I’ve been admittedly lousy about doing on-time pictures of my girls for their birthdays these last couple years. In my defense, no one’s seemed particularly eager to request a photo shoot with their ol’ mama, so I hadn’t pressed the subject. Don’t get me wrong, I grab the camera here and there (and more often, the cell phone) to get pictures of the big things, but it’s been a while since I dedicated an afternoon with my babes *just* for pictures. Usually the idea is met with groans, so I don’t really push for it. And shame on me, because I’m the one missing out here; I value these more than anyone (hopefully she will one day too)! So it came as a pretty big surprise to me when I offered my oldest daughter a little photo shoot just for her, and she lit up with joy. Just us, my camera, and some twirly dress magic. I wanted to take a few minutes to document all that she’s about at this age (it just so happened to be her 7 1/2 birthday). She’s silly. She’s sweet. She’s a dreamer. She’s a bookworm (thank you, Harry Potter). She’s a dancer. She’s a riot. She’s our Gigi, and she’s just perfection. Oh oh oh she’s magic, you know.