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Monday, August 12, 2013

Lilah Grace's Social Media Debut

I made it 3 months...

...without sharing Lilah Grace's beautiful face on social media. 
Sure, sneak peaks here and there (because I post so much of my life online, and so much of my life now is consumed with caring for this baby)...but no full-out photos of our daughter, until now...

I can't really explain why I didn't want her online. It was more of a feeling than a specific reason. I still feel reluctant, even typing this, and a little anxious. Once I post this, even if I change my mind and delete it, they will ALWAYS be online. And since this wasn't even an option for generations before, I feel like I should wait it out to make sure it's okay that she is up online.

But in 2014, Lilah Grace will be a flower girl TWICE! Such a popular little babe, this one! And I don't want to be "that weird mom" who asks a BRIDE to edit her WEDDING PHOTOS prior to putting them online. We definitely had to go out of our way letting people know NOT to post pictures, everywhere we went these past 3 months. And I think it's time I eased up a little.

I don't want pictures of Lilah bombarding my friends' mini feeds on Facebook, so for now, I am dipping my toe in the water with the blog. I figure, if people are disinterested in seeing baby pics, they don't have to click on the link to see all of these BABY PICS

Also, I don't want photos to be subjected to "likes." Something feels weird about putting my daughter out there on social media, and getting notifications that people "like" it, when she doesn't even know she's online. It's kind of creepy if you think about it... or maybe that's just me being a weird mom again.

I also wanted Lilah Grace to be the first one to decide when/if she had pictures of herself online. But I don't think the world will wait. She'll have friends and family members uploading group photos, and while some of my closest friends have been sweet enough to add stickers to hide her face (thank you Erin and Monica + Jessica!!!), I know they jumped through hoops to accommodate this protective mama.

Before I told everybody, "sure, she can go online now," I wanted to make a debut of some of my favorite pictures from the past 3 months.  All of the photos were taken just to have for ourselves...for her baby book, and for the people in the photo...not for the rest of the world, online. But now I'm opening the floodgates, and trying to go with the flow. So a big thank you to everybody (ESPECIALLY my mom, because I know she's been wanting to put up pictures to show her friends since day one) for respecting our decision to wait. 

I kept these offline in an effort to be protective and private. I still want to protect my daughter and respect her privacy. But in the meantime, I think sharing these photos won't hurt her, and over the next few weeks, I hope to evolve. Instead of seeing her face online and feeling anxious, I want to share photos of her through an artistic medium. When taken with a certain amount of taste, photos capture beautiful (and everyday!) life moments, and often times, memories are only retained through photography. We are lucky to have technology and I should be grateful I will have many memories documented for our daughter.



Our first family picture...after a 22 hour labor and an emergent cesarean. 

Our precious firstborn. Only about a few minutes old.
I do think she resembles George the most, but when I look at my baby pictures, I think she looks like me!
(I'm on the left, LG on the right)

Since I couldn't hold our precious baby for 15 hours, George was the first to feed her and change her diaper. Here is a picture of them, bonding from the beginning. 
We had SO many friends and family members come and visit. Even more than the pictures, because I (surprisingly) didn't always remember to take photos! 

 





Riding home from the hospital. Precious outfit compliments of Binky.


Her first staged photos...about 2 weeks old.



We took Lilah Grace to Bartlesville for the Indian Dances when she was about 6 weeks old. This was her first time to meet her great-grandparents on the Tinker side, as well as some cousins. 

LG with Grandma T

LG with Grandpa T

LG receiving an Eagle Feather blessing from our cousin, Philip Henry.

Lilah and I both really love the Sakura Bloom sling.

One of my favorite pics of our darling daughter, about 7 weeks old.

Living at home as been such a blessing. Seeing the bond develop between LG and her grandparents + aunt has really warmed my heart.
Enjoying time in the kitchen with "Binky" and "Aunt Roo," making chippers.

My dad, LG's "Papa John," greeting her on a weekday morning. #livingwithmyparentsaintsobad

My mother-in-law has been providing "Play Wisely" lessons for Lilah. These 30 minute sessions are intended to help with brain development.
Joe and George, the two papas of their household, on {George's 1st} Father's Day.  LG is about 6 weeks old here.
Aunt Emma came over to meet our sweet Lilah Grace while she was in town, and even wrote a beautiful poem for our little babe.

On my co-workers' last day (and a non-working day for me), I brought Lilah Grace up to say goodbye. Sharee (left) and her husband, Blake (scrubbed in on the right), were the first to know that Lilah was coming! They are kind, helpful, and TRULY missed. Angela (right) is thankfully not leaving me at work!!! She came and visited us in the hospital. Angela is a great friend and a great mom. I'm grateful to have co-workers that are like family members. 
Uncle Cade dropped by while he was in town to meet our sweet angel! 


There have been countless moments like this. My new favorite place in the world...wherever she is. My new favorite thing in the world...rockin' my baby to sleep.

I never knew I could love so much. I love my husband more than I thought imaginable, and my heart flutters as I watch him love on our daughter when he is home, and as I watch him leave for work early each morning, providing the life I only dreamed of having. Our daughter has been such a catalyst for so much good in our lives. She is the biggest blessing we've ever received, and I am constantly in a state of gratitude for her coming to us and helping us evolve into better versions of ourselves.







6 comments:

  1. Love your blog Lindsay. I think your conundrum is indicative of larger questions, concerns, and unknowns about privacy and social life in this technological world. What world is Lilah growing up in? It has changed so dramatically since WE were kids. And now, one of our public sphere's is inside a glowing rectangle. I think we're all ambivalent about this social reality to some degree. It affects us. There's also, of course, questions around who has access to your personal life and information?

    Lilah will learn to speak for herself soon enough! She will have thoughts and ideas and passions. Miraculous transformation! It is so beautiful to see the loving, encouraging environment you've cultivated through your writing and images. You have a distinctive voice that comes through blogging and photography. It will be incredible to witness Lilah find her voice. Enjoy the journey. (An aside--but related to voice--I read a disturbing article recently about two children, who's parents settled out of court that they and their children will never speak publicly about fracking. How is it a court may make such decisions for minors? What about freedom of speech?: http://gawker.com/two-children-given-lifelong-ban-on-ever-talking-about-f-1099092765 )

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  2. you're a GREAT writer ... of course having SOOO much to say makes it more possible !

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