Next Top Model

Last week was one of the longest of my life.

After being sequestered from the Ouisers' for what felt like forever, we finally enjoyed a great dinner at their house about 10 days ago, when it seemed like they had beaten back the plague yet again and it was safe to have us over.

Alas, 48 hours later, my Papoosekin woke up with major nasal congestion and proceeded to puke all over me later in the day. She ran a mild fever, we had multiple diaper blowouts; it was ugly all the way around.

Finally, FINALLY, on Friday she turned a corner and has been gradually getting her appetite back, nose has dried up, things in diaperland are much safer.

And none too soon because Saturday we had a photo session with Angela Crutcher, a local children's photographer. If you are in any way a photophile, check out her website, seriously. It will blow you away. Ouiser noted, and I 100% agree with her, that the woman's use of color is phenomenal.

But you can look at all the color later. Start by looking at my beautiful girl in her modeling debut. I am so over-the-moon happy with the way these turned out. I can't wait to see the rest, including some color ones. But I cannot believe how amazing these black-and-whites are.

Angela did a great job working with us, too. The only real professional photography I've had done (that I remember. My dad did a lot of great stuff when I was little, but I think I got so used to the camera that it ceased to make any kind of impression on me.) was with our wedding photographer. Angela was great at directing just enough. She came into our home, took a tour, identified the areas with the best lighting, picked out some outfits from the Papoosekin's closet, and got down to business. I think the whole thing took about an hour and a half, and that's with time out for nursing and some tears (the Liliputian's and possibly mine; I can't remember. I can't fully go into it or I'll submerge into an ocean of guilt again. Let's just say there was an incident with a baby sitting in a basket and tipping forward into a full faceplant. Broke my heart...Anyway, moving on. She's okay.).

I totally expect that we'll use her again in a few years. Once we take a second mortgage on the house to pay for the prints.