< photo a day project-day 28 >

My last day.  For now, of course.  I had to try to make it good.  And I think I captured them so well today.  This project has been SUCH a growing experience for me and I'm exhausted and definitely need a break, but I can't wait to do it again in a few months.  I've loved looking for new ways to express the personality of the subject.  I've failed many times, but I really feel like I've succeeded, too.  Though someday I may look back and laugh at myself for writing that.  We'll see.

< photo a day project-day 27 >

I love lunching with these girls every day.

< photo a day project-day 26 >

Today, I forgot to take a picture.  I looked at my camera and realized, thankfully, that I had taken 1 picture.  1.  And not a good one.  But, I guess, it's a pretty cute one.  My girls got a package from their Japanese grandma of treats another gifts, my favorite of which was a collection of audio tapes with Japanese kids' songs on them that I grew up listening to.  They loved it.  So at least this photo is a good memory.

< photo a day project-day 25 >

This little girl is growing up way too fast for me.  Lately, she's been so obedient, so thoughtful, so ... good.  Just good.  She's an amazing little girl and I fall more in love with her every day.

< photo a day project-day 24 >

My baby likes to feel snuggled. Today, she climbed into our shoe basket with her blankie and sucked her thumb. With her hand on my running shoe. Love my cutie.

< photo a day project-day 23 >

< photo a day project-day 22 >

< photo a day project-day 21 >

My baby is finally getting some hair.  About time, now that she's 1.  Though she has been quite a cute little baldy up until now.

< photo a day project-day 20 >

Because of the many little people in my house, we kept having to figure out different sleeping arrangements every night.  Finally, the last night, we figured it out.  We borrowed an extra portable crib from my neighbor friend and my big girl slept in it.  First time in a crib in about 6 months.  I was a little worried, but she absolutely LOVED it.

I love this picture for a lot of reasons.  I love the natural vignette, I love the graininess, I love the hazy netting of the crib in the foreground and background, I love the textures in general, and I surprisingly love the strange, harsh lighting.  I'm quite proud of it.  It's something I don't think I would have thought to try before this project, which is exactly why I'm doing it.

< photo a day project-day 19 >

My baby turned 1 today.  And while they waited for the big birthday lunch and cake, the big kids sat on the couch and watched some movies (mainly so they'd stay out of the way ... 6 kids in 1 house is a lot, even if they are the best kids ever).  Which is why we have 3 pictures today.

Happy birthday, my little baby girl.  I love you so much.

< photo a day project-day 18 >

Our friends arrived late last night and we drove up to the Children's Museum up in Indy today.  It was a tiresome trip, but SO worth it.  I love seeing these kids play together.  They had a Barbie exhibit that the girls particularly loved.

< photo a day project-day 17 >

My daughter's best friends are coming for the weekend.  While we were waiting for them to arrive, we watched a movie, and her cute little self, perched on the couch, with the hair thrown over the arm was undeniably beautiful to me.

< photo a day project-day 16 >

My baby girl loves to hide under the dining table and drink her milk.  Silly girl.

< photo a day project-day 15 >

I took some time to do some crafty things today.  I love the results.  Not to mention the cute little girls they belong to now.

< photo a day project-day 14 >

My little baby girl is such a girly girl.  She loves accessories.  Not even a year old yet, and she loves shoes, purses (especially the one she has on in the photo), headbands, and for a girl her age, dolls.  They are a crucial accessory.

< photo a day project-day 13 >

I finally got several loads of laundry washed and folded, ready to go upstairs into the dressers when I took a break.  And ... the laundry sat there from last night until this morning.  Yes, I took a rather long break.  The girls found a basket of folded laundry and decided to "help".

So now I have to start over.

And yes, those curls are natural.  She didn't get them from me.

< photo a day project-day 12 >

I usually remember to take a picture at lunch.  But I don't want to take the same picture every day.  So today, I tried a completely different angle.  My girls were a little weirded out that I was standing on the chairs or the table to get a picture of them, but I'm really loving these.  It's such a different perspective!  Why haven't I tried this before?

I'm really enjoying this photo a day project.  I was just talking to another photography friend last night about how it's forcing me to try different things.  It's opened my eyes to realize that I do a lot of the same shots.  Because they work, yes.  But I'm loving that this is pushing me out of my comfort zone and helping me to see things differently.  Not only different angles and points of view, but seeing more abstract, obscure photos come to life.  If you enjoy photography, or just love to see the day-to-day changes your beautiful children go through, I REALLY recommend doing this.  I think it's going to work it's way into my routine every few months.

< photo a day project-day 11 >

My girls both woke up with runny noses and coughs, so we've been taking it easy in our jammies today.  We started out in their messy play room, but decided to head downstairs to watch a Ghibli movie.

< photo a day project-day 10 >

After an after-nap bath (you can assume why that was necessary ...), my little girl was in such a goofy mood.  She's such a silly little girl.  I actually got a few shots I loved, but this one really captured her so well.  She seems to always have this glow of a smile on her face, which I absolutely love. 

Which goes so well with the picture of her big sister for today.  This was taken right after we got home from a local Japanese play group we go to.  She was pretty mad we had to leave.  I was worried to post this, especially paired with the happy picture of her baby sister.  But then I thought to myself, "this is what I love about photographing children!  You get the WHOLE spectrum."  And I love this face.  It's part of what makes her so unique and beautiful and perfect to me.  And you know what?  When she's older, I'll miss her grumpy face.  Because I bet by then, it will come with much more attitude.

< photo a day project-day 9 >

After a creative highlight day like yesterday, it's too bad I forgot to take pictures until it was too late for some good natural light today.  And I'm not good at artificial light.  So boo to me for that.  But I think I still got some "full of personality" kind of photos of my cuties.  My big girl sure loves to jump off of the bottom stairs.  Even when she falls.

< photo a day project-day 8 >

I got tutus for the girls at the $1 spot at Target today.  They insisted on putting one on the dog.  He was pretty terrified.  (And no, that's not a gigantic thumb, she's holding a mini maraca)  Then after naps, we watched Ponyo and snuggled on the couch.  I love my girls.

< photo a day project-day 7 >

My kids love Japanese food.  There are days they both refuse pasta, sandwiches, yogurt, cheese, anything most kids eat.  But they'll eat rice, seaweed, eggs, and tofu.  I can't really complain, though.  It's a pretty balanced meal.

< photo a day project-day 6 >

Today's photo isn't my greatest work, by any means.  And I only got a picture of my oldest because ... well, I forgot about taking pictures until the sun had set.  It happens so early these days.

It was fun to photograph anyway, even with the dingy light in that corner of my kitchen.  We made Japanese hot pots for dinner, and my daughter helped make the rustic hand-pulled noodles.  A perfect project for an almost 3 year old, no?

< photo a day project-day 5 >

Snow lighting is my favorite kind of lighting.  Bright, white, and even.  So I had to take advantage of it when I awoke to the sparkly falling snow.  And my girls had so much fun.  I love that they're such good friends.

 That was the official photo of the day, but I wanted to sneak in a few more because I didn't want these to get neglected.  I mean, can you really get too much of little girls in tutus and ruffles?

< photo a day project-day 4 >

My brother in Japan sends us DVDs of Japanese kids' shows once in a while, so a couple of times a week, we have some Japanese TV time.  At first I wasn't sure how productive they were since the kids both had a glazed over look in their eyes, but my daughter started saying random things to me in Japanese this week.  So I guess it's worth it:)

< photo a day project-day 3 >

We had an oddly busy day today so one of my pictures is from my phone.  But I actually really like it.

< photo a day project-day 2 >

< photo a day project-day 1 >

I was inspired by a photographer I love to follow to take a photo every day for a month.  Her pictures of her little boy were so silent and emotional and sweet, and I loved seeing how she saw her day-to-day interactions with him.  So I decided I'm going to do the same for the month of February.  But I have 2 kids, so I'll probably be taking 2 photos a day.  Unless I can get them in a picture together.  I'm excited for this project.  I've been feeling like my style hasn't developed or improved much in the last few months, and it's time for a creativity boost.  We'll see how I feel at the end of the month.  I'll at least have 28~56 good daily pictures of my kids.  So here we go.

We had freezing rain last night.  My big girl woke up sick a few times last night.  And her little sister woke up after that with a slight fever.  I didn't get much sleep.  So, needless to say, it's been a lazy morning of lots of movies, books, and snuggles at our house today.