david & anne plus one

NEW blog! finally!

2010-08-21T21:50:00.001-05:00

it was bound to happen. i tried to like blogspot. i really did. in the end i found it annoying to use so i moved over to wordpress. please head over to my new blog at:

www.davidandanneplusone.com

still working out the kinks but i am DONE with this blogspot blog. hope to see you guys over there!

i was more excited about getting the $50 cookie cutter..

2010-08-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

than i was about my new lens...sad isn't it? lol. and yes, you read that right. $50!

there is a back story, because i would never in my wildest dreams spend $50 on a stupid cookie cutter. i'm kinda sorta an addict when it comes to cookie cutters. i have over 60 of them!

so, a few years ago when i was 8 months pregnant i was sitting on the couch in our super tiny apartment watching martha stewart (the talk show). they were making christmas cookies. particularly santa sugar cookies.

they were the CUTEST cookie i had ever seen in my entire life and i had to have it. martha stewart even stopped while decorating to let us know, "you can get these cute cookie cutters from macy's blah blah blah". and like a good brainwashed pregnant housewife, i waddled my butt to macy's that day looking for them. they were out. i called every single macy's in the DFW area looking for these stupid cookie cutters. NO one had them. i was upset. i was pregnant, fat, miserable, and i just wanted these stupid cookie cutters. i remember even crying about it, (i was pregnant, don't look at me like that). i went to martha's website forum to find out where i could get a set. the only place that had them in stock was the chicago macy's (huge store). i called them to see if i could buy a set and have them ship it to me. no such luck, "sorry you have to come in"! few days later i noticed they were being sold on ebay for about $70, (they sold for 15.99 at macys!). it was crazy! "i would never spend that much money on a cookie cutter", i thought to myself. then last christmas i was stillllll thinking about the stupid cookie cutter (issues anyone?). i even googled and checked ebay to see if anyone was selling theirs yet. nothing! then a few weeks ago i thought about them [again] ::chuckles::. i was surprised to see 3 brand new sets being sold for $50. i was hesitant since $50 for a stupid cookie cutter was pretty pathetic. don't you agree?!. i loled at the description, "the much desired and rare santa cookie cutter featured on martha stewart". deep inside i was hoping someone would hate their set and sell it used and i would score an awesome deal or something. but when i got back from my trip to colorado, i checked the amazon store again where they now only had one in stock! i bought it! i had a bad feeling that if i didn't, i would forever be stuck in this twilight zone episode where the stupid santa cookie cutter ruined my life! ha. the other cookie cutters in the set are cute, but it's funny to me that this ONE little cutter is the backbone to the set. i love it. not one bit of regret that i wasted $50 on it!

oh and while i was in a "lets spend good money on overpriced cookie cutters" state of mind, i bought their other desired and rare collection of martha stewart spellbinding cookie set..

not as much as the $50 ones but more than what it was originally sold for at macy's. i'm happy with it and just in time for halloween! so, if you are SMART go to macys right now and buy up all of martha stewart's cookie cutters and in a year (or whenever she discontinues them), sell them. apparently that's how it works! :o/. and i am just going to call it now because i know in a year or two i will be right and david will eat his words! the star wars cookie cutters at williams sonoma.. are going to be collectibles in a few years. worth more than what they were sold for. and when that happens i have this blog post to shove into david's face with a not so polite, "i told you so". hehe

now on to my new lens, the canon 24-70L. i was hesitant to buy the zoom after some other photographer friends claimed they weren't that impressed with it. i love primes. they're sharp, perfect bokeh blah blah blah. but there are times, (especially now with a mobile toddler), i wish i could switch out to a wide angle in record time. i'm pretty impressed with the zoom. it's a known fact that zooms are not as sharp as primes wide open. but my copy is pretty freaking sharp wide open. and sharper at 3.2. also please excuse the baby boogers. he had just gotten up from his nap (still a little sick) and i was excited to get some test shots and didn't bother wiping his nose until later. eeww i know. mother of the year!

100% crop: taken wide open at 2.8! 70mm

sharp right?! bokeh isn't too bad either. here at 70mm..

and 24mm..

of course if i shot at 2.8 with a prime my image would be SUPER sharp but that's besides the point. i knew that i would have to sacrifice something for the zoom and sharpness is part of the deal. my only complaint (so far) is not with the lens but the package (shipped by UPS). it (shipping box) arrived severely DAMAGED. i opened the box and my lens box has also been damaged. it looks as if a heavy item was on top of it and indented the boxes. the lens appears to be okay. but if i sold my lens, i'm afraid i will have a problem selling it due to the damaged box. i could return it, but i received a sharp copy of this lens and if i return it i could get a dud. so i'm stuck. i don't know if i will ever sell the zoom. even though i am a prime girl, i think a zoom is a good thing to have no matter what. BUT what if?! i'm torn. i don't know what i should do. what would you do? i have less than a day to make up my mind since you only get two days to report shipping damage.

here are some shots where i closed down to 3.2. i don't think i will shoot above 3.2. this test is more of a real world test for myself. i'm sure if i did a real controlled test. the sharpness or something would be off. but for me this is good enough.

and i just thought this was hilarious..

the project/guestroom... a before and after story.

2010-08-18T18:29:00.000-05:00

this room gets a lot of use from me. with all my many projects i'm constantly working on it always looks like a war zone. i'm enjoy doing the before and afters. my entire house needs deep organization so i might just continue until i am finished. it gives me a goal! lol. ashton is still sick. bless his little heart. it's really hard accomplishing my ONE room a day goal with him constantly needing me. i hope he feels better soon!

the pantry.. a before and after story.

2010-08-17T23:08:00.000-05:00

i made this huge long list of things i need to do when i got back from germany. it's sticking to our fridge (not even 50% finished). i'm just a tad bit OCD. i like things simple and organized. today i decided to organize/clean out our pantry.. poor ashton has come down with a cold and low grade fever, (i didn't even know a small person could produce so much mucous!). anyway, he was pretty needy today and it didn't help my efforts. plus david was almost 2 hours late! took about 8 hours to finish. all and all i am pleased with it.

and some exciting news.. david let me have my christmas present early. i now own a 24-70L. it arrives thursday! he made me promise i wouldn't ask for any more 'stuff' for christmas. i promised him i wouldn't ask for any more 'camera gear' (see how cleaver i am?). LOL. i'm excited. i was thinking about getting two primes (24mm and 50mm. from sigma). but i know the thought of the zoom would always linger in my head so i might as well get it. try it and decide from there if i will return it and get the primes or stick with the zoom. but at least i can STOP thinking about it!

how an object the size of a soda can will ruin your weekend!

2010-08-16T01:12:00.000-05:00

we must be prone for bad luck during HOT texas summers! last year our AC unit died and thankfully we were under warranty but it took WEEKS for it to be fixed. now our AC is out again! but the dual capacitor is shot. even worse it was on a saturday night and on sunday every single AC supply/part store are closed! with the exception of one guy who said we could pick up the part we need for $120 or wait until monday when it would cost us $35! we are waiting. and it is miserable in our household right now. i do not fare well in heat. i become grouchy, swollen, sweaty, oily, gross, just complete BLAH all over. i hate it. i get a headache and feel nauseous! it's now 89F in our HOUSE. doesn't sound too hot but it IS! it's horrible!

thankfully we own a window unit but unless you are sitting right next to it, it's pretty much worthless! right now ashton is using it so he can sleep peacefully. poor little boy hasn't had a real chance to play with his toys. anyway. david insisted we go to Ikea for the day (an hour drive from our house). gives ashton a chance to take a nap in a cold car. and us a break from, well everything! did i mention it's the middle of august in texas? the hottest month out of the year. we were at 102F BEFORE NOON today.. and that was in the shade!

we had lunch and browsed around the gigantic warehouse. last time i was there ashton was still nursing and i remember what a big huge headache it was to walk all the way back to our car for a feeding. things change. so quickly. we brought our stroller, but here i am again, wondering WHY?! because ashton wanted to roam around and pretty much refused the stroller. he thought all the little people stuff was the best thing ever. small beds. small tables.. small everything. the perfect world in his eyes.

lots of hands on toys. i love ikea!

severely cropped and exposed with a slow shutter speed so it's blurry big time (and the color balance is all over the place. i'm too hot to even bother fixing it). but it's the only shot i got with ashton in his favorite chair. if it hadn't been $80 we would have bought it. oh and ikea kids are MEAN. while sitting in this chair a little girl (4?) went right up to ashton in a jealous fit and slapped him in the face. :o/. then there was the brat who hogged up the slide, and when ashton kindly tried playing with her she kicked him and did whatever she could to get him off "her" slide. yeah i get it.. they are kids. but their parents are sitting right there, literally feet away from them. wtf! there was a boy who took a toy from ashton while he was playing with it (above the chair pic). the boy had another toy JUST like it. so why he needed two is beyond me. he was around 9 years old i guess.. david took the toy when the boy wasn't playing with it and gave it back to ashton but the boy continued to take it away. frustrating ashton :o(. apparently another boy punched ashton in the face for a toy ashton had in his hands. i didn't see it happen, (david did) but i would have given a tongue lashing to his parents! david said he was shocked because ashton didn't even seem phased by it. i don't know, am i being anal raising my son to not hit other kids and treat them with respect or is this how parenting is supposed to be?! i've met tons of kids who are kind and sweet so they aren't all bad apples. however, i'm taken back by how mean these kids can be! all i know is if ashton pulled ANY of what i saw today, playtime would be O.V.E.R! (vent over).

by the end of the day we spent more than what we wanted on a little table/chair set, which ashton adores! even helped daddy put it together (literally).

an art easel and a tunnel toy.

we tried to make the best out of our situation. hopefully tomorrow morning BEFORE david leaves for work we will have a working AC once again. then i can take a shower without sweating the second i get out. can't wait!

last bit of colorado :: le sigh::

2010-08-15T22:43:00.000-05:00

the day before our last day in denver we went to the denver museum of nature and science. it has to be one of my favorite museums ever. they have the best dioramas! we spent a few hours there before ashton's nap since i had 'the cousins' photo shoot later that day. it doesn't matter how many times i have been there, i still have NOT seen the entire museum yet! they also had a 'body worlds' exhibit (extra). my first! it was interesting! no pictures of the body worlds since cameras aren't allowed. i carried mine on my shoulder as i always do (it's a big camera) and i had two different security guards (plus both ticket takers) REMIND me that i'm not allowed to take pictures. i was polite but really wanted to reply with, "DO YOU SEE ME TAKING PICTURES?! NO?! BACK UP OFF ME! go find someone with a stupid camera phone because those are the people YOU need to watch out for tyvm". ::hmph::

i also don't know why we take a stroller anywhere anymore. ashton IS never in it! the boy has more energy than i can keep up with! whew.

this tree is 502 years old! can't you believe that!? amazing! an exciting day for sure.

some fun at a local park (with my lensbaby) when we first arrived in colorado (2 weeks ago) that i never shared. trying to finally be DONE with colorado pictures haha. ashton's favorite new activity (learned in colorado) was throwing rocks and sticks into water.

and last but not least. the last moments at the denver international aiport with his oma and opa (aka how to entertain a toddler at a airport). i'm sure this will tug at my mom's heartstrings. hahaha. miss you mom THANK you for the most awesome 2 weeks ever!

when ashton throws a tantrum he sits/lays on the floor. no screaming yet (knocks on wood) here he was upset that opa wasn't behind us.

happy opa showed up = tantrum over lol.

and with that. i am ACTUALLY done editing colorado pictures.. can't believe it considering i have several other sets (germany, disney world, friends bday party) to finish! lol. trying to get better about keeping up with my to do list.

the cousins...

