On the move

Well, it's too tiny. I'm just still figuring out how to make photo "collages" and post them. James is 17 months today and keepin' busy! He has learned to climb up on top of things; the coffee table (a no-no), kitchen chairs (also discouraged), the glider in the living room (dangerous because it moves), etc. He's a little monkey! He also popped through a 12th tooth...phew! He's finally got a 'mouthful'.

My New Niece

It really seems like yesterday that Mark and I were sitting in a Chinese restaurant, visiting my brother Joel and his wife Elizabeth. I remember they were a little giddy and excited to share with us that they had just found out they were expecting a baby. Although they don't live very near, it has been so fun to wait in anticipation with them for their sweet baby girl to arrive. Yesterday afternoon their little Annie was born. She and Elizabeth are both doing so well. Yesterday afternoon, my mom came over and we were able to talk with the three of them via Skype. I'm thankful for this technology but it made me want to be there even more!

These photos aren't the greatest quality but I think you can see the joy beaming from their happy new-parent faces. I like to think little Annie was giving me a smile. :)

This was their reaction to me saying, "Ooh, I think her mouth is moving." They didn't want to miss a moment!

And this is what is making me the biggest mush right now. My brother is a daddy. Can you see how proud he is of her? Mark even mentioned something last night about it after we finished Skyping with them. He's just radiantly proud of his beautiful daughter.

I don't doubt for a second that Joel with be an awesome father. Growing up we have had an exceptional example in our own dad and I expect Joel to follow in his footsteps.

Elizabeth, you too, will be a wonderful mother! Little Annie is so blessed!

Play "Date"

My friend Kristen and I often tease that our two little ones will get together some day. A few days ago we had an impromptu play date. Elianna is now big enough to interact more with James. How fun!

Seriously? This little one is so gorgeous!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom! She stopped by this afternoon with my grandparents and I snapped a few pictures of her with the German Chocolate cake I made her. Yum! (don't look too close--the cake is seriously lopsided!--I was hoping the side-wise angle of the photo would disguise that :)

More Tweaking

the edited photo above....too much contrast? too dark?

the original--James LOVES shovels and brooms. When he sees them he says, "Da -da!!" very excitedly. He feels like the king of the world when he gets to carry them around.....but back to photo editing.

Part of my beef with editing photos is that I'm indecisive about what it is I really like...the above picture is after some tweaking. It's lighter, his eyes show more reflection...perhaps too washed out?

...but I sorta liked the contrast in this one, the original. What sweet cheeks!

Photography...

Since getting my new camera in October as a birthday gift, I've snapped quite a few pictures. Sometimes 10 or 12 of the same exact moment/scene, just so I can try out different settings and buttons. But I've yet to really figure out how to really use it. I mean, I know a few basics. I did take high school Photography 101, or something like that. So, while I'm still pretty rusty on the actual taking of the pictures but able to manage, editing photos is completely new to me. I don't know the first thing. Layers, filters, masks, opacity, etc. It's all gibberish. So to navigate through the new software Mark downloaded for me to use (it's FREE and called Gimp--that's all I know--and supposed to be somewhat comparable to Photoshop), I've been referring to Pioneer Woman's photography section of her blog. I love the way she explains things in terms I can understand. And while she doesn't use the same software I'm using, I can still apply several of the methods. So here's me giving a shot at 'hard lighting.' Oooh. Really fancy, huh? Oh, and I cropped it, too. I was surprisingly proud of myself for figuring that one out. Eventually I'll feel a little more comfortable with this software stuff, right? AFTER a layer of hard light added (or was it a filter?) plus a little cropping

BEFORE

Can you tell? At all? Is it worth it? I like that the colors are more vibrant...everything a little more pronounced. Oh well, more on all this later. James is begging for a snack. It's that time of day!

16 Months

This little guy is 16 months old today! As you can see in the picture, he's got six teeth....the only six teeth he's had for months now! We're just sure he's going to pop in a few more any time...but no show yet!

James feels very cool in 'his' glasses. He likes for other people to put them on also so he can admire them, too. Here he is with his Uncle Jeff.

And now for some toddler antics. James has learned (originally from his Aunt Gail) to drink from a straw and definitely feels like a hot shot doing so. He likes to hold on to the straw all by himself, thank you very much.

This really is the only shot I got of him not attempting to eat the crayon...but he's trying to color a little! This was taken on a very ambitious day when I thought I'd start to teach him colors.

Anything to get just a few inches higher. James is climbing on everything! Kitchen drawers, bottom shelves, laundry baskets turned upside down, toys....I really do feel like I save his life multiple times a day! (never mind the silly outfit--striped green socks, black pants, and blue fleece?!)

Here's where we've seen the most toddler-like behavior showing up: meal time. If there's a spoon or fork involved, you'd better believe James is going to be the one running the utensil...or else. If it's too tricky for him to 'load' the food (say, stabbing small veggies with fork) as soon as we hand it to him 'loaded', he rests it on the tray, and then picks it up himself...I guess so that he feels like he really did it on his own. SO independent.

Anyway, he's totally transitioned to one nap, still using his pacifier at night and naptimes, LOVES brushing his teeth, takes any opportunity to climb up and down stairs, and has been speaking gibberish sentences for a couple of weeks. He looks so sincere when he says them--we wonder what he's saying! It terms of English, his most clear word (with two separate consonant sounds, I might add) is cup. He also is half-way saying a good handful of other words but some of them are most easily interpreted by Mark and me!

Looking forward to the next month--never a dull moment, that's for sure!!