The Bubs

January has been rainy and cold and in between fighting off sinus infections and our buddies being sick, we’ve spent a lot of time at home! Carter is constantly coming up with fun games and silly ways to entertain himself and I love when I have a chance to grab my camera and capture the moments. I love watching his imagination grow and am so thankful I can be home to experience this amazing age! It’s not to say that every day is rainbows and unicorns, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Just hanging out with George in the pirate tent!

Wearing his “cool dudes” while playing soccer.

Embracing the camera with my little man!

Cuddling “Tetta” and Wes, cookin’, and golfin’

Sunday Silence

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

A Different Perspective

** ETA- I’m not sure I could have rambled on any more in this post…

please feel free to ignore the words and just look at the pictures!

It seems like all of the photography blogs I have been reading lately have been encouraging fellow “momtographers” to get out there and change their perspective behind the camera. I am guilty of shooting the same shots over and over again of Carter and not really challenging myself behind the lens. I have been trying to be better about changing up my shots and really making my camera work! I have great equipment so it’s beyond time to push past the basics and figure things out. I have been shooting in manual since I got my camera last Christmas, but I stick to rooms where I know exactly what settings to use or outdoors where I can tweak things quickly without messing up my picture too bad. This particular day I really tried to push myself to try something new. The goal was to work a new angle and shoot in manual where I normally would have turned on the flash!

Carter’s playroom is really hard to shoot in because the lighting in there is terrible. We have a few overhead can lights, some lamps, and two windows that don’t let in much light because the neighbor’s houses are so close to us. It has dark walls, dark furniture, and red curtains so everything has a red hue to it. I tend to turn my camera to automatic if I’m trying to take pictures in there because I rely on the flash to help get the colors right and to make sure C is in focus since he moves so much. See the difference in the two pictures? The one above is M and the one below is A. Now, I like the picture above but I h-a-t-e editing so I don’t want to have to go back in afterward and mess with the picture any more than I have to. Hence why automatic works for me when I’m feeling lazy! But…

…the problem with automatic is that the camera doesn’t fire shots fast enough when using the flash and if we’re having a moment where C is being exceptionally adorable I want to get as many pictures as fast as possible! Thus the need to switch to manual so I can shoot in continuous mode and not miss a moment. Since I haven’t been practicing in manual in this room, I never did quite figure out what settings to turn my camera too before C was bored with coloring and wanted to play somewhere else. Even though they didn’t turn out like I had envisioned, I’m still glad I was able to capture the shots and play around. I think that’s the only way to get better as a photographer- to put myself in situations where I’m not as comfortable and practice, practice, practice! Except for the ones in B&W, these are all straight off the camera. Obviously I need to work on the white balance for next time ;)

I think this is my favorite shot! C is so silly coloring on all fours!

Embracing the camera with my tiny little Picasso!

The Obsession Begins

What is it with little kids and Elmo? Don’t they realize how annoying his voice is? hahaha Well, Carter has officially joined the fan club and talks about “Elmoo” all the time. He even got his very first doll from Hattie and has been carrying it around like his little shadow. I would let him take naps with Elmo (like he begs every day), except the doll talks and Carter sits there pushing the button over and over again instead of actually sleeping. It’s so funny to see this attachment grow since C’s only watched Sesame Street a handful of times at other people’s houses. Not having cable really limits our choices when he does get to watch a “yo” but I guess it was inevitable that he’d fall for the crazy red puppet sooner or later like all the kids his age!

Baby Boom

The baby boom is in full swing and our friends have welcomed five new babies in the past few weeks! There are still a few more on the way but the other day Carter and I got to meet baby boy Harvey for the first time! I have posted a few times about Robyn, Brendon, and Grace and how they moved across the neighborhood from us a few years back. Our parents have been friends forever and it is so neat to have them nearby so our kids can grow up together just like we did! Their newest family member- a son named Riess Patrick was born on Jan. 16th. He was just a tiny puddle of sweetness when we went to meet him and slept the entire time. Aunt Ashley and Uncle Lake were there as well and we were all sitting around anxiously awaiting the birth of another Harvey baby that day too! Megan and her husband Buck had checked into L&D and it was pretty neat that the cousins would be born within days of each other! We can’t wait to watch Riess grow up and join Carter and Grace for years of playtime!

Riess Patrick Harvey ~ January 16, 2012 ~ 7 pounds 14 ounces

Grace and Carter had a great time playing while I caught up with Brendon and Robyn.

Aunt Ashley is a natural!

Sunday Silence

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

Dinner with Elmo

Carter doesn’t watch much Sesame Street (we don’t have cable) but he already knows who Elmo is and loves him! When my mom mentioned that her club was having a character dinner I jumped at the chance to take C and his buddy Spencer. Our meal started off with Elmo coming over to say hi and with a trembling lip and tears in his eye, Carter managed to give the big scary red guy a high five. After that, C wanted nothing to do with him and repeated, “No Elmo!” for the rest of the meal. I think Spencer enjoyed his visit a little more but I was proud of my little for being so brave! It has been almost a week and he still talks about, “Elmo. Scared.” to his daddy. I love that he is piecing together the words to explain how he feels and remembers that night well enough to continue talking about it. We didn’t end up getting to take a picture with Elmo before he had to leave for the night, so hopefully we didn’t scar Carter for life! I’m still glad we were able to go and share a meal with our friends and especially happy that Linc got off work early to come join us too! Thanks to my sweet momma for setting it up!

