La Voilà

Ma petite chérie… my little darling.

And now she is fourteen. Still my darling, and still quite petite.

It has been a sort of tradition to take birthday pictures, and though I don't really like to be bound by tradition, I really wanted to do this with Olivia this year. The trouble again was finding the time to sneak away, but one afternoon Jon came home unexpectedly and we had a small window of time together. I told Olivia to take a few dresses along, and I grabbed the bunch of Baby's Breath I had on the counter before we took off. A couple weeks prior I had noticed some pretty green grass in the hillside next to the road, and I had mentally bookmarked that location for our picture-taking time. It was so fortunate that there was still some greenery because, after all, greenery lasts but for a moment here in SoCal. Most of it had turned to brown already, but in one north-facing section we found our green.

I'm posting a lot of pictures, I know, but let me indulge for just a while; she is growing up too fast.

For our next little set, we moved up the hill and-- to our delight-- discovered these blossoms of orange and yellow. She had brought two other dresses, and we thought navy would make a nice compliment. Changing behind a stump was no big deal for this girl… we do what we can when we can, and try not to miss an opportunity!

We climbed a little further, but by now I knew our time was running out. I knew she really wanted to make a crown with the Baby's Breath, but we did not have twine or wire to work with. In fact, we also forgot to bring a hair brush. This little flip and loose bun, along with the pictures, was our quick attempt to capture a different look that included her favorite little white flowers.

Delicate and graceful.

Je t'aime, ma belle petite cocotte.   xox