Musings on expectations / Modern day lollipop kids

ex·pec·ta·tion[ek-spek-tey-shuhn]–noun
1. the act or the state of expecting: to wait in expectation.
2. the act or state of looking forward or anticipating.
3. an expectant mental attitude: a high pitch of expectation.
4. something expected; a thing looked forward to.
5. Often, expectations. a prospect of future good or profit: to have great expectations.
6. the degree of probability that something will occur: There is little expectation that he will come.
7. Statistics. mathematical expectation.
8. the state of being expected: a large sum of money in expectation.

Has anyone ever thought about how much expectations play a role in many outcomes we may have in our lives? Expectations often determine our emotional state...i.e. we're happy if our expectations are met and sad if they are not met. Is it a good thing to set high expectations? I think there are certain times that we do need to have high expectations and then other times we really need to readjust and just roll with the punches. In this journey having the triplets I can honestly say that it has been better than what my original expectations were. That's where a combination of throwing high expectations out the window and having a little faith and hope come alive(that's another story in of itself). If you think about it there are very few things we have control over. I felt like the only thing I had control over was being faithful, diligent in keeping to the strict bed rest guidelines and the calories I put into my body. The rest had to come from a higher place and I just had to hope that it would work out even if it were not within my expectation parameter. How many times have things felt so unobtainable but because of certain elements things have just worked out. Coincidence I think not..
Now back to expectations and my little boys. When my sister takes pictures I do not use faith as a way to measure the outcome. I fully set high expectations because I know she is in full control over her camera and there is no way I will be let down. I guess like it says above in the #4 definition that an expectation is something expected; a thing to look forward to and I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO EXPRESS HOW EXCITED I WAS TO POST THESE PICTURES TONIGHT!! Annie, you fully met my expectations with the beautiful photos and if you don't feel like you met yours well then maybe it's time to readjust your thinking. I do want to note that at first I was a little bummed when the boys broke their lollipops after 1 second(I guess my expectations were set a little too high:-). After I thought about it I guess I'm kind of glad they did. There is something very liberating about letting go of perfect and the picture below seems to illistrate that. Just look how happy they are and that's all the matters.

PS. - There's going to be more picture to follow. I just have too many ants in my pants to wait to post the whole series. Also a special shout out to Stacey and her bro Matt for bringing those suckers all the way from Disneyland. I could not find those stinkin lollipops anywhere (ok 3 stores) so I called my friend Stacey and she made a phone call and we were in business. She has the hook ups!!! Ironically I did end up finding more @ the Dollar Tree 4 hours before the shoot. Anybody ever heard that one song by Alanis Morisette?(just had to throw that one in there)