Pink.  I swore I would never dress my daughter in it.  At my baby shower I asked for “no pink”.  I am NOT a girly girl by any means, and I am not really a fan of all the pink that every. single. thing. that is made for little girls comes in.  I mean, why is it that it is almost impossible to find other colors for girls?  But if you know my daughter Dayla, you know that she LOVES PINK  and she wears some form of pink almost every day.  And ( I can’t believe I am admitting this to you internet) I did dress her in it before she could even express her sentiment for it.  SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. I dressed my daughter in PINK…. BY CHOICE!!  (GASP!)

What can I say, I have bought into that whole, ” joy of having a little girl” thing. Sugar and spice and everything nice.

And I am in it ……  HEAD. OVER. HEALS.

I delight in watching her LOVE all things GIRL-Y.  My heart flutters a little bit when she is in a toy store and she squeals with glee at the sight of pink toys, and dolls, and fairy wings.  The edges of my lips tilt upward when she chooses to wear a dress with her favorite “fancy shoes” to the park.  I don’t mind at all when she wants to wear her fairy wings and carry a wand to the grocery store.  I taught her how to have a “tea party” before she was talking.  I was way more excited to teach her to twirl then I ever imagined I would be.  I get choked up when I watch her dance with her daddy on his feet.  I am loving every moment.

I think what I cherish the most about her girliness is that it is HER.  I don’t push it, I don’t show her the princess things first, she finds them. It is HER.  And I love that.

What is child hood about if it is not about pretending you are a fairy or a princess, or whatever you want to be that day?  I know these moments are fleeting.  I know that it is very possible that in a couple years she could be into something completely different.  I know that it is not a long ways away that she will think pretend and fantasy is for “babies” and that instead it will be * boys*  that hold her attention.  So I cherish these days.  I hold onto them with a white-knuckle grip in hopes that they won’t slip away too fast.

::THE BIRTH OF THIS PHOTO SHOOT::

Dayla adores her friend Tabby.  Whether they see each other once a month or once every other day, she adores her.  A few months ago I saw a photo shoot by this amazing photographer (who inspires me SO MUCH. Love love love her work).  A photo shoot of her daughter and her daughter’s friend, that was so beautiful and sweet it brought warmth to my heart and tears to my eyes.  That day my dream was born.

About 4 months ago I called up my friend Kristy and told her that when January comes, we have got to do a total GIRL photo shoot with Dayla and Tabby.  Two girl friends, in the forest, with every thing I could think of that was * girl*.  This is my first “staged” photo shoot.  It took me 2 hours to set it up, several trips to the dollar store and Michaels to make it happen, and I was beyond nervous that Dayla wouldn’t let me take pictures of her (she IS two), but all my fears were for not.  IT WAS A TOTAL BLAST.  Every thing I hoped and more.  I am already itching to do something like this again!

The set up

A Tea Party!

The girls wandered a little…so I decided to capture some of them separately. First up, Dayla as fairy princess:

Followed by the sweet sweet Tabitha as fairy princess:

Wrapping up “part one” with one of my favorites from the day: Dayla looks into the rabbit hole (or that is what I told her anyway)

I hope and DREAM that some of my future clients are inspired by this and can see all the possibility that YOUR photo shoot can have!  Yes!  We can make it happen!

Next to come…playing dress up…hugs….little bears…guest photographer…and MORE!
STAY TUNED!