Thursday, October 30, 2014

October Self Portrait

This month I have been spending a lot of time behind the camera between weddings, shooting some family photos for my sister-in-law, and attempting to take Christmas pictures of the girls.  I am really enjoying it and I even bought some editing software to begin learning basic photo editing skills.  And I must say, that part I am loving!

I know that I have a LOT to learn when it comes to photography in general, especially editing, but I'm having a great time playing around and exploring.  I watch Lightroom tutorials all the time and its fascinating to me to watch an average photo transform into something so eye-catching and sharp with a few simple edits.  It makes me want to keep learning more!

So, photography has been what I've been up to this month and it has been great putting my mind to something other than "Mommy mode".  Next step: buying a decent camera of my own so that I can stop bugging Tina to borrow hers ;)

When we went out the other day for those pictures of the girls, Mike snapped a few of me when we were done.  And by done, I mean, the girls were OVER it.  And anyone taking pictures of me is a big no-no in Addy's book.  For some reason, she hates when I am photographed.   Addy wouldn't stand for me being in a picture without her, so note her little head in the bottom.  Mike took about 10 pictures of me and no matter how I stood or where I went, that little head followed me everywhere.  I thought about trying to edit it out, but number one, I probably wouldn't do a very good job, and number two, it's become part of the story :)

Happy October!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Emma's Second Birthday Party!

We had a little party with our families at the house for Emma's second birthday and it was great!  Nice and low key, and most importantly, the birthday girl had a blast!


You'd think it would be easy to grab one quick photo of her in her little chair.  Not so much.  This was the best I could get.


Most of my attempts turned into these shenanigans:


Let the party begin!





Ha ha!  Love that face!


Little Rock Stars!




Birthday girl was NOT a fan of the party hat.  It lasted for this pic and then was gone.


Now she's a happier lady :)


 Mommy and Daddy with the birthday girl.  (Note: her personal camera is in hand and ready.)

Here is the obligatory "Happy Birthday" video!  I love how she sings to herself :)  (And take note of Luca digging right in in the middle of the video!  Ha ha!  I never noticed that until now.)



Her attempts at blowing out the candles turned into her grabbing for the lit candles.  Good times ;)


Had to go with the Frozen themed birthday cake :)


Party guests:



Lovin' that cake!


The younger guests :)

Gift time!
She loved this rain hat from Aunt Tina and Uncle Jay!

... and bows.  She loved all of the bows :)




An Anna costume and an umbrella.  She's all set :)


Even Luca got in on the Frozen/rain gear dress up fun ;)


Addy was all over it.  An Elsa costume?  Yes please!

And here come some more failed attempts at a "birthday girl" pic:



But Mommy was persistent ...

There's a smile!  Not looking at the camera, but it was the best I could do.  Tough age for photos, let me tell you!


And I saved my favorite picture for last.  These three have my heart :)  Happy second birthday to the sweetest, smiliest, silliest little lady around.  We love you to pieces Emma Jane!


Monday, October 6, 2014

Emma: 2 Years!

Dear Lady Jane,

You are two years old!  And boy do you love to sing Happy Birthday!  You sing it to yourself, to Pop, heck even to me, and my birthday is not even in the near future ;)



You love to sing, and you know the words to your favorites like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Row Row Row Your Boat", and  "You Are My Sunshine".  We sing them together before bed.  Your little singing voice is the sweetest right before bed, and one of these days I'll get a video of it.  You still prefer Daddy sing to you than me.  You will often cover my mouth with your hand and say, "Shhh.  Don't sing."  Can't say that I blame you there ;)

Here's a video of you singing into your new gift from Jess and Phil:



But along with singing, you have an awesome vocabulary for a two year old!  You have been speaking in full sentences for awhile now, and your speech is remarkably clear.  People are always saying to me, "She speaks really well for 2 years old!"  I guess you have a good role model in Addy ;)

I'm trying to think about your favorite thing to do, and honestly your favorite thing to do is whatever Addy wants you to do.  Addy loves being the boss and you don't seem to mind either for the time being.  Addy comes up with games and tells you who you need to be, and for the most part your response is, "OK.  I will."  (Which sounds more like "I wheel".)

Lay on the pool deck?  OK.


 Put a bucket on my head?  Why not.

Watch the IPad naked?  Sounds reasonable.

Down dog on the beach, getting as sandy as humanly possible?  Absolutely!


 For the most part the two of you play really well together.  But (unlike Addy Marie) you also play pretty well alone.  You usually find a purse of some kind and some accessories, and that'll keep you occupied for awhile.

