59/365: He CAN Hold Still!



But not because of anything I did or asked... only through the hypnotic qualities of "Lightning 'Queen", "Mater", "Doc" and the rest of their friends. Hmm, it's just too bad this style of portrait taking won't work for inducing eye contact!

58/365: Milk Soup



This was one of those naughty moments when I try to present a stern face and then turn around and laugh. He had an open cup of milk with lunch and apparently decided he'd rather use a spoon to slurp it up. I guess we'll have to go back to open cups only with supervision!

57/365: Trendy?



We hit up the mall today. I've been on the lookout for a new wallet (the one I have, and still love, is 4 years old... time for a change) and when we walked into Nordstrom Rack this little beauty caught my eye immediately. I think it is amusing that it was featured on a "What's in Style for Spring" display... I'm not really a trend follower, but I do like turquoise in small amounts!

56/365: A Boy and His Dog



I've been struck down with a cold now (it was inevitable I think.... when a little person is constantly coughing and demanding "Mama hold you!" germs are bound to be shared) and so the best we could do for getting out of the house today was a trip to the backyard.

55/365: Wool Pants



I'm a mostly cloth-diapering Mama and I absolutely love wool diaper covers! When I first started "cd-ing" I thought wool would be too time consuming and not necessarily comfy for the kiddo.
How wrong I was.
This picture is of our favorite pair of wool pants after their bath tonight. They're made of a merino wool/ spandex blend and are so thick and soft. Best of all, unless they get completely dirty they only need washed once a month or so.
If I ever get ambitious enough I think I should make a pair of wool lounge/yoga pants for me!

54/365: Goldilocks Burritos



One for baby, one for mama and one for papa.
I love that there is a quick, healthy burrito shop on B's drive home. He had a late evening at work and so it was easiest to have him pick up dinner. "I" loves to peel the foil off of the burrito. Actually, sometimes it's hard to decide if he's more into eating or peeling!

53/365: Monday Me



I used today's self portrait session to attempt some maternity shots. It would be lovely if next week's self portrait includes a baby, rather than a belly!

52/365: And Such is Life



Serious cold with a cough going on here. Hopefully he can kick it soon (and I don't get it!) as I'd really like a healthy house to bring a newborn home to!

51/365: New Porch Letters



Today we made a stop at Lowe's and picked up some new house letters. We had the house painted last summer, but the letters never got replaced. It's time to start finishing the last little projects that will make the house ready to put on the market. I'm cringing at the the thought of keeping it clean for showings with a toddler, newborn and two dogs. Please, oh please, let it sell quickly!

50/365: Gardening



We spent some time in the backyard this morning. I figured I'd better take advantage of the awesome weather to get some spring cleaning up done now, or else I'd have to do it with a newborn in tow! "I" had a great time... unrolling the hose, throwing the ball for the dogs, playing with the doors on the charcoal BBQ, relocating landscaping rock... those were the fun parts. He has been despising the camera lately. Poor kid :)
50 days down, woohoo!

49/365: Couldn't Waste the Light






We had some of the most beautiful golden light this afternoon before sunset. Unfortunately, my kiddo chose today to take a nap and slept through it all. So I decided to capture some more of the details around the house. We just found out we'll most likely be moving to Northern California sometime this summer. Yay for finally knowing!

48/365: Big Brother



Video monitors are awesome. It's so great to be able to see what's going on without having to try to sneak into a supposedly sleeping kid's room. This afternoon I was able to tell that instead of napping, "I" had pulled two cords out of his warm window curtain. Obviously a no-no! After a time out and a talk about the rules for nap time he actually went to sleep. The crib is now pulled further away from the window! What am I ever going to do when he finally tries to crawl out and has to be transitioned to a big boy bed? :)
Despite my love of the video monitor, I do feel kind of like I'm spying on my kiddo. Not the end of the world I know, but it's probably a good thing #2 is on the way so that I'll have a reason to move the camera out of the toddler's room!

47/365: Macho, Macho Man



Today was a busy day. Midwife appointment first thing (totally normal, see ya in a week!), home for 20 minutes then dropped "I" off with a friend so that I could head downtown for a "Mama-to-be" massage (ahh), took lunch to my kind babysitting friend, home for nap/quiet time, then off to base to have dinner with hubby since he is stuck there all week. My picture taking time was quite limited so I ended up needing to come up with something in the hole (meaning windowless place) that is a standard military building :)
"I" and Dada had a great time playing in the workout room. Don't worry, there were no weights attached!

46/365: Monday Me



Sleep.
Obviously I don't usually sleep at the dining room table... but sometimes lately it feels like I could.

45/365: He can COOK



Mmm... I'm so blessed to have a man who can cook, and likes to! Valentine's dinner was wonderful.
A lot of my daily pictures lately are food related. Can you tell it's often on my mind? :)

44/365: Under Siege



It couldn't be avoided any longer. The baby stuff had to come out of storage. My neutral, clean home is once again being taken over by garish large plastic contraptions. If only swings and bouncers weren't so incredibly useful!

