This one is frustrating me because I keep making smudges instead of fixing it ...lol....help

Are you using the Healing Brush and that is smudging?

yes......I was.......oh my gosh ....

how's this one look?

one clarify to get some contrast and then all clone and airbrush. the baby's face/head was all airbrush.

Very nice work, Craig. It's a lovely image, and you've brought it back to that again.

I decided to replace the background, then used the patch tool and some cloning to get rid of the scratches. Used Polaroid dust filter to eliminate the white dust spots (masked the eyes/fingers back in). After cleaning it up, I thought that the overall look is so ethereal, that I would exaggerate the light, airy look and add a Diffuse Glow look. So here's the retouch, and an art filter addition.

cj, thank you :)

i love the brighter look on the woman. the baby's head and clothing seems just a tad bright, at least on my monitor. but the overall is a very nice look. very clean and soft.

on the other hand, mine now looks a bit too dark in comparison.

Scratch tool, Neat image & color adjustment could do it.

Wow......you guys are awesome...let me see what I can do ....and I will post it.... :) I am still trying to learn the tricks and the trades.... thank you all for your help...I will post mine in a bit....