2010-08-13T16:09:00.001-05:00

my mom and mike wanted me to take pictures of their grandkids. three very active toddlers! herding cattle would have been easier lol but it was a blast. it was a quick 30minute shoot at a local park.

i shot (the image below) at f/5.6 and ashton still came OOF lol. still need work figuring it out! but it's still a cute image!

lensbaby + poladroid + denver zoo = lazy

2010-08-10T15:41:00.000-05:00

i'm starting to get burned out processing images ha. i hate being behind in my workflow though. if i fall behind i will never process my images and since i use this blog as a rough draft for ashton's baby books i sort of need to keep up with it, (walt disney world anyone? yes i still have to edit those and it was a year ago!).

i decided to use my lensbaby because i haven't in awhile. then when we got home i found myself dreading processing them. so i figured poladroid it is. they edit for you and it's fun. and yes i shook them lol.

ashton is big on zoos at the moment. denver zoo is pretty incredible. we have a great zoo back home but it's not very toddler friendly. the walls for the exhibits are so high up i'm constantly hoisting ashton up to see the animals (my back! ouch!). at the denver zoo the walls are low enough where they can be independent and do their own thing which is exactly what ashton did.

11,990 feet above sea level...

2010-08-10T01:23:00.000-05:00

on the way back to denver we took the scenic route over loveland pass on the continental divide, and what a VIEW. it's my second time up there and each time it's just as breathtaking.

later that afternoon we went to the heritage square in golden. where i saw ashton times 3! lol

good times back home in denver.

i think my lens is going wonky. i've noticed most of my images the last few days are not coming out as sharp as they should be. a hit and miss situation. that or i am so hot it could be user error. ugh. and i hate HATE HATE HATE shooting in direct sunlight. why can't it be overcast everyday huh? WHY?! i'm ready for a new piece of GLASS!

continuing the adventures in keystone...

2010-08-08T23:51:00.000-05:00

we are back in denver. i really miss keystone. i love it up there. i finally finished editing the rest of the keystone images, (can't believe it!). i also just finished week one on the joy bauer life diet (woot me). week two starts tomorrow and i am SO excited to have an extra snack a day.

during the summer, keystone village hosts a kid event every saturday where they provide a large amount of free activities (animal balloons, bubbles, clown act, character drawings, gold mining, spin art, bounce houses, you name it they had it. FOR FREE. i wish every city was like that. ashton was too young to do all of the activities but he enjoyed it never the less, especially the train ride.

then afterward we took the gondola up to the top of the mountain (ashton's first). he absolutely loved it!

after ashton's nap we went to lake dillon for a outdoor concert. ashton played on their playground, danced with the music for a bit, then we explored the lake.

(click here for large panorama)

towards the end of our adventure i noticed a rainbow i thought would be a great backdrop with ashton. ashton however didn't think it was such a hot idea LOL.

adventures in keystone (part one)...

2010-08-08T01:04:00.000-05:00

we have had an amazing time (as usual) here in keystone. i am blessed my mom and mike have a condo here. i filled up three CF cards so i have more to share later, (right now i am exhausted).

the weather has been awesome. it started off a bit cold but it warmed up nicely. not to hot, not to cold. just perfect. we decided to hike over to keystone village to let asthon play on their adorable playground, (a old western town, with jail and saloon etc. if i had a wider lens than the only lens i own right now [85mm] i would have taken a picture of it:o/) since the one across from the condo is being upgraded.

after ashton's nap we went to the "BBQ at the summit" festival in dillon, colorado. normally ashton loves bounce houses. now i think he has had enough until he is a little older. i picked the bounce house with the least amount of kids in it. wrongfully assuming when it would be our turn it would be around the same number/type of kids. instead ashton was stuck with about 7 older boys who ran around like crazy, full of sugar, monkeys. no big deal considering it is after all a bounce house, but ashton freaked out at the plain sight of a bounce house (today at a different event). bummer ha. oh well, plenty of time to love them again.

it's amazing how quickly they like something they normally didn't like before. like the blue balloon. ashton loves balloons. he never really liked them strapped to his wrist though. so when i tied it to his stroller i was surprised to see him begging to hold it. thinking it wouldn't last very long i tied it around his wrist where he left it for the entire night (2-3hrs?). that and corn on the cob.

this is when you know your toddler is D.O.N.E for the day! lol

and a beautiful dillon sunset in the side mirror..

i love the mountains! i really really do!

a day at the denver children's museum...

2010-08-05T09:47:00.001-05:00

with cousin maddy..

maddy is about to be a big sister. she is going to be a great little helper!

ashton has started to show pride in things he can do or sees. here he was telling (not asking) opa to come see his favorite part of the museum. the store (below).

they made binoculars. maddy was so proud she had to find ashton and show him hers. it was so cute.

big trucks = heaven for boys

i was amazed how well they played with each other.

we had fun painting...

dressing up as the cutest little princess...

and well, his face say's it all.

by the end of the day...

they were POOPED!

fun at the schweinfurter volksfest

2010-08-01T11:01:00.001-05:00

my family lives near schweinfurt and every summer they have a volksfest. i'm so happy we were able to go this year. lots of yummy food and fun rides. we went by our selves (with ashton), walked around and ate a ton of food. then we went back a week later with my mom and mike so david and i could ride some ride the non-friendly toddler rides (didn't bring a camera for that trip, but i have some cute videos thanks to mike). ashton ate his first cotton candy. btw, just like everything else, it's a million times yummier and better than the american version,(dye free). they make it fresh right in front of you. they call it 'zuckerwatte' which translates to sugar wad. lol.

can you spot ashton? ha.(unintentional)

trip to nurnberg...

2010-08-01T01:21:00.000-05:00

yes, i realize our trip to germany was over a month ago. LOL. every visit i come home and feel depressed, (i love it there). so much so i can't bring myself to look at pictures until i'm over it lol. :o) i still have a ton of germany pictures to share and will do it in sets of places we visited. PS. i was going through a lensbaby phase :o/

finally found a splash pad!

2010-07-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

and after more googling i found another one. ashton wasn't too interested in it. i think he was overwhelmed. ha. he was more interested playing on the adjacent playground.

we finished the evening by going to twisted burger in roanoke. it was pretty good.

he gets sillier by the hour!

2010-07-29T23:05:00.000-05:00

i should do a real a day in the life sometime soon. it's on my project bucket list.

"just checking my mail ma!"

this was probably my favorite part of today. i was doing the dishes when i hear ashton yelling for me, "MA MA MA MA MA MAMAMAMAMA MA". when i get to him he is standing behind his bedroom door with a sly grin on his face. i give him a funny look (what the heck are you doing?). he giggles and SLAMS the door shut. i can hear him laughing hysterically behind the door. he does it two more times before i grab my camera. we ended up playing with the door for an hour!

david has been trying to teach ashton to not leave his binkies on the floor. believe it or not ashton is really good about it. thing is they are all over the place lol. even on the patio!

BIRD!!! no seriously, that's how it happened lol

my mom's neighbors little boy,(not much older than ashton) loves collecting rocks. it must be a boy thing because ashton has just recently started an obsession with rocks. he will cautiously scout our backyard for them, (and dead bugs. but that's a different story for another day). he puts them in an empty plant container sitting on our patio. they range from large to super tiny pebbles, but his collection is growing. who knew we had so many in our backyard!

the weekend...

2010-07-26T18:03:00.001-05:00

pac-man sugar cookies. not my best work, i need to make more sugar cookies so i am up to par by christmas. ha. they were fun to make. i used a circle cookie cutter for pac-man. used the tip of a heart cutter for his mouth. then i used a tulip cookie cutter for the ghosts. i also had some problem with the pink and dark blue icing. still trying to figure out why it turned all weird on me. :o/

wheat chex, sandbox, and bubbles...

2010-07-21T23:16:00.005-05:00

toddler hood must be rough! ha.

all shot with my lensbaby composer with the f/5.6 ring in AV mode on my canon 5D.

a hot afternoon in the sandbox.

2010-07-13T17:18:00.001-05:00

it took ashton awhile to adjust to the texture of sand but now he is constantly covered in it. PS. i am having a hard time photographing in full sun. i hate it.

handmade cards...

2010-07-13T14:55:00.000-05:00

it's been awhile since i posted some of my craft projects. i need to make three more, (out of idea's with the supplies i own, but i might just make three more like these in different colors or something). they will be thank you cards.

how to:

daisy - martha stewart layering daisy punch

paper - martha stewart collection and paper-source

envelopes/cards - paper-source

envelope liner template - paper-source

glitter/orange marble glass beads/yellow flocking powder - martha stewart

embossing tools - martha stewart

edge cut on embossed card - martha stewart

all martha stewart items can be found at michaels. i'm slowly adding to my growing collection. what i do is buy an item and michaels gives you a 40% off your next purchase (within a week). go back and buy another item, you will get the same coupon and continue until you have all that you want LOL. right now i am working on getting all the flower/leaf punches. only 5 more to go lol.

weatherford peach festival...

2010-07-12T18:21:00.001-05:00

it was hot, humid, and sticky. we tried our best to make the best of it. :o) it was a bumper crop this year and the peaches were DELICIOUS!

they had the cutest antique shops,

ton of free activities for the kids,

and sticks LOL,

great music. this young duo were really really good,

there was a little girl who was dancing around, ashton joined her. he kept giving her pebbles. lol.

things i like to do after (ashton's) nap...

2010-07-07T22:54:00.001-05:00

put stickers on ashton's face.

build mobile homes out of duplo lego's

and

take pictures of my dirty windows. i just got lucky ashton and a grass hopper made the shot. ::grins::

4th of july...