43/365: A Resolution



I stood in the baking aisle at the grocery store yesterday, debating whether or not I should give in to my desire for this horrible (but delicious) craving. Reading the ingredients on the frosting package did nothing to assuage my guilt.
This afternoon, while indulging in creaminess, I had a brilliant thought. I will no longer give in to my craving for sugary goodness out of a tub with a red top. Instead, I will make my own small batch of cream cheese frosting when the mood strikes. No partially hydrogenated oils and it will even taste better.
Let's forget that the sugar content and calorie count will not change!

42/365: Who Teaches Them This?



I'm waffling a little on the internet appropriateness (just personally) of this shot, but seriously, who teaches boys/men that they need reading material? I offered a "magazine" (a One Step Ahead catalog that he now reads faithfully every day) one time and from that point on he has requested it for all but the shortest trips to the potty. Oh well... potty training was pretty simple, so if reading a "magazine" was our trick to success, I'll take it!

41/365: I took the plunge.




I have been debating for months now whether or not it would be worth it to switch to BBF (back button focus). I don't know why I was so afraid. It's not like I couldn't have just changed the settings back if I didn't like it! So this morning, I switched to BBF and also changed my autofocus mode from AF-A to AF-C.
Oh. My. Goodness.
It's not that I have been having focus issues per-say, but when I'd do a shoot with a moving kiddo I'd nail focus in about 60-70% of the shots I took, even if I was pretty sure I'd selected the best focus point and locked focus. This afternoon, it was closer to 95%! What a difference this is going to make.
I also had a little fun with sun flare. The time of day (noon) wasn't the best for portrait work, but it was definitely easy to find the sun in the sky!

40/365: Springtime?



Usually we are just starting to dig out of the snow during February, but this year it feels like Spring already. Our grass is starting to green up and all the bulbs are sprouting. Hopefully there won't be too many watering restrictions this summer from the lack of snow pack.

39/365: Monday Me



Self portraits are proving to be highly educational. If I had to pose a model to get a shot in the same lighting conditions it would have been about 1/4 as difficult! I also think there should be an easy, inexpensive way to be able to choose your focal point with a remote :)

38/365: Meatballs



Today's lunch was an order of Trezzi Farm meatballs, accompanied by a loaf of crusty bread for dipping. Yum!

37/365: Naps all Around



He made it home! Minus luggage though... Delta lost his bags. Boo.
After a fun lunch out we came home and everyone (including "I" who has been skipping naps in favor of "quiet time" for over a week now) took a nap. I weighed in with the shortest of 1 hr, hubby slept for 3 and "I" is still going... It has been a good afternoon :)

36/365: Tomorrow!



After 5 weeks away, my husband is coming home tomorrow! I just talked with him on the phone and he had been scheduled to do all his flying tomorrow, but changed his tickets and was trying to get home tonight. Unfortunately, his initial flight was delayed which caused a missed connection, so he won't make it home until the morning.
While it would have been a wonderful surprise, anyone who knows me understands that I like to have advance notice of things... so I'm kinda glad I have the extra time to finish cleaning the house :)

35/365: Going Places



"I" loves to play with this toy. It is a little case that is supposed to be a vet hospital and includes several small stuffed animals and all sorts of vet-type instruments (stethoscope, syringe, tweezers, thermometer, etc.) His favorite thing is the set of keys. Today he got the keys out and told me "see ya later!" I asked where he was going and he said "out to the car!" I said "ok, see ya" and he wandered off. 20 seconds later I heard the front screen door opening! I was pretty sure I had the front door locked (he can't open it if it is) but maybe I didn't. Thankfully he didn't make a run for it!

34/365: Me too



I left the iron out last night after finishing my sewing, in anticipation of doing some more project-finishing today. When "I" saw the iron he immediately was drawn to it, jabbering about how the cord plugs in, but wasn't plugged in right now, etc. We had a talk about how he wasn't to touch it and went on with our morning.
After breakfast and a little bit of play time, this is what I found. He was going to iron too :) I didn't touch the way he oriented it on the ironing board. Apparently, being "detail-oriented" is genetic!
I used masking in editing today! A first. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought :)

33/365: Take that, Serger!



Can you see the two little eyes and tight mouthed expression??
My serger and sewing machine sit on a table directly behind the computer desk. I can often feel the serger staring me down from behind, taunting me about the many projects I have yet to start and those that are started but unfinished. But today, I finished a project and will finish another one when the kiddo goes to bed.
So there, serger :)

32/365: Monday Me



I'm a little over 35 weeks pregnant now. Definitely feeling it and getting towards that "ready to be done" point. However, I'm not ready for the lack of sleep that newborns bring with them!