Ginger

I tried using Ginger as a subject to practice my photography today. Unfortunately, she's not as good a model as Molly was. Poor, neglected Ginger was SO excited that I was even looking at her that she had a REALLY hard time sitting still enough for me to take her picture. I felt like I was trying to take Gavin's picture! These are a bit underexposed, but I'm just too lazy to go back and fix them in Photoshop tonight. Maybe I'll fix them tomorrow :) The first one is my favorite. What do you think...leave a comment and let me know!

Molly!!

Ever since Gavin's birth, poor Molly has been pushed to the side. She's taken it in stride, though, and she'll take whatever attention she can get whenever she can get it! That makes for the PERFECT photography practice subject if the kiddos have already gone to bed :) Molly was more than willing to pose for my camera since that meant that I was actually paying attention to her. I know...that's really sad that we've let it get this far. Poor Molly...and Ginger too! Maybe I'll use Ginger as my practice subject tomorrow. Hmmm....I wonder if that crazy dog would actually stay still long enough to have her picture taken. She's a bit spastic, kind of like Gavin :)

Anyway, here's my favorite shot of Molly that I took today. I think I got the focus right, but I still managed to crop one of her limbs. I guess that'll be the next thing I work on!

No Nap

We tried napping Logan in his crib today, and we ended up with a mini photoshoot instead of a nap. Rather than napping his usual 2-3 hours that he does in his swing, he napped for about 45 minutes in his crib. As a result, I was able to practice my photography in natural light, and as an added bonus, I learned NOT to try to get him to nap in his crib. If he's napping fine in his swing, I guess I'll continue to let him do that. I'll figure out what I'm going to do with him when he finally outgrows the swing, but I won't worry about that until then.

Here's one of the pics that I got today. I think I got the focus correct. Now I need to work on not cutting off parts of his body!

And just for fun...here's a pic of just how chunky our little monkey is.

Loves his Ramen!

Anytime there's Ramen, you can be sure that Gavin will be there! These pictures were taken just after he finished his lunch of a babyfood container of green beans (yes, I still feed him baby food, but I don't worry about him not getting his veggies!), a container of yogurt, and half of a chicken breast. Brandon sat down at the table with a bowl of Ramen for lunch, and Gavin was not going to be left out! What can I say except THAT BOY CAN EAT!

**All of these pictures have NOT been edited. They are all straight out of the camera! I was working on focusing on the inner corner of his eye. Did I get it? What do you think???**

He continues to amaze us every day! We went to Chili's for dinner tonight, and when we were leaving, Gavin said something that sounded like chee-dee. Obviously, I didn't know what he said, so I asked him to repeat himself. He said the same thing again. Then I asked him to tell me what that was. So he answered, "Big pepper name chee-dee" He has always referred to Chili's as the Big Pepper because of the big pepper that hangs outside of the restaurant. A few weeks ago, we had told him that it was called Chili's, not Big Pepper. It just amazes Brandon and I how he's making all sorts of connections with things! I guess he's not such a baby anymore!

New Year's Resolution already broken!

It has only been a week into 2010, and I've already broken my new year's resolution to take at least one picture every day so that I can improve my photography skills. In my defense, however, Brandon was out of town on business, and I was extremely busy yesterday (not that I'm making any excuses or anything!). So, I'm just going to pretend like yesterday never happened (play along with me, ok???)

I tried photographing Gavin again today, and it was a complete bust! He would NOT cooperate at all. I know I could always use the whole "I'll give you a piece of candy" bribe, but I just didn't feel like dealing with a kid on a sugar high right before nap time. After all, Brandon was still away on business, and I NEEDED Gavin to take a nap! I did manage to get 3 pictures taken, of which, 2 are complete trash, and the third one isn't even good! The first one was completely over-exposed, and entirely unfixable in Photoshop. The second one, was the only useable one, and even in that one, the focus isn't even on Gavin. The third one didn't even show any details of Gavin's face because all of the focus fell on the sofa that was behind him. Oh well :( Now you see why I made my resolution to try and improve! Ha! I'll be interested to see what my photos look like by the end of the year!

