Would YouBuy Pink Lemonade From This Cutie?

my girlfriend and i were working together a couple of weeks ago when she turned to me and said "my baby turns one and i need a theme for her birthday party."

my first question was "what are the colors are you using for the party?"

"i don't know" she says "maybe pink and yellow."

"how about Pink Lemonade?" i ask.  

and there began the theme for sadie's first birthday party.

would you buy pink lemonade from this cutie? 

i sure would.  isn't she delicious? 

she is as cute as she is sweet.  

sadie turns 1!

her mommy and i started coming up with all kinds of ideas for her party.  

of course, we would need some thematic pictures to go with it.  

sadie's mommy got to work making her lemonade stand.  i cranked up the ole' sewing machine and crafted her a personalized onesie to wear.  

last but not least, we had to have lemons - lots and lots of lemons!

she is SO big!

my wingman sandra captured this one

bubbles!!

sadie turns one in august.  she is a beautiful baby with 

that dark hair and china-doll skin.

  so soft and cuddly.  i know she feels how much she is loved.

 i hope she knows how much fun we had that day in the lemon grove taking her picture.  

she let us mess around with her for quite a while before she made a stink about it.   

this was such a fun project for me.  not only did i get to hang out with my girlfriend, but i got to hang out with 2 girlfriends and love on a really tasty little baby.

sadie - thank you for being such a willing party in our crazy idea. you were a great subject for me to practice on.

lauren - thank you for coming out to hang with me and my people and for letting me "practice" on your yummy baby girl.

vanessa - thanks for being a super bubble blower :)

sandra - as always, thank you for being a RAD wingman; you rock. some of the images you caught were incredible!

Like My Mother Does ....

i was driving in to work the other night and heard this song come on the radio. the emotions that came over me were intense.  i almost had to pull over to the side of the road. the lyrics are every bit the way i feel about my own mother. the lines in the road became blurry; i had to slow down and wipe the tears that had begun to stream down my cheeks. i started laughing at myself and immediately thought: "i need to get this song for my mom!"

my mother is strong, loving, warm, opinionated, fun and we are so much alike sometimes that "it's scary." my mother is one of my best friends. she has taught me so much about who i am and continues to show me what kind of woman i aspire to be. i am incredibly grateful for the relationship we have. 

mom - i love you. i cherish what  you and i have built.  i hope to nurture this same type of relationship with my own daughter.    you are an amazing woman.  you make me laugh.  you "get me."  you put up with me when i am grumpy. and i feel empowered knowing that you support my hopes, my dreams and everything i do.  thank you.

I am thankful for good neighbor-ship

my husband and i moved into our house about 8 years ago.  we were newly married - only a couple of weeks - and were the only house on the block without children.  that has since changed and a lot of the kiddos that used to be oh-so-small, are now oh-so-tall.  we have been blessed with wonderful neighbors.  someone up above was watching out for us when we made the decision to move into this neighborhood.  good neighbors can make all the difference in  how much you enjoy where you live.  we enjoy where we live. very much.

this is sammie.  sammie is getting ready to start high school in the fall.  her mom is not only my neighbor, but i consider her a good friend.  we'll call it a "neighbor-ship."  it goes far beyond borrowing a cup of sugar.  sammie, her mom and sisters help with babysitting my little people and we often have dinner at each other's homes.  sammie, in particular picks up our mail and feeds our furry critters whenever we go out of town. when i saw sammie dressed up for her "promotion" from middle school to high school, i thought  her mom would like some nice pictures to remember this special event.  (and maybe i'd like to get some practice with my new camera and photoshop.  so here's what we came up....

sammie is a swimmer.  she swims 6 days a week on a local team.  i predict she will be on the varsity swim team in high school and letter very quickly.  she is strong - inside and out.  this girl is good.  she has a kind heart and a great head on her shoulders.  i'm confident this comes from having a strong mother and 2 amazing big sisters as role models.

i remember how anxious i was to start high school: a new routine, new classes, meeting new friends, new experiences.  not to mention i felt like i was officially growing up when i could tell someone i was a freshman.  it was a title-thing, i guess.  sammie is officially growing up.  before she knows it she'll be picking out a prom dress and standing in line at the dmv for her driving permit.  this is an exciting time.  i wish sammie success in her next chapter.  i am grateful to have had the opportunity to watch her develop into the secure and beautiful woman i know she is going to become. 