2010-07-07T18:59:00.001-05:00

we went to a small town (haslet) celebration on the 3rd to enjoy activities and fireworks. then grilled out and stayed home on the 4th, enjoying all our neighbors fireworks, (ashton surprisingly slept through all the noise. i didn't think he would but he did). overall a success. ashton really loved the firework show. he ended up falling asleep towards the end of them though. it was two hours past his bedtime and he was pretty tired.

my first newborn shoot - baby jett

2010-07-06T20:17:00.001-05:00

i realize i did this photo shoot (and blogged that i did it) a few months ago but i had to burn another CD for the mom which meant i dug out my external hard drive from the top shelf of the closet (out of a certain little monkeys grasp) and uploaded the rest of the images to flickr! lol.

i know a lot of the poses are duplicates. but it was my first newborn shoot. i went there not knowing a thing how to pose newborns. i hate to admit it, but i actually had to beg the mom to let me go back to re-shoot (thank goodness she's a good friend and was more than happy to have me back lol). the first session was a bust. the mom would disagree since the images will be treasured by her no matter what, but as a photographer who had in-visioned a perfectly posed newborn with amazing depth of field, well.. i failed. the second session went much better and i did get what i was going after. i think if i could shoot 100 different newborns i could and would be good at it lol.. hahaha. i will keep trying. if you are in the DFW area and know someone with a newborn or soon to be newborn let me know. i'm skill building in the newborn department right now and don't charge for the session. ;o). now to the images:

meet baby jett. he's so cute. i wanted to take him home with me.

crickets...

2010-07-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

better run for their lives! not much longer until ashton is able to catch one and eat it.. gross but it's BOUND to happen. XoP blech.

i'm selling my fisheye lens and battery grip to help fund a new lens. i've been shooting with a battery grip for YEARS now. it's really odd holding my camera but i enjoy how much lighter it is!

yummy homemade strawberry ice cream...

2010-06-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

if ashton approves, then it's really good. ;o)

::sigh:: it's been a while since i've updated my blog (again). for some odd reason i haven't been in the mood to take pictures. my poor camera is sitting on the shelf begging to be used. :o/ i'm not sure what my problem is. whatever it is, i hope it ends soon. deep down inside of me i ache for the happiness i once felt when i would carry my big ass camera every where with me. :o( it took every ounce of energy for me to take the images above.

fix it friday for i heart faces...

2010-06-25T12:23:00.001-05:00

been awhile since i did one :o)

check their blog for more before and afters for fix it friday.

i know what you are thinking...

2010-06-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

what was i thinking right? haha. let me just say, clean up involved a scrub brush, ajax, a ton of water, and two days later ashton still looks jaundiced and there are baby foot/hand prints all over our patio LOL! but hey. it was FUN! david came home as i was about to clean him up. i was pretty sure david was going to flip out over the mess we made (it was on our backdoor, patio furniture all over the patio, baby foot/hand prints all over the place. it was MESSSY) but the first thing out of his mouth was, "i hope you got pictures of him looking like this". you bet your butt i did!

plus we made a cute card...

so it was worth it in the end. next time though. we will be painting in the grass and i hope ashton has gotten over (doubtful) the whole, "wow painting my body, white patio furniture, doors, walls, is a LOT of fun" phase. hehe

david enjoyed his father's day. we stayed home the entire weekend, did some grilling, and a TON of yard work (i'm starting to think david loves yard work). as for gifts, david finally got a keg for his kegarator (that he built a year ago). some new work pants, (exciting i know, but the boy will not shop for himself...) a dartboard for the garage, and a edger attachment for his weed whacker. i would have asked for camera gear :o/. ha.

it really was an amazing weekend. he is an awesome husband and the best dad ashton could have ever want. ashton is going through a phase where he wants to sit next to him all the time. follows him EVERYWHERE. the love they have for each other is the best thing to witness. i love both of them so much and some days i can't believe this is my life/family. we are so blessed. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the great dads out there!

the best (imo) actions for a bargain.

2010-06-18T02:15:00.001-05:00

i typically do my own editing in lightroom, it's my preferred method of editing (hello batch) and sometimes i finish up in CS3 with curves, levels etc to warm up and pop colors. but every once in awhile i love to use actions for convenience. i have a couple of favorites, but one that really stands out are the 'actions by jude'. not only is she an amazing photographer, her actions are CHEAP ($5 a set)! and they are amazing (imo). easy to use & easy to tweak. before is the SOOC shot. i shot in RAW and opened in ACR instead of lightroom. the "after" is actually judes just released "golden light" action. my own edit (bottom) is what i would have done in CS3 (with my own workflow). "velvet color and b&w" "faded glory" are her two other sets she sells, (both $5). "golden light" will be released for sale shortly. she has a flickr group (private but anyone can join) where you can see examples of her actions from other photographers.

temptation.

2010-06-15T09:33:00.000-05:00

we are back home now. two weeks went by way too fast and now i have a ton of images to process. i'm *suffering* from a photographers rut. i forced a lot of pictures in germany and now i don't feel like editing them. i wish i would snap out of it already. three weeks. is it normal to not want to take pictures for THREE weeks?! ::pouts:: at least ashton knows what he wants. ::grins::

an evening walk...

2010-06-04T07:59:00.004-05:00

been awhile since i have updated. we are currently in germany for a few weeks. last night we took ashton for a walk to a nearby village to feed the goats and donkeys.

ashton has started finding rocks to toss. so cute. so boy.

he would giggle each time they took his offering.

on the way back we stopped at a park and had a few thrills. ashton really enjoys playgrounds. swings are his favorite.

when ashton doesn't want to go where we want him to go. he throws a tantrum by laying down on the ground. we leave him there and walk a way. except for this shot of course.

just another beautiful hot day...

2010-05-25T01:06:00.000-05:00

i would have put some swim trunks on him but i was too lazy. i blame the heat. sue me. i shot all these images ,in jpeg (something i haven't done in years!) and edited them all with actions, (i hardly use them anymore but i got some new ones and i love them). I LOVE this lens!! david said it's a cool lens but gives him a headache. not me. i love love love love love love love love it! i love my heart bokeh in the sprinkler shots!

great news. momo, our cat that disappeared 3 weeks ago (!!!!!!!!!!!), finally found his way back home last saturday night. we are SO HAPPY he is back home. ashton won't leave him alone. the picture above momo is ashton laying down with momo. it's so weird. we have three other cats and ashton is so obsessed with this one cat.

first haircut...

2010-05-24T00:53:00.002-05:00

it was obvious ashton needed a haircut. and soon.

there were tears, (surprisingly not mine). ashton was super excited to "ride" in the car, (his favorite object right now). but that came to an end when the cape and spray bottle with water came out. it took bubbles, a sucker, and holding daddy's hand to calm him down long enough for a hair cut.

we celebrated with two new pairs of shoes (for ashton), and he enjoyed his first juice box.

lensbaby love...

2010-05-20T23:55:00.001-05:00

i have a feeling this lens is going to be stuck to my camera for awhile lol. they are so much fun and i am so happy i ended up getting it! i also go the accessory kit (macro, telephoto, wide angle, and creative aperture set).

i also got the fisheye (canon 15mm) in today. it's a pretty neat lens. i'm not sure how often i would use it and for the price, it's definitely not worth keeping. so, it's going back tomorrow. i wanted to take it with me to germany but david fears something will happen to it (i.e. i'll drop it) before then. so. back it goes. i just have to decide if i should get the zoom or not. :o/

in a weird rut...

2010-05-19T01:18:00.001-05:00

i can't seem to make up my mind lately. it's causing anxiety. nightmares, can't sleep, i can't pick up my camera etc. which is pretty pathetic if you think about it. i need to buy the 24-70L but instead i bought a fisheye and a lensbaby. my only lens right now is the 85mm. in the last month i have bought and returned the 35l and 135L (both amazing). i knew and know that i need a mid-range zoom. which is why they were returned. so... can someone please tell me what possessed me to buy a FISHEYE (??!! random!) and a lensbaby (i'm actually wanting this lens. i've always wanted one. so i hope at least that works out). i keep staring at my order confirmation in disbelief). i can't return it and get the LENS that should be making it's way to my door in time for our trip to germany. i'm thinking about renting but what a waste of MONEY! ugh! you can't see me but i'm kicking myself right now. :o) it probably doesn't help my anxiety that ashton weaned himself a few days ago! my stomach aches every time i think about it! i cried too. (!!) i never thought i would be so emotional over something i should be proud of. i guess i was hoping/thought he would nurse until he was 2years but i guess 16months is just as good. :o/

ashton the photographer...

2010-05-12T23:02:00.000-05:00

ashton was really upset when david wouldn't let him play with his work camera (butttooonns and blinky lights oh my!). sooo i pulled out our crappy antique point and shoot, (seriously, this thing sucks!). i think i found something to take on our transatlantic flight in a few weeks. it was interesting to see what he managed to take pictures of.

fun with finger paint...

2010-05-11T20:41:00.001-05:00

his first.

my second mother's day...

2010-05-09T22:46:00.000-05:00

we had things planned but you know how that goes. ashton didn't get a haircut either. but. my mother's day was a beautiful one.

david made me breakfast..

ashton drew me a picture.

i got to work on some sewing projects (something i really looked forward to!).

and we grilled dinner. ending the day with ashton snuggles. he is the best thing that has ever happened to us. he made me a mom. i can only hope he looks at me the way i look at my own mother. who was the most amazing mom i could have ever asked for. happy mother's day to all of you moms!

block party fun!

2010-05-08T22:09:00.002-05:00

our neighborhood had a block party today. i baked cookies for their "dessert cook off" which ended up being extremely disorganized, so it turned up as a dessert table. i sent david when the party began to drop off the cookies (ashton was napping). when we finally made it back, there was only one cookie left. they were so delicious! milk chocolate chip chocolate cookies. they are slightly under baked so they are gooey and FREAKING amazing!

they had face painting and two bounce houses. david looked at me like i had three eyes when i told him to take ashton into the bounce house. "but there are kids", he said... wow. what a concept. kids in bounce houses. what is the world coming to? lol.okay i kid i kid. let's just say... david is *very* protective of ashton. so every once in awhile, i have to push him out of his comfort zone. however, ashton LOVED IT. he had a blast. and yes, he jumped. as high as a 16month is capable of. it was very intentional and very amusing to watch.

david was brave enough to let ashton down the slide too....by HIMSELF!! we're making progress!

so much has happened in the last few weeks...

2010-05-06T22:59:00.001-05:00

quick update:

1. my mom and mike came down to see ashton for a week. it was a ton of fun!

2. i did my very first newborn shoot! it went great and will share some pics soon! (i'm very proud of them)

3. david's parents came to visit a day after my mom and mike left.

4. david's dad built ashton the most beautiful sandbox i have ever seen in my entire life, (will post pics sometime soon). ashton's a very lucky boy!

5. i sold my 35L (i know, nuts right? i loved the lens and someday when i am rolling in money i will buy it back). i purchased a 135L (even nuttier?! this sucka is SHARP wide open and FAST! i don't think i have ever seen a lens focus as fast as this baby does!). and because the 135L is cheaper than the 35L, i might buy back my 50mm1.4 (omg!) or the sigma 50mm2.8 macro. not sure yet. my other lens is the 85mm so i need something a little wider ::grins::

6. one of our favorite cats ran away, abducted, or killed. our cats are strictly indoors pets. but every once in awhile, (with our supervision) we let them out in our backyard. once we go in, so do the cats. but we had guests for two weeks and we think he might have snuck out somehow. we haven't seen him since saturday! very sad. we can't stop thinking about him.

7. we leave for germany in a few weeks (omg X2).

8. ashton will have his first hair cut this weekend. (sobs).

