My gorgeous niece

My sister and her family are visiting for the weekend. She has 4 children so I'm excited that I have new subjects to photograph. I told her that I was telling myself to put the camera down and remember to spend time with them - she says "I don't want you to!" How's that for nice? These are some shots from this morning at the park.

Her name is Tanisha and she's just the cutest little girl ever. She has a 1000 different facial expressions and loves the camera.

I'm having fun chasing her around. I've gotten too used to be able to direct my own children for photographs. Tanisha wasn't taking direction well which was great - pushed me out of my comfort zone.

A few random photos

I've been naughty and haven't updated lately, so I thought I'd post a few random photos so it looks like I've been a good girl. I have a wonderfully witty post coming soon... I promise.

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Do you think he'd had enough?

Oh these eyes...

A pretty gerbera for you.
A rare one of Jadzia smiling!

Attempting the 'artsy' thang at the park.

Steve Irwin dies...

I just can't believe it. I'm stunned. My heart breaks for his wife and especially for his 2 young children. His son is only 3 years old, he'll never know his father. His daughter is older, and will have her memories, but he was her world and I cannot imagine how she is feeling.

We all knew that he lived life on the edge. It was the way he wanted it. I couldn't count the amount of times I watched him and thought 'he's nuts!' but I loved him.

Celebrity deaths don't usually get to me. I mean, I sit and think about it for a moment or so and think about all that's lost, but then I move on. Steve's death has floored me. I've been feeling so sad since it happened.

I think the world has lost an amazing, funny, caring man, a good man - and it hurts...

My oldest turns nine

Ahhh... the birthday season has begun! Today was Bailey, in 2 weeks it's Piper, 3 weeks after that it's Jadzia. In November Danny turns 30 years old. I also have my mother and brother and a very good friend in there too.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it yet or not but Bailey hates having his photo taken. Hates it! I don't know why though because once I get him to agree to it we can get some gorgeous photos, so long as we aren't in bright light. He agreed to give me half an hour today. I only got him to hold for about 15 minutes though.

It was really strange today. We were all excited over it being Bailey's birthday... but I felt so strange knowing that he wasn't going to have a party. And no, I'm not a mean mum. I would have loved to have thrown him a party but he just didn't want one. Bailey has Asperger's. It's low end, high functioning autism. One of his many quirks is that he just doesn't feel comfortable around large groups of people. Last year, I threw him a party anyway and he had a meltdown in the middle. I decided then that we'd do whatever he wanted this year.

So, it was a nice quiet day at home. My mum visited this morning and gave him a gift voucher from the bookstore. They went downtown and picked out a book together. When he got back, his friend was here and they played for a while before my mum took them to the movies. He loves going to the movies, This was his first time going without an adult. They saw 'Hoodwinked'. Danny picked them up and then we had afternoon tea - lollies, chips and lemonade. More play. Tea was his choice - KFC. Danny's dad came to see him which was really nice - I wasn't sure that he would remember. The other great thing about today is that Jessie was able to be here. It wasn't her weekend to be here but with Bailey's birthday today and Father's Day tomorrow, her mum let her come! So, he had his big sister with him.

I know this ohoto isn't 'technically' correct but I love it anyways. I swear, the most used catchphrase in our house is "I didn't do it." Danny and I believe there is a rogue band of fairies in our house. I'm going to have to do an entry with photos of each of the kids so whoever you are out there reading wont get confused as I talk about all of them. I'll get to it some time this month.

This time of year

I'll be posting 2 entries today but I wanted this one to be separate. Today is Bailey's birthday. I can't blieve he's 9 years old. I write more about that later and post some photos.

It's this time of year that I get thinking. Each year I'm spun out by the idea that I'm the mother of a 1, 2, 3.... 9 year old. And then I think... well, I would of been the mother of a 10 year old. i've gotten to a point where I don't think about the babies that I lost every day, or even every month. But Bailey's birthday is always the trigger for me.

I lost 2 babies before having Bailey and 1 after having Jadzia. I realise that if I had of been able to carry my first pregnancy through to term then I wouldn't have Bailey. I wouldn't go back and change things even if I could. But it still hurts...