Where is the joy?

So I am taking this cool, on-line photography 'class' called finding the joy. I say 'class' because it's more about the artistic side of photography and less about the technical stuff. We're to focus on 'finding the joy' of photographing our kids. I love the inspiration and ideas it gives me for taking cool pics of Lea.

It's a lot of fun, however I am so intimidated because the other people in the class have AMAZING photos. I feel like I really have an eye for the composition and subject of my images but I have NO knowledge about the technical stuff... stuff like aperture, f-stop and ISO. I have to learn a little bit because I am getting more and more frustrated with myself. I get so frustrated, in fact, that joy is not what I am finding! I would have so many awesome pics if they were just focused correctly or had the right lighting. I ordered a book that several people have recommended (Understanding Exposure) so hopefully that will help me some.

In the meantime, here are some (potentially) cool pics that I have taken recently...