The top 10 of 2010.

And here's my dramatic conclusion to 2010, which was a wonderful year for us.

Number 10. Yes, I realize to you this is not much, but this photo is a big ole gigantic "aha" moment for me. I've been trying to wrap my brain around photography this year, which has at once been infuriatingly frustrating and highly rewarding. There's so much to learn, and I have a long way to go, but one of the basic concepts deals with your camera's aperture and depth of focus. This picture is when I finally realized that subject to camera distance matters. A lot. Number 9. Jeanette and Marina in Jeanette's new house, which I adore. I love everything about this photo.
Number 7. Five little cousins all in a row, once again. (Whoopsadoodle, number 8 was a repeat.)
Number 6. Photo quality = poor, but memory captured = good. We went to pick up Nana from the airport, and I brought my camera to catch Lily's reaction. Unfortunately for me and Mr. Camera, Nana arrived sooner than I expected and my settings were way off. Fortunately for me, Photoshop Elements could salvage it, mostly.
Number 5. Lily loves puzzles and building stuff. I know parents are often delusional about the abilities of their kids, but I'm really impressed when Lily does puzzles and plays with blocks. But I am a bit afraid that she's got some engineer-brain in her. Hmmm.
Number 4. No story to tell except that Lily loves her grandpa and he loves her, and I love this candid shot that shows it.
Number 3. I can't believe I didn't post this picture when I posted about my trip to New York. This was my favorite shot of the trip, and one of my favorite photos ever. I'd love to say it was skillz, but it was just luck. I was trying to take a picture of the Versace sign as we walked to Central Park, but then I was lucky enough to get the reflection of Jeanette on her cell and the yellow cab behind her.
Number 2 is another series. These were photos I took in an attempt to get a photo for the Christmas card, which went another way anyway. These are my favorites from our little photo session.



And my number 1 favorite from 2010. I know, I know. Big deal, right? Well, yeah. This was the day after the scare with the febrile seizure, which although it wasn't a big deal, I had no idea it wasn't a big deal. This, for me, is relief that my baby - my heart - was going to be just fine.

Happy New Year, y'all. I hope that 2011 brings much love and happiness.

My top 20 and 10 of 2010.

Me: I’m doing a top 20 and 10 of 2010.

Husband: A what? What does that even mean?

Me: A top 20 and a top 10.

Husband: Aren’t the top 10 part of the top 20?

Me: No. They’re separate.

Husband: So aren’t the two lists of top 10s tied?

Me: No. (with emphasis) It’s a top 20 and a top 10.

Husband: Isn’t that a top 30?

Me: (annoyed). No.

Husband: So you’re just making up your own rules?

Me: Yes.

So here it is. The top 20 of my top 20 and 10 of the photos you probably haven’t seen. The ranking is relatively arbitrary; these are simply photos from this year that I haven’t blogged but I loved them and wanted to find a way to put them out there.

Number 20. Pearl's birthday party. Kids will be kids.
Number 19. I scolded Khan for taking pictures of me because I don't like them. He said, "you'll like this one." He was right.
Number 18. And so I returned the favor.
Number 17. Bubba love.
Number 16, in four photos. (There are several series within my top 20 and 10. Go with it.) This was just a lovely afternoon in July at my mom's house. It's extremely rare that we're all together, and even more rare when it happens on a pleasant summer afternoon with gorgeous light. Here's my handsome little brother.
And here's Ben, semi willing to look at the camera.
And Erik, not even semi willing.
And even my beautiful mama, with her eyes open in a photo, which is perhaps more rare than a family gathering in the summer.
Number 15. Just a quiet moment in a hectic season.
Number 14. Another rare event - my dad and Louise take just a little time away from their to-do lists to enjoy some time at the park.
Number 13. Lily and Marina's niece became fast friends and watched Lilo and Stitch together. Lily doesn't often share her blanket.
Number 12. Engineers carving pumpkins.
Number 11. Lily is on a train, and she's doing the "choo choo" thing with her hand.
Number 10. Lily said "I so happy I painting, Mommy."
Number 9. Just another summer afternoon at the pool. Lily loves that slide.
Number 8. Lily's helping her grandpa pick numbers for the lotto. Seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen, sans Khan's stupid foot in the way.
Number 7. This is also a series, and I love it for two reasons. First, it's a really fun action sequence with the continuous shoot release mode. I use that a lot just trying to get one good picture, so it was cool to get the whole action sequence. Second, this is Bellingham's most adorable couple, aka my brother and his girlfriend, Jen.

So here they are, playing in the tunnel they built in the snow.


Number 6. Khan jumped into the cousin lineup. So much I love about this picture -- Lily's little hug, the smiles on Connor and Tirin, and Lia the photostar is the only one actually looking my way.
Number 5. Snapped this one in a lucky moment of cooperation (okay, fine, there was some Pez bribery going on.)
Number 4. Tirin loves books. Like LOVES books. I've never seen a kid love books as much as he does. Here's his mama reading to him.
Number 3. What's not to love about this one?
Number 2. Ben being silly.
Number 1. I know that technically speaking, there's nothing great about this one. There's tons of mess and clutter in the background and it's very distracting. But I love that look on Lily's face and I can see how much she adores Tere. And I know the feeling is mutual, even if you can't see Tere's face in this picture.
Top 10 of the Top 20 and 10 coming soon.

Family portrait? Maybe next year.

So we were all in our jammies doing the trim the tree thing, and I thought, "hmm, maybe I should grab the tripod and we could take a family picture. What a great idea I just had."

Ha. Ha. Ha.
Kitty wasn't cooperative so we tried Bubba instead.

But I felt bad.


And I thought, "hey, let's use treats and get everyone in the picture."

What could go wrong.

Time for a new strategy.
I needed Lily to focus, even just a little, on the picture taking thing. My brilliant idea? Give her the shutter release remote.

Yeah, like she'd give it back willingly. Genius, Kate. Genius.
So how about a cutesy pose?

Not so much.
Oh well. I tried.