Käsebier on Breastfeeding

The Manger, by Gertrude Käsebier (American, 1852-1934)

1899. Platinum print, 12 13/16 x 9 5/8" (32.5 x 24.4 cm).

rubysmith photography

My dear friend, Liz Rubincam, is an amazing artist who recently founded Rubysmith Photography, a small team of image-makers who love photography and storytelling, based in Victoria, British Columbia. Check out the Rubysmith website and be moved by the collection of beautifully candid moments captured there in Liz's soulful, documentary style. Just wonderful!

recent phone-tography faves

All images taken with the Vignette app on my Droid X.

recent favorite moments

It's been a while since I've posted about our daily goings-ons, and I have a ton of photos piling up on my phone, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite moments captured in recent weeks. The first photo, above, taken at the Temple of Dendur while visiting Abbey at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is going to go down as one of my all-time proudest snapshots. I mean, srrsly! A perfect moment captured. Moving on...

Daffodils = Spring, yay!

Joanna took these next ones when she and Toby came over recently. With two chatterbox toddlers, tandem nursing is the only way I can get a word in edgewise ;)

My parents were in town last week, and we had so much fun with them. One highlight for the boys was making art at the

kitchen table with Papaw:

The painting above is by Walker. He has some major chops with the brush, am I right?

I spotted this old Singer sewing machine during a recent walk. It was sitting on the sidewalk in front of a junk shop. I was so tempted to buy it, but ended up just snapping a pic instead.

Toby and Walker in the sandbox.

Jackson and Walker on their favorite local race car.

A nice play of shadow and light from that visit to the MoMA I was telling you about.

Toddlerwearing + museumgoing :)

My bling-y nails. I am a hopeless manicure klutz. I absolutely cannot do my own nails to save my life, or at least that's what I thought until I tried these. LOVE. So easy and fun. I still can't make them look perfect, but at least there's no dry-time and they don't smell awful like regular polish.

Walker and I took my mom out to celebrate her birthday at Pure Food and Wine. It's one of our favorite restaurants -- everything there is so delicious that the fact that it's all entirely raw seems beside the point! This Classic Sundae was so good we ended up ordering an extra one.

Another day, another treat. This one is the soft serve sampler at Momofuku Milk Bar. The flavors? Candy Bar, Crack Pie, Grasshopper Pie, and Cereal Milk. It was hard to pick a favorite. I adore the fact that the sampler includes fun toppings, woot!

Mamaw outdid herself with the building of blanket forts while she was here.

A recent after-bath, naked-baby-romp.

And this is how the boys nap.

They're so lucky to have each other.

Bump + Fruit

I LOVE this series of self-portraits that photographer Carolee Beckham is making to document her pregnant belly. In each installment, she features the piece of fruit that is comparable to the size of her growing baby. Above are weeks 14 (baby's the size of a lemon), 15 (baby's the size of an apple), and 16 (baby's the size of an avocado). What a simple yet inventive twist on the typical bump update concept! I look forward to following along through the coming months.

Also, she has such cute style, don't you think?

Breastfeeding in LIFE

April 1950: Bantu mother of the Bamangwato tribe, breastfeeding her newborn.

Photo: MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE

1964: Israeli mother breast feeding her baby.

Photo: PAUL SCHUTZER

See more incredible images of breastfeeding through the decades and around the world here, in the photo archives of LIFE Magazine.

photo for your Friday

Albino baby girl and her Mumuhuila mother - Angola

Photographed by Eric Lafforgue

via Tralalère !

Miranda Kerr Images and Quotes

"On the 6th of January I gave birth to our beautiful little son Flynn. He weighed 9lb 12 ounces (a very healthy and big baby boy). I gave birth to him naturally; without any pain medication and it was a long, arduous and difficult labour, but Orlando was with me the whole time supporting and guiding me through it. I could not have done it without him."

--Quote and photo posted this week on Kerr's blog

(Photo by Orlando Bloom, Kerr's husband).

“For me, family is life....The decision to start one wasn’t complex at all....My career has been wonderful, but it’s not my life. I don’t feel pressure to get back to work....My goal involves a hammock, a vegetable patch, and a solar-powered house. And I hope to eventually get there.”

--Quoted in W Magazine, December 2010

Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier

"It's been a great experience modeling while pregnant because I'm really proud of my belly and I'm really happy about this moment in my life and I feel extremely blessed."

--Quoted in a video extra for Australian Vogue,

accompanying the cover story of the January 2011 issue of the magazine.

Photographed by Carlotta Moye

Rummey Bears on Breastfeeding

Photo: Anna and Rosie, circa 2011.

There's something so powerful and intense and elemental

about nursing standing up,

holding a baby in your arms.

No chair, no footrest, no boppy, no nursing cover, not even a sling.

The kiddo is hungry and needs your comfort,

and in that moment, as mama, you have everything they need.

I always feel like a tender, healing, superhero at moments like that.

Like I could do anything.

I love this photo because it captures such a moment so perfectly.

Thanks for sending it to me, Anna.

Love This...

...photo by the amazing Ditte Isager.

So, I'm curious: what did you get for Christmas?

Christmas Card Creativity

How awesome is this little family for taking an underwater family portrait for their 2008 Christmas Card?!? Love. Photo by John Carlton (the dad). Click image to see larger version.

Blog Crushing

I love this photo, and the accompanying post, by Mia Linnman of the always-amazing Solid Frog. Totally gets me in the mood to decorate and festoon and bake and make and shop and wrap. Mmmmmm, so good.

Photo for Your Friday

By Andrea, via Out Came the Sun.

Tamara Dean

I am totally spellbound by this collection of photographs, entitled Motherhood, by Australian photographer Tamara Dean. The images capture the essence of the elemental bond between mother and child with an unusual sort of beautifully gritty honesty. They are not at all sentimental, just incredibly soulful. See the whole series here. Via 500 Photographers.

Playing With the Moon

Well isn't this series of photos just the most magical and delightful thing I've seen all week! There are a bunch more, all incredibly clever, here. Via Love Set You Going.