9. i must make some playsuits for ashton. i bought the one he is wearing (above) at gap last summer (in the boy section, for all of you who think i dress ashton "girly" lol). he can dress like a boy when he's older. until then mommy is going to make sure he looks sweet and adorable for pictures HAHAHA.

10. PLEASE pray for my friend mandy! almost two weeks ago she woke up in extreme pain and unable to move her arm/neck. she just found out yesterday she needs to have surgery. she won't be able to move or do anything for 6 weeks after the surgery! and even then the dr's tell her it will be a long while before she is able to be back to her normal self.
ETA:
11. ashton FINALLY got his first tooth a month ago and his second just popped up a few days ago! i can not believe it has taken this long for him to get teeth. but they are finally coming in!

well i think that is all. for now anyway :o)

the end.

feet...

2010-04-20T21:58:00.001-05:00

it's what's for dinner!

photo info:

canon 5D
35L 1.4

f/1.4
1/125
1000 ISO

what could cause him to be so upset?

2010-04-19T12:45:00.003-05:00

who knew waffles are a big deal to him?!

what i want to know is, what kind of world ashton lives in that he thinks waffles taste better frozen, instead of toasted? LOL. all i'm sayin' is he didn't get his impatience from me ::grins::

rainy saturday's are the best...

2010-04-18T01:09:00.001-05:00

holga (fake) style. i wish i could get a real one. they are cheap ($30) but film and developing isn't. so, i made my own action to fake a holga until i am able to get a real one. i'm so bored with my daily snapshots looking the same. and trying new things is fun!

i caught david washing my car in the rain. i guess it saves water?!

we tried a new yogurt place and it's exactly the same as another place, but different name, different company. odd. anyway, it's so freaking delicious. we give ashton ice cream every once in awhile and he likes it okay. takes a few bites and doesn't care if you take it away. but frozen yogurt is a completely different story.total meltdown. at least it's healthy.

ps. if you want to see the sooc image of the one above click here.

if anyone wants to know how i achieved my fake holga look this is what i did:

in lightroom2 i played around with the sliders until i achieved the color i wanted. then i set my vignette and cropped (since holga is a medium format camera all images are square). then i exported to CS3 where i added the fake border, blurred the image (holga is plastic so it's blurry on purpose), and added grain using RealGrain. voila. fake holga.

it's hard to believe that a few months ago

2010-04-16T22:06:00.001-05:00

he hated bath time. and by hate, i mean bloody murder type of hate.

photo info:

canon 5D
85mm 1.8

f/1.8
1/320
1600 ISO

mommy's favorite little helper...

2010-04-15T23:16:00.001-05:00

uh-oh. he knows how to open doors now.

photo info:

canon 5D
85mm 1.8

f/2.0
1600 ISO
1/30 (SO SLOW. but i had no choice, reason it's blurry. i love it anyway!)

they're here!!

2010-04-14T15:59:00.001-05:00

finally!.. texas bluebonnets. so in love. this is my first round.. because i wasn't too happy with what i got and plan on going back this evening to try again. don't get me wrong, i love the shots. ashton is my cutie pants i love even dorky shots of him but i plan on entering into the photography contest at the texas state fair this year and i really want a picture i feel good about. it didn't help that i had issues:

one. ashton was a big ol grumpy butt. he does not appreciate being plopped down into a field of flowers. don't let the sweet faces below fool you!

two. i had never really shot into direct sunlight before (to achieve back lighting, at least not on purpose). so i wasn't ready to see a ton of my images hazy. plus side. i figured out how to back-light without haze.

third. my stupid AFing wouldn't work correctly and i am assume it's because of the back-lighting situation that my sensor just couldn't pull itself together. so i shot manually focusing everything. even though i should have switched back to AF when i stopped shooting in direct sunlight. so in effect 60% of my images were OOF. and out of that ashton is crying or making faces equals to 60% of the 40% that were in focus. so yeah. i'm not happy that i ended up with a few images that were usable. i promised david we wouldn't be going back but i lied and i reserve the right to change my mind whenever i want. so there...

it wouldn't be such a big deal if i didn't have to drive an HOUR out in the middle of nowhere to get bluebonnets and indian paint brushes together in a large patch. but that's just the price you pay when you want something that you can't get in the city.

the only thing that turned out the way i wanted were the flowers. oh my gosh i love TEXAS! here's hoping to post better shots in the next few days.

ETA: tonight (round 2) was a HUGE fail... ashton was 100% not in the mood for pictures tonight. i now feel blessed i was even able to get the above shots. i might try again with just bluebonnets (closer to home) this weekend.

15 month well visit...

2010-04-12T21:24:00.000-05:00

he grew almost 3 inches in TWO months (31 3/4") and 24lbs of pure perfection :o). they pricked his toe for hemoglobin (it was low last time and have been giving him iron supplements). his iron is normal now.

art work hanging in our exam room.

hahaha. i changed a poopy diaper and went to throw it out/wash my hands before getting him dressed. i come back and see him trying to open the front door with my keys!

just another sunday...

2010-04-12T02:38:00.001-05:00

started as usual with us running around town doing errands. first stop was the hardware store. ashton pushed the cart and squealed with delight, while stopping to wave "hi" at every little kid we passed.

i goofed off.

david showed off his $1 bills that had numbers in chronological order.

then we headed to sam's to pick up a few things and enjoy free food!

ashton insisted he feed himself yogurt samples. that was soooo fun to clean up after. :o/

then after ashton's nap we headed to the ballpark for a little bit of baseball fun. compliments of david's job. very generous, paid for food, fun games, and our tickets!

unfortunately, the game started while ashton was taking his nap. we didn't want to miss up his schedule/deal with a cranky baby, so we were an hour late. which ended up being great thing since we didn't have to pay $12 to park and no crowds/traffic!

we failed at keeping the home team hat on. at least i outsmarted him for one shot :o).

the view from our seats.

it was so delicious. i haven't had bread in forever!

and it's un-american to not eat peanuts at a baseball game.

i think david is loving my panoramas. he ~~forced~~ suggested i take a panorama from center field.

until next time! it was so much fun. i love baseball! apparently so does ashton, he was an awesome baby the entire time. clapping when the audience cheered. pointing to anything and everything. he was a blast.

we ended our beautiful sunday with chalk. messy stuff but so much fun. i love it!

starting to fall in love...

2010-04-11T00:45:00.002-05:00

with my new lens. ::giddy:: it's taking some time to get used to but i find myself realllllly enjoying it. i can tell a HUGE difference in image quality.

SOOC! i couldn't believe how rich in color all my images were!

today we headed to the zoo to renew our passes.. it amazes me how fast ashton changes. each time we visit the zoo he becomes even more aware and interested in everything.

does it shock anyone else how "big kid" ashton is walking in this picture? when i saw this i almost died! my baby is turning into a KID! :o/ he walked almost the entire time at the zoo! my legs are tired! but he loved it!

playing on the farmland at the zoo and cute farm mural.

then we headed to downtown where we are currently having our annual main street art festival. i love it so much. we missed it last year because we were moving into our house, and this year we didn't really get to enjoy it. it was packed and ashton was getting antsy, (he wanted to walk but with the massive crowds i wasn't comfortable with it). so we left after 45minutes. just enough time for me to get this panorama and some shots of ashton enjoying his first trip to the art festival.

i love making panoramas! with my new lens it's so much easier! this is actually 11 images fused together in CS3.

BIGGER is better.

our beautiful courthouse! they were holding an open tour of it today but we couldn't get to it in time :o(.

enjoying the street performers

both boys ready to go home!

photo info:

canon 5D

35mm 1.4L

settings all over the place (i shot in AV) but i shot wide open for almost all shots (the panorama shot at 3.2). i wanted to see how well the lens worked wide open. i'm pretty pleased with the results.no question this is a terrific lens. i just need to learn how to use it.

not quite what i was expecting...

2010-04-09T22:03:00.005-05:00

got my new lens today (35L). not sure i love it as much as i did in the fall. kind of disappointing really. it's a great lens, sharp, beautiful color, overall perfect. but now that i used it on my full frame camera, i find it harder to get what i want. makes me miss my 50mm that much more. not sure what i plan on doing about it. i guess i could trade it for the 24-70L like i originally planned or buy back my 50mm (1.4 + fisheye? or maybe just the 50L). this is making me crazy. i'm hoping i fall madly in love with it before sunday. i wanted something wider and that's what i got but it's not what i thought it would be. does that make sense? lol. cuckoo-cuckoo!

ashton is addicted to the fish face. silly boy!

photo info:

canon 5D
35mm 1.4L

f/1.4
1/640
100 ISO

me: "ashton, do a fishy face"

2010-04-08T15:51:00.006-05:00

ashton:

love this boy more than anything in the entire world!

i'm so excited. tomorrow my new lens 35L will be in my hands! can.not.wait

i'm also working on a new blog layout. so if things look odd or out of place that's why. i really wanted to move to wordpress, so i hope this "re-design" helps me stick with blogspot. :o)

ashton and his wind sock...

2010-04-07T16:52:00.006-05:00

this last sunday we went to the museum and they were making wind socks. ashton helped smear on glue and pasted a few pieces of tissue paper before becoming bored and eating the paper instead. it hangs in ashton's room since it's his first real piece of artwork. but every once in awhile (like this morning) we take it outside and watch it flow in the wind.

photo info:

canon 5D
85mm f/1.8
f/1.8
1/4000
800 ISO (this was a dumb move. i forgot to check my ISO before i started taking pictures, normally i would have shot at 100 ISO and a lower shutter speed ::sigh::) oh well.

his future is so bright, he's gotta wear shades!

2010-04-06T16:17:00.003-05:00

BIGGER is better.

photo info:

canon 5D
85mm f/1.8
f/1.8
1/60-80
800 ISO

happy bench monday!

2010-04-05T15:42:00.005-05:00

i'm a follower! plus mandy ~~pushed~~encouraged me into doing it, truth is i've been wanting to do it for some time now. so thanks for the encouragement!

photo info:

canon 5D
85mm 1.8
f/1.8
1/250
160 ISO

around and around..

2010-04-03T20:30:00.003-05:00

i love it when ashton learns something new. all week i've been showing him how to turn around in a circle and all week he's been trying so hard to do it himself. tonight he finally did it. i'm still trying to get him to point to all the things he knows. that's why i keep asking him. he will do it if i don't have the camera (figures!) but at least i got head out of him! (he learned hands this week too).. so proud of him!.

bow down to the dandelion prince...

