Meet Animal. He loves to eat and sleep. His snore is louder than my husbands.

This year Animal turns 11. While he still manages to scare people with his burly looks, he really is a softy (that sheds).

A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. ~Phyllis Diller

This week’s theme is “BABIES”. Who doesn’t love a darling little new face.

From Bargain Mama

Subscribe to Popular Photography Magazine for a year – and it will only cost you $4! Yes, that’s right, get the latest and greatest in photography news, camera reviews, inspiring images and how-to’s – for 4 bucks.

To get this great deal on Popular Photography Magazine:

• Visit Discount Magazines
• Add Popular Photography Magazine to your cart
• Use code: 1512 on the basket screen and you will see the $4 subscription fee

Ready to take better pictures? Want to buy smart, when it comes to digital and film cameras, lenses, printers, and other essential gear? Popular Photography & Imaging is packed with great photos, how-to tips, lab tests of the latest equipment, and expert advice on getting the most out of every shot.

This week at I Heart Faces, the challenge is PLAY.

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” -- James A. Michener 

The importance of PLAY slapped me in the face while hearing Kevin Carroll speak at Blissdom. Kevin is an author, speaker and all-around awesome dude. His story is one that will make you cry because of sadness -- and then out of happiness. If you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak live, DO IT. Until then, you can watch Kevin online:

Check out additional I Heart Faces photos on "PLAY".

Wrinkled newborn feet – just minutes after being introduced to the world. So soft and untouched.

Over the years these feet will walk thousands of miles, but my kid will have shoes.

Consider donating a pair of shoes to Soles4Souls. They give soles to souls.

Barefoot Week at I Heart Faces!

My beautiful Z at the Dallas Arboretum.

“When a husband brings his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.”

-Molly McGee

Check out more flowers at iheartfaces.com!

A child’s patience is minimal. Trying to explain for 30-something weeks that their little brother just "wasn’t ready yet" was near impossible. The weeks slowly passed and finally, it was time.

The must anticipated meeting occurred a few hours after Izaiah’s arrival. My sister brought Z & E to the hospital to see meet their new sibling. We cleared the room, so it was just the 4 of us, plus our new family member. The kids crawled on the hospital bed with excitement and fear.

"He is SO SMALL!"

"Where are his feet?"

"Why isn’t he talking to me?"

"Was he born with eyeballs? OH there they are."

Each word said with love. They looked and touched him to make sure he was real. Izaiah laid their in peace, soaking in the introduction – occasionally opening his peepers to see what the voices outside of the belly look like.

Family is love.

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together." ~Erma Bombeck

Check out more collages at iheartfaces.com!