Mamatography Week 13 (Welcome Home Daddy, Joseph Walking, and A Special Visit)

This post is part of Mamatography 2012, a project hosted by Diary of a First Child. The goal is to document the entire year of 2012 in photos. Paired with my participation in fellow Coast Guard Wife Courtney Kirkland's 52 Faces project and her Move to Manual series, I am definitely learning more about my camera, my photos, & my kids, and I'll have plenty of great photos. Please visit the links at the bottom of my post to see other Mamatography posts!

 This week, we said WELCOME HOME to my husband's Coast Guard Cutter. We prepared the house for his arrival Monday and Tuesday, and my Co-Ombudsman and I finished up the welcome home surprise for the crew members of the Tahoma. On Wednesday, we met the boat at the pier at the shipyard,  and though it was COLD and there was a long wait while the cutter got all moored up and ready to allow liberty for all the crew members, it was WONDERFUL to get daddy back.

The BEST part was that Joseph, who has been cruising around on furniture for weeks now - chose to wait until daddy got home to  take his first real walking steps. . . and now, he's really starting to walk! Grandma and Grandpa (my mom and dad) were able to enjoy this milestone with us, too, as they came in town on Thursday after a professional development conference in Boston and stayed for the weekend.

And that's where our pictures start:

 1-2 : We were blessed to have my mom and dad visiting this weekend! Only a couple of days to be together, but Joseph and Abbey LOVED it! (and to be fair, so did I! I miss my mom and dad, being so far away from Texas!)

3: Joseph, reaching for Abbey and her friends who were playing outside during his birthday party. Soon after I took this photo, I put pants on him and took him outside!

Me with my beautiful friend Jackie who is moving to Hawaii for her husband's service in the US Navy. We will miss Jackie and her lovely kiddos. . . but we're happy that they're going to live in paradise! Hopefully we'll end up stationed there for a bit someday! 

The "Watts St Gang" . . . Abbey and all of her friends who live and  play together on our cul-de-sac

The Watts St Gand (or most of it) at Joseph's birthday party

. . . and a couple of family shots, taken by my friend Jackie (so I guess they're not really mammography by ME, but they ARE mammography!) We rarely get any photos together if not in the portrait studio. . . and even though the chilly spring wind is freaking Joseph out, and Abbey just wasn't interested in taking a pic, I just LOVE how these photos turned out. They're very authentic.

Are you up for a challenge? One that will take something from you every day, but give a whole lot back too? How about joining me for the photography challenge in 2012 then? A photo a day of whatever your day involved. You can jump in any time through the year!

If you’d still like to join us, you can start at any time, just sign up here and our host will email you further information.

Without further ado, here is the current list of all participants for Mamatography 2012 so far!

• Diary of a First Child
• African Babies Don’t Cry
• Woman of the Willows and Wetlands
• From Cristin To Mommy
• Princess poet’s Life Adventures
• Loving {Almost} Every Moment
• The Artful Mama
• The Family Patch
• Boo Roo and Tigger Too
• Becoming Crunchy
• Vibrant Wanderings
• Actually Mummy…
• Boho Mama
• Casyfamily
• Loving Earth Mama
• Baby Dust Diaries
• Baking Momma of Two

• Momma Jorje
• The Mommy Metamorphosis
• Toddler In Tow
• Boobie Time
• Mama Unfurling
• Attached Mommyhood
• Adventures of the Raanan family
• Mommy and Little I
• A Living Family
• Fun with Ima (mommy)
• ShariMamatography
• Carrigan’s Joy
• Becoming Three
• take more pictures
• Girls Can Do Anything
• Anktangle
• Growing A Life