Family Pictures

I love taking pictures for people! It is one of my favorite things ever! However, I am not so crazy about being in front of the camera. But let's face it, family pictures are important. And when you are friends with an amazing photographer you just don't have an excuse to not get pictures done! So, here they are: My family pics! Thanks SO much to Alexis (who I love!) for shooting these for me, and also for teaching me so much in Photoshop (I did the edits).

The Shark and the Lobster

We are all ready for Halloween at our house! The theme this year (yes, a costume theme... I plan to coordinate the boys until they are old enough to make me stop!) is ocean creatures! Quinn is crazy about sharks and loves to wear his costume around the house. He can't get enough of staring in the mirror in amazement of his awesomeness. The first time he saw himself as a shark I thought I might never get him away from the mirror; he was totally in awe!

Miles is my little lobster. It's the cutest thing ever when he crawls around in his costume with his little lobster tail swooshing behind him! (I will get some better pictures of their tails and post them... it is the best!) Miles is ten-month-old... this costume is a size 12-18 month costume... it does not come even remotely close to fitting over this fella's head! Look at how it doesn't even reach his ears! Haha, I love my fat-headed babies!!

Just a random inquiry... I have been playing around in PSE and wanted some feedback on this composition of the same pic from above... is it fun or is it too much?-

Dear Blog, I missed you.

I'm not sure what has kept me away... perhaps it's Facebook (yeah, that definitely has something to do with it...), but after a blog-break as long as this one I was needing something to be a big-deal before I broke the blog-silence. And here it is:

My apartment is a two level, tall skinny apartment with 15 fairly steep steps. Where the stairs begin is the area that we keep shoes in (right inside the front door) so we have a baby-gate to keep Miles out of the shoes. Today I was working frantically upstairs trying to finish a disk of pictures and I spaced out closing the gate. When I realized the gate was open (because Quinn kept coming up and going down) I figured that as long as the door was open I could hurry and finish what I had started... that way I could still hear Miles and keep an ear out for trouble.

Quinn ran upstairs into my computer room and slammed the door shut. I explained to him that I needed the door to stay open so I could hear Miles playing downstairs. I opened the door and Quinn ran back downstairs. No more than two minutes later, Quinn ran back up and slammed the door again. I told him, "Miles is stuck downstairs and I need to be able to hear him if he needs me. We have to keep this door open." I went over and opened the door again... and there was Miles! My 9-and-a-half month old, who has never been on a stair in his life -and has only been pulling himself up on furniture gracefully for a few weeks- successfully (thank goodness!) used his determination and Quinn's example to climb every step and come to the room that I was in! My baby!! Yay!! (And how terrifying that I underestimated him so greatly to leave the gate open!!!)
We recreated it when Travis got home (Travis followed him up while I coaxed him from the top) and Holy Cow, I was amazed how fast he found his way up!

Here's a pic of my little guy on the first step to give you an idea of his journey:

It's been a while since I've written on here, so I just thought I would do a quick update...

Miles is 7-months-old and still not sleeping through the night. He is super cute, sweet, and happy during the day, so I forgive him for my sleep deprivation.

Quinn still comes up with crazy-cute things to say constantly! Last night we were in Logan Canyon building a fire to roast some hot dogs. I lifted a large branch up to break off the smaller pieces to get the fire going (it was a big, bushy branch) and Quinn looked at me with huge, wide eyes and said, "Mommy, you maked a tree!"

Travis and I are still busy pretty much always. I have been doing a lot of photography, and I am having a blast with it! I am loving the business end of it as much as the photography, which is awesome!

There you have it.

You's Happy at Me!

Two things I have heard about potty training:

• You can't push it.


• Boys start later and take longer to potty train.

Well, I have decided to push it a little bit! We bought a little potty and we got Quinn some big-boy (Spiderman) underpants. He was thrilled at the idea of being bigger (since he is already 'big')! He sat on that potty for half of the afternoon yesterday with no results...

When he was all ready for bed and the lights were off he told me he wanted to pee on the potty... so we gave it another shot, this time with SUCCESS! We both high-fived and squealed with excitement! We sang Potty-Big-Boy songs at the top of our lungs and danced around the room! Quinn kept saying, "I did it, Mom! I did it!" It was awesome. Then when he was calmed down and ready for bed again he looked at me and said, "You's happy at me, huh?!" Very happy, Quinn, very happy!

I Heart Faces Contest

This weeks contest is all about boys.
The kid entry is one of Miles' 6-month shots that I took this weekend.
My adult entry is Travis doing what he loves to do!

Miles is 6-months-old!