Carter had fun “playing” Wii with the big boys!

Orlando Trip

Kristin and Ryan’s new house is in such a great neighborhood and is within walking distance to a little town with shops, restaurants, and beautiful green space. Not too far from that is Winter Park which is another great area of Orlando to check out! The Saturday before the Christening we headed into town for lunch and some fresh air before the babies had to get home from naps. Here is a collection of collages from our day out in Winter Park including some cousin bath time shots and a few other random photos from the weekend!

During lunch, C impressed us all with his stacking skills! He practiced

with everything from coffee creamer to jelly to butter packets!

Nathan’s Christening

The second weekend in January my entire family flew down to Orlando to be with the Morgans for sweet baby Nathan’s Christening! Linc and I are so thrilled to be his godparents and hope we can be a good example for him as he grows into a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was a wonderful celebration and I am so thankful we were all able to be there together.

Just like with Carter, Hattie made Nathan’s Christening gown and it will be a

treasured keepsake that hopefully future siblings will get to wear as well!

After a lovely church service where both babies were on their best behavior, we went back to Ryan and Kristin’s new house for cake, presents, and some football! Unfortunately, I was super sick with a stomach bug that weekend so I was not feeling in tip top shape. It didn’t stop me from enjoying the party though, just instead of eating all the yummy food I stuck with brown rice ;/ Oh well! At least we all looked cute and the bug certainly helped me jump start my 2012 weight loss goals hahaha As my sister said, “The stomach flu agrees with you.” Hmm…anyway, it was still a lovely trip and I am so grateful for my parents who got us the plane tickets and made all of the arrangements for us to be together on this gorgeous weekend! I cannot wait until we’re all reunited again in February.

Back to Blogging

Hi everyone! I took a much needed break from blogging the past week or so but I’m ready to jump back in and document everything that has happened in 2012 so far. To be honest, I had contemplated deleting my blog all together because it is just so much work and a really time consuming hobby but I knew in five years I’d really regret not writing everything down and documenting our life. I have to remember that I’m just doing this for myself and it doesn’t matter if my family doesn’t even read it and no one comments because at least I have all the memories preserved and can look back at all the wonderful, special, or mundane things we did! So…with that said… Happy New Year and we will return to regular posting a.s.a.p.!

A Look Back at 2011

As we head into the new year and welcome all that 2012 has to bring, it never hurts to look back and reflect on where we came from! Remembering the past year stirs up so many different emotions and even though I’m slightly nostalgic for what was, I cannot wait for what’s to come. Each day brings with it the promise of something new and exciting, challenges and trials to overcome, and the wonderful memories we will make along the way. Here is a collection of my favorite posts and events from 2011. I pray this year brings us all peace, health, and happiness and the time to reflect on all our many blessings!

January 2011- We celebrated New Years at the farm, we survived Snowmageddon and enjoyed the six inches of snow for a few days, Carter and I took thousands of pictures with my new camera, The Baby Brigade went out to lunch together for the very first time, we had lots of play dates with our buddies including our very first meet up with the twins, we helped Bill celebrate his 40th birthday with a disco themed shindig, Linc and I played lots of tennis and we enjoyed Carter’s tenth month to the fullest!

February 2011- designed, printed, and mailed C’s first birthday invitations, Carter finally started sleeping through the night, Trent was the first of the Baby Brigaders to turn one and we attended his Sesame Street birthday, we met up with high school friend Kari Beth who I hadn’t seen in nine years and celebrated sweet Lila’s cowgirl themed first birthday,I began my Sunday Silence posts, the twins had their first birthday at Gymboree, we went to the park a lot including spending Valentine’s Day there with Shari and Spencer, we took a road trip with our buddies to celebrate Macey’s first birthday in Newnan, Carter got his first year molars and practiced lots of new tricks!

March 2011- Baby Spencer turned one, We celebrated Carter’s first birthday with our closest friends and family, I wrote my favorite post of 2011, we hosted Kristin’s baby shower at St. Ives, C tipped the scales at his one year well visit, we attended birthday parties for Madeleine, Nicholas, and Dylan, I got really into Mod Podging, I did some major landscaping of the front yard and prepared for spring.

April 2011- we spent a rainy week in Isle of Palms, Candace and baby Griffin came to visit, we visited the Charleston Children’s Museum, The Baby Brigade turned one year old and we had an awesome party and photo shoot, Baby Isabella had her first birthday party, Carter started walking for real, Candace and Griffin came to visit again, we reconnected with Katie and Baby Bennett and welcomed them to playgroup with open arms, our little family spent Easter weekend at the lake, Baby Grace turned two, and C and I spent lot of time at the park enjoying the beautiful spring weather.

