Do you know what newborns totally suck at doing?

POSING FOR THE CAMERA… pffff! I know, right! (ha!)

It took two days trying to capture the perfect photo of Lou for her birth announcements.

After nearly hundreds of outtakes, I finally captured just the right lighting, just the right look, and just the right expression. My husband did some retouching in Photoshop. We choose wording and submitted the order.

An hour later, we received this e-mail from the designer…

Thank you for your interest in our designs! We’ll be happy to work on your proof, however, we are unable to use PROFESSIONAL photographs without a release form… or we’ll be happy to accept any non-professional photos. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

PROFESSIONAL?!!! Oh ha ha ha!

Consider me flattered beyond words, Ryan from…. ahem! ahem!… SweetPeaGreetings. (Yeah, you just earned yourself that shout out.)

For my birthday, Mr. D (perfect, wonderful, thoughtful husband that he is) surprised me with a Nikon D40.

Yes, it’s my very first very nice camera, and in case you were wondering… Yes, I am IN LOVE WITH IT!

I’ve been reluctant to brag blog about it because, truth be told, I’m not a very good photographer. I just aspire to be… one day. However, having a fancy-shmancy camera has gone a long way in improving my photos.

I just have to take lots of shots to get the one that I want. LOTS.

Scout started preschool today… finally!

I don’t mean “finally” as in I’m simply dying to unload him on the first person willing to cash a check. (Although some days that does sound tempting…)

I mean “finally” as in I’ve done the exhaustive preschool search, found the perfect one, and paid the enrollment fee… TWICE now, only to MOVE ACROSS THE WORLD before the first day of school.

Well, Scout, third time’s a charm.

Uniform. Lunch. Backpack… It’s off to school we go!

Scout and his Juju (Mr. D’s mom) on the first day of school

I promise to post something substantial again… one day. In the meantime, melt your heart on this…

The first time Scout spent a night away from us he was six months old. He stayed with… who else? My parents!

Packing entailed…

An hour by hour schedule of his day– typed, color-coded, and placed in a sheet protector.

Detailed instructions on his bedtime routine (Also typed, color-coded, and placed in a sheet protector)

Each of his meals individually packed, labeled, date- and time-stamped.

No less than five “emergency outfits” and matching socks, in addition to his regular clothes. (This was for ONE night away)

Stacks upon stacks of the over-priced diapers that I preferred… lest they run out and my child would have to poo in some “inferior” brand they happen to pick up at Wal-Mart.

A bouncy chair. An exercaucer. A bag full of toys, books, baby sign language flash cards, CDs of classical music.

Copies of our insurance cards, living wills…

Three years and one more child later…

Me: “Is he still alive?”

Mom: “Yes”

Me: “Awesome! Thanks!”

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I can’t believe how well we’ve handled this whole “parenting two children” thing thus far.

In spite of being up every three hours at night, I’m surprisingly fresh faced and well rested. I’ve had time to work on birth announcements, take showers, cuddle up and read books with Scout, write thank you notes…

People told me that the second time around is much easier, but this is ridiculous!

Then I realized WHY…

As I type this my dad is downstairs cleaning up after the dinner that he shopped for and prepared. He’s also keeping an eye on Scout, who is watching a TV show before the bath that my dad will insist on giving him.

I have no idea what the two of them did today, because I was napping.

My mom had to return to work earlier, but not before stocking our freezer with months worth of home-cooked meals and cleaning the entire house.

It’s difficult for my parents to take time away from work, but I’m so glad that they did because I don’t know how we could have survived the past week and a half without them. There isn’t even a word for how grateful I’ve been to have them here.

All I know is how much they will be missed.

(p.s. Mom and Dad, please don’t leave me alone with them…)