I am CRAZY about this kid! I took his six-month pictures today and we both LOVED it. He is in heaven when Mommy gets direct 100% of my attention at him!

I love this picture! Here he is: in the kitchen, on a huge piece of fabric, with all the windows and door open, crammed inside a giant tea cup, Mommy is laying tummy-down on the floor, and the only question going through his head is, "What's this thing on the end of my leg?"

This is what he thought of being an angel.

And, last but not least, his cute little bare bum!

Watch for more of these on my photography website. I will post them when I have all of them edited!

Awkward

If anyone ever considers sending a photograph I have taken to this site, please contact me first for a full refund!

Quinn Cracks Me Up!

I laid with Quinn before he fell asleep tonight and we talked and talked. Finally, I said goodnight and got up to turn the light off. As soon as I flipped the switch and the room went dark Quinn yelled, "OH NO! MINE EYES ARE GONE!"

Do you love yard sales?

I do. Some wonderful person (people?) put together this awesome blog... they even organized it to be north to south! If you love yardsales and are in Cache Valley check this out!

Bath Time!

When Quinn was brand new I was always so on top of documenting every little event through pictures and video. With Miles... not so much! In fact tonight was the first time I ever even grabbed a camera for bath time! (We joke that it is good that they look so alike... we can write Miles' name on the back of some of Quinn's baby pictures!) Miles has recently started joining Quinn in the big tub and they have a lot of fun together! These two love their baths!

A good lesson!

I haven't kept it a secret that I am fed up with the thieving young vandals who live all around us in our apartment grouping. Quinn's toys constantly disappearing or mysteriously breaking, my flowers all being thrashed, my garden decorations going missing, etc. really adds up and drives me nuts! So when we went to McDonald's last night so that Quinn could play in the Playland I was disappointed to see that the place was crowded with kids of "that age" (8, 9, 10, 11-ish). I watched everyone like a hawk. I was ready to stand up for Quinn if an older kid so much as bumped into him (okay, I am being a little bit dramatic here, but you get the idea... I was on edge).

Quinn did fantastic climbing the tubes until about half way. He came out into the opening and then didn't know which way to go. From the ground I was trying to guide him which way to go and he was starting to panic. I was helpless! Then one of the little boys -who I had figured was a heathen- said, "Don't worry, I'll help him!" and took off up the tubes. He took Quinn's hand and helped him up the rest of the way. Quinn squealed and laughed all the way down the slide and came out at the bottom sitting on that little boys lap! As soon as he was standing up he took off right back up the tubes! The boy was right behind him, asking if he wanted help. They rode down the slide together again. The sweet little boy, whom I'd been so quick to dismiss, came over to me to tell me how good Quinn did that time, and that "he learned a lot and was good at climbing." That first boy, along with a second one, helped Quinn and played with him the whole time, not even once trying to escape little Quinn who slowed them down so much!

Those sweet little boys almost brought tears to my eyes; it was a fantastic lesson for me! It was so reassuring to see boys of "that age" being such awesome kids!

5 Months Old!

I am a little late with this post, but as of last Wednesday (May 20th), Miles is five-months-old... and SO CUTE! I love this little guy so MUCH!

I Heart Faces Contest

It is time for another contest at iheartfaces.blogspot.com. This is a picture I took of Quinn on Easter. It might already be here in a blog entry, but since it is the best picture I have ever got of Quinn I chose to use it anyway! Take a look at iheartfaces, or even enter your own picture! I love looking at all of the amazing entries every week!
This has to be included for this weeks entry:
"I am submitting this photo into the http://www.iheartfaces.com/ Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ♥ Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ♥ Faces web sites."

More coffee, pleeease!

Travis is constantly drinking coffee, and Quinn is constantly curious about coffee. Quinn always pretends to be drinking coffee and talks about how much he likes it. Today he was having a little meltdown because we told him he couldn't have coffee... so Travis decided to let him try some! He got a spoonful of straight black coffee (and Travis drinks it STRONG) and blew on it for a moment. Quinn was SO excited! We watched, anticipating a horrified reaction. Quinn put the whole spoonful in his mouth and got a strange look in his eye. We waited for him to spit it out, or cry, or something else dramatic. Instead, his eyes lit up! "MMMmmm! Coffee taste good! More coffee, pleeease!" It backfired.

MMMmmmm!

Miles ate (well, attempted to eat) baby rice cereal for the first time the other day. He was not sure what to think... he looks a little crazed, doesn't he!?

Also, it has been a while since I have written anything about Dalton. Here is an update: He got BIG! He will be eight in just a couple of months and he is as sweet as ever. Here are a couple of pictures I took of him yesterday.

