Over the holidays we ran into this rooster that was a little bit on the nutty side. For some reason he was territorial with the Christmas tent at the Hunt Club Farms. He came running up to us and started pecking at our feet, chasing us, kicking dust up at us, growling, and flapping his wings. It was hilarious to watch him get riled up, and that didn’t take much! He was a beautiful rooster but I think he had a few screws loose upstairs.
I was scratching my head trying to figure out a good post to close out the year 2009. I could say all of the usual stuff like, ‘I can’t believe the year has gone by so fast,’ or ‘my resolutions for 2010 are,’ and on and on but I don’t want to bore you with stuff like that, so I am going to post my Top 10 Photos of 2009. Thanks Tonggumomma for the great idea!
1) We were taking photos for the first day of 2009. Catherine is such a techie that she couldn’t handle being so close to the camera without touching it and trying to play with it. She looked like such a professional photographer with her hand placement and the way she looked through the viewfinder. I just love this photo. It really captures who she is.
2) Flowers in Oakland, CA. I didn’t do any photo-editing to this photo and I just love how it turned out without adding any masks, or actions. I think the colors are so vibrant.
3) This was taken at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Austin, TX. I am a sucker for honor guards and photos of them. While it annoys me a bit to have that photographer slightly blocking the color guard in this photo, I like it because it also captures the desire of individuals to record the heritage and culture of a public service.
4) This was from Catherine’s 2 year old photo shoot. I was a bit worried that she wouldn’t cooperate since she doesn’t like to have her picture taken but we somehow managed to get some great shots of her. I really think the lollipops helped!
5) The bluebonnets were breathtaking this year. Catherine and I went out to a field with a friend of mine and did an impromptu photo shoot. I have so many favorites from this shoot but I thought this one captured that day so well! I can’t believe how little she looks in this photo.
6) We decided to visit John at work one day. One of the perks of his job is that we can sit on the driveway of the fire station and watch the airplanes take off and land right in front of you. Catherine loves to wave at the planes as they take-off. John took this photo and while the lighting is blown out, I really love the affect.
7) July 4th parade.
Catherine is fan of dogs both big and small. We took her to the Houston Dog Show to see all of the canines and boy did she have a blast. I have never seen her sit so still for so long!
9) We did a backyard photo-shoot with Catherine wearing two dresses that I wore as a child. This was one of my favorites because the popsicle happened to match the dress so perfectly. I really adore the look on her face.
10) The essence of summer…water, water, water!
I have so many other favorites but I am limiting it to the 10. I can’t wait to see what 2010 holds as far as photography goes. I am looking forward to capturing new memories and new experiences!
A family member recently had a baby and as I looked through the photos of the happy parents with their little, tiny newborn either laying on their chests or swaddled in a sling, I couldn’t help but get a little choked up thinking about Catherine at that age. I felt a bit envious of the new baby, all of the cuddles and snuggles he was getting. I felt sad thinking that this baby’s cries were answered with a bottle, a coo, or a pat on the back while Catherine’s cries were probably mostly unmet. She missed out on so many things that most newborns get to experience. I can’t help but feel a bit jaded knowing that she missed out on so much.
One of the things that gets to me the most is seeing mothers carrying around their newborns in slings. Ever since we got Catherine and started ‘baby wearing’ her, I have noticed other mothers who do the same thing. Now that Catherine is a 30 pound, independent, non-stop toddler, my ‘baby wearing’ times are behind me and I don’t think about it as much. But ever since this new baby was born, I feel like it has taken front and center stage again. This family member of mine is a big proponent of baby wearing and seeing the pictures of her with the baby in the sling doesn’t necessarily bring back memories of Catherine and I but instead makes me imagine what it would have been like if I could have carried Catherine around as a newborn. And now it seems that I see newborns in baby slings all of the time. It stings my heart.
I do take some comfort in knowing that the missionaries, Jason and Emily, from the church in Alabama spent much of their time during their mission trip holding and caring for Catherine. But I still think that even though they were there during the day, she wasn’t getting what she needed at night. Nobody to give the midnight feedings or to comfort a cry. I roll my eyes when people think or say that this doesn’t have an impact on the way a child develops. Sure, we got her at 10 months old and that’s fairly young for China adoption standards, but a child learns so much about bonding, attaching, and trusting in caretakers during the newborn and infancy stage. How can 10 months of near-neglect not have some sort of physiological/psychological impact?
I knew that I would do everything that I could to wear Catherine as much as I could for as long as I could. I feel lucky that she was as young as she was when went to China to get her because that meant I was able to carry her in a sling for much longer. I carried her until she started walking/running and didn’t want to be carried as much(although she still wants to be carried quite a bit). Every once in a while I wish I could still stick her in a sling and walk around but my back isn’t too keen on carrying around a 30 pounder for long periods of time. I still try to carry her when I can but the days of doing housework with her on my hip or on my back are in the history books now. I just hope the time that I was able to spend with her made some sort of difference. I know it doesn’t make up for the first 10 months of her life but I hope it helped in some small way.
I am thankful for so many things but these three things seem to sum it up the best: my faith, family, and friends. Happy Thanksgiving dear family and friends. I hope your day is filled with blessings and plenty of food!
