{When They're Gone}

"What is the overall feeling in the home when he / she is gone? What is different? Is the home cleaner, louder, messier, quieter, lonely?" This is one of the photo prompts that has really thrown me for a loop. Sure, Cory is gone a lot. He works long hours and is usually gone for the day before any of the kids or I am awake. But that is our normal life, our normal routine. Cory being "gone" isn't anything unusual. Occassionally he will go away on a trip for a few days, but that doesn't happen more than a handful of times each year. So when this Joy Of Love assignment was posted I was really at a loss as to what to photograph.

Then today happened. My sister Becky had a professional development day for school so I kept her little girl, Emme for several hours. We had lots of fun and I took some photos of Emme with the girls. And it occured to me: These photo assignments always come with the reminder that our loved one can be anyone. Well, I certainly count my sister and niece among my loved ones, so why couldn't I use this photo? Ta-Da!

When Becky is gone for training, home-visits or other work-related activities, Emme gets to visit other family members. Most often it is her great-grandmother, Mom-Mom, her grandmother, Nana, or me. And we LOVE playing with her and getting our baby fix! She is a very happy baby and her personality is developing quickly. Her eyes light up when she sees Clara, Sasha and Dixon as she loves to watch them and try to play like the big kids. Today I discovered that she even loves our dogs! I thought she would be afraid of them so I've always kept them outside when Emme is here, but today has been rainy and they were inside with us. Emme wanted to touch them and giggled every time they got close to her. In fact, the reason she is smiling in this photo is because the pups are right in front of her!

I love watching all of my nieces and nephews grow and become little people, and Emme is no exception. And I'm grateful that every now and then I have a chance to spend time with her while her mom is gone. She is a doll baby and we all love her!