You love the water, and at the beach this year I think you would have lived in the pool if we let you.  Just bobbing around in your swimmy.


You think that sticking your head under water is hilarious... bubbles or not :)


This Wonder Woman costume is your favorite, and I think you might be Wonder Woman for Halloween (unless you and Addy insist on being Anna and Elsa).



You had your very first day of preschool this month, which was a big day!


In fact, you played so hard that you almost fell asleep in your lunch after school, ha ha!


You got a big girl haircut, a little bob, which is absolutely the cutest thing ever!

Leeann said that yours was the officially the smallest head that she's ever shampooed!  This picture cracks me up!  Relaxing, getting your hair washed with your brush/mirror combo in hand.  That's my Emmy :)

Here are your Two Year stats:

Weight: 24.5 lbs (21st percentile)
Height: 33.75 inches (53rd percentile)
HC: 48.5 cm (85th percentile)

Since you are on the smaller side of the weight scale, the pediatrician recommended that we try to give you more whole milk.  Problem is that you don't like milk, often even in the chocolate form!  You refuse to drink it and cry for orange juice instead.  You eat lots of cheese and yogurt, but milk you are not a fan of.  Other than that small thing, your two year well check went great and you are a healthy, happy little lady.

A few things about two-year-old you:

- Goodnight moon is your favorite book and you like to have it read to you and then "read" it back to us every night.  Your biggest concern is where the old lady is ;)  You try to find her on every page.

-Your beloved blanket "purple" is still your all time favorite thing.  As soon as you have it you lay your head down and start sucking your thumb.  If you are upset, purple can always calm you down.

-Your two favorite movies are Frozen and the Lion King (you can't say "L"s though, so it's more like "Yion King" to you.)

-You love to sing the "ABC" song even though you don't really know your letters yet.  Therefore it's usually all jumbled up, but you do know the tune :)

-You can count to ten pretty well, which is amazing!  Still can't get a grasp on those colors though ;)

-Your favorite food is probably cheese.  You are not a big fan of fruit or vegetables which is unfortunate.  But you do love watermelon.  You and your sister both.

-You don't have much interest in the potty at this point, despite the bribe of chocolate.  But you'll get there soon :)

-I'd say that your favorite toys are accessories: purses, shoes, jewelry, hats.  You are a girly girl for sure and I'd be so curious to know if you'll remain that way throughout your life.

-We always joke that you are so delicate, because you cannot handle getting scolded in anyway.  If we so much as reprimand you with a voice that is raised ever so slightly, you throw your hands up to your face and cry.  It is the one of the sweetest, funniest, (and probably most manipulative) things that you do.  I'm telling you, it is VERY hard to get upset with you.

-You're a great sleeper and you always have been.  You take one nap a day for about two hours in the afternoon.  And then you sleep for about 12 hours at night.  You are great at sleeping in (for a toddler), as you usually don't wake up until between 7:30-8:00.  And half the time I would have no idea whether or not you were awake if it wasn't for the monitor.  You just sit in your crib quietly until someone comes to get you.  You rarely cry in your crib.  Which brings me to my final point...

-You are the worlds sweetest little girl.  Really and truly.  You have such a calm, agreeable, smiley personality.  It doesn't take much to get you laughing and you love to make others laugh right along with you.  I must kiss your cheeks a hundred times a day and tell you that you are cute.  (I know that I do because recently you've started saying "I'm cute!".  Oops ;)  I can't help it though.  You are!)  You don't do much that upsets us, and I'm really hoping this even-keeled personality sticks around!

Here you are on your birthday!  Phone in hand, rain hat and tutu on.  That sounds about right :)



Still have that phone :)

And there's that laugh we all love!


Giving Daisy some love :)



Lucky for you, it rained on your birthday so you got to wear all of your new garb from Aunt Tina :)

Full attire on.  Let's go to preschool!


Emma, as always I can't believe that you are growing up so fast.  I want time to slow down (Heck, who am I kidding?  I want time to STOP!) while you are still so young and innocent.  I never want the days to end when I smooch your cheeks all day long and where you jump up and down when you see me.  When I pick you up and you throw your arms around my neck and say, " I wove you!"  When I even pretend to tickle you and you giggle uncontrollably.  I don't want any of this to end.  Ever.  Got it?  Knowing that you are most likely my last baby is making it that much more difficult to watch you grow up.  But I am also able to savor it a lot more.  I do not take these precious moments for granted, and I want to remember them forever and for always.  Because Emma Jane, these are the sweetest days of my life.


“I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living,
my baby you'll be.”
Robert Munsch, Love You Forever

Love,

Mommy