2010-04-01T18:15:00.005-05:00

we spent almost the entire day outside. amazing. tomorrow it's supposed to rain. so i'm glad we took advantage of it.

makes a pretty necklace too.

then something horrible happened. i was blowing bubbles for the cute little dandelion prince when i dropped my camera. it plummeted to the concrete and bounced around like a ball!! oh my heart aches as i type this. i'm pretty sure it landed lens first because my lens hood popped off my lens and now i have two beautiful dents on the lens rim. awesome. ugh. i guess it could be worse. the glass could have shattered. i'm pretty positive the lens hood saved it. my camera and lens hood also have scratches. i literally feel sick. i took a few test shots and realized after uploading them into the computer they were blurry. it looked like a back focus issue but i figured i should test later when i wasn't so shaken up! after a billion test shots, i'm happy to report my lens is in great working order. sharp as a tack. THANK GOODNESS! because i was about to lose it!

after ashton's nap i went back to taking pictures. the prince demanded i give him a banana by bringing me the entire bunch of bananas... how could this not brighten your day? i didn't even know ashton could lift a bunch of a bananas let alone carry them from the ktichen to the patio lol.

and in true toddler form. he scarfed it and left the peel behind.

i feel like i could eat a bunch of bread after my day. i'm still on my diet so it was VERY hard for me to not give in to my temptation. you know the, "i've had a hard day so i deserve it" bit. although after what i went through it's the truth LOL.

no doubt he is going to hate me someday for doing this to him...

2010-04-01T00:24:00.003-05:00

but at least his girlfriend/wife/daughter(s) will think it's adorable. ha. round one for his easter portraits. i want to do a studio style shoot with his easter basket on sunday (i hope). happy early easter from the cutest baby bunney ever!

loving this warm weather!

2010-03-31T15:14:00.002-05:00

yesterday i shipped off my old camera (canon rebel XTi) along with some other ebay items. i hope the camera's new owner loves it as much as i did (once upon a time). ashton thought he would help by crawling and standing on top of the boxes. thank goodness i had my camera near by. anytime he does something like this and i run to get my camera he stops whatever he is doing.

then we went outside for some water table fun! although in this picture ashton doesn't seem to be very impressed with it, but i promise you it was a hit.

see!! i told you!

then ashton told me a story...

he's so expressive with his hands!

it was a gorgeous day. afterward i packed up my little bunny (complete with tail and david) and headed to the botanical gardens for an easter shoot. toddlers are really hard to photograph but i was able to muster up a few images that are worth sharing (will post in different post).

oh and i reserve the right to have a change of mind. i know i blogged about getting a 24-70L zoom lens. but i've been struggling with the fact it's f-stop is at 2.8 (i'm a bokeh addict) and some owners/users are implying that it's not worth the $800 more than what the tamron zoom lens cost. soooooo, i might just get the 35L. i rented it last fall (on my crop camera) and LOVED it! i need a wider angle that is good in low light (now that i got rid of my flash) that is capable of amazing bokeh and sharp sharp sharp. i don't think i can ever be a zoom girl. i think my heart is set on primes. i don't know. i'm not in a big huge rush really to get the lens. ok i lied. i am in a rush. i just don't know which to do. :o(

PS. i am having seller remorse selling my 50mm. :o(

100% pure joy! and some video too.

2010-03-30T00:49:00.006-05:00

his face says it all! ashton can go down the "toddler" slide by himself! and boy is he proud.

can't you just feel the JOY!?

he couldn't stop grinning.. he lovessss slides (you can see he still has NO teeth at 15months!)

I AM...

GOING TO...

EAT HIM!!!

really.. ashton truly loves slides. i found this park for workouts and it has one of the most amazing trail systems ever. we go here almost 5 times a week. he starts squealllllling the second he sees the playground. then he gets upset because we still have a ways to walk before he can get out and well that's no fun for either of us. but it's worth it!

PS. i love baby squats....... a lot. as much as ashton loves slides!

PSS. please enjoy this photo of ashton sampling the dirty (probably has 10 different kinds of animal feces) sandbox. he gagged. it's okay to laugh. we did. ;o).

PSSS. VIDEOS! (at the request of my mom). first one is of him going down the big kid slide. the second video is actually TWO videos merged together. i'm not sure how that happened exactly and frankly i am too lazy to figure it out. so the first part is ashton going down the toddler slide by himself (such a big boy ::tear::) and the second is ashton being.. well ashton. :o). the annoying high pitched noise is me. sorry about that.

yay! spring finally made it!

2010-03-28T16:38:00.002-05:00

pulled the rest of the weeds today and mowed the lawn. looks so nice and inviting now. can't wait for the bluebonnets to show up.

practice makes perfect.

2010-03-26T23:25:00.004-05:00

i know i posted this a long time ago. but i promised i would share some pictures from my good friend tara's maternity session. if i could go back and do it all over i would have had the light (from the window) on her side and not from the front. the shadows would have showcased her cute belly bump. i was unaware there is a thing called flat light. but that's why you do these kind of practice shoots. to learn from your mistakes. lol. either way she enjoyed the pictures... plus it was free. i also wish we had more time to go out to the gardens so i could get more natural shots. but bless her heart (literally). this pregnancy hasn't been easy for her. she really really wanted some maternity shots with her in jeans and that's what we did. i can't wait for her baby boy to finally arrive so i can practice some more. i wasn't able to with ashton since at the time i lived in a tiny apartment with NO light. now i live in a big house with tons of light ha. figures. PS. if i did this over. i would have gone with seamless paper and not fleece. photoshoping out the wrinkles was a PITA. and even now looking at them i still missed some spots. ugh. i processed all images in lightroom then in CS3 for sharpening and to fix wrinkles. settings all over the place.

i've been busy around here (ebay, spring cleaning, chasing a very mobile toddler around. no kidding i caught him standing on our dishwasher door getting into the clean dishes this afternoon! yadda yadda yadda). which is why i haven't really updated. that and the fact i sold my lenses (!!!) so now i only own the 85mm and it's a bit long for indoors. gah. now i just need money to buy the zoom. i'm still a few hundred short. not sure what i will do but it will work out. :o/ i hope. and mandy, thank you thank you thank YOU for lending me your backdrop stand. i know i've said it a million times but tara wouldn't have these pictures had you not let me borrow your backdrop stand. love you!

ashton used to hate bathtime...

2010-03-20T21:48:00.003-05:00

not anymore!

i can't believe it. but the above images were done without a speedlight (at night!). i almost regretted selling the speedlight since i mostly used it for bath time. i am relieved now that i know i am still able to capture cute bath shots with ambient light.

P.S. today it snowed.... again. i am ready for spring already!

photo info:
canon 5D
85mm 1.8
SS - 1/200-250
ISO - 800
f/1.8

happy st. patty's day!

2010-03-17T21:08:00.003-05:00

i had something completely different in mind but ashton wasn't having any of it. so, $1 worth of stickers, white onesie, and a green blanket = st. patty's day pics. :o) which almost didn't even happen. ashton didn't want to sit still for the pictures. so i gave him a yummy earth sucker (above). btw. they are SO good and probably the healthiest suckers out there. they are made from 100% organic ingredients, no corn syrup, gluten, wheat, dye, tree nut, peanut, GMO, soy, and diary free. 100% natural flavors. i have a stash of them but i'm on a diet where i can't have sugar :o(. i probably shouldn't have given one to ashton because he was bouncing off the walls this evening and we only let him have it for a few minutes. ANYWAY. some outtakes. before and after the sucker. fun stuff i tell ya! they are never too young for a little bribery! ;o)

PS: a picture of ashton one year ago today ;o)

big FAT fail.

2010-03-17T10:42:00.006-05:00

ashton refuses to drink cow milk. i've pretty much tried everything except for formula. i had some free stuff laying around (toddler formula) and thought i might try it. if he liked it i could mix it with some cow milk and wean him (don't get me wrong i enjoy nursing, but he is only nursing in the mornings, nap, and bedtime for short periods. hardly enough). it didn't exactly work out. he was begging for something to drink (pointing to his sippy cup on the counter) so i handed him the formula. he took one sip. looked confused... well more like, "WTH IS THIS CRAP?!", started coughing (slight gagging. i'm not kidding), and threw it across the floor. okay lol. that didn't go so well. but i thought i would leave it out for an hour just to make sure. after an hour and realizing the sippy cup i put it in has a tendency to leak, i went to pick it up before it leaked everywhere. i could not find it anywhere! i looked in his room. the kitchen anywhere ashton has access too. then i checked the oven drawer.. and there it was. ashton hid it. he has never hid anything before. i went to grab the camera (i document anything). ashton was still pointing to his sippy cup of water sitting on the counter and followed me into the kitchen thinking i was finally getting his message. he saw his other sippy cup where he left it and excitedly went to it.

i thought.. he was either going to drink MILK on his own OR i get to capture him gagging on it.

he didn't gag but he remembered how horrible it was. you can see the disgust all over his face (view sightly larger). he promptly placed the sippy back into the oven drawer..

and shut the drawer! LOL. i was laughing so hard. poor kid. ::sigh:: i don't know how i am going to get him to drink cow's milk. i ended up giving him some water where he drank as if he hadn't had water in ages.

50 1.4 vs 85 1.8

2010-03-14T23:15:00.005-05:00

shot with 50mm

a few weeks ago i realized i would need a zoom. problem is i don't have any money to purchase a zoom. ashton is getting to the point where i can't step back very far to take a picture without him walking out of my reach, and although I LOVE my primes it's just too much effort to step back to get a shot i want. the only way i can afford a zoom (i am getting the 24-70L) was to sell both my primes. it killed me to get rid of them. i debated back and forth for TWO WEEKS. talked about it non-stop with my friend mandy (also a photographer. probably drove her nuts). finally it hit me last night. keep ONE prime and sell the speedlight instead. i hardly ever use my flash. you look back on my blog and it's hardly ever been used. i consider myself a natural light photographer anyway. i could always rent one if i needed it for vacation or a certain shoot (it's way cheaper to rent vs. a lens that's for sure!). plus with my 5D, high ISO is pretty damn decent. now my problem was which prime to get rid of? today i took both out to the botanical gardens and did a mini shoot to figure out exactly which one i should stick with. i'll tell you now, i am keeping the 85mm 1.8.

how i made my decision was based on how fast it AF, which lens is sharper, and bokeh/DOF quality. not only is the 85mm better built. it's USM is SILENT, unlike the 50mm 1.4. something i really like. i also noticed in lightroom that color was even better on the 85mm. something i hadn't noticed before. mostly i had fun shooting with the 85mm. i knew the second i started shooting with it this evening it was the lens i would keep. here are my comparisons:

i shot wide open on all images. both lenses have sweet spots (sharpest) but i wanted to know which was sharper and better performing wide open. no sharpening was applied to any of the these images. my camera doesn't apply sharpening when i shoot RAW, so i am pretty amazed how sharp some of these images came out SOOC.

notice how smoother the background appears on the 85mm?

testing sharpness. 85mm is clearly sharper in all images than the 50mm. 50mm is pretty sharp but 85mm is even better.