I Heart Faces Contest

I took a picture of Miles this weekend that I am particularly proud of... and it just happens to correspond with the contest theme on my new obsession, http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/! To enter you have to link back to your own page, so here it is!

But, I want to...

Both kids were asleep tonight shortly after nine! That has NEVER happened before! You'd think I would be appreciating it by going to sleep myself, but: no.

Quinn has been really testing boundaries lately! It is really hard to hold back the laughter at some of the stuff he pulls! Here is an example:
We had a (fun) busy day today, and Quinn went without a nap (translation: he was really acting out). We had been playing kind of wild and he was having a hard time settling down- as happens when you are two. Miles was laying on the floor in the living room when Quinn came running in at full speed. Out of nowhere he says, "Quinn sit Miles," and he SAT ON THE BABY! Of course I grabbed Quinn as fast as I could and put him in time out. (Miles was fine and only cried because I scared him when I yelled at Quinn.) When I went back to talk to him before letting him leave time out I explained, "It is not okay to sit on Miles. He is a baby and babies are fragile. That means they can get hurt easier than big kids can. Do you understand?" Quinn thought about it for a long time. Then he looked at me with his big brown eyes and said in the softest, sweetest voice, "But Mommy... Quinn want sit Miles."

Miles is FOUR MONTHS OLD today!

***FREE***

I came across an AWESOME blog that lists LOADS of free stuff... and clearly lists any catches that might come with it. It is: http://www.thefreebieblogger.com/

Here is my favorite:
Free Fender “Soul of Tone” T-Shirt
Musican’s Friend is offering a free Fender “Soul of Tone” t-shirt when you call 866-926-1931 and mention the code TONE.

I called the number and talked to the ordering guy (for the automated system you will push '2' and then '2' again to get you to the person) and now a free shirt (something like a $20 value) is on its way! I didn't have to mention 'tone' or anything like that, I just said, "Hi, I was told I could order a free Fender shirt," and it was done! If you don't want one, order one for me (yes, it's true, mine goes to my husband)!

Miles rolled over...

...for the first time today! He rolled from his back to his belly. He has always been pretty stationary when he lays down -nothing more that a few kicks here and there- until a couple of days ago when he decided he should roll over. Since then he has twisted and turned until he completed the task. Hooray Miles!! He is 3 months and 25 days old.

Easter Bunny Blunder

We woke up around eight-thirty (as usual) on Sunday and had a nice quiet morning. We had been awake for a while before realizing... we hadn't been visited by the Easter Bunny! Eggs had been stuffed, but not hidden! Luckily Quinn is too little to have expected hidden treats!

We planned a picnic and decided to have an egg hunt at the park. We went to Ryan's Place Park, where we had never been before. That place is AWESOME! We all had a LOT of fun there (even Miles who was able to swing in an awesome tipped back swing)! In fact, we had so much fun that the eggs were once again forgotten!
When we arrived home I made Travis wait in the car with the boys while I quickly spread the eggs around the small area at our entrance. At last, Quinn had his egg hunt! And LOVED it!

Practicing

I have spent every free second working with the tips that Alexis shared with me. I can't believe how fun it is!

Before:

After:

I love how just a few simple steps can make a photo look so much better! I am definitely addicted! Here's one of my adorable niece:

Before:

After:

To Boldly Go...

I have had my camera for a while now and until today I had never ventured past the boundaries of the "Auto" setting. With some super generous help from my friend Alexis I made the leap today and together we shot pictures of Miles in "Aperature Priority" mode! Yay! She also sat down and worked with me in Photoshop... I feel like I learned a lot and I had a ton of fun! Now if only Quinn would chill out and play nice with her sweet little boy...

Here are some of the pictures that we took of Miles:

THANKS ALEXIS!!!

First Friend

One of my best friends had a baby boy about six weeks before Miles was born. The babies are old enough now to really enjoy checking each other out... it is super cute to watch them gurgle and coo at each other!

Drew and Miles

3 WHOLE MONTHS

On Friday Miles turned three months old! We have had so much fun getting to know him! I fall in love with him more every single day and I cannot imagine life without him! Here are some pictures of Miles from this weekend:

Travis has been fly fishing like a madman lately and today my brother went with him again. My awesome sister-in-law and awesome nieces spent the afternoon with us while the fellas were gone. It's no secret that Quinn is super unsociable and it was no different today. He is intimidated by other kids and has spent the evening saying, "Chloe scared Quinn!" over and over. Here are some pictures of the kiddos from today: