FIVE!!!!
I’m not sure why this age feels so much different, but…you. You are becoming such an amazing little PERSON!
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You crack me up like no other. I’m in awe of your wit, and you are truly happiest when you are making others laugh.
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You seek out and experience joy in a way that I envy. It’s so infectious! You brighten everyone’s day that you are around. Luckily, for me, I get to be around you a lot. ❤️
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You ABSOLUTELY have your own opinions, and cannot be swayed.
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Black balloons? Even after both me and the lady blowing them up tried to sway you away towards another color. Honestly…I love them!
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You are a total rule follower. It’s a blessing and a curse. Curse, mainly when you call me out on breaking the rules…
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You used to be sooooo cautious, but are now suddenly opening up to trying to do things that I can’t believe you want to try. And you do them!! SO PROUD!
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Most of all…you are one of the sweetest, kindest, loving people I know, and I am so lucky to be your mama.
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Love you Peanut.
It’s so funny. At the balloon counter, both the woman who was helping us and I double and triple checked that she really wanted black balloons. She was insistent, and I honestly love how they turned out!
Oh, and I also had a different outfit picked out for her, but she was adamant about this dress and boots. And I have to admit…that pop of pink?
LOVE IT!
hahaha.
I kept my outfit pretty simple. A) because, honestly, I wasn’t even sure we were really going to attempt this shoot until about 45 minutes before we did it-ha! B) it was her day! C) you can’t go wrong with black, denim, and a leather jacket!
Where’s Maya?? 🙂
I could eat her up…
In the green of the grass…
In the smell of the sea…
in the clouds floating by…
at the top of a tree…
in the sound crickets make at the end of the day…
“You are loved. You are loved. You are loved,” they all say.
(Nancy Tillman)
Happy 5th birthday sweet girl!
On me…
Runaway balloons!!
One of my favorite images I got from this night! Although, with this light..there were a few!
That light?! That laughter? Love…
It’s so funny. I kept asking her if she wanted to blow the dandelions. Again…it’s not our yard or our neighbor’s yard, so go at it, no?! 😉
The downside to this park, is that a lot of people bring their dogs here to run off leash in the attached baseball field. Maya cannot resist a dog, and always wants to run off and play with them. Takes a little while to get her back… So, there are about a kazillion self timed shots of me caller her back haha.
Yup, another one of these. I might do an entire blog post on them haha.
She’s got some serious dance moves 😉
It’s hilarious. Now when I’m trying to get pictures of just me, she wants to jump in them!
The days of doing this are numbered. I know I keep saying that…
If you look closely, you can see a chestnut that Maya was tossing in the air. She collected a bunch for some squirrels (video at the end!!).
Gah. The way she is reaching for my hand…and the look on her face?!
I’m so obsessed with this dress!! And I scored it for $3 in perfect condition!
She was totally doing all these moves on top of this post. I was so impressed!! And…a little nervous.
haha 🙂
I bought silly string thinking it would be a fun shot having her spray it at me. She wasn’t strong enough to push it down and spray it haha. She finally got it, but it just drizzled out. Probably a good thing since we obviously picked it all up before leaving! She just stood there dribbling it into my bag, and though tit was hilarious!
“HI!!! Can I pet your dog?!!”
Granted, if you only do one coat (like I did above), it only lasts about a day before chipping. But, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had a professional non gel manicure last more than one or two days before chipping, so total win.
The color I used. 
My new favorite picture of the two of us!!
The many poses of Maya…
I can’t even handle this next one! I want to EAT HER UP!!!
“Mommy, look! I’m an old lady!!” haha.
The Huz was out of town for the first part of last week, and I vowed to get some sunset shots of us while he was gone. Well…we missed it the first few nights, but got them this evening! Actually, I really wanted the sun poking through the trees (which we got), but after we left the park, I had to get out of the car and grab this shot too… So lucky to live where we do!
I attempted to take a few vertical shots, but my lens was too heavy and sank down! Oh, and Maya was standing right in front of the camera haha. The latter wouldn’t have been a big deal if I’d actually captured the top half like I meant to!
Oh, and her little hand gripping my hair…DYING!
OMG, her face!!!! It’s a cross between wanting to show that she’s mad, but…NOT-HA!
Maya had gymnastics later this day, so she was totally on trend with the leotard look haha 🙂
When I asked if she’d come outside to take some pictures, she said…
Oh, and I had another post all together taken in this direction of the side walk, but CLEARLY I f’d up the focus. It was 8:30 in the morning, so I blame it on my coffee not having kicked in yet!
Right before we went outside, Maya took my clutch and said she wanted to put a few things inside for me! (little toys :)) 
LOVE my little snuggle bug.
Yoga move? 
This is seriously her new thing. It cracks me up! 
But…some things never change! 
I can’t even…
And…taking our picture between my legs? haha. 
Note to self- don’t eat the dandelion 🙂 
If you look close, you can see blue fingers 😉 You can also see two bandaids on her elbow and another one on her finger. Yes, we made TWO trips back up to the office and they were so sweet. Note to self. ALWAYS carry bandaids!! I usually carry them in my purse, but didn’t have it with me ;(
On me…
Showing me her owie (from trying to pick her own blackberries ;() 
Everything about this. Her face, the fact that I didn’t move the focusing stand out of the way.
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