525,600 Minutes

This is what spaghetti night looks like...

2012-01-30T09:23:00.001-06:00

At least at our house, but I'm guessing we're not the only ones. Jae LOVES noodles. I'm pretty sure that she could eat noodles every night if I would let her.

She made me laugh this night, because she acted downright offended that we would make her eat without her shirt. Like, how dare we. She ate more of it the next night and quickly understood why she would not be eating with a shirt, lol. She loved taking these pictures. She thought it was so fun to see her messy face, but in the mirror and on the camera.

Flashback Friday

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Peek-a-boo

Jae has decided that she's "Baby Jaelynn". Sigh...I know she's just playing a game, but I hope she gets over it soon. I need my big girl Jaelynn back stat!

DA RULES

Just link up to your post with a photo flashback and you're golden! Check out any of the other blogs that interest you and follow any that you like. I don't want anyone to feel obligated to start following any blogs if they aren't interested. Let's just have fun sharing the oldie but goodies! Oh, and don't forget to grab a button, so other blogs can join us! I plan on leaving the link open until Saturday night, so link up whenever you get the chance!

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

This is what I'm talking about....

2012-01-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

Our weather has just been crazy! These pictures were taken on December 29-with only a light jacket on. We were sooooo happy to be able to get out of the house for a few days over the break!

And here's where I get to tell you guys our big, exciting news! We are officially potty trained!! I'm sure your wondering what this has to do with these pictures, but I promise it makes sense. We started potty training on 12/27 adn could not believe what a great job Jae did. We had a couple accidents on Day 1, I think only 1 accident on Day 2 and we've only had one accident since! We still rock the diapers and nap and bedtime, but we're okay with that. I think if we pushed it we coudl go without for naps and maybe bedtime, but we're really not worried about it yet. I'm bnot ready for the "I need to go potty!" screams in the middle of nap/the night.

Anyway, back to the pictures. This was like day 2 and it was soooooo gorgeous out. We had to get out of the house, but I was nervous. I didn't want to put Jae in a diaper, because we were going all in-underwear all the time (except sleep). So we waited until after lunch and I got her to use the bathroom. We swiftly headed to the park and I figured we had about an hour of safe time.

I was a nervous wreck the whole time-asking her every three minutes if she needed to leave and go potty-our park doesn't have a bathroom. Luckily we're only a few blocks away, but I wasn't sure just how long she could hold it and how long after she realized she needed to go taht we woudl have to find a bathroom aka rush my huge preganant self and a stroller home!

But she made it! Of course, we didn't stay too long, but she did such a good job. We couldn't be more happy with how she has taken to the whole potty training thing. She does such a good job of telling us when she needs to go and we're able to go out of the house without any worries (although we keep that extra pair of undies and pants around just in case) :P

So I suppose, these are her first diaper free pictures from back in December :)

Wordless Wednesday | More Balloon Fun!

2012-01-25T09:30:00.000-06:00

Week 3- C is for...

2012-01-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

Crackers! A favorite around our house :)

January

2012-01-22T19:17:00.004-06:00

January has sure been an interesting month weather-wise. It's been amazing and Jae has been so happy to spend time outside and I know her daycare provider is happy that she can send the kids outside too.

We did actually have one day of snow (our second snow of the year), but like the first, it was just a little dusting. Jae however, didn't care. She was so incredibly excited to wake up and see the snow-what little there was. They didn't get to go out and play in it at daycare, so she begged to be able to go out when we got home.

How could I say no? It was still light out, so we went out for about 15 minutes and of course, she loved every minutes of it. In true Jae fashion, she was all about picking it up and throwing it in the air. Pretty sure I have these same pictures except replace the snow with hay, dirt, mulch...

I love this shot, I so wish there was a darker background so you could see the snow better.

I tried to have her move, but it never did look the same.

This is literally what she spent the entire time outside doing, lol. She would have done it for hours if I would have let her, but it was cold and we weren't really bundled for snow.

So happy!

Flashback Friday

2012-01-20T09:55:00.000-06:00

I'm missing these days when she was little and we just lifted her from the bath into her towel. ::sigh:: Now she gets out of the bath and tries to run away. Once she gets her towel on she usually runs and hides in our closet. Bedtime is such an ordeal right now-taking way longer than it should!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 2- B is for...

2012-01-19T09:00:00.001-06:00

Balloon

Jae got this balloon at lunch at Jose Peppers. She's funny with balloons, because she acts as if they are her friends...talking to it, hugging, kissing. She ran all around the house playing with this balloon. It was so sad to see the look on her face the next morning when it was no longer floating. She saw it and said, "Awwww...why is it broken?"

Week 1- A is for...

2012-01-17T09:16:00.000-06:00

Angelic

I took this photo on New Year's Day. Jae had stayed the night with my parents on NYE and the next day we had a family get together with Joey's family. it started at 1:00. which meant Jae wouldn't be getting a nap. We headed home about 5:00 I think and somewhere along the way a very rare event occurred. Jae fell asleep. Now, not only did she fall asleep, but for the first time ever, Joey was able to get her out of the car, carry her in and lay her down on the bed and she was still completely passed out. It was so sweet. I tried to wake her, but she just wouldn't have it. She ended up sleeping on our bed for an hour or so while I snapped pictures with my extension tubes. :) I've never really been able to get any sleeping pics of her <3 Even when I finally woke her for dinner, she was still so sleepy. We snuggled for a while before she was willing to leave the bed and eat.

Here's another shot, cause I love it. (cell taken from FB)

I think it's done!

2012-01-16T17:04:00.000-06:00

I think the new design is up and ready to roll! I'd love to hear your thoughts! See any glitches?? If so, what browser are you in? Internet Explorer can be a web design nightmare, so as long as we're good in the other browsers I think I'm okay.

I'm really excited to have room now for even bigger photos ;P

12 in '12

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

So, I loved doing my 11 in '11 goals last year, even if I did suck at them a little bit, lol. But I had good ~~excuses~~ reasons for not getting them completed. Anyway, I think it gave me something to focus us in terms of things I wanted or needed to get done. Having everything out there for people to see (even if nobody paid attention) made me feel more accountable, so I did a better job of sticking to them (as much as I could). So this year, I plan on continuing with my goals challenge and create my list of 12 things for 2012. Again, these are goals for my blog, photography or life-things I would share here.

I decided this year to start them smaller and then add to them if need be. I need to keep in mind that this busy family of three is about to become a crazy family of four and there just isn't going to be as much time to do "extra" stuff. So, here we go.

1. Complete another 52 week photo project. This year however, I am completing a 52 week project using the alphabet. The goal is to take a photo a week for the corresponding alphabet letter and go through the alphabet twice. I'm sure my pictures with focus mainly of Jae and the new little one, but we'll see what other things I can come up with.

2. Finish decorating our front sitting room. This was a goal from last year, but I technically didn't start on it until a few weeks ago. So I've got the furniture and the blind are coming, but I still need some "decor" for the room. I also need to hang our canvases and make some decisions about what to do with the photos that are in there now.

3. Create my photo wall up the stairway. The stairway up to our bedroom overlooks the majority of the main level of our house and that wall is huge. Something needs to be done with it.

4. Use my sewing machine. Make at least 5 things. I know a few things I want to do that before/right after the baby comes, but I need to get the darn thing set up and deciding where that's gonna happen is the issue.

5. Create Jae's 3rd year book. Just have to find the time.

6. Read at least 15 books. I'm gonna start this lower and increase as I go. But with a new baby coming, I'm not shooting too high.

7. Try at least 10 new recipes. Recipes was a harder goal than I thought it would be last year. I didn't feel like cooking during the first part of my pregnancy and we just aren't "adventurous" enough. We eat such basic things that it's hard to find stuff for us to try. I'll try again though.

