Sit 'N Spit

Sometimes my camera captures a moment I wasn't planning on. This morning was one of those. Malakai is learning how to sit on his own and I wanted to get some shots of this milestone, but he had his grouchy pants on. In between snapping pictures, I was throwing him up in the air and spinning him around to keep him laughing. You can guess what happened...

Landis Family - 5.14.08

Wednesday evening I photographed my cousin, Gary's family at Lititz Springs Park. They have a 2 1/2 year old, Jackson and a 13 month old, Callie. Wow, is she ever busy using those legs of hers! She was trucking all over the park and I just followed her around. She loves puppies which was helpful because there were lots of dogs getting their evening walk in all over the park. Jackson has such a gentle spirit about him and enjoyed getting his pictures taken. It's so much easier when they are cooperative and enjoying themselves! Gary and Jen, your family is so sweet and I can tell that you are great parents who truly love your kiddos. Thanks for the opportunity to get to know your family better. Enjoy some of my favorites...

5 months old

It seems like time is in a hurry for Malakai to grow up. On Saturday, he will be 5 months old already. He is in a really fun stage right now. In fact, last night he slept through the night from 8:30-8:30! Who is this child?! I am so proud of him. We've been feeding him rice cereal and I think that really helps to sustain him more. I need to take pictures of him eating his cereal sometime...it's quite hilarious. The first time I tried to feed it to him, there was definitely more on the bib than in his belly. He was all chipper when he woke up this morning so I grabbed a few shots of him and his buddy. These two are going to be best friends when Malakai gets a little older...well, maybe they already are.

Mother's Day

This year I celebrated my first Mother's Day with Eric and Malakai. It was such a special weekend for me. It was the last free one before I am booked pretty solid with weddings and other portrait shoots. Saturday, I was supposed to have a family photo shoot, but the weather didn't cooperate and we rescheduled. So the three of us walked downtown to Rachel's Crepery for breakfast. If you've never been there, use it as your next date idea. We LOVE her crepes. Then we walked a few more blocks down to Central Market. It was fun to see some of our friends who own different stands there. Eric wanted to get me some fresh cut flowers so Malakai and I stayed off to the side with our stroller so we didn't get run over by all of the people shopping for their moms.

Later on that afternoon we took Gideon along with us and went to Eric's parents' house for some Grandpa/Grandma time. Gideon found the pond right away and was fetching his bumper over and over and over. Grandma Martin put Malakai in the Ergo Carrier (which was her gift to us) and went out in her garden to cut some lettuce for me. They always look forward to our visits.

Sunday morning, Eric gave me a Willow Tree figurine of a woman holding a little boy. It really does look like Malakai and me. The little boy even has darker skin than the woman. I melt every time I look at it. He also gave me a card that had Malakai's little hands on them. He traced them on a piece of paper and then cut them out. Who's creative now? It gets even better. He made me a short dvd of some of the video footage we've been taking over the past several weeks. It was all set to music too. Heather Clark, a worship leader from Canada sings this song called "Grafted In". It says right in the middle of the song, "You are no longer an orphan...you are grafted in." That is Malakai's song. What a treasure.

Eric made salmon on the grill and even did the dishes! What a great husband I have. My aunt and uncle from Oregon were visiting PA and came in Sunday afternoon with my parents. They were enjoying the uniqueness of our city home. They live on a farm out in the country. Grandpa and Grandma Landis enjoyed time with their grandson again too.

I felt so blessed and honored as a mother. A few close friends of mine even sent me Mother's Day cards. It was a great celebration for me. I waited a long time to be a participant of this special day. Finally...the wait is over and I can hold my son in my arms forever. Praise the LORD!

A Date...Reading Time...Race Against Racism

Two weeks ago our sweet next-door neighbors, Don & Esther (74 & 70), who happen to love children, watched Malakai for a few hours so Eric and I could have some focused husband/wife time. We went out to eat at The Brasserie, went for a walk at Greenfield Park and got a movie to watch when Malakai went to bed. "The Ultimate Gift" by the way is a must-see for all ages. It was fun to remember how life used to be "pre-Malakai" but we realized we wouldn't trade the world for all the joy that he's brought to us and our marriage. It's hard to believe that on June 14th, we'll be celebrating our 5-year anniversary. I actually have a wedding booked that day...what better way to celebrate?!

One Saturday morning, I came down to find Daddy and Malakai reading the newspaper very intently. So I ran back upstairs and brought down my camera to snap a few pictures. I wonder what our son really sees when he looks at these big sheets of paper with black lines all over them? Wouldn't it be so fun to get inside the mind of an infant who cannot yet communicate in words? I think about that almost every day.

Saturday, April 26th was the Race Against Racism here in Lancaster. Last year Eric ran the 3.1 miles and this year we decided to walk it as a bi-racial family. Our good friends, Marv & Dori walked with us. We had a lot of fun together. Malakai slept a good part of the time. There were thousands of people everywhere. It was special to be a part of something that has and will always effect our lives as a family.