100% crop of the above images:

testing DOF.. i prefer the look of 85mm (again). the background is very creamy compared to the 50mm.

so... yeah. the 85mm wins in my book. i'm so in love with this lens. i'm so happy i get to keep it!

here are some other shots (shot with the 85mm)that i just love. it was ashton's first time back to the botanical gardens since he learned to walk. it was very exciting for him. he loved every moment.

and lastly. do any of you ever wonder why i never post pictures of myself on my blog? it's because i am FAT (my endocrinologist tells me i am borderline obese). i am very unhappy how i look and feel. which is why i am doing something about it. i have lost 10lbs in two weeks by simply cutting out bread, pasta, and sugar. i do NOT starve myself. i eat when i am hungry (portioned control). i eat a lean protein and high fiber diet and to celebrate two weeks of sticking with it, here is a picture of me with ashton. taken by david, who complains i never take pictures with ashton. i hope to change that this year. the lighting was really weird so i ran sesame ellis action "warm mood" and "simple smoothing" because let's face it.. i look worse with wrinkles. :o) i bet $10 this is the first picture my mom ends up printing from this blog post. lol. i don't think she even has ONE picture of me with ashton.

i don't know what came over me but somehow i gave (willingly) david the camera and he snapped several pics. all look horrible. i had my hair in a ponytail and there was a slight breeze which explains the awkward hair do. three reasons i posted this pic.. one: i need a "before weight loss" picture. two: ashton is ADORABLE in it, and three: david is right and i need to get over it. i start working out tomorrow. i am nervous. i wanted to give myself a few weeks to get used to my new diet without feeling overwhelmed. i plan on doing strength training with kettle bells. i hope i can stick with it. i really really want to get fit again.

rainy day fun at the museum.

2010-03-07T21:11:00.003-06:00

i went to the movies by myself this morning to watch the disappointing 'alice in wonderland'. i hate going to the movies alone but it was also kind of nice. i might do that more often ;o). when i got home ashton was demanding to go outside (i'm not kidding.. he goes to the door and starts banging until you open it). too bad he didn't realize it was raining. we headed straight to the museum. where ashton owned it! i don't even think he knew we existed.

observing ashton learn cracks me up. if i show him something he typically doesn't care.... now if a "big kid" does something, he watches them very very closely, like a hawk. today, he kept watching the kids put their coffee filter/paper flying inventions in the wind tunnels. he pointed at them and went straight over to the toddler wind tunnel, picked up a piece of paper (the green one), and stuck it in the wind tunnel. just like a big kid. :ol ::wipes tear from eye:: ehem.. anyway

i survived week one without bread, pasta, or sugar. i thought it would be a lot harder to follow but i did really well. i decided that from now on, as a reward to myself, to eat one carb meal (bread, pasta etc) on sunday. today we had mexican and it was SO GOOD. i was careful not to over-do it. i hope the second week is just as easy as the first! i can do this!

denver zoo.

2010-03-03T10:20:00.004-06:00

i'm kinda sorta behind if you haven't noticed lol. i came home and it has been non-stop since i got here. blah. i feel like all i have been doing lately is processing images. finishing up my friends maternity (yes, still. i didn't take my external hard drive with me to colorado), and finishing up the rest of the colorado pictures really can take it out of a girl. ;o) that and the fact ashton is 99% walking now and into everything! can someone please explain to me why i am so fat? i feel like my entire day is a workout. what gives?! on that note. i gave up bread, pasta, and sugar. i have a thyroid disease so it's a lot harder losing weight but i realized i eat A LOT of bread, pasta, and sugar. i'm day three and so far the cravings aren't too bad until your friend shows you a picture of a cupcake or when your husband wants pasta for dinner :o/. i can do this. i know i can. more about it later.

anywaaaaaay. back to the denver zoo. we had fun. obviously.

oh man, i know i have said this before. but ashton's second year will be full of work. i just know it. right before i took this shot, there were two little boys looking at a tank (behind ashton). ashton (who walked the entire time at the zoo) gravitated towards them and pretended to know what the two boys were doing. then ashton decided he didn't want to share the tank view with them and started wedging himself in between the boys and the tank. ::sigh::. the two little boys decided they weren't putting up with his bossy ways and left (what he's looking at in the picture). he did the same thing to his cousin maddie while visiting my mom. if maddie was getting attention from opa or oma he made sure to change that!.

jealousy has started!

ashton really loves aquariums. i need to find some time to take him to dallas for the aquarium soon!

ashton discovered a bridge and wanted to keep going over it.

these monkeys were so CUTE. i showed them a lid (from one of ashton's food containers). they tried so hard to get the lid. these monkey's were smaller than my hand! i wanted to eat them they were so cute!

the very rare zoo squirrel.

"kitties!!!". ashton LOVES cats (we have four). he wouldn't even look at the animal unless we said "look at the kitty". even if it was an elephant. when he looked we would repeat the correct name. ha. you have to be smart like that.

something about the flight home. i was going to get over it. but after three days i am still thinking about it. i was really stressed about flying back home (alone with ashton). as most of you know i nurse. ashton doesn't like bottles and cow's milk in a sippy cup is still an issue. so i really like to have the window seat on a plane in case i have to nurse (ashton had already been on 7 flights and i have had to nurse on all of them). if i wasn't already stressed out enough, the airline screwed up and gave me an aisle seat, (i confirmed with the ticket agent when i checked in it was a window seat). no biggie i suppose. but it was the person i was sitting next to that topped the cake. she appeared to be normal and nice but i quickly found out i was sitting next to my worst nightmare. i sat ashton down in my seat so i could store my bags. she started talking to ashton:

stranger: "are you going to be a good little boy?"
me: "i sure hope so"

i sit down in my seat

stranger looks me straight in the eyes: "please feed him his bottle when we take off. one thing i can't stand is a screaming baby"
me: "oh i nurse"
stranger.... right IN FRONT of ashton who is ONE foot away from this person: "OH SH*T!".

i could not believe it!

i prayed. i begged God to please let ashton be a good baby. pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase. i'm happy to report ashton slept the entire time (something he has NEVER done on a flight). but the lady and her husband decided they would talk louder than anyone else on the plane and all i kept thinking was, "lady if you want my baby to be quiet maybe you should shut that trashy mouth of yours".

okay maybe now i can get over it. 14 months of nursing and this was my first negative experience!

lol.

2010-02-27T14:01:00.002-06:00

i pranked called david. you can listen to it here and of course you cab prank your own friends too! lol.

we ♥ modern art.

2010-02-26T01:13:00.002-06:00

from dali to escher. i favor surrealism over any other art out there. something about it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. i enjoy other kinds of art. but modern art takes the cake. today we went to the denver art museum (DAM). it was one amazing afternoon. i just wish david could have been there. he finds the funniest things to say about modern art. it's like having your own personal comedian, (i'm one lucky gal). he would have really enjoyed it!

ashton was thrilled to be there. i wasn't sure how he would handle a museum. he absolutely positively loved it! the DAM has a children's section.

look at him GO! in the last week he has really stepped up his walking skillz. he can turn, balance, pretty much go wherever he likes now. he also knows how to demand i put the camera down and feed him.

then the worst thing happened. my camera died! (i know i know. this shouldn't have happened to me..... but it did). talk about a debbie downer! as soon as i saw the art i knew i would regret not charging my battery up, (that and buying an extra battery). the camera would turn on for a split second before dying so i ended up manually focusing,(since AF would take up too much time before the camera would die) turned the camera on real quick and SNAP a picture before the camera died. i did this throughout the visit. i was not able to view my images or change any of the settings on my camera. so this will explain why some of the images suck but i have to be honest. it was thrilling NOT knowing what i would find on my flashcard. i should do that more often lol. manually focusing, snapping one picture without viewing it after wards. :o) i also missed out taking pictures of all my favorite exhibits since we were short on time.

my mother's favorite. this is only half of the exhibit. you walk through it. everything but the foxes were red. the food, red. the table setting, red. every----thing, red.

i passed by this several times before i realized it was a PAINTING! i could have sworn it was a photograph. but nope. oil and acrylic. there were several of these around the museum. she had PORES! freaking awesome!

my favorite exhibit. this is a HORRIBLE capture of it. the room was odd shaped (walls and ceiling). all white walls in a dark room. it was a massive room with several family sized black bean bags all over the floor. tons of projectors and lots of, well i'm not sure what to call it exactly, whatever is on the walls (sometimes it was words.. sometimes lines and/or dots). we sat in this room for a good 30 minutes. it was relaxing. ashton even enjoyed it! i tried capturing a silhouette of ashton on the screen (top image) but he dropped out of sight as i snapped it. but you can see me and the stroller! lol. i wish i had a full battery, i could have really gotten some great shots in this room. :o(

if i could re-do this shot i would have asked my mother to put ashton down and hold his hand. lol. but that's what you get for only getting one shot.

hello blurry! but this was a moment i had to share. we were in this room looking at art when ashton just decided he was leaving. he kept waving "bye" to us and continued to walk out of the room. we sat there laughing because he would wave without even looking back, but it was clear as day he was ditching us. i followed him (of course,) had one chance to get a shot and this was it. he was headed to the doors. four things amaze ashton more than anything, escalators, elevator buttons, stairs, and doors!! he will do whatever he can to get to any of those four things ,and if you dare pry him away, be ready for a temper tantrum. i am SO in for it.

this was a super duper fun exhibit. it was HUGE (you can't tell by the picture). inside are bungee cords. you walk in them. it was a BLAST. ashton had a fit when i disappeared into them. he tried to follow me but it was just too difficult for a one year old to handle.

did i mention ashton loves stairs? yeah. he only knows how to go up.

i thought he would enjoy the cars going under the bridge. in reality he didn't care.

by far the weirdest piece of art (and trust me there was tons i didn't get on camera). another room (only 2 out of 4 walls are shown). it was a pretty cool room. but the artist said it was, 'jesus in the hospital'. lol. i would point out the parts that are laugh out loud weird but it's highly inappropriate for me to mention on my blog with david and my family reading. this is when i really wished david was there. it was so bad, i loved it.

outside the museum. i know i said this already.. but it was a fun afternoon!

just pretend there is a cute little boy named ashton sitting where the water bottle is. it started raining/snowing with wind. ashton was tired and hungry and i didn't feel like it was worth getting him out of his cozy warm/dry bubble for a shot. so my wonderful water bottle volunteered. ;o)

visit to vail.

2010-02-23T00:38:00.003-06:00

was amazing!! it's beautiful in the winter but even more gorgeous in the summer. we went for gelato and i must say, it was the best tasting gelato i have ever had in america.

after wards ashton discovered escalators.

we went up and down, up and down. and anytime we see one (such as the mall or airport) he demands we hitch a ride and throws a fit when it's time to go.

vail reminds me of germany for some reason.

it started to snow. it was gorgeous! i know it looks like this image is washed out but it's actually steam from the heated pavement (fancy schmancy).

i love it when you turn to your awesome husband, tell him to get over by the statue and look cool, and he actually does it. haha.

stopped snowing and we continued with window shopping and enjoying the atmosphere. i kept smelling hot dogs. which is rather amazing since i have been severely congested all week!

ashton showed off his walking skills and his cute hat which gets SO MUCH attention.

and he made sure to let everyone know how displeased he was when i decided he should stop playing with the snow with his bare hands. i made sure to capture it. because that's what i do best :o) there was a very strong hot dog smell that was driving me nuts. i was SO hungry!

right around the corner there it was... i couldn't resist. i indulged on a $6 hot dog and enjoyed every moment of it in about two seconds flat.

thought this was pretty and snapped a picture of it. right after wards i enjoyed a crepe and hot chocolate. vail made me hungry for some reason lol.

bye bye vail.

it started snowing heavily on the way back to keystone. this is what i find amazing, because thirty minutes later.....

it stopped! that's copper mountain in the back.

i've been to colorado many times during the winter and it hardly ever snows while here. this year it's practically snowing every single day. (LOVE IT) david went back home on sunday. i miss him a ton! ashton and i are going to enjoy the rest of the week here in denver.

i ♥ faces, week 8, hands on fun.