potty training & the pacificier

my daughter is 2 1/2 years old.  she is sassy; independent yet very loving and sweet.  (gee, i wonder where she gets that from?)  she is growing up so fast.  sometimes, i swear she has grown another 2 inches overnight. this summer has brought some changes for her.  she is now sleeping in her toddler bed - she actually stays asleep in it all night and doesn't get out.  [that's HUGE, people!]  additionally, she is potty training in preparation for preschool next year.  unfortunately, she is still attached to her pacifier - aka: nee-nee.  whenever i start to have anxiety about her being attached to her nee-nee, my mother reminds me not to worry and that she won't be taking her nee-nee to prom.  right?  right.  right??  i hope not. even though i know she won't have that thing in her mouth when she takes her drivers ed. classes, i still get anxious when another mom makes a comment: "oh, YOU let her have THAT??"  or "oh, I NEVER let my child have a pacifier."  whatever.  this does not make me a horrible mother.
alas, i thought this summer would be a good time to take-on the process of potty training.  she seemed interested in the big girl potty, so why not?   of course we need to make this experience a fun one; we have potty parties,do potty dances, and make up silly potty songs too. 
we began the process of potty training at the end of may.  with the warm weather, i figured she would enjoy running around the house in her undies or simply nothing at all and this might help make for an easier transition to using the potty. we made a chart complete with princess stickers and hello kitty stamps for each time she took care of her business.  i was pleased with her progress and encouraged her along the way, offering goodies: candy, books, etc - whatever it takes to get the job done.
fast forward to this morning.  my daughter wakes up in such a happy mood. "good morning" she sings with the pacifier in her mouth.  "i love you, momma"  she says as she stretches her little arms up to give me a hug.  "hi baby" I smile down at her.  "did you sleep good?" I ask.  She shakes her sleepy head, yes.  "Let's go potty." I tell her.  so she runs into my bathroom and proceeds to take care of her business - with the nee-nee still clenched in her teeth.  i can tell she is still waking up because she just sits on the potty staring off into outer space.  every once in a while she lets out a soft yawn.
i make myself busy brushing my teeth and straightening up the bed sheets.  "momma, look!! i go pee pee!!"  she exclaims, jumping off the toilet.  this time she takes the nee-nee out of her mouth and uses it to point down at her business, as if to emphasize her achievement.  immediately i give lots of praise.  we shake our booty and do a little potty dance then laugh [anything to make it fun, remember?]  "come on, let's flush it down" i tell her.  she pops the pacifier back into her mouth and we proceed to wave to the pee pee as it swirls around and around the porcelain bowl.  "Buh-Bye Pee Pee!!" she squeals and before either of us can do anything the
nee-nee slips from between her lips, lands in the swirling toilet bowl and gets sucked down into the abyss.
it's quiet for a moment.  the only sound is of the water running to refill the toilet bowl.  but nothing is in the bowl.  no more pee pee. and no more nee-nee.  my daughter looks up at me with huge eyes.  her mouth still hangs open in disbelief.  then it happens.  her bottom lip starts to quiver and i can see the corners of her mouth turning down.  i, too am standing there with my mouth open but i start to laugh and place my hand over my smile.  in between giggles, i try to be sympathetic.  "what happened?" i ask her.  "did your nee-nee go buh-bye too?"  she shakes her head, yes while still staring down at the empty toilet bowl.  "it's ok, honey.  don't be sad."  i tell her,still giggling and laughing.  i try to think of a way to soothe my daughter but i have to admit, this is funny as all heck!  so how can i make it funny to her?  more importantly, a thought flashes into my head: how can i get her to "accidentally" flush the rest of those darn nee-nees down the toilet so we can be done with all of them??

day one

well i did it.  i have been talking with my husband and thinking about starting a blog.  today is the day i finally did it.  we shall see where this adventure takes us.


a day in the life of amanda jane is simply a place for me to ramble on about my thoughts, opinions, feelings, loves and maybe things i don't love so much. :)  
this is also a place to share pictures and fun things my family and i are doing in our life everyday.  photography has become a huge part of my life and i express myself through my photos and other crazy projects as well, so you will see a lot of that on here too.


my name amanda.  my friends blessed with the nickname "amanda jane" a few years back and it stuck - even though "jane" is not actually my middle name.  i am a stay at home mom of 2 young children and wife to an incredibly patient and loving man.  i am lucky enough to have the opportunity to work part-time outside of the home and am in the process of sharpening my photography skills while being mentored by a friend and incredible photographer.  


things that i love: my kids & my husband (that is a given.) my family. good friends who are on my "a team." my camera.  feeling loved. peanut butter. making someone laugh. watching someone open a present that i have given to them. baking cookies. exercise - i love to get my sweat-on and get the tension out of my body and craziness out of my mind.  i love a good purse.  i love a friend who knows me inside & out and still loves me unconditionally.  i love to be sarcastic and dry.  frozen yogurt from golden spoon.  a good book that i can discuss with a friend who has also read it.  feeling accomplished. i love to learn something new.  but most of all i love to be good at whatever it is i do. 


what do you love?


i would love it if you would come along on this journey with me.  i am taking it one day at a time and am enjoying every moment.  sometimes i feel like these moments are slipping through my fingers like "sand through an hourglass" (as one of my good friends says [hi kamee!]  and i want to be able to savor every bit of that sand.  i thought a blog might be a good way to do that.


alright. enjoy your day.  i am.  it's a great "day one" and cheers to many more to come!