We're still here.....

.....just busy moving!! Although it's stressfull and busy and crazy and exciting all at once, we really are getting somewhere with it. We'll be out of our house next week and I can't wait!! While Avery and I were getting ready this morning, she thought she'd put some make-up on too. I've been dreaming of getting shots of her "doing her make-up" for so long... although it's not in front of a big mirror and posed how I'd like with lipstick all over everything, it's a start!! Enjoy!!

Cross-processing!!

I really feeling like I'm diving in lately! I love photography...I love the creative post-processing process, but I've felt so limited. It's just a matter of jumping in and trying things. You can't screw ANYTHING up!! What's really been throwing me is Cross-processing. I've seen some images I really love, but just can't seem to make it happen with mine... until today! I took this shot of Avery yesterday at the Children's Museum, it's just a plain shot... not much going on and converting it to black and white seemed to make it more boring. So I tried my hand at cross-processing. I love this shot so much more now! It just has an "edgier" feel to it, don't ya think? I love how her little eyes and lips pop, and her sassy little side pony tail screams girly-girl!! I love how the light is accentuated through the processing too! I just might be getting somewhere, ya'll!!! I'm motivated to snap away and play again and it's a great feeling! Maybe I'll try my hand at some belly shots!! Ha ha ha!!

Random Images from this Morning

I finally pulled out my camera this morning...grrrrrr! I have not taken any pictures lately, esspecially indoors. I'm such a brat. I really want an external flash and I'm convinced I can't take pictures indoors til that happens. But today I gave in and took some anyways. Avery was goofing off on my bed and trying to put my glasses on. I couldn't resist trying to get a shot or two of this!

Then she started snuggling with her blankey and being so sweet and precious (which is a welcome sight because lately we've been throwing a few temper tantrums a day over the silliest, smallest things, and of course I never thought my child would ever do such a thing... YEAH RIGHT THEY ALL DO!!!) and I caught this one of her face really close up:

She's so beautiful, I'm forever going to be astonished everyday; her daddy's going to have his hands full in the years to come with 2 little girls to watch out for!!

Just Veggin'

It's been a while since my last post and this picture is from a few weeks ago, but it really shows what we've been up to lately, unfortunately. Last Sunday and Monday, Avery had a little 24 hour flu bug which then turned into a cold. She's much better now, but mommy caught the cold (real fun while being pregnant) and so we had a slow rest of the week! But now, all's well and everyone's happy again at our house and everything is back to normal! Hope everyone else is happy and healthy too! Oh yeah, two more weeks from today we find out the sex of the new baby!!

My Girly Girl <3

Avery was playing in my room this morning as I was getting ready for the day. She found my Bert's Bees chapstick (the best stuff in the world, BTW) and started putting it on saying, "Lip-goss Mommy, lip-goss!" Too cute! I'll have to get her a tube for her little purse!! :)

(PS... I'm really proud of this INDOOR photo, no flash used! Just the natural light coming in through our bedroom window!!)

{Enjoy}

Just a few quick shots from tonight :)

"Snuggle"

Lately Avery has been so snuggly! She'll bring me her blankey and curl up in my arms and say, "Snuggle, snuggle," I just love it! It really tugs on my heartstrings knowing that she can come and get something she needs/wants from me...like a snuggle. Makes me feel like I'm doing my job right. :) Right now, my hope chest is sitting in front of the window in our living room. Avery will put her blankey on it, climb up on to the chest and "snuggle, snuggle" her blankey. I caught a few shots of this last night:

This last shot is my favorite since she decided to sneak a smile in with her snuggle!

She's a Gymnast!!

Avery started Gymnastics last Monday, but today her daddy got to participate with her and mommy got to snap pictures! I won't waste any space describing to you how much Avery LOVES it... the pictures will speak for themselves!

"I know I can do this (with some help from my Daddy)!"

"Boy, this one's tricky!"

"I did it!!"

I'm afraid the next phrase out of this sweet girl is going to be:

"Trampoline, Avee's house! Peees?"

The pics. are a little grainy thanks to the high ISO as I was adjusting after each shot to get this yucky indoor light thing figured out!! Practice makes perfect eventually, right? Have a super day!!

"The stockings were hung, by the chimney with care..."

I had to post these pictures from tonight. Aside from the first picture not being completely straight, I love them. Our mantel is fully decked out and ready for Santa to come bounding down on Christmas Eve night. I am so excited for Christmas this year. Yes, I love everything the Holiday season brings with it: the decorating, the tree cutting, the lights, the music, the baking, the get-togethers etc. All of that is wonderful and I've looked forward to it since I was a little girl. This year I'm extra excited and really into the "Christmas Spirit" because my little girl is taking it all in for the first time! She is completely and utterly amazed and I'm loving every moment of it! Last Christmas she was 6 months old and not really aware of what was going on. This year, it's totally different. When we turn our outdoor lights on, she points and says, "Look, look!" She LOVES seeing houses in our neighborhood lit up with lights and says "more more" as we drive past. I have a lighted village (which I feel special having because it's my mom's) set up on our mantel that she just can't get enough of. Today we hung our stockings and she's equally elated about those too. I love watching her experience all of this for the first time. And of course, I'm having a hard time finishing up her Christmas shopping... ha ha ha!

Something else I'm excited about:

Our stockings! We each have our own stocking now that we'll have forever!! Mark and I have never hung stockings before during Christmas. Mine from when I was young is just so old and fragile that I just keep it packed up. I thought we'd get our stockings after we were married, but I never did it. This year I ordered stockings for the 3 of us and they're adorable! Now we'll always have them and when Avery is old enough, she can have it and hang it on her own mantel with her babies' stockings... someday! :)

Happy Holidays all!

Sunny Day at the Park

Yesterday was such a beautiful day at our house! I decided to pack us up and head to the park. Among the goodies we took with us included snacks, juice, and of course, my camera! In the course of an hour I snapped 67 pictures of my little bugaboo playing, swinging, crawling around around..... etc. I absolutely love shooting outdoors because the light is sooooo beautiful and the colors are so true, but at the same time, the light really throws me off. I feel like when I'm looking through my lens at my subject it looks perfect. But when I get home and put the pics. on the computers all I have are pictures with shadows on faces and it drives me nuts. Here' s a few of what I took yesterday:

I absolutely LOVE this shot of Avery, but in order to avoid the shadows that were ending up on her face in the shots I took before this one, I used my flash which was obviously too much light. (I may be biased, but isn't she just ridiculously adorable?) :)
Loving this shot too, but you can see the shadows on her face that I'm talking about. Grrrrr.... I feel like they ruin a perfectly sweet picture!

Now that I've posted my complaints, here's one that I have no complaints about. I love it because you can see the little drool bubble at her mouth. So precious! She was enjoying the swing so much. She just kind of scooted down and relaxed as I was pushing her. Pretty cute!! :)

If you have any suggestions on how to work with the natural sunlight to avoid those pesky shadows I would love to hear them! For now, we're headed to the Seattle Aquarium! Hope to come back with some neat pics!