are as a family. I love that right now, you are our only child. I love that Daddy and I get to spend so much time with you. I love that you really believe me when I tell you that I am a Superhero and fight crime after you go to bed. I love the way your eyes sparkle when you look at Daddy. I love that you pick me flowers just because. I love it when you and Daddy lean new songs together on the guitar and then serenade me with them. I love the way you still instinctively reach for our hands when we are walking. I love that this list could go on and on and on...

So here we are, baby boy - You, me and daddy...just Us. And I love US!

Our Place

Last night, after eating a HUGE lunch at Mimi & Poppa's for Easter, the three of us decided to do the smart thing and go for a little Tex-Mex at our favorite place. Phillip and I had our first "date" at SATCO, even though it was a double date and we weren't with each other! We've been going there since college, and I imagine will still be going when we are old and gray. We took Jack there for the first time when he was around two because he loved eating outside and watching the birds on the patio. He was happy and Phillip and I got to feel a little bit like the cool kids we once were instead of the exhausted parents we had become.

Now, Jack actually asks to go to SATCO, declaring that he wants some "wa-tee-uhs" and cheese, please! We rarely say no to the chance to eat at what has now become our family's place. Yay for traditions!

HAPPY EASTER!

FIVE.

In exactly twenty-three days my once itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny seven pound baby boy will be FIVE. Forty-two pounds of pure energy, pure silliness, pure joy, pure love. Pure BOY. As of yet, my heart hasn't given my head permission to formulate the words needed to express everything I am feeling in relation to this major milestone in Jackson Parrish Duncan's life.

That said, I'll let these pictures do the talking for me. We headed out to Mimi & Poppa's farm today with his favorite dinosaurs and had a little fun.

Isn't he spectacular?!

Jack channels his inner Lloyd Dobler for Valentine's Day...

So, it seems that I have a little Romeo on my hands (or Prince Charming, as he likes to call himself.) Jack has already decided that when he grows up he is going to marry the sweet & lovely Emmy. He already calls her his "wife" and will tell any and everyone about the future he has planned out for the two of them!

Phillip and I decided that there would be no better time to celebrate their "love" than Valentine's Day. Jack picked out a crown & scepter to give his Princess and then we helped him express his adoration in a way that was sure to win Emmy's heart. (It worked for Lloyd Dobler back in '89, why not for Jack Duncan in '09? And I'm sorry Diane Court, but Jack is WAAAAAAY cuter than Lloyd!)

Lacking a boom box, we loaded up the ipod with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", stuck it in the dock and told Jack what to do. He was so enthusiastic about it and boldly stood on Emmy's front steps waiting for her to come outside. I don't remember much after this because I was laughing so hard. Phillip, Scott, Heather and I were CRYING we were so hysterical. Emmy didn't know quite what to make of her young suitor, but I think she was impressed!