Captured III (Sponsored & Giveaway)

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This past February Hal and I took the kids to the library. No big deal, right? Every day parents take their kids to the library. Ah, yes. But this was a particularly special outing for us because it was our last adventure as a foursome before finding out that we would soon be a six...some?

I snapped the above shot of Fable in the grass at the foot of the Los Angeles County library. It was just us on this massive stretch of lawn and sidewalk, fountain and stairway, as Archer sat watching the traffic pass on the corner of 5th and Grand while Fable ran around in circles, arms outstretched, pretending to be a bird.

That day Archer taught Fable how to roll down a hill and Hal and I discussed for the thousandth time whether we should try for a third child, how it would affect us and them and THIS. They, our kids, were finally old enough to appreciate libraries and lawns and rolling down hills that weren't so hilly. Starting over with a new baby would change that, would change everything. Were we sure we wanted to go there? Was I? We linked arms and sat in silence as Archer counted cars and Fable chased shadows, big kids, both of them. How did this happen? Where had we been?

"I really want to go there, yes."

And perhaps, in some cosmic way, I knew I already had. That tails had already formed and with them the clues of two crossword puzzles, Saturday and Sunday editions.

I was recently asked to pick my favorite post of the year which is kind of impossible because every post is so totally different and every choice is arbitrary and favorites are for race horses. And yet. For whatever reason, this post was so obviously it. Because after weeks of shock and fear, I was starting to feel excitement, awe, acceptance... Because these pictures were taken before we knew... Because even though Fable felt like a big kid then, she was still, at the time, our baby. And now she's this girl, who knows to avoid mud puddles, and can roll down even the steepest hills.

...Because on that afternoon, in the lawn at the foot of the library, laughing with closed eyes, she was two. And unbeknownst to me, to us, so were they.

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Thanks to everyone who has shared photos thus far. They're amazing, all of them and I can't wait to share some of my favorites next week. In the meantime, if you're still interested in entering the Captured Photo Contest (for a chance to win a $500 gift card to Best Buy c/o Federated Media) go to flickr.com, upload your (up to five) photos and tag them #CapturedPhotoContest_GirlsGoneChild. Please also remember to make them "public" so I can see them. Unfortunately some of your photos aren't showing up in the collection and nobody knows why. Soooooo, please double check that your images are included here and if they're not, post their link(s) in the comments so I can include them in the contest. For more info, see this post and for rules and regs go here. Thanks, everyone!