Marshmallow legs

Twelve days ago our wonderful friends Joe and Steph tied the knot.

As it always seems to happen after a wedding or big event–at least since the advent of my beautiful Nikon–, I am wading through a quagmire of pictures. But when I sat down with Photoshop to start churning them out for the world to see, it wasn’t the pictures of the dancing, or the bride and groom escaping in a boat, or the beautiful (and hot) outdoors ceremony that I was drawn to immediately–it was the pictures of a small one. A small one with marshmallow legs.

Marshmallow legs that I want to kiss and chomp and squeeze.

Neither I nor my friends Katie and Liz had ever seen this baby before or met her parents until that very day.

But we were drawn to her like a magnet.

We had to touch that fuzzy head.

Thankfully her parents were more than generous, and let us hold her and scrunch her and squeal over her and pretty much act like a ridiculous set of hormone-crazed women.

And hey–our dresses kind of matched! I choose to interpret that as a message from the universe saying: you have a special bond.

I think baby James has a contender now for the position of Cutest Baby.

Do you ever inexplicably start taking pictures of a baby who’s not yours and whose name you don’t even know?

Apparently, I do.

Though since we’re all friends of Joe and Steph, that at least eliminates the possibility that I’m a freaky stalker that needs to be kept away at all costs.

Then again, maybe not. See, baby-snatching actually crossed my mind. What if I just grabbed this baby and made a hot run for it?

Which begs the question–can I even trust myself anymore?

My favorite shots are the ones of the Little Dumpling with her own beautiful mama. As the fates would have it, we were seated with the Little Dumpling’s family at the outdoor reception. Which meant: even more opportunities to capture the sweetness of this little bundle of pillowy baby-ness.

You have never seen a cuter pair.

Be still, my heart.

14 thoughts on “Marshmallow legs

  1. Joanne

    Ah! Those cheeks! I just want to grab them and kiss them!

    Hey, I can run pretty fast. If you want to give that baby-snatching thing another go…

  2. okielicious

    What a dolly! And yes, your dresses matched. I think it’s a sign…
    I also think you need to introduce her to baby James the next time he’s in town. 🙂

  3. Megan Pence

    Clearly it was a sign when you two were dressed so similarly. And I do the same thing when it comes to taking photos of chilluns’, snap endless amounts of photos of them and just hope no one gives me the side-eye. C’mon when they are all squishy and adorbs like, that horomones take over and you can’t control that camera. I WaNt A BaBY! But alas, must wait a few more years 🙂 Great post! ~Megan

  4. mike e

    Jenna,

    It’s only fair to your readers that you also take pictures of PITs. (Poop in the tub.) And pictures of the parents when they have had no sleep for days because of a sick baby. (There’s a reason sleep deprivation is a form of torture). And pictures of a husband and wife who act more like people who used to date that now run a small 24-hour day care center in their home. And pictures of in-laws who don’t follow parental guidelines under the guise of “spoiling” the grandchild. (But really the kid just comes back from their house with a terrible attitude). And pictures of preschoolers flipping out because another kid sat in the chair that they fully intended to sit on tomorrow at some point, maybe. And pictures of a child slashing their sibling across the face with a butterknife because they were told by the sibling that they were not as old as the sibling and thus not important. These are all true stories. I’m just sayin’.

    Sincerely, your relative (married to your cousin), just trying to keep it real…
    — Mike E.

    p.s.
    That baby is pretty much Fatty McCutes n’ Stuff and I want to gently squish her marshmallow legs and pat her little cheeks… GAH what am I saying!?

    1. Jenna

      Oh Mike . . . you leave me speechless. All I can say is, you always have the most hilarious kid stories on FB. I think your sense of humor will see you through quite well in the end. I’ll leave it to you to provide pictures of the “other kind.” =)
      And please let me live under the illusion that it’s all sweet-smelling baby heads and dimples on elbows for just a little longer . . .

  5. Veronica

    I love the last one best too–how their faces match each other! I love babies and their squishiness and fresh smell. This one was abounding in both (or so I imagine in regards to the latter).

  6. Mads

    The words that came out of my mouth when I saw a picture of that sweet face were complete gibberish. What a smooshywooshybuggyboo! Adoobeedoobah!
    So cute!

  7. Heidi

    She is sooooooooooooooooo cute!!!! However, I must say that when you see James again, you will realize your terrible mistake in saying that he now has competition for cutest baby… he doesn’t.

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