2010-02-22T10:37:00.002-06:00

to see all of the great 'hands on fun' photos, click the I ♥ Faces button below!

up in the mountains.

2010-02-20T12:29:00.004-06:00

flying with ashton is a lot of work! i feel like i need a vacation when we land. he doesn't cry so much as wants to touch, kick, bang the seat in front of us. we were lucky this time around. the plane was half empty so no one was sitting in front of us and we had an extra seat, which didn't seem to make one bit of difference!

forward facing! back home we are keeping him rear facing for another year at least. i would love to go even longer but we will see. he is enjoying being forward facing for his vacation though.

we are up in keystone until tomorrow. that's when david flies back home and i am here by myself with ashton until next sunday (!!!!). i ended up getting really sick the first few days here. 101F fever. chills, aches. it was horrible. david went skiing without me on thursday. i just hung out with my mom and ashton. took him sledding for the first time. he loved it.

i finally felt better enough yesterday to hit the slopes. only for half a day but it was amazing as usual. it snowed the entire day. beautiful. i love it up here!

what a great valentine's day!

2010-02-15T01:59:00.002-06:00

we lounged around the house all day! watching ashton learn new tricks. such as learning how to get on his hot rod..... by HIMSELF!

and he is officially a walker! i thought my eyes were tricking me when i saw him do it. all day he wanted to walk not carried. the look on his face when he realized he is FREEEEEE was the most amazing thing i have ever witnessed!

still working on those maternity pictures.

2010-02-14T16:33:00.004-06:00

it's been busy over here and i've been trying to do them when ashton is in bed, but i find myself literally exhausted by 10pm. must be the weather. hopefully i will be finished in the next two days. but in the meantime i would like to share some of the edits i have done. since she is one of my bestfriends i really wanted to give her several options for each image. this is what i came up with. i hope she likes them. i will share some of my favorites from her shoot later.

SOOC:

a simple edit: (my typical work flow i use on my own images)

some fun edits:

black and white edits:

"you're NOT looking!"

2010-02-12T22:15:00.002-06:00

a month ago ashton started taking his first steps. i guess you can say he is sort of walking. he's at that stage where he can walk, but he doesn't have enough confidence to let go and "go". we have been working on building his confidence and it's taking some time. he really loves walking on asphalt. i don't really know why. so when i told david to go out in the middle of the road so i could get some shots, david was hesitant. "what if he falls?" he asked.. "he won't", i replied. typically this is where ashton takes off walking and you are jumping up and down inside with excitement. but today, instead of taking off walking like he normally does with me, he stood there with these huge saucers that are his eyes and lifted his chubby hand and pointed his finger (that someday i will eat) and said, "EH". which is ashton speak for "OMGOSH LOOK!".

he stood there.. keeping his balance for about two mins. all while pointing and "EH"ing at everything he deemed worthy.

we could NOT get him to walk and david was trying so hard to get ashton to move forward but ashton wouldn't budge.

david: "let's walk"
ashton: "what's wrong with you people?!?! LOOK"

david: "i give up!"
ashton: "you're NOT looking!!!"

FINALLY! a step forward!

:o)

we rewarded him by going to the indoor playground. he is growing up way too fast. just a few weeks ago i couldn't get him to stop touching other kids. now he has no interest in them and just wants to play on the equipment. he is getting really good at climbing. he climbed his way to the top of a slide tonight (no pictures, maybe next time). he did it so effortlessly too! scared me to death the first time he did it.

PS. the last two shots were shot at ISO 1600. i didn't apply any noise reduction on them even though i should have. i can't believe how noise free this camera is! have i said how much i love my new camera? ;o)

the most amazing snow day!

2010-02-12T13:05:00.002-06:00

we received over 12 inches of snow in a 24hour period. broke the 1964 record! everything looks so dreamy. i was telling david how i wish ashton could have been older to enjoy it (just for a day, then i want him back as a baby). he said that it will probably happen again next year. unlikely. last time was in 1964. i wasn't even BORN yet!

all the kids in our neighborhood are having so much fun! ashton loves watching them! every morning i open his blinds first (we have blackout drapes too) and typically ashton heads straight to his toys and starts playing. not today. today he got up and went straight for the window.

i really wanted to go to the botanical gardens to take pictures of the trees but as soon as i hit the road i realized it wasn't a very good idea and went back home. david said the roads are much much better today so i might take ashton out (even though the trees have lost their snow). he needs to get out anyway. he is driving his mommy batty today. :o)

pumpkin was interested in the snow but not enough to actually crawl around in it.

it was nice because david came home super early yesterday and left late for work this morning. it's always a nice break. not so nice starting monday though since i'm sure david will be up in his ears with car accident claims (darn you crazy drivers ;oP).

12hours later. i didn't think we would get more snow at night (it had been snowing for 24hours already!) so i took a picture right before ashton's bedtime. this morning i took another picture and sure enough, we got several more inches of snow during the night.

i just wanted another picture this morning of our house with the snow. when i was going through the images i noticed ashton in the window with a big smile on his face.

majorly cropped from the image above, (as you can tell) but i wanted to share it anyway. he kept waving at me from outside. so sweet!

next block over. people scooping snow off their driveways with tiny shovels lol. LOOK at all that SNOW! like i said it was an amazing snow day. i loved every minute of it!

ashton's valentine photo shoot!

2010-02-08T21:06:00.006-06:00

i called my mom up yesterday after i had ashton's photo shoot. i was just too excited and had to share it with someone. i told her i would post them on the blog shortly and never got around to it last night. it was a busy busy day yesterday. i also took some belly shots of my friend. i'm still working on those, but i will share them once i get them finished. i'm sure my mom has been blog stalking for pictures of her munchkin all day. i apologize in advanced for the amount of images. there were too many to chose from. all were my favorites. david made it sound easy and said he would pick three from each set. he ended up picking 7 from each set.. yeah wasn't so easy was it honey!? and thanks again to my bff mandy for letting me borrow her backdrop stand! i love you girl!

i also made his overalls. for a week i was brainstorming what he could wear for his valentine shoot. i looked everywhere (janie and jack, gap, potterybarnkids etc) and couldn't find a THING! i wanted something simple (re plain nothing on it) but cute. then i found some left over red fabric and voila, his overalls! i am amazed how easy they were to make and took NO time (2 hours). definitely something i will be making again! pattern by make it perfect.
PS. make it perfect patterns is having a drawing to win their newest pattern. deadline is february 12th.

being careful what you wish for.

2010-02-03T22:17:00.003-06:00

a few months ago ashton would bring me his toast to break up into smaller pieces. i remember thinking to myself that i couldn't WAIT until he figured it out for himself. then one day he figured it out and found myself missing him coming up to me to break his toast.. i was sad.

last week ashton started asking me to break his toast again. but this time i'm not wishing he figures it out. i hope he does it until he is 18! i think it's so cute. he comes up to me and sits there with his arm up until i take the toast and break it up. i'm happy again.

it's been a tough week. ashton got sick, then i got sick and it took over a week for us to be normal. now the weather is cruddy and i am aching to take some portraits of ashton. i just need a maid to come over and do the million loads of laundry and other chores i neglected while sick and a personal assistant to make sure my head is screwed on tight.

feeling better.

2010-01-27T23:06:00.003-06:00

at least better enough to enjoy some playtime in the backyard today, before an arctic cold front hits us (again.. another chance of snow tomorrow). i love snow but i would be lying if i didn't say i am ready for spring to arrive!

that hair!! lol. he is SO close to walking. he has already taken his first steps. we were unable to get it on film. it happens so fast and unexpectedly i am never fully prepared for it. he just needs some confidence. sometimes he loses his balance while standing. he catches himself but it upsets him. :o/

as odd as it sounds, today was the first time playing in our backyard. he has been back there before but not since he has been mobile. for some reason, and it could be just me, but i swear he had bird poop vision and bee-lined for it. gross. i need to figure out what kind of things we can do in our backyard. it's not really "kid friendly" right now. it has a slide that we got from our neighbors and that's pretty much it. unless you count the bird poop and the electric box thing (whatever it is. it looks dangerous therefor the best toy in the world according to ashton).

oh and bricks.

he kept licking them (???). kid needs to get out more!

sick boy :o(

2010-01-25T20:57:00.002-06:00

ashton has a double ear infection. that explains the constant fussiness, refusing to nap (he sleeps through the night just fine), and slight loss of appetite. i can't imagine how long he has been in pain but i hope he starts to feel better soon. real soon!

what's worse is that we are having great weather right now and it's supposed to get bad later this week when i'm sure ashton will be feeling better. :o/

good bye 20's, hello 30's!

2010-01-23T13:24:00.006-06:00

the texas longhorns were a hit!

i'm another year older and not one bit wiser. ashton's been sick for the last few days. nothing serious (thank goodness!), but he's been a lot of work lately. my birthday was no different. with his fever gone he now has a runny nose and a small cough that you hear every once in awhile (i think it's drainage). he seems to be uncomfortable but eats/drinks okay and when something interests him enough he's a happy boy which makes me a happy mommy. which is why i HAD to get him out of the house yesterday. i had planned on the zoo but ashton refused to take a decent nap. on the way to the zoo i realized that i didn't have much time to really stay there for very long and i was right by the fort worth stockyards so we made other plans. i'm so glad we did!

and since it was my 30th birthday i felt entitled to get myself a new action (because a new camera just wasn't enough). i don't normally use actions anymore, i prefer my own thing in lightroom, but every once in awhile i come across one that i just have to have. i really want this girls golden light action but it's not on sale until spring (boo!). her current one for sale, velvet, was only $5 and felt justified to it have around. you know.. just in case i do want it (later) and she stops selling it. what do you think? personally, my own opinion, i think the color version of the action would look much better with outdoor shots like she demonstrated. the grass here in texas is dead (or sleeping.. whatever). so i will wait and see if i end up loving it later.

sooc:

velvet by jude action:

after ashton's (somewhat) nap. he was crying right before i took the picture, so he looks more sad than he really was.

or the black and white velvet conversion: which i like.

i also want to show off this book my mom got ashton for his birthday. books that grabs ashton's attention are the 'touch and feel' and 'pop-up' books. right now this ocean book is #1 with ashton. we used to have it on the shelf with his other books, since my mother said it was cheap enough for him to rip up, (she found it at costco for $7). however, after seeing ashton with it and how much loves it. it went up to the special book shelf that ashton will never be able to reach unless one of us adults are there with him :o)

you can purchase it here.

but this is my favorite part about the book. you see the (red) fish in the center? watch what happens to it:

it's magic! lol. they have a bug and wild animal collection that i plan on getting later for him.

so we went to the stockyards (as i said before). ashton reallly loved the longhorns. i have forgotten how much fun the stockyards are (and free!). we made it just in time for the cattle drive. ashton and i practiced walking around while waiting...

then the show started:

did you know the longhorns horns are 6 feet LONG!?

and is this not the funniest thing you have seen a horse do? the cowboy was going around before the cattle drive, telling the horse to smile at the tourists. i so badly wanted a picture of it but ashton was out of his stroller walking around (not by himself), so i figured i would just get it next time when we came to visit. thankfully after the drive and ashton back in his stroller, i saw him just sitting there and asked him if i could take a picture of the smiling horse. lol. i want to frame it. it's so FUNNY to me.

then i came home to the best birthday surprise!

david is the best husband! beautiful flowers, cute cat card (i love cats), and my favorite, a fruit tart. i wasn't expecting anything else than my camera (WHICH I LOVE!) but it really made my (hard) day with ashton so much better! thank you david!

it was soooooooooooooooo delicious! rather surprising since most of the fruit isn't even in season!

and the bottomless pit made sure i shared it!

soo that's how my 30th year started. it was a rough start and ended up being one of the best birthday's ever!

it's HERE!

