Tag: step mom

Breaking Nine

On By AngeliaIn Into the Blender we go- Wee!, Life..Camera...Action!12 Comments

Backpacks gather. Shoes find the right feet. Dogs go into their crates and in all the rustle, bustle of preparing to leave Thursday night, I hear her Dad call out, “Can I hug nine-year-old Molly for the last time?”

She sheepishly grins and wraps her arms around him squeezing tight. I turn from my office chair and say just as loud, “Ohhhhh, I want to hug a nine-year-old Molly for the last time, too!” She smiles and opens her arms to me.

I hug her hard and I try to remember every single thing about her, right then, right in this very moment. I close my eyes and concentrate. Did six years really just flash by in a blink?

She is heading home to her Mom’s house for the weekend, and the next time I see her, she will break nine at ten-years old. Ten!

The tiny tot of four who I met all those years ago? She doesn’t miss a step as she leaps into her double digits. She does it and she does it with all the grace and muster of a grown-up, and all the soft, gentle sweetness of a child.

I can’t believe it.

It really doesn’t seem that long ago…

Molly at four years of age.
Molly at four years of age.

It’s bad enough I watched one little girl grow up too fast. Do I really have to watch another? And really, two more? What was I thinking? This is not cool. Not cool at all.

Dear Life….slow down!

::Sigh::

I put together some photos through the years. Mostly because, I like to cry like to see how fast they grow. Maybe it’s my proof that this all really happened, and I watched it happen.

Molly’s first major league baseball game – age 5.
Molly – Summer 2009 – age 5.
Molly with Daddy – Sep, 2009 – age 5.
November 2009 – Molly with Fred – age 5.
Molly at the park – 2010 – age 6.

Six years of it. Right before my very eyes.

Molly at her 6th Birthday party.
Molly on our wedding day Oct. 10, 2010 – age 6.
Molly at Scarborough Faire – April 2011 – age 7.
Molly’s 7th Birthday

I can’t imagine the next six.

Molly – Easter 2012 – age 8.
Molly – Easter 2013 – age 9.

But I guess I have to try. It’s happening…whether I like it, or not.

Molly - Easter 2014 - almost 10.
Molly – Easter 2014 – almost 10.

Happy Birthday to the biggest, brightest ten-year-old I know. You broke nine. Let’s see what you can do with ten.

A Christmas Gift to Remember

On By AngeliaIn In the lives of children, Into the Blender we go- Wee!17 Comments

Another busy weekend and it wasn’t spent shopping. That, I still need to do.

What I did do was take portraits of the little girls and their mom. It was my Christmas gift to her. I wanted her to have pictures of just her, and her girls. Ones she could share with her family and know they weren’t prints I’d have all over the walls of our house. Because, I LOVE prints of the girls all over the walls of our house, and I probably would. Which? Is why I made them a gift so I wouldn’t steal them ……they are hers.

I’ll just give you a peek.

It was a really nice day. I had my assistant Sydney with me. We went to a park. It was incredible to me that it is December and the leaves are still in color change.

It set a magical scene.

One of the many reasons, I love Texas. Maybe we don’t get to see snow that often, but we get FALL for a long, long time. Psssst, love it!

The girls were excited to have step mom, mom, and sister on an outing together. It was getting in a car and going somewhere. Just us girls – weee!

I was really happy to know they acted the same with her as they do at our house; giggly, loud, and silly – or just like normal little girls.

Sometimes, I get a little afraid when they show affection towards me. There was a time their mom wasn’t very happy about that.

That was a long time ago.

We have come a long way and made great strides toward blended family relations. Based on how we get along, I think a lot of things have changed for the better. Now, I hug with no fear, even her.

I recognize the beauty of mothers and daughters. I could never take that from any one, nor would I want to. I want to always support that bond and encourage their love. What child couldn’t use more love?

More hugs? More laughter?

Am I good person for doing this? People tell me I am. But I don’t think of it that way. I didn’t take photos to get ahead, or to earn favors, or smooth ruffled feathers. I took photos because I love these little girls.

I love them like I gave birth to them myself.

But I didn’t.

I have this woman to thank for that.

For two precious angels I get to love too. I hold that very dear to my heart. I am grateful, so grateful, for being blessed as their step mom.

Incredible husband, beautiful step daughters, stunning daughter, and an ex-wife that is open to my crazy ideas of family. If this is the time of year blessings are counted, I need more than my fingers and toes.

A time to reflect. A time to reach out. A time when we humble ourselves like the deity that crossed the heavens to be a helpless infant for our hope. Hope and love – a gift to always treasure.

I am embracing this time of year, and I am sharing gifts of a different kind. Ones I hope will always be remembered.

Now, I must go and edit my next set of pictures. I took them the next day. Another gift…..a gift of education, a gift of pure pride. My amazing husband got his masters degree and I was there to capture the exciting event (I wouldn’t have missed it – not even for a Survivor finale – right, honey?).