May 2011- We started the month celebrating Linc and Hattie’s birthday, I wrote an ode to Carter’s beautiful baby curls, C got his first haircut at a real barber shop at 14 months old, we posed for family photos at Vickery, we celebrated Mother’s Day by driving down to Orlando and welcoming baby Nathan to the world, Kristin turned 30, we played in the splash pool with Miles and Kerri, we made a new friend in Anita and Evan but then said goodbye to friends Sara and Mads as they moved to the UK.

June 2011- Linc and I toasted our fifth year of marriage, we met bloggy friends Heidi and Gianna in real life, we went strawberry picking at Warbington Farms, we had some family fun time at the pool, the BB Mommies got out for a yummy meal and the second round of pregnancy announcements began, C had his fifteen month well visit and started Music Pups, we visited K &N in Florida, our world was rocked when mom was rushed to the ER for emergency surgery to remove a tumor from her abdomen and she had to stay for a week to recover. It was a horrible shock to all of us and unfortunately just the beginning of a long line of treatment to rid her body of this terrible disease.

July 2011- I guest posted and hosted my very first giveaway, Fourth of July was rainy but we still had fun at the Club with all of our family, I started taking my photography habit a little more serious, Blue Mammoth took a company retreat to the mountains for a weekend away, I began training for my first triathlon with 5am wake up calls every single day, the BB kicked off summer with an awesome BBQ, and we attended Megan Harvey’s wedding.

August 2011- continued pursuing my photography habit and practiced on lots of families, got my first paying client, had a pool party with the Harveys, C turned seventeen months old and got the hang of painting with a paint brush, we enjoyed hosting our Friday Friends for play time and got to hang out with high school friend Greer and daughter Sloan,we had lots of indoor play dates trying to beat the heat, our good friends and old roommates Jack and Laura came to visit and stayed for the weekend.

September 2011- C turned eighteen months old at the lake, we celebrated Labor Day by taking C on his first tube ride, I competed in my first Triathlon on 9/11/11 and had the time of my life, we had fun at the splash pad, Candace and G had another slumber party at our house, the entire BB went to the zoo! Linc and I also took our very first overnight trip to Vegas for the iHeart Radio Music Festival!

October 2011- Uncle Shuck’s Corn Maze was a big hit, Carter and I took a road trip to Savannah for Baby Gs’s first birthday and we finally got to meet blog buddy Tam and her son Owen in person, on our drive home we stopped at the farm to visit with Bella and Bo-Bo, The Baby Brigade hosted a “sprinkle” for our mommies to be and I got to announce that my bestie is expecting twins, our little group took a fieldtrip to Kinsey Family Farm to pick out pumpkins and see the petting zoo, mom flew Carter and I down to Orlando to visit with K & N, the BB had a huge Halloween party at the Gordon’s house, new friends Vivie and Nichole hosted our little Friday group for a costume party, Linc and I went with the Woomers to Chuk’s Halloween extravaganza and met up with Alice (who I hadn’t seen since high school) and her husband Joe, and Carter went as a spider for his second year of trick or treating!

November 2011- started the month with my favorite Shutterfly giveaway, we had a great time going for a nature walk with the Bignons, I fell in love with fall photography and took nearly 3000 pictures, Baby Bennett turned one and we had an awesome time at his Masters themed party, Carter and I hung out with the twins on a beautiful afternoon, a few of the mommies got out to paint pottery and relax, Krissy and I took the boys to Sawnee Mountain Preserve, our little family traveled to the farm and the Hilton Head to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, Candace and G drove over to HHI to hang out with us for the day, Kris and Linc prepared their first turkey, we snapped lots of pictures at the beach and crafted our hearts out all week long, and we rounded out the month by meeting Santa!

December 2011- the BB mommies enjoyed a night in with delicious food and hilarious conversation, the very last Baby Brigader (Kayden) turned one, I attended Gingerbread Puhlooza 2011 at the Reeders and cheered on all my friends, I sat in a Lamborghini for the first time, Krissy hosted the greatest ornament exchange including a fully plated dinner, we went to the Bignons again for cookie decorating and outdoor time, my camera got a workout this month by taking holiday pictures for lots of friends, little sister Alex hosted a house warming/cookie exchange at her new downtown condo, our little family hosted our big family for a pre-Christmas dinner, the Trottas loaded us up with delicious tortellini soup and a night of fun, the Gordons had us over for our second annual Chrismukkah celebration, we attended Christmas Eve service at Johns Creek UMC and C slept on my lap the whole time, we spent the night at my parent’s house and woke up to everyone celebrating Christmas together, our little family traveled to Barnesville to celebrate Christmas with the in laws, Linc and I spent New Years Eve at the Chick Fil A Bowl at the Georgia Dome and watched Auburn cream the UVA Cavaliers while C stayed behind with Bella and Bo-Bo. We kissed 2011 goodbye while driving down I-75 but still managed to share a glass of champagne with my in laws before heading to bed and waking up to a whole new year!