8. Pay off at least 3 more debts. Shouldn't be hard. We're going strong and there isn't much left to do!

9. Develop a better system for organizing my photos. I need a better system for organizing them (especially in my Flickr-I really need to create sets and collections AS I upload my photos there). Along with this, I need to do a better job of backing my photos up regularly.

10. Update Jae's baby book/keep up with the new baby's book. This one is so embarrassing. I know that it's common to let them go and that I do a ton of updating here, but I need to transfer it all to her actual book.

11. Clean out and organize our sub-basement and our garage. We need shelving and organization. We are so lucky to have this space and we need to utilize it better!

12. Make sure that Joey and I get out for a date night at least once a month. We're fairly good about this now (at least for dinner dates and stuff), but with two, it won't be as easy and I want to make sure that we do it. And when we go out, I would love to do more than just eat dinner at our favorite place. Make it an actual date and do something fun/new/different.

And that's it. My 12. I'll start posting my photo project soon, since I'm a few weeks in already.

And again, I hate to share without a photo, so here's Jae enjoying one of her Christmas gifts. A little playmat for some tiny Thomas trains. Of course, she loves them.

My 11 in '11 wrap up!

2012-01-15T17:40:00.000-06:00

So I wanted to do a wrap up of my 11 goals for 2o11. Overall, I want to say that I am pretty proud of the ones that I did accomplish- I accomplished some that were most important to me and I did a pretty good job on the others. So here's the list with a few notes :)

1. Complete Jaelynn's alphabet book that I have been wanting to make (6/26 letters complete)- I started it and I just wasn't totally happy with where I was going with it, so I just left it for the time being. She is soooo into letter sounds right now that this is something that I really do want to do, I just have to find the right way to do it. Hmm...I'll have to think about this one some more. (adding on to this now since I wrote it at the beginning of the month-my new photo project will help me with this one this year...)

2. Complete my alphabet photos (0/26 photos)- This has been a photography project that I have wanted to tackle for so long, but I just cannot find the time to do it. I need time to get out and shoot by myself-or at least without Jae. I need to be able to go on photo walks and at this point in my life, and in the coming year, I don't have that time. I'm going to keep this on on the back burner, because I do want to do it...eventually!

3. Read at least 25 books this year (I will increase by 5 at a time if this goal needs to be revised) (12/25)- When I got pregnant, reading dropped off the planet for me, lol. Between the first/early second trimester and trying to keep up a toddler, I just didn't have the energy to read before bed (which is the only time I really have to do it). I have been picking up my books again lately (and finished two in the last month, so I'll probably have a new reading goal. Plus, I like sharing the books I read.

4. Pay off at least 4 debts, no matter how big or small (4/4)-Finished! Very proud of this one!! (I think it may actually be 5, but I can't remember) Joey and I have been tackling this one head on! We don't have huge, major debts, but just little stupid things that need to be done! It was just a matter of making it happen and we did and still are.

5. Try at least 20 new recipes (8/20)- I really wish I had gotten a little farther on this one, but again, pregnancy did me in. I am not a big pregnant eater at all. And during the first part of this pregnancy food was not a top priority. I didn't/don't get sick, but I can handle all the smells-blagh.

6. Finish/start decorating and furnishing our basement and front sitting area- This one is a little tricky. We found out we would have a nursery to decorate, so I wasn't worried about the other rooms. The basement needs to wait until we really decided what's going to happen with the playroom/toy situation. Within the last couple weeks, we have ordered furniture for that room (that came yesterday) and ordered the new blinds (which we had to get custom) and they should be ready for install in a few weeks. Joey says that even the tax companies give you a grace period, so maybe I should count this one as done ;P Plus we're decorating a nursery, so the really goal of just having my house a little more "decorated" is working out.

7. Sew at least 10 different items on my new sewing machine (0/10)- This was a major fail. I haven't even taken it out of the box, but I just don't know where to put it. Anyway, I do have plans for things I want to sew for baby, so it's going to get done!

8. Finish Jaelynn's 1 year book and maybe get started on year two-Finished both!! Again, very proud of this. I got Jae's 1st year book done and just kept on trucking with her second book thanks to a great Groupon I had for printing (which gave me a deadline).

9. Complete a 52 week photo project (pics for every week) (52/52)-Done! I love projects like this. Gives me something to focus on with my photography. Sometimes it can be tough to feel like you "have" to take pics, but I'm glad I do, because I have so many fav memories of Jae and the photos to cherish forever.

10. Create and stick to a budget withing a certain percentage every month (TBD) (2/11 months-starting in Feb.)- Blew this one for sure, but since we were totally focused on #4, it wasn't a major concern.

11. Give nail biting the boot! I say this every year, but it never works!!-Cautiously saying complete! Again, super proud of this one. I have been a nail biter for my whole life. A bad one. I knew once I had Jae that I just had to stop. I didn't want her to see that and develop the same habit. I've been done for a long time and even get regular manicures, something very new for me. I was always super embarrassed about my nails (which I still am a little), so letting someone do something so "intimate" for me is a big deal, lol.

So there it is. My wrap up. I loved thinking about what I wanted to accomplish for the year and keeping up with it, so I will definitely be doing something like this again this year. Some of my goals were so "big" that they were hard to accomplish. I need to start them smaller with plans to add on if I get them completed early. I'm working right now to finalize my list of 12 things. Some the same, some different. I am having a mommy day tomorrow with a few doctors appointments (one baby and one chiropracter) sprinkled it. Hopefully I have time to get the new blog look up and share my new 12 in 12 goals! Anyone have any great photo projects or goals that they are tackling for the new year? I would love some inspiration!

And because I hate posting without pictures, here some funnies of Jae that I don't think I've shared, but can't remember. She gets her feelings totally hurt when you get onto her for anything or even when you just tell her to be careful. This particular day I told her to be careful doing something and she immediately buried her head in the sand ;)

Flashback Friday

2012-01-13T09:14:00.000-06:00

Haha, I found this picture in my Flickr photos and it made me laugh. I don't think I even remember this one....doggy kisses. Jae still loves Bandit so much. She is definitely her favorite. Probably because Bandit runs from her, which makes her all that much more appealing ;)

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Photo Favs- November and December '11

2012-01-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

I always do these two months together since they were already shared so recently. Anyway, here are my last photo favs of the year!

(I'm not going to add the family photos, since I just shared those last week, but they are DEF some favs from November)

<3

I just love this one. I need to print it for a frame for Christmas time.

That first haircut!

Twinkle lights!

This one is so Jaelynn. I don't know how many times I day I tell her to stop twisting her hair, cause she twists it into knots!

Bwahaha...the onion...

And that's it! I can finally start sharing new photos again! I'm going to re-cap my 2011 goals, share my new ones and start posting my new photos for my new project-a fun twist on the 52 weeks!!

Photo Favs- October '11

2012-01-11T09:13:00.000-06:00

A very fun month with lots going on. First up, the Pumpkin Patch!

Halloween crafting...

Halloween photos <3

Halloween!

And Cider Fest!

Photo Favs- September '11

2012-01-10T10:15:00.000-06:00

Old Settler's days!

Omaha Zoo trip!

Enjoying our last days of warm summer weather!

Photo Favs- August '11

2012-01-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

Learning to blow bubbles...

Summer time ice cream!

Photo Favs- July '11

2012-01-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Fun with Baby Olivia...

Big finger painting day!

Balloon Festival!

Getting pressure from the goats, lol.

Photo Favs- June '11

2012-01-07T14:00:00.002-06:00

Sorry folks, this turned into another long one. Again, no way I would be able to choose one photo a month, lol. I can barely narrow it down to one blog post of a full month!

A fun trip to Minnesota...

Lol...

A visit with Thomas the Train!! A shot of her first site of Thomas...

Star Trails!

My absolute June Favs <3 <3

Flashback Friday

2012-01-06T09:00:00.000-06:00

I'm going to cheat a little this week. So, I am going to flashback, but just to Thanksgiving. I have lots of new things that I want to get going for the new year on the blog, but I'm still wrapping up 2011. So, I'm using my flashback post as a way to "cheat" and post the family pics that I took of us on Thanksgiving. It was kind of a last minute idea when I found out the weather was going to be perfect on Thanksgiving.

So that Wednesday while we were running around doing a bunch of other stuff, I was also running into stores trying to find something for us to wear. I was able to pull it together and as we pulled out of our house Thanksgiving morning, we headed down the street to a little area I recently discovered with the tripod and remote trigger.

I was very pleased with what we got-ready to get some big prints...more canvases maybe? I have a whole stairwell that needs photos (one of my goals for this year).

So, here is the flashback to Thanksgiving...and as a bonus a peek at the bump (at least at Thanksgiving time).

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Photo Favs- May '11

2012-01-05T09:05:00.001-06:00

Making faces

This one makes me laugh every time, lol.

Saving the Jeep

Photo Favs- April '11

2012-01-04T10:15:00.000-06:00

This is gonna be a long one. April is a very big month for us!

Flowers started blooming...

I LOVE how much this little girl loves trains <3 I wouldn't trade it for anything :)

We got a new family member! Baby Olivia made her appearance!

Coloring Easter eggs for the first time. Jae had so much fun!

And we celebrated Jae's second birthday!! We had a special day with the three of us filled with trains and had a super fun train birthday party!

Party time!!

Week 52- December 24-31

2012-01-03T16:00:00.002-06:00

Playing with a fun new bath toy that Jae got for Christmas-bath paint! She loves it and asks to paint every night.

Trying to get a smile, lol. Silly girl.

She wanted to paint everything in the bath

Photo Favs- March '11

2012-01-03T11:03:00.000-06:00

My little girl turned into a big girl on me!

We celebrated St. Patty's Day. This was the first parade that Jae really enjoyed :)

Lol

Week 51- December 17-23

2012-01-02T15:33:00.002-06:00

Helping me get ready for Christmas visitors. Always such a helper :) Hoping that desire stays when the new baby arrives!

Sorry for the double post today- I know that can be annoying, but I've gotta get everything wrapped up before February rolls around ;)

Photo Favs- February '11

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000-06:00

Making a valentine for Dada.

We had some crazy snow last winter. This particular night, Joey stayed out of town (where he works about an hour away) because it was just too bad to come home. Jae and I awoke to a crazy amount of snow and some areas of our driveway with 3 feet of snow. We shoveled and shoveled. Jae helped with her little spoon.

My Valentine <3

So after the snow, we got some crazy unseasonably warm weather so we took advantage and got outside! February was just crazy!

Photo Favs- January '11

2012-01-01T15:00:00.000-06:00

At the end of the year/beginning of the new year, bloggers start reviewing the year. Top photos, fav crafts etc. I've seen a lot of photo bloggers doing the top 11 of 11 posts. I just take waaay too many pictures for that, lol. I did it this way last year and it was fun for me to go back and look at my photos month by month, sharing some of my favs, along with some of our highlights of the year. So here we are...

January!

Not Jae's first snow, but her first time really getting out and "playing" in it. She was happy to just walk up and down the street :)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

It's midnight! Happy New Year! I cheated and post dated this from earlier in the day, but that's okay!

Sorry about the quality-phone pic taken from Facebook.

I've got lots of things to do around the ol' blog for the new year! I need to...

Get my new blog design loaded
Share my last two weeks of the 52 week project
Share my favorite pics from the year-I've got these posts ready to go, I just need to share them. Yes, there are multiple. I have a lot of favs ;) I decided to do it month by month like I did last year.
Do an update of my 11 in '11 goals. A lot were left unfinished, but I'll talk about that and update.
Share new goals for 2012- A lot of the oldies will be back again with hopes for doing them this year. This pregnancy just wore me out for the first few months so I really slacked off for a while!

Hope everyone had a very happy new year! We've been so busy around here purging and organizing that I don't feel like I've really had time to catch up with you all :)

Flashback Friday

2011-12-29T21:09:00.003-06:00

In honor of New Year's here is a fun little shoot I had with Jae back in 2009 when she was just 8 months old. I had just really started learning how to work my camera (other than on auto) and was attempting some "photo shoots". These aren't the greatest technically and the editing is pretty bad (I need to try to redo them, but I can't find the originals), but I sure do love them anyway! I always love looking back at photos of my baby girl, but I love seeing how my photography has grown and changed as well.

I also realized that these were some of the first photos I blogged...something like my third post. Now here we are at post #723! Wow!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Christmas Train

2011-12-29T15:02:00.002-06:00

I already shared our pics from our trip to see Santa, but I wanted to share these from the same day. Jae spotted the Christmas train after we saw Santa and was fascinated immediately. We had to wait for some unruly kids to finish and actually give her a turn, but when she finally got to drive, she loved it.

Christmas Part 2

2011-12-28T16:42:00.003-06:00

After wrapping things up at our hours, we headed over to spend the afternoon with my family at my parent's house. It was more of the food, presents, hanging out gig. Good times.

We grabbed a few traditional group photos...at least some of us.

My sister and nephew...

Attempting to pose with the both of them, lol. Fail.

We had some really great shots of us and then when I looked back at them I realized that Joey's face was blown out. Boo. We did get a couple redos.

Tried to save this one with a black and white

Ok, and maybe it makes me a scrooge, but I am perfectly happy with a non-white Christmas. Don't get me wrong, snow is beautiful, but with so much going on, the last thing I want to deal with is snow. We actually had a gorgeous Christmas day. A little cool, but we were actually able to get outside and enjoy some of the new gifts!

Dart Tag!

Lol

Trying to get in on the dart action...

What a great day...

Christmas Part 1

2011-12-27T15:05:00.002-06:00

I'm going to break this up since I have a lot of pics I want to share-and this is just a fraction of what I took, lol!

We had a great holiday weekend! On Christmas Eve, Joey and his dad went to the Chiefs/Raiders game and celebrated his dad's birthday with a Raiders win! Jae and I hung out with my parents and then got ready for some holiday fun. We had a get together with my family and spent some time with Joey's Mom's family. Baby Olivia was all ready for her first Christmas :)

Loving Uncle Joey as always

Things were a little hectic, so I didn't get too many great shots of Jae.

We woke up early on Christmas morning ready to open stockings. Jae was so excited to see that Santa has eaten the cookies and chocolate milk (her idea) that she left for him.

However, she was not amused that Santa left her an onion in her stocking. Haha. She's been saying for weeks that she doesn't want an onion present, so how could we pass it up?!

Once we were done with stockings we moved downstairs to open all the presents. Jae was in awe!

I have to laugh, because I was a little worried that I wouldn't have time to get ready before Joey's family came over for gifts/food. Last year we only opened a couple of things before company showed up. Jae wanted to open one and play with it forever before moving on. This year was the complete opposite. She was a speed opener. She loved everything and got excited about everything, but the thrill of unwrapping was just too much for her, lol.

Discovering the rest of the Gabba friends. We got Muno when we went to Yo Gabba Gabb Live and she has just loved him. We knew she would love them all. She said, "I just want to hug them and kiss them!" Each morning and when we have been away from the Gabba gang she exclaims, "I still love them!"

We opened all of our gifts and then got ready for family. Time for more gifts and some yummy food.

Yes, I'm the lame aunt that gives diapers on Christmas, haha. I figure the first Christmas is when I can get away with it. I LOVED when people have Jae diapers and bath stuff for her first Christmas. Don't worry, Olivia got fun stuff too :)

What is this, Aunt Jen??

Jae was very excited when Grandpa Mike told her that she had one more gift to look for. She liked it just a little...

The first time she hit the gas, lol.

After we ate, Jae headed out to cruise! I don't think you can see it in any of these pics, but she brought all her Gabba friends with her to ride.

Ready for the streets!

We were all pretty amazed at how well she did driving for the first time.

Cruising with Grandpa.

Sorry for the picture overload, but I have so many I love and I know family likes to see them all. More to come...

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:00:00.001-06:00

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

Week 50- December 10-16

2011-12-24T12:00:00.001-06:00

We decided to do a little Christmas crafting! Jae was very excited, because she got to paint. Always a fun day for her :)

And for good measure, our last days with Borg...

And Christmas Eve morning, I'll add later :) Tonight Borg will head back to the North Pole until next Christmas! We'll miss you, Borg!!

Flashback Friday

2011-12-23T08:25:00.000-06:00

Our family photo from last Christmas-

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

RACK'ed

2011-12-22T09:00:00.000-06:00

This holiday season I cam across a couple of blog posts that really made me think about what kind of things I want to teach Jae about giving.

Joey and I always make it a point to do some giving of some sort at Christmas time, usually through our jobs. Both my school and his company set up a holiday helpers program where you can sponsor kids or families in need over the holidays. We always do this and will make it a point to continue to do this as Jae gets older and make her a part of it. This year, I took her shopping with us when I was completing my holiday helper list. I talked to her all about how we were buying presents for kids that didn't have any and she really seemed to understand what we were saying. She didn't get upset at all that the things we were buying weren't for her. She comment that she wanted the M&Ms that were a stocking stuffer, but she got over it quickly.

The next day, I can't remember what we were doing, but she got upset about something (shocking, I know ;P ) and at one point she looked at me and said
"We forgot the kids" as she was crying.
"What are you talking about? What kids?" I said.
"We forgot the presents for the kids," she replied. <3 She really was paying attention to me. Granted it had nothing to do with the issue at hand, but she understood that we were giving back to someone else and was concerned about it.

So anyway, back to the subject of blog posts. I was reading on of the blogs I love, Momtog, and she posted about her list of 31 on 31. 31 acts of kindness that she wanted to do in honor of her 31st birthday. Such a cool idea. I fell in love with the whole concept. I told Joey that I wanted to take that idea and create something similar for Christmas. I decided I would do something related to the 12 days of Christmas-12 days of giving maybe. It was decided. Jae and I had a project, I just wasn't sure how I wanted to plan it all out.

Then, as luck would have it, another blog I love, Chubby Cheeks Photography, posted about advent calendar that she used with a similar concept.-25 days of giving. In her post, she linked to a post at tsj photography about her random acts of Christmas kindness using the advent calendar-RACK'ed. I had found it!! It was exactly what I was trying to do, but someone else had already organized it in a fun way. So the idea of RACK'ed at our house was confirmed!

We don't really do advent at our house (besides moving the little candy cane as a countdown) so I decided to go ahead with the idea of the 12 days of Christmas...plus, it was me and a two year old conquering this list, so 12 it was. I came up with our list of 12 Random Acts of Christmas Kindness and printed them all out along with cards that explained the concept. Jae and I had 12 things we planned on doing to spread kindness and caring this holiday season.

I put all of our to-dos in a bag and let Jae pull them out on days that we planned on going out and had time to do something (another tricky one with a two year old).

I tried to get Jae involed as much as possible, letting her hand things out, pick things etc. We've really had a great time so far (we have a few to do over the next few days since we're off work/school). I was able to get a few cell pics here and there, but I haven't been making too big of a deal about the pics.

So here's our 12 Random Acts of Christmas Kindess list for 2012.

1. Do something nice for the lady at the grocery store bakery: Ok, not so random, bue she gives Jae a cookie every time we are there and is always so sweet about it-even offering cookies to Joey and myself! We took her a Starbucks giftcard. Jae delivered this one to her and I thought she was going to cry <3

2. Take something nice to the men that run the model trains at the mall: Again, not so random, but something important to us. These guys run this little space with model trains everywhere, you may remember me posting about them before. Anyway, they do it all on donations and their love for trains. Of course, Jae loves it there, so they had to be on our list. We haven't gotten to them yet, but we have some nice candy to take them.

3. Take something nice to the postal workers: We have a huge postal office her in town, so I take care of all my postal need at the small town office around the corner from my school. They are so sweet. Jae and I took them some candy and thanked them for all their work. The ladies got a total kick out of Jae's delivery and "Merry Christmas".

4. Take a donation to an animal shelter: We have some toys collected to take and I plan on calling around to see what else they need. We'll do this over the next few days.

5. Buy someone a coffee: I tried this yesterday and nobody ever came behind me, lol. We'll try again.

6. Pay library fines for someone: We tried to go on the weekend, but the library hours are short, so it's been hard to fit in. We'll go this week.

7. Leave lottery tickets for someone to find: We bought some tickets and left them at the car wash vacuums.

8. Leave a surprise on someone's car: Jae and I left a bag of M&M's on a car that had a car seat inside ;)

9. Put money in toy/candy machines: Jae picked which ones at the mall she wanted to leave money on. I have a pic, but for some reason, I can't get it off my phone right now.

10. Leave something on an ATM/vending machine, etc.: We left money at the car wash vacuum so someone would get a free vacuum.

11. Bring hot chocolate to the bell ringers: We'll do that one of the nights that we go out to look at Christmas lights.

12. Surprise someone with a random gift: Still thinking about what we want to do.

While we still have several things to go do, we have had such an amazing experience so far. Jae really does understand that we are trying to do nice things for other people and it makes her excited. This is definitely a tradition that I plan on continuing- especially when she it older and can reallyt understand and do a lot more things. I tried to keep our list this year simple so Jae could "get it" and I think she has.

I debated posting about this topic, because I don't want it to be a "hey look what we're doing" and "you're so nice" thing. I did however want to share that even at such a young age, little ones get it. They can learn such valuable things when they are little. Don't sell the short! Plus, Jae and I (and even Joey) have really enjoyed this and I encourage everyone to give something like this try (no matter how small!)

Merry Christmas!!

Wordless Wednesday | Santa

2011-12-21T10:30:00.000-06:00

Catching up with our friend, Borg

2011-12-20T19:41:00.002-06:00

Jae is all about Borg lately. It's usually the first thing she asks for. I'm starting to run out of places to put him since I'm trying to keep him in one general area. Luckily, I've been able to put him within her reach and she hasn't touched him. Now that school is out and I'm off, we'll have time to really look for him in the morning, so I'll put him in some other rooms!

It looks like she's touching, but she's not.

She thought it was very funny to see him reading her book. She made it very clear that we couldn't read that book today.

She couldn't believe that he would go to the toy room, get her bus and bring it to the kitchen!

Just hanging out...I normally have cards up there, but I put them somewhere else this year. I need to take that down, lol.

Jae's 1st haircut!

2011-12-19T09:09:00.000-06:00

Two weeks ago marked a BIG day in our house! Jae got her first haircut! We've been meaning to go for quite a while now, but it just gets put off with our busy weekends. We finally made it a priority to get that mullet/rat tail under control!

I'm glad we waited until we did. We were able to explain to Jae what we were doing and she totally understood what was happening. She was a perfect angel during the whole thing. I could tell she was nervous, but she was such a big girl.

Don't mind the crazy color casts in these-I don't plan on fixing them. I was bouncing my speedlite off of green, purple and red walls as well as mirrors, so things look a little crazy!

She wanted to bring her dinosaur in with her <3 See those long scraggly hairs in the back?

It was so funny when we walked in cause the lady was all, "oh, do you want to get a pretty princess braid in your hair?" and Jae fired back an immediate "NO". Lol, I had to explain to the lady that we don't really do princesses.

She got to pick her car and movie to watch. She went with the Thomas movie and the red car :)

Really, Mom?

The lady did give her a little braid with her Brobee barrette.

Our attempt at an after shot while looking at the camera. Silly girl.

She was very proud of herself!

Week 49- December 3-9

2011-12-18T09:04:00.000-06:00

We made a special trip to Hallmark to pick out Jae's new Christmas ornament a few weeks back. The last two years we have found ornaments for her that were snowmen and we just loved them. The closest thing we found to a similar snowmen was this little one hanging out in the hot chocolate. Jae loved it and was happy to oblige with another snowman ornament.

They other two were a much higher when we started decorating, but once she added the third, she requested that the other two be moved down. She really likes that they are her ornaments :)

Flashback Friday

2011-12-16T09:21:00.003-06:00

Flashing back to last Christmas. Joey's family came over to our house on Christmas morning and we did gifts and a brunch-it was really nice! Grandpa Mike got Jae this cool little chair that she thought was just about the greatest thing ever! How fun to have a chair that's the perfect size!

The chairs now lives in our bedroom, where Jae sits and snacks on Cheerios and watches cartoon every morning while I get ready for work :)

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 48- November 26-December 2

2011-12-15T09:52:00.001-06:00

Look at me almost close to caught up! ;P

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided to get out all the Christmas decorations and get the trees set up. We have two trees. Our first is our little tiny pathetic old tree that we bought in college. We leave that one downstairs with all of our random ornaments that we collected over the years. I love the idea of a very matchy-matchy tree with a theme, but growing up, our tree was always that crazy school-project random ornament filled tree and I love that too-so we have the best of both worlds.

Jae was very excited to help put op the tree. She was all about helping us fluff up the branches-and did a pretty decent job too!

She has on her Chirstmas picture outfit still in these. I'll share those soon now that all my cards are out!

Joey and I just could not stop laughing at her decorating. They all had to go in teh same spot, lol, not matter how much we tried to get her to move them. She didn't mind if we spread them out, but she would continue to put new ornaments in the same place.

She kept asking Joey to put them "up so high".

After our little tree was all done, we headed up to the big one. Not as much set up to do since it's the three piece umbrella type tree. Jae still loved decorating it, however we don't have as many pics since our front sitting room is pretty small and my 50mm lens was just too tight. Even Joey noted it while he was taking pics. Now he can see my neeeed for a new lens ;)

Love that you can see her little reflection in this.

We're so excited for Christmas! Jae keeps saying, "It's Christmas time at our house!"

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-13T19:48:00.001-06:00

Week 47- November 19-25

2011-12-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

Black Friday! We are big Black Friday shoppers in my house-Joey and I have such a good time when we go out...yes, we're odd.

Anyway, every year, Joey wants to get a keyboard and every year he doesn't get a keyboard. This year he snagged one on a great deal while we were out at 2:00 am shopping. Of course, Jae was just as excited as he was to get it set up to play.

I hope that Jae will want to take lessons when she gets older-it's something that I wish I knew how to do.

She asks me a lot to play the music, but I make her wait for Joey to be home to play.

\

Love her little fingers <3

Jae comes from a family of piano players, so maybe it will be in her blood :)

Gone Fishing

2011-12-12T12:22:00.000-06:00

These photos were taken back the week before Thanksgiving, so back when we were still having some pretty decent temperatures.

One of Jae's favortie things to do when she goes to Grandma and Grandpa's is to play outside-and she (and my nephew) especially love the creek that runs through the back. They're made that creek into a fishing area for themselves and they could just spend forever hanging out on the rocks "fishing" for leaves.

They were making it a point to strip the willow of leaves to add to their fishing area.

She was happy to show me all of the leaves she was able to catch.

Borg over the weekend...

2011-12-11T21:51:00.002-06:00

Weekends are a little more exciting with Borg, since we can branch out on our hiding places. I try to keep them pretty simple on work days so that we won't be searching for too long ;) Jae has been really good about remembering that she can't touch Borg. She even freaks when we say anything about touching him.

So I decided I would let him come down to her level-she did a great job!

On Saturday, Borg ventured out of the dining room/kitchen area and made his way down to the stockings.

And this morning, Borg had a special surprise for Jae. I know a lot of people that do EOTS leave notes and gifts and things with their elf and we haven't really done that. However, we say this Little People (which Jae loves) Nativity set at Target and decided that we wanted to get it for her. Joey wanted her to have it before Christmas so we could talk about baby Jesus some more, so we thought that it would be fun to let Borg deliver it. She thought that was great! She noticed it right away and said "somebody got me that!"

Don't mind out empty picture frame-I have prints coming that are taking FOREVER-but that's another story!

(I just realized I have some funky stuff going on with my storyboards, but oh well)

Flashback Friday

2011-12-09T08:25:00.000-06:00

Our first Christmas Eve as a family. My mom decided about 3 years ago that she would give us all a Christmas themed framed each year and "require" a picture each Christmas Eve when we get together. I'm really glad we started this little tradition. Jae loves looking at the pictures on our shelf. We started the year I was pregnant, so she always makes sure to remind me that she was in Mama's tummy in that picture :)

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

It was too good to last...

2011-12-08T09:35:00.001-06:00

Well, I knew the day would come that Jae would want to look for that elf in the morning and here we are. Having to search the house before we get out the door in the morning :)

Excuse these pics, the qulity isn't the best. I've just been grabbing my camera and shooting without really messing with the settings...it's just too dark in the house in the morning to worry about it.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T10:26:00.000-06:00

"Where is he?"

2011-12-06T10:19:00.001-06:00

We're slowly getting into our elf routine. The first day or two, Jae was acting shy around Borg, like a real person :) She's not started to open up to him and she'll talk to him and show him things.

She doesn't usually look for him first thing in the morning, since it isn't part of her normal routine (she's a routine girl). Once he comes up in conversation or she notices that he's missing, she's all about finding him.

I have to admit, I'm a little relieved that she doesn't try to find him first thing in the morning (yet), because I was a little worried about fitting that in to our morning routine. I guess we'll cross that road when we get there.

Week 46- November 12-18

2011-12-05T10:22:00.000-06:00

So one day, Jae totally shocked me and said, "Take my picture, Mama!" A completely willing child ready for pictures!

She had a little decorative pillow from the couch in the hallway that she was using for her bed and made sure to bring "wots of animals" with her to lay down.

She even gave me a few smiles <3

She's getting so much better with pictures lately. The problem is, now the darn sun is never out and I have to use my Speedlite so much and I'm just not quick enough with it!!

Week 45- November 5-11

2011-12-04T14:02:00.001-06:00

My willing models :) I don't know about you guys, but I hate using my speedlite when shooting vertical. It's a pain and I just can't seem to get it right. When taking my belly pics, we take one vertical and one horizontal, so I always have to play around with my SL angle to get it right.

Good thing I have the models. These are all a little different with lighting angle, so I didn't bother to try to fix them.

Meet Borg

2011-12-03T21:47:00.002-06:00

Our creepy Elf stalker :) Santa brought him by our house Friday night.

Flashback Friday

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

I figured it was about time to start sharing Christmas flashback pictures, don't you agree? I've always loved this one from Jae's first Christmas-she was in awe of the stockings.

We're all super excited about Christmas this year. Jae was excited last year when she opened her presents and did all of the fun things that the holidays bring, but this year she is truly looking forward to them. She tells be each night that when she sleeps Santa is gonna come a bring her presents. She really understands this year, which makes everything exciting for us all!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 44- October 29-November 4

2011-12-01T09:13:00.001-06:00

What a busy week that was with all of our Halloween crafting, pumpkin carving and Halloween! The Sunday before Halloween, my nephew also had a birthday costume party. Jae was very excited to go-she's super into birthdays right now and of course, she was was so excited to wear her costume before Halloween.

My nephew is really showing an interest in playing some sports right now, specifically baseball and hockey-especially when his uncles are around to play with him. We decided that a hockey set would be the perfect gift. Every time we saw him at my parents' house he was always building hockey sticks out of kinex blocks and such, lol.

It was a big hit :)

Jae loved hopping out in the middle of the action to steal the puck or hockey sticks that weren't being used.

He's ready for action!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-30T10:15:00.000-06:00

Tumbling

2011-11-29T10:00:00.000-06:00

Jae is always trying so hard to do somersaults, so one night, Joey decided to help her get all the way over. She loved it.

A smile at the camera attempt...

A bit out of focus, but these were her "I did it!" shots :)

Trying to help Dada flip...

Riding bikes

2011-11-28T14:20:00.002-06:00

Jae loves being outside and really loves riding her bike. We're finally at a good point where she will listen and turn around when I ask her. We used to fight over stopping at the end of our street and turning around-she always wanted to keep going :)

She loves traveling up and down the street and seeing what the neighbors are all up to!

These were shot at the very end of October, which was about the last nice weather we had. We get a few decent days here and there, but this day was just gorgeous!

What a weekend!

2011-11-26T08:57:00.004-06:00

Looks like I totally missed Flashback Friday this week! Oops! I meant to set it up to post ahead of time and totally forgot, but I'm sure you were all doing much more fun things right!?

We had a super busy week/end that's still going! Meals with family, lots of shopping, preparing meals...it's been great and we're still going strong. Wanted to pop in on my tiny bit of down time this morning and share a Thanksgiving pics of my favorite little people. All stuffed, tired and ready to relax on Thanksgiving.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to stop and smell the roses

2011-11-22T09:51:00.003-06:00

or whatever other flower you can find! This Thanksgiving I'm hoping that among all the craziness that comes with the dinners, family, shopping and driving from one place to the next that we can find the time to just stop and relax a little.

Joey will be off the rest of the week, so we'll get 5 days to relax...among all of those other holiday duties! Jae will be with Grandma and Grandpa for two days so we can hit the holiday sales...here's hoping we can find some time to spend with just the two of us on those days!

What are your big Thanksgiving plans, other than dinner? Anyone else going shopping?

Week 43- October 22-28

2011-11-21T11:14:00.002-06:00

We had such amazing weather in October! It was nice to have those few extra weeks to play outside, because the cold air id here now!

We had our families over to watch the Chiefs vs Raiders game back in October. Joey's family roots for the Raiders and mine for the Chiefs. I've never been a Chiefs fan, so I joined the dark side ;)

The kids were in need of energy burning, so I took them outside to run around in the backyard, while everyone concentrated on the game.

Pretty soon we'll be stuck in the house for good!

On another note, I've decided that I hate how photos look in Internet Explorer. I *think* I have read that it's not a color managed browser, so it make photos look terrible. I notice that when I look at these photos on IE they look so much more grey than they do with my Google Chrome or in my Photoshop/Lightroom when I export.

What do you use for browsing? Do you have a favorite?

Week 42- October 15-21

2011-11-20T10:38:00.000-06:00

Yet another example of how annoyed I get with my camera's limitations. My flash was out of batteries, so I was working with what I had. Maxed my ISO out at 3200 and the grain is everywhere.

Jae just loves puzzles-she really always has. Lately we've picked up a few harder puzzles where there is no picture to show her where each piece goes. I am always so amazed at how quickly she picks things up. She was doing these puzzles by herself in no time.

I've picked up almost all the ones that Target has for a Christmas gift, but pretty soon we're going to have to see what the next level of difficulty is I think!

Flashback Friday

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

Another random Flickr picture this week. I sure miss those chubby (for her) cheeks!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 41- October 8-14

2011-11-17T10:32:00.004-06:00

Not much to say this week, not many pictures. However, this was a point in the year where it was nice and dark in the morning and I was actually waking Jae up each morning to get ready for daycare (she's usually getting us up). I can't resist a sleeping baby picture, not matter how horrible.

Oh, how I can't wait for an upgrade. My Rebel was maxed out with this (not that another camera would have done spectacular in the pitch dark, but I think it could have been better). I was at ISO 3200 and had my Tamron, so I could only go f/2.8. My shutter was at 1/15, handheld in the dark with manual focus, so my focus is nowhere to be found ;) Oh well, my sleeping girl, blurry, grainy and all :)

Wordless Wednesday | Big Sister

2011-11-16T10:55:00.001-06:00

25 Books- Room

2011-11-15T09:28:00.005-06:00

I realized recently, when I was thinking how I will be failing miserably with my 11 in 11- I blame the baby ;), that I had never added this book that I finished so long ago. Room is a book that I had been looking forward to reading for a long time.

I received a gift card for my birthday and thought this was the perfect time to buy the book-I have such a stack of loaners right now that I try not to buy anything until I need a new book to read. Anyway, I finally grabbed it.

Room is an interesting read in that it is told from an interesting point of view-from Jack. Jack is a 5 year old boy that has never left Room (which he calls it) and doesn't even realize that there is an entire world beyond the 11x11 space.

Jack falls into the same routine with his mother every day, eating the same meals, reading the same books, playing with the same homemade toys and doing the same exercises. As the reader, you learn about Jack's world and living conditions through Jack's conversations with Ma and his eavesdropping on Ma and someone else.

I don't want to sau much more about the plot, as I think it can ruin the story for others that have not already read about what the plot involes. I thought it was great and exactly the kind of book I love to read. So if you have been the slightest bit interested in picking this one up, do it, because you'll love it!

Week 40- October 1-7

2011-11-14T11:02:00.002-06:00

we had a gorgeous October day to head to the local cider mill for their big annual Cider Fest. We had never been, so we weren't sure what to expect, but we knew there would be fun stuff for kids, yummy treats and festive fall activities.

Jae was so excited to go, because we told her all about how we were going to get to try some yummy apple juice and special cider donuts. She had a blast enjoying the goodies in her stoller. In fact, she just asked this past weekend if she could eat her donut in her stoller when we were having them for breakfast.

Beside the food, there was a ton of stuff for kids to do. There was the bounce house, pony rides, booths to shop at, giant bubble blowing, cider mill tour where you could see them make the cider and donuts, pumpkin patch, maze and more!

She looks like she's screaming in terror here, lol, but I promise she's not :)

One of the big highlights for Jae was all the hay. Let's face it, she's not much of a girls girl, so any chance she gets to get messy outside and she's all over it. She absolutely loves playing in the dirt, rocks, mulch...you name it. Apparantly hay is no exception.

I was literally picking hay from this child's diaper when we got home that afternoon.

We had a lot of fun and it's definitely something we will look forward to doing each year when fall rolls around!

Flashback Friday

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

I went back through my Flickr account and chose a random page to look for a photo this week. This one made me smile, so I thought I would share.

There have been several new blogs linking up in the last couple of weeks, so I just wanted to say welcome! If you have never linked up, but would like to then jump right in!!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T15:30:00.000-06:00

Week 39- September 24-30

2011-11-06T20:49:00.002-06:00

We got to enjoy one of my nephew's pee-wee football games at the end of September. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to make it any of the others with all of our own stuff going on, but I think we got to enjoy one of the best games. The weather was gorgeous and we got to watch my nephew score a touchdown!!

Jae was slightly unimpressed with the whole thing ;)

Touchdown!!

He was so proud!

Flashback Friday

2011-11-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

There's been talk of snow here, that it could snow any day. I am definitely not ready for that to go down! I know a lot of you have been hit with the snow, hopfully you all have power again-if not, then soon!! This week I'm sharing Jae's very first experience out in the snow, lol.

No longer amused...

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Wordless Wednesday | Books with Dada

2011-11-02T09:19:00.000-05:00

Holidays have a whole new purpose

2011-11-01T10:42:00.003-05:00

Holidays are fun. I think no matter who you are, there's some holiday you enjoy. It could be the food, the family, the meaning, the purpose...something about it sparks something in you.

Then you become a parent and everything changes. No more bars for Halloween or parties on Thanksgiving night after the feasts. Your friends comment about how it sucks you can't go out or come to the party or go to the event. But it's okay. It really is. You have a whole new purpose in life, but holidays are something special.

Not since you were eight years old did you feel this excitement over a holiday. You just can't wait. You prepare, look for fun holiday activities...

All for this tiny person...

because it's not the same old thing for them. It's new, it's exciting.

And after all the time waiting and preparing, it's done. And you're left just as bummed as the tiny person.

Because you have to wait a whole year to see that tiny person enjoy it all over again!

What a fun night we had! Jae had so much fun with her cousins and family! (lots of kid pics, cause I know there are grandparents out there reading)

When she woke this morning, she asked if we could ToT again tonight. Sorry, Boo Boo. Not tonight, but we'll go again next year.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T09:57:00.003-05:00

(edit to add-I just looked at this post and some of my pics are looking blurry. Grrr...they're not like that on my computer at home. I don't know why they're like that sometimes. Pics always look crappy on FB, but they usually look pretty good here...maybe I shoudl sharpen more?? how do they look for you guys?)

This is going to be a long one! We had a super fun/busy/crazy Halloween filled weekend! If I blog in order, it may be Christmas before I get these up, so they're going up now! ;)

On Sunday, I bribed Jae for an early morning shoot in her costume and I am soooo glad I did! I don't want to have to worry about "the" shot on Halloween night, so I figured we could get them out of the way. Then Halloween can just be fun and in the moment shots-no posing needed!

I'm seriously in looove with these!

Although you can't see the whole costume, these are some of my favorites. We started with tears cause she didn't want pictures, but in the end she was having fun and laughing! <3

We also worked on our pumkpins this weekend. These pictures are false, I did 99% of the cleaning of the pumpkins. Jae decided she would pull up a stool and watch. Stinker...

Adn finally, we did some fun painting crafts. We did the Halloween mason jars (from pinterest) and painted pumpkins. This was Jae's favorite. Our plan was to do them after nap. She wouldn't nap that day and when she "woke up" she said, "I wanna paint!" I think she was just too excited. we had been talking about it and shopping for supplies all morning :)

We also made som fun goody bags that we took to Jae's friends at daycare. She was very proud of those, but I was too busy tying ribbons to get any pictures! It's been such a fun year with Jae this year. She's just so excited about everything.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!!

The pumpkin patch

2011-10-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

These pictures will probably be part of the 52 week project, but I wanted to get them blogged before (or at least around) Halloween. We had a beautiful day for the pumpkin patch, so we headed out before lunch one day. The lighting was tough for pictures, but we still got some cute ones.

This was the first year that Jae really understood going to the pumpkin patch and was super excited about it. We've gone to the same pumpkin patch every year and I recently saw that it was rated as one of the nation's top patches! This year when I took our "how tall this fall" pic, I made a note to compare the past photos. Look at how much she has grown. Last year's pic makes me laugh, cause we couldn't get her to stand still by it for anything!

I always try to take a picture by the entrance, but this year Jae was a little unsure of the scarecrow that was sitting there. She got over it pretty quickly.

We made a quick stop by the animals.

And this year, Jae was big enough that she could try out the pumpkin slingshot (with some help). She did a really good job!

Joey got in on the action too and made a hole in one, which scored us a free slushee!

We also spent some time in the little hay maze where we had our parent of the year moment. There was a little tunnel to go through, so we let Jae go through and then I had to figure out how to get my pregnant self and camera through the tunnel. We sure figured Jae would be waiting there, but she was enjoying herself too much in the maze and took off. Joey and I split up and luckily I found her just around a couple corners. Little stinker. Needless to say, one of the adults should have gone through first (HELLO, it's a maze!), but I really didn't even think about her leaving us. She loved the fact that we now had to wonder around and find Dada, because he was lost :)

After we made our way out of the maze we headed out to the fields. Jae was very excited to pick a pumpkin. She chose an orange and a green/white one.

I had a tough time getting back far enough to get good shots cause the poor thing was having a heck of a time walking around in the vines, pumpkins etc and needed some help. I really wanted to avoid a fall and meltdown.

Here's what happens when I ask her to smile and look at me, lol.

I never make it into many pics, simply because I love taking the pictures. Joey is always willing and does a great job, but I forget to hand the camera off since I enjoy it so much. However, I do make it a point at certain events to make sure that I get us all, even if it means handing the camera to a stranger (after I set it all up) :P

Jae just loved the pumpkin patch this year! I'm so excited for all the upcoming holidays. Jae had fun last year, but this year she really understands what is going on, so I think we're in for a whole new level of fun!

Flashback Friday

2011-10-28T08:55:00.003-05:00

A final Halloween flashback to last year...

One of my favs <3

Hope everyone has a fun Halloween!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

A night at the park

2011-10-27T10:43:00.001-05:00

Our nights at the park are getting few and far between. We're losing light fast and the air is getting a chill. We're gonna miss our walks and time to play.

I can't believe how big this girl is getting. She's starting to climb up on some of the more difficult parts of the playground...heading for the big slides. Almost all by herself...

She can't be bothered for a stop and smile moment,

there's just too much fun to be had.

But every once in a while I catch it :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T10:41:00.000-05:00

Week 38- September 17-23

2011-10-25T10:28:00.004-05:00

One of my goals for the summer was to get up to Omaha again for the zoo and Children's Museum. However, there was so much flooding that the (quick) route has been closed down, so we didn't get to make the trip. We decided to plan a fall trip up for a long(ish) weekend, heading out a little early on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately the route was still closed, so the drive was a little longer than expected. On top of that, it was rainy the whole weekend...boo. We decided since we had to take teh long route that we would cut out the children's museum on Sunday in order to make it home at a decent time.

we still had fun at the zoo though. I didn't get too many pics since it was rainy and cloudy. Not too good for outdoor pics and didn't give me much light for the indoor ones either. Here are a few shots from the day.

Jae was fascinated with these little desert birds. They were all eating, which she loved watching.

I think this is where she spotted some little mini stingrays. After our trip to the aquarium in Minnesota, she loves them!

Two of the bigger animals I was able to get. I don't think the picture does this tiger justice, it was HUGE. Easily the biggest Joey and I have ever seen. It let our several loud growls while we were there too. Amazing.

I always highly recommend the Omaha zoo if it's close by to you. It's amazing. For me, I think it's pretty comparable to San Diego. After being to the Omaha Zoo several times, I just wasn't that impressed with San Diego. Don't get me wrong, it was good, but I expected it to blow me away, but there are comparable more affordable ones out there and Omaha is definitely one!

Week 37-September 10-16

2011-10-23T20:44:00.005-05:00

We got to spend an evening at a local carnival that happens every year, Old Settler's Days. Unfortunatly, this year I had a work commitment on Saturday monring, so we didn't get to go to the parade, but we were able to hit the carnival that night. It was a last minute decision due to weather, but we went and had a great time.

It was dark when we were there, so I don't have that many pictures and the quality isn't that great since I was shooting at ISO 3200 (eek!).

The carousel is always the go to ride :)

The helicopter. This was her first ride all by herself. This summer at the Mall of America, we we able to ride all of the rides with her, but there was no fitting in these ones. Our baby is growing up!

And she loved the cars too!

That was really all there was for little ones, but she got to ride a couple times. All in all a fun night!

Linking up with Poetry Without Words.

Flashback Friday

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Another Halloween flashback this week. Jae has been so funny during the whole costume shopping ordeal. She kept telling us she wanted to be peas or a bear (her first two costumes). I kept reminder her that she had already worn those and that they were too small, but she just kept bringing them up, lol. We did get something picked out, but Joey and I ended up going out by ourselves to find it ;)

Some sweet studio set-up shots complete with wrinkled blanket. I really need to go back and see if I can fix that...

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 36- Sept 3-9

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Every week I see such cute cell phone pics that other bloggers take. Mine are never that good. Maybe it's the camera in my phone or maybe I just don't know how to work it properly, but I don't feel like the quality of my cell pictures are very good. Oh well, I have a cute subject and that's all that matters, right?

Enjoying an ice cream date at Baskin Robbins. Jae is always happy to share our ice cream.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Week 35- August 27-September 2

2011-10-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

Just practicing some letters with Uncle Bradley

Week 34 (August 20-26)

2011-10-17T12:54:00.003-05:00

Let's just start this off by saying that yes, I know my child does not match with her blue shoes and bow and pink outfit. I also know that her shirt is getting a bit small. However, I'm not buying new summer stuff right before we move into winter and I'm not willing to fight over shoes and bows on most days.

Now that we're clear ;) Jae loves bubbles. She loves watching them. She loves cahsing them. She loves popping them. The only thing she has a hard time with is blowing them and she wants to soo bad. She's very independent and not being able to blow the bubbles herself is pretty frustrating. We set her up with a big bubble wand one night and let her go to town.

She wansn't always successful, but when she was, she was so excited about it.

I missed the focus on some of these, but since they were some of her best bubbles, I'm sharing them anyway.

She was concentrating so hard that I didn't really get any smiles, lol.

She was also dead set on trying to blow bubbles too, but she didn't have much success.

And no bubble blowing night is complete without chasing and popping a few.

Flashback Friday

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

We're gearing up for our trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend, so I found pics from last year. It was still so hot last year that Jae wore shorts and a tank top. She's not very festive...it was a last minute decision to go the day we did and we were at grandma and grandpa's house with no change of clothes.

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

What's Cookin'- Louisiana Pasta

2011-10-13T11:11:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm most likely throwing in the towel on several of my 11 in 11 challenges, cause let's face it, they're not getting done while I'm pregrnant...especially this cooking one. Joey always tells me I am the strangest pregnant woman he's met cause I really don't eat much. I don't have huge cravings or eat more than usual, in fact, I think I eat less when pregnant. So to sit an plan out/cook new meals is the last thing on my mind right now.

However, I did cook this meal back in August and never blogged it, so I have to give myseld credit for it. This was a meal I came across on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. We're pretty big fans of pasta, especially Jae, so anything I can cook that she'll like is worth it to me. Actually, she pretty much eats whatever we eat. Off the top of my head, I can't really think of anything that she doesn't eat that we do (added-chili, but she's not s hug fan of meat, so I get it).

So here it is, Louisiana Pasta

There's not much to say besides it wasn't that difficult, I added cheese (of course) and it was yum! Oh, and a food photographer I am not, so there.

Finger Lickin' good, I guess!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

Week 33 (Aug 13-19)

2011-10-11T10:45:00.002-05:00

I'm really surprised that I have actual pictures for this week (not cell pics). I can't belive how far behind I am on posting! Ak!

We haven't been to the park lately and we definitely need to get going again before the weather changes. Jae still very much loves the swings.

Getting her to smile AND look is quite the challenge :)

Flashback Friday

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone for the congratulations, we're very excited...as well as sacred, lol. I'm so glad to finally be "out" about the whole thing, because know you can all know why I have been slacking so much in the photo/blogging world. I really am lucky in that I am one of the women that doesn't get morning sickness(though I do get my share of feeling yucky), but man, pregnancy definitely kicks my butt in the energy department.

Let's be honest though, I don't have a lot of energy to begin with...not sure what it is, I just seem to be a tired person. I've had my thyroid checked, took prescription Vitamin D, all kinds of stuff, but I'm just tired. So compound that with the demands of actually growing a person and I am beat. Lately, my life has consisted of hitting the bed as soon as Jae does, like 9:00 and sneaking in a nap anytime I can on the weekends. So while I have wanted to blog and work on photos, it just hasn't fit into my sleep schedule ;) Poor Joey, I know he's getting tired of doing nothing all the time. Hopefully the 2nd tri will bring on that energy, or at least a bit more!

I thought this week I would share a Jaelynn newbie photo from my old cell phone. Most of my early-days shots of her are with my cell, but I still love them so much.

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

More chalk

2011-10-04T10:48:00.002-05:00

I'm slowly working my way through the photos that are backed up on my computer. Admittedly, I am in a photo funk, but I'm trying ot break out of it. I've had some fun things to shoot lately, so that's helped. Now I just need to get processing!

Jae loves to help draw the pictures.

She told me she was drawing Muno's (Yo Gabba Gabba)eys (even though he only has one).

Not sure if it was purposeful to draw a smile, but what a good job she did!

And it never fails, the landscaping rocks always see some chalk action too. Don't be jealous of our crusty grass!

Flashback Friday

2011-09-30T11:03:00.003-05:00

Oh my, I totally forgot that it was Friday...not sure how that's even possible! I started this post last night and never did set it up to publish!

I was looking through pics tonight to decided what to post and Jae pointed this one out. She was very interested in the jacket with bear ears. I personally think every jacket for little ones should have some sort of animal ears. Wouldn't that be great! The focus is off on this one, but I thought since Jae liked it, I would show it!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

Summer's gone...

2011-09-25T21:05:00.002-05:00

I sure do love fall, but it's always a little sad to see the summer fun go! If only the summer fun didn't bring the 110 degree heat with it! We're sure gonna miss playing in the water!

Flashback Friday

2011-09-23T09:22:00.006-05:00

It's getting to be that time of year and I am so excited! I love fall and Halloween! Check out the photo I found. I seriously love this one! One of my all time favorites. As you can see, my editing has come a long way (oh that vignette!), these were my "not really know what I am doing with picnik" days...doesn't matter, still love it!!

DA RULES

{Flashback Friday @ 525,600 Minutes}

1. Share your flashback photo on your blog

2. Link up and grab a button

3. Visit and follow any blogs that you want

4. Have fun looking through those old photos ;)

Week 32 (August 5-12)

2011-09-22T09:57:00.003-05:00

I'm admitting it, I have sucked at pictures lately. I've been taking them, but a lot are cell pics. The times I have used my DSLR haven't been that great either, but you take what you can get and it's all about capturing the memories, right?

We love sidewalk chalk at our house. Joey does such a great job drawing and Jae can request anything from him and he delivers. On any given chalk night, it's not unusual to see all of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters, trains, Spongebob, Perry the Platypus, animals and so much more on our driveway. A few nights we've even had quite the neighborhood kid crowd!

Jae likes for us to draw something and then she will color it. Our friend, Gooble...

And of course, a train of some sort...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T11:01:00.001-05:00

(cell)

Farmstead

2011-09-20T11:13:00.002-05:00

So jumping back to the end of July here. Jae and I woke up one morning to find out that it was NOT 90 degrees at 8:00 in the morning. I jumped on the chance to get out and do something, anything, especially something outside. I decided we would head over to the Deanna Rose Farmstead and see what all the animals were up to. We had a great time! The weather was gorgeous until right at the very end when someone turned up the heat!

I figured Jae would jump at the chance to get out and run around, but she was pretty set on staying in her stroller.

She loved this particular duck because he had a "funny hat"

I've been trying so hard to get her to smile and look at the camera, but she doesn't quite understand that they need to happen at the same time.

Feeding the fish and a turtle :)

Don't mind the crazy hair-do. Her hair won't go up in one pony tail and she rarely leaves it in. the double pony tail is the only way I can get all of her hair out of her face and off her neck.

The sheep were really loud and she didn't know what to think about them!

Ahh, the goats. It's always a love/hate relationship with these greedy little punks.

Here's where it started to get hot. you can tell her face is getting red and she's starting to sweat (not that it takes much, she's a sweater!).

This had to be the best part of the day. Last time we were there, we tried to let Jae bottle feed the goats. She had been off the bottle for a while, but not long enough apparantly, cause she was pissed when the bottle went to the goats and not her. This time around she was more than happy to feed them...but being goats they were a little too pushy for her likings, lol.

The slowly started pushing her closer and closer to the fence.

Eventually she couldn't move back anymore, but they kept pushing at the bottle, lol.

This makes me laugh every time, bwahaha. There was nowhere left for the bottle to go, so they started forcing it up at her face. She just got that look on her face and stared at me like, help!! Hahaha. I did help, after I snapped a picture!

We had a great day! I'm excited to go back now that the weather has calmed down and the fall stuff will be coming out!