Self Portraits - A New Realization

About a week ago I was in the kitchen with the kids... and, can you guess what I was doing? Taking pictures of them. I'm not sure if it was a diversion or a genuine tactic, but Lynnae stopped and asked me if people can take pictures of themselves. So I turned my camera around, and discovered that it is actually very easy to do this with my digital SLR because you can see your reflection in the lens. So I smiled and pressed the shutter button. Lynnae asked if we could look at it, so I turned the camera back around to preview the picture, and voila...


This is not the first time I have taken a picture of myself with a camera. Although it is the first time I have taken a picture of myself since I got my Rebel... which I've had for 2 years. Why don't I take more pictures of myself? Because I hate looking at myself. But when I looked at this picture I had a realization that has been hitting me in small waves over the last 3 months. I don't hate the way I look anymore. Am I still self conscious? Of course. But, I don't feel like a fat blob when I look at my picture. So I kept snapping photos when Lynnae and Charlie started yelling out things like, "Make a funny face mom! Make a happy face mom! Make an angry face mom!" They were laughing so hard and having so much fun, and I was so happy for them to be so engaged. Plus, as parents of adoptive children we are always working on our feelings - so this was a great way for me to engage in that play too.

So here are some of my faces... and, this is what I look like 58 pounds lighter then my starting point... hoping to get to 60 before Christmas.