Call me unoriginal...

...but I swear I could title each post "My Favorite Things".  Whenever I think about blogging it's an update on life (mostly life with Julia) who of course is my favorite thing! 

So I had this funny moment when I was at a "playgroup" with Julia this week.  I cannot say enough about the beautiful group of women that I have met through this mom's group - they have preserved my sanity and more importantly helped me see that I'm not the only one who recognizes that everyday is a humbling reminder that I have no clue what I'm doing.  At our last gathering I sort of laughed to myself as I realized that most of our conversation was centered on sharing what we've learned.  Mostly the things that we've discovered and what we can't live without..one big afternoon discussion of our favorite things.  No wonder it's always on my mind.  In the struggle to survive momhood, we've all found snippets of advice or things that have made this bearable. There are the tangible things in this time, the material things that just make sense, make life better, avoid catastrophes, and are just too cute to pass up.  Do I need a Pool Blue hat from Etsy to survive or to feel like a better mom? No, but I will say they are pretty stinking adorable!  There are also the pieces of advice that just help you move forward as a more confident mom.  And isn't that worth more than gold?  What an encouraging and amazing example of community. 

So, going back to the whole topic of Favorites. (I promise I won't say this word in my next month of blogs)

I will try. 

Anyway, you can't put a price tag on a beautifully captured photo.  For Julia's first few months of life I tried to take one of her each day.  Now whenever she see's a bright light she automatically turns her head.  She's pretty traumatized by my obsession with this, so I have scaled back my efforts.  I was able to get some beautiful 6 month portraits at Laura Novak's Littlenest studio in Delaware (natural light, no flash).  It was tough to choose just one or two prints, so we decided on a canvas with 2 of the best Julia photos.  The quote goes along the outsides of the canvas and the following is a sneek peak/rough draft:

The Brian Andreas quote is perfect.

So I just wrote all of that and really all I wanted to do was post this picture and simply state "my favorite".