Two year-old's are hard to photograph!

Gavin is CONSTANTLY on the go! He is just about impossible to get a picture of, especially when I'm trying to make sure the focus, exposure, etc. are correct. On top of that, I've got to keep one eye on Logan to be sure that Gavin's monkey-like self isn't about to fall on him or run over him! I find myself just haphazardly clicking away in hopes that I can get just one decent picture of him. Maybe I should just focus my photography improving efforts on Logan, at least the majority of them, anyway. He can't move, so it's almost like I've got him captive!

Here's one of the only pictures that I was able to get of Gavin. He's practicing his mad face in the mirror! Ha! The kid just loves looking at his own reflection!

Logan

I realized that Logan will be four months old tomorrow, and I still hadn't taken his "3 month" pictures yet. So poor Logan had to be my subject today while I practiced my photography. By the end of this photo shoot, he was NOT a happy camper! It was definitely worth making him mad, though. I was able to get a few shots that I am really happy with. I don't know how good they are to the trained eye, but with my mommy goggles on, I absolutely love them! I promised pictures with kids in them, so here are some of Logan. (Gavin was taking a nap, so I didn't get any of him)

See how mad he was by the end of the photo shoot??? He was THAT red!

Newest listing in my Etsy shop!

I was on a MAJOR organization kick today, so I didn't even remember to take any pictures until the boys had already gone to bed :( But to keep with my new year's resolution, I took some pictures of my newest listing for my Etsy shop. Since it was late, the lighting was AWFUL, but I did the best that I could. What do you think of these yummy looking felt heart frosted cookies?

I PROMISE, I'm going to take some pictures of the boys tomorrow! After all, they're my most favorite subjects to photograph! But just to satisfy your urge to see the boys, here's a pic of Gavin pretending to eat the cookies. (I took this one last week, so it doesn't count for my picture every day this year. Maybe my resolution should've been to just post a picture every day. That would probably have been a much easier one to keep! Ha!)

Happy Birthday, Abby!

We celebrated Gavin's friend, Abby's birthday today. She turned 6 years old! Gavin had fun playing in Abby's toy house. He just loves those things! Once he was inside, all he wanted to do was dump all of her play pots and pans out on the floor! What a mess! He and Abby's brother Will were even able to play nicely together! That is, of course, after Gavin threw a play pot at Will's head! Oh, the joys of teaching a two year-old how to get along with everyone! I mean, why shouldn't we be able to throw pots at people who are bothering us?!?!?

As part of my picture a day for each day of 2010, I thought I'd post a picture of Abby instead of Gavin or Logan. I rarely get to photograph other children, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to do so today! Hopefully, as the year progresses, so will my photography skills!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It's been quite awhile since my last post, but that is about to change! One of my resolutions for 2010 is to improve on my photography. To do that, I need to practice, so I'll be trying to take at least one picture every day this year and post it here. By the end of the year, I'll be able to look back and see if I've gotten any better. To start it all off, here are some pictures that I took of Logan today.

Here's a picture of Gavin that I took while we were playing in the snow on New Year's Eve. We had so much fun tossing snow balls at each other! It was the first time that I've ever really played in the snow, and I am so glad that I got to do it with Gavin! We tried to build a snowman, but every time I tried to stack a snowball on top of the largest snowball, Gavin would knock it over and laugh hysterically!

We had a wonderful start to 2010! We had a relaxing morning at home and took Gavin to McDonald's for lunch (one of his favorite places!). He is an absolute monkey in the play place! He climbs up so quickly and then slides down the twisty slide without any fear! He even came down on his head one time, and he wasn't even scared! He had the biggest smile on his face, and all the while, I had my heart in my throat! After nap, we headed over to Damon and Melissa's for a delicious Peruvian dinner! We had LOTS of fun! What a great way to start the new year!

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope your 2010 is filled with nothing but love and happiness!