2010-01-21T20:23:00.002-06:00

my new camera arrived today. i purchased used from adorama and i must say i am really impressed with how NEW it looks!

bottom line: i am in love! i am SO glad i decided to go with this camera! i am still figuring out all the settings. i wasn't able to play with it much today because ashton came down with a fever this morning and wouldn't nap in his crib. he insisted that i hold him.. for three hours. bless his little heart. nothing feels worse than having your baby not feel well. then the second david came home i thought i would be able to really play with my new camera, but all i wanted to do was take a nap. now it's too dark and ashton's in bed. i hope tomorrow he feels better and maybe i can really play with it.

i did get a few shots in. just real quick.

ashton eating cheerios. i didn't know how to work all the controls since the layout is a little different than the rebel. i just used AV mode and shot wide open (not the sharpest) ISO 400. photographers with full frames always tell you it's a different world with full frame. and it is. it feels RIGHT. with my 50mm it was like a whole new thing. i am really impressed with the results. i also shot a few test shots at ISO 1600 (the highest it goes) and i am REALLY impressed with the noise. much much much better than the rebel!

eek i hope tomorrow is a good day!

comparison shots, shot with david's point and shoot. i didn't want to mess up his settings so i just shot with whatever it was on. talk about bad. lol.

::sigh:: i love it!. ps. someday i am going to sand and restain that table. it looks horrible!

camera peeps i need some help.

2010-01-17T11:06:00.009-06:00

note: i know this post is long but i really NEED someone to read it and give me their honest thoughts.

don't ask me how, because i don't know what i did for david to agree to get me a new camera. but he did, (i think it means that my birthdays are covered for the next 10years or something to that affect. haha), and now i am stuck.

as most of you know i shoot with the rebel XTi and it's been a great little camera, it really has. i feel i have outgrown it. by a lot. i really want the 5D MarkII. but it's pretty much out of the price david is willing to spend on it. i could say, "okay i will save to get it" but that will mean it will NEVER happen and if it does it will be a LONG while before i will be able to get it, and BY then something better will probably have come out and knowing me i will want it and be posting how i wish i wasn't so poor blah blah blah. so now, i am left with two options. the impressive and new (but cropped sensor) canon 7D or the classic 5D (full frame!).

pros and cons to both.

7D-

pros:
it shoots VIDEO not just any video but 24p HD video. take a look for yourself what it can do ( it's the most amazing thing ever). i've been in the market for a video recorder as well but david always says we don't have money due to my expensive camera hobby. whatever.. deep down i know he loves that i have this hobby. now i get both with this camera.

i will be able to shoot at HIGH ISO with low noise. a super plus now that ashton is getting old enough for the museum and aquariums (low light situations).

wireless off camera flash. it has a built in flash transmitter for my speedlight. but not really needed. it's a plus.

faster AF control. i know i won't be shooting sports (not anytime soon at least) but my rebel has a hard time keeping up with ashton and he only crawls. (but i bet the classic 5D is better but not as good as the 7D).

cons:
cropped sensor.

classic 5D (not to be confused with the super awesome 5D MarkII)-

pros:
good camera. really good. it's been around for a while and used to be what everyone wanted not to long ago. i remember dreaming about it about a year ago but thanks to the 5D MkII the price has DROPPED considerably. it's a bit cheaper than the new 7D but it's used :o/

FULL FRAME!!!!!!!! this is really the part that is making it hard for me to make a choice. you see. full frame is awesome for my needs because it allows me to use my primes more often and the field of view is so much better than the cropped sensor view that the bokeh actually LOOKS better. and for bokeh freaks (such as myself) this is a huge deal for me.

cons:
other than not having any of the pros on the 7D's it's a great camera. i know high ISO will look better on the classic 5D because of the way the field of view is presented. the only way i think high ISO will be a problem is if i crop and i don't do that very often. i crop for square images and 8x10. but i keep it at the size it was at. i don't shrink the box to fit my image in it. if that makes any sense at all. and even then. again noise will only be a problem if i plan on printing the image at a super large size. which i don't think will ever happen.

for you newbies or non-camera savy people you are probably thinking, "it's a no brainer. go with the new camera that has a ton of neat features". i'm going to explain a little more why it's a difficult choice.

the crop factor:

image from digital photography school. read the entire article about crop sensors etc here.

the black (entire picture) is full frame. MY camera that i have now and the 7D is the green box. that's what the camera sees. BIG difference right? but it doesn't end there. though the bokeh (blurry background) DOF (depth of field) stays the same with cropped or full frame, the way it's viewed FOV (field of view) is different. full frame appears to have a shallower DOF thanks to the FOV.

images by gary gray. you can read the entire article about the above images on his blog here.

the image on the left was taken with a canon 30D (cropped sensor) and the right with a classic 5D (full frame). both had the same lens, set at the same settings, at the same distance. looks different right? well when you take portraits it makes the image look completely different. i have a few big favorite photographers that i look up too and until this moment when i am trying to decided to go full frame or stick with cropped sensor i realize the cameras they are using are full frames. i know the photographer has A LOT to do with an image. much more than anyone who doesn't own a DSLR realize. but i have been trying to get this bokeh look down like my favorites and was unable to do it, (some examples. 1, 2, 3 4, 5).now I KNOW why. i found a calculator online where you put in your info for a cropped sensor camera and it ends up telling you what you would need to get the same look as a full frame camera.

for example: i own the 50mm f/1.4 lens. if i used it on the full frame camera and got the most awesome bokeh you have ever seen! (TRUST ME) it would be next to impossible to recreate the same look on a cropped sensor. i would need to find a 30mm lens that had an f-stop of f/.9!! which doesn't exist. see the issue?

so i guess in summary. do i want the images I DESPERATELY want to achieve with a USED full frame camera, or do i want to settle for what i've mastered on a cropped sensor camera and have a pretty awesome video capability among other pluses with a brand new camera?! i need some guidance here people, so please let me know what you think. and now that i think about it. i have a hard time processing my images as it is. do i really want to have a ton of video that takes up a lot of space to process as well? hmm. please please please chime in.. even if you consider yourself a person who doesn't know a thing about cameras .thanks :o)

and for my mom, who just rolled her eyes at me (again) and sighed so loud i could hear it three states away, a picture of your munchkin: who by the way has learned to CLIMB before he could walk (pictures to come soon). i think you are going to be getting your little rock climber after all.

look at all the board books we will have to read! i love our library!

ashton LOVES maisy mouse. he pulled this book out himself. i don't know if he knew it was maisy mouse but it was the only book he ended up opening up and going through hahaha. could have just been coincidence.

the bankcard

2010-01-14T11:36:00.003-06:00

christmas 2008 i accidentally left my FAVORITE and only wallet that held my life and two completed punched picomollo ice cream cards that i worked so hard to fill up and was saving for a rainy day in the williams-sonoma shopping bag. david then accidentally threw the bag in the dumpster thinking it was a bag of trash. 14 months later i still have not requested a new bankcard (or found a new wallet). i just take david's when i need it or go to the bank. but david is getting annoyed i take his bankcard and i am getting too lazy to go to the bank. so i guess it's time for me to get a new one. it sounds really pathetic but i haven't gotten one because our bankcards allow pictures. and well. i have SO MANY to chose from. i don't even know where to begin. i finally decided i will get one with newborn ashton on it. it will remind me how small he was and it goes way too fast.

david actually took the three shots above. he wasn't even a full 24hours old yet. so sweet.

this is the image i chose for my bankcard. now i just need to figure out black and white or color. what do you think?

the water table.

2010-01-13T18:16:00.002-06:00

have toddlers? get one. now. right now. they are amazing. ashton has been having issues during bath time. after trying all sorts of things, lower temp water, more toys, less toys, no toys, bubbles, no bubbles, different soap, big tub, little tub, etc. we realized he doesn't like water being poured on his head. we can get him calm and he will play but the second you pour water on his head he flips out. so we have been washing his hair with a wash rag. i plan on signing ashton up for some swim classes soon so i hope it will help. however, it's okay if he splashes water on his own head. ::shrug::

today was the first time he got to play with his water activity table. and i must say it's going to be coming out often. it's too cold to use outside but i threw down some over-sized beach towels in the ktichen and let him have at it and he went bezerk. it's been sitting in our living room since his birthday and he sort of just looks at it with a confused look and passes by it. now he walks by it and expects water to be in it lol.

this last weekend we decided to check out the new and improved fort worth science & nature museum. it took over a year to finish and i am so happy they finished it in time for ashton to enjoy it. it's so much better than the one they had there before. we became members so we will be spending a lot of time there.

fun in the elevator!

and they have a children's museum. super cute. i can see ashton spending hours and hours playing in it when he gets a little older. right now everything ends up in his mouth. :o/

ashton is now taking applications for a bestfriend. lol. he can't keep his hands off other kids.

birthday party awesomeness

2010-01-12T15:49:00.002-06:00

ashton turned a year old. i can't believe it. i still can't even believe i have a CHILD, a SON, a ONE YEAR OLD TODDLER! i can't even remember the year. wait. i remember nursing an ENTIRE year. i still can't believe that either. i didn't even think i would last 6 weeks nursing. nursing was quite the challenge for me but i am SO PROUD i stuck with it and still going strong. ashton shows no signs of wanting to wean anytime soon and i am looking forward to another year of nursing (my next goal). it's amazing how much a baby changes in a year. people with kids tell you that all the time but you don't even truly understand it until you have one yourself. anyway. happy birthday my sweet boy. LOVE YOU LOTS

camera details: canon rebel xti (how i wish i could get my hands on a 5D). tamron 17-50mm 2.8. shