Practicing What I've Learned

I was babysitting my nephew last night and it was warm and sunny outside so I thought I'd put into practice some of the things I learned.

So, these pictures are taken on the Aperture priority setting on my camera and I put the ISO at 100 since it was nice and bright and sunny out. Also, I actually used the flash on these to eliminate the shadow I was getting across his face. I'm actually pleased!!! I tried to put into use some the tips from this week's lesson as well. I'm pretty good about automatically utilizing the rule of thirds, but some of the other things not so much.

Enjoy!

Isn't he just adorable?! I can't believe he's turning FIVE this year. Where does time go?

James doing his homework

My nephew is growing up SO fast. He is in preschool and they have to do homework every week which is basically writing his name and the letter of the week. Check him out.

He's concentrating so hard!

I am one proud auntie!!


Did I say concentrating??

I laugh out loud every time I see this picture. Can't they stay little forever?

Revelation

Recently, I had an epiphany of sorts in terms of how unbelievably fast time goes as you get older. Don't you remember being a kid and thinking that a couple of hours in the afternoon seemed like forever? Not to mention your birthday and the exciting day when you got to say you were (insert number here) and a half. As the new year rolled around, like many others, I found myself reflecting on the past year and all of the events that occurred to safely store away in the vaults of my memory.

Then I realized that Rob and I are well on our way to our 2 year anniversary. What!? When did that happen? I felt like I spent the past 5 years waiting to get married, including a 2 year engagement, and here I am nearly 2 years into my marriage! Wow. It feels like just yesterday that Rob and I started dating and we marveled at the feeling of being one of those couples who hit "the year mark." Now we've been together over 5 years.

Watching James and Isabella makes me so happy and sad at the same time. James has been walking around saying things that he's going to do when he's five and a big boy going to kindergarten. ::Sob:: And Isabella is surprising me every time I see her. She's two now. Check her out at Christmas.

And don't get me started on Oliver and Dudley. My firstborn is going on 4 with Dudley trailing close behind at just over 3. As Rob and I look to the future to start a family, I hope to everyday keep in mind that we never get these times back. I love watching James and Isabella grow up and I can't wait to see what their futures hold, but a small part of me wants them to be little forever. It is so bittersweet.

Girls Week

I had a bit of an abbreviated girls week, but it was a blast. We went to the zoo and shopping and it was a great time! Since I haven't posted pictures of James in a while, here he is at almost 4. I can't believe it! I sneaked a of picture of mom in there too... :) I was playing a little bit with making his eyes pop. What do you think?

Happy Monday!!!

A little fun with Lightroom

I've posted about my new favorite computer program: Adobe Lightroom. I LOVE this program. It can take a "meh" picture and turn it into a masterpiece. Now, if only I could afford a really nice camera.... So, I just thought I'd share some of the fun I've been having with Lightroom recently. Some amateur attempts at photo editing... enjoy!

My James Before:

And... After:

 

My Isabella Before:

And... After:

 

Can you believe Isabella is already a year old? That picture is from her first birthday party. She was a cutie!

The picture of James is from picking pumpkins this year - he's already three!

PHEW!

I'm so tired. Not that I'm tired for a bad reason. This weekend was a LOT of fun. But, I'm tired. Saturday I had my bachelorette party! It was a blast. Low key, which is what I wanted. We went to Ariake Steak House and then bowling at Brunswick Zone after which we went back to Casey's house (my future sister-in-law) and just hung out. I know it doesn't sound like much fun to some, but I loved it and I'm the bride, so there. ;o)


Saturday, Rob's dad threw him a surprise party. This was AWESOME! As much as his dad complains about Rob's friends coming over (being noisy and leaving a mess) he's gonna miss it when Rob moves out! So, Don decided to have a last hurrah and had a big poker tournament with all of Rob's buddies. Us girls hung out all night and ate pizza... :o)

Sunday, we took some groceries to the house and then a birthday party for Rob's little cousins, Max, Camille, and Alexandra. It was fun! James, Camille, and Sophia practiced walking down the aisle (hallway) for the wedding. They are going to be great!

On a side note, I went grocery shopping this week. I've definitely been worried about this. We're on a budget, obviously and I was really worried about how much money it was going to cost to get all of those basic things for the house - salt, pepper, vegetable oil, etc. But, I've been clipping coupons, and I went through the ads for the week. Overall, I think I did really well! And, I LOVE Super Walmart! As much as I really don't like shopping at Walmart, you can't deny it when their prices are lower than the grocery store's on sale with a coupon!


I'm going to end this post telling you that I'm getting married next week! AHHH!!! I'm super excited and super stressed. But, after the wedding I have a week off! For now I have to get through a week of a period-induced headache (yuck!!) that hopefully doesn't turn into a migraine, again. I don't need that teaching four year olds.


With that said, I can't say I'll be posting much in the next couple of weeks. I'll definitely make one last post before the wedding, but hopefully after all of this is over I can spend some more time on here!

Playing Catch-Up

I've decided that I'm a bona fide procrastinator. I didn't use to be a procrastinator. This is why I never blog and never go to the gym. I keep telling myself that I'll go later, or I why bother? Nobody really reads your blog anyway. Just don't eat as many calories. I blame my new procrastinating ways on Rob. Case in point.

Me: Rob, this weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, I'd like to get you moved out to the house for the most part since this will be one of our only free weekends to do it before the wedding.

Rob: Steph, the wedding is THREE WEEKS AWAY!

Me: But, I REALLY don't want to be moving our stuff the week after the wedding when we have off. I want to relax and enjoy being MARRIED.

Rob: We have plenty of time.

Me: Fine.

See, how can I not keep a little of this from rubbing off on me? I mean, Rob is the procrastinator of all procrastinators. Example number two:

Rob: What ring size are you again?

Me: Why? (Is he going to buy me two rings!? Oh wait. Oh, no. My thoughts come to a screeching halt as I realize...) You haven't bought my wedding band yet!?

Rob: No.

Me: Babe, the wedding is in THREE WEEKS!!!

Rob: So, all I have to do is go buy it.

Me: What if it has to be sized!

Rob: Oh.

Yup. We're gonna arrive at our wedding day and I'm not gonna have a wedding band. What am I gonna do, borrow someone's? I need to take a deep breath. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Okay. It'll all be okay.

Speaking of the wedding... I've done a few things in preparation... and I have pictures!!!

Mom and I spent an entire Sunday afternoon tying tags to bubbles with ribbons. It was fun, let me tell you. I'm happy with how they turned out though!


I bought my dress for the rehearsal dinner (again.)! I had bought one earlier and didn't really like it for the occasion anymore so I decided to keep my eyes open. Well, I found this adorable dress from B. Moss for $30! B.Moss is definitely one of my new favorite stores. They have some adorable clothes! (and good deals..)


I also put together my flower girl's gifts... some hair accessories and their Build A Bear giftcards!


Another exciting accomplishment, I dyed my crinoline for the wedding blue! I debated for a while on whether or not to do this, and then thought, what the heck? So we dyed it, and I took it to the bridal shop with Jocelyn to try on with my dress to make sure it worked! I love it.


James' gift came in the mail. I doubled it as his ring bearer gift and birthday gift since his birthday is July 4th. It's a bedroom set with trucks, trains, and tractors on it for the big boy bed he's getting after I move out! He'll love it!


I also had another shower, which I mentioned last time I actually posted. It was a lot of fun. I got some awesome stuff!

My cousin, who's doing my flowers sent a bouquet to see if I like the shape and size of it. It's not at all what my bouquet will look like, but it still looks fabulous after a 4 hour trip in a warm car without water. She also sent a boutonnière, which I'm sure looked a lot better when it was fresh.


One of the gifts I got is a figurine we're going to use for our cake table! Along with this sign. It'll be great.


On a note totally not related to the wedding... WE HAVE GRASS!!! They put sod down at our house on Monday! It makes our yard look HUGE (which, it is at almost 15,000 sq. ft.). Although, now we have to figure out how to water it... since we're hardly ever there. I really don't want it to die.


On a note related to the house, we had our first security scare (and hopefully our last). I got a call from Brinks a couple of nights ago saying that our alarm had gone off in zone 4. I missed the call, so this was a message. I was thinking that zone 4 is the basement (which is guarded with a motion detector) and wasn't too terribly worried considering we live in the middle of a field and a mouse could have gotten in or something (which isn't good, but it's better than a burglar!). Turns out the alarm tripped was the glass break detector in the great room! It detects if glass is broken within a 30 ft radius. They called my house and asked if I wanted them to send the cops. Um, YES! Turns out it was nothing. A false alarm. But, regardless that was scary!

Babies!!!

I love babies! So, this post is devoted to all of the babies in my life, furry and not so furry :o)

The second (human) love of my life: James. I've decided this will be the hardest part of getting married. James lives with my family right now and the thought of moving out, not being able to give him a hug and a kiss every day and telling him goodnight is horrifying. I will get through this, but nonetheless, he's my the reason for my love of being an aunt.






Isabella is very quickly making her own little home in my heart right next to James. At five months old she weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds of pure adorable chunky beautifulness. How can you deny this face? How can you deny that pudge? Ahhh...


And as for furry babies? We have plenty of that kind of cuteness to go around too!



Ahhh... I love my babies.

And, just because I have so many cute pictures to share, here are a few more:

James is currently potty training so he must entertain himself while waiting... don't worry, it's clean.

This is James in his tux for the wedding! Is he not adorable? He runs around the house saying, "I handsome." I love it.

And, last but certainly not least, a little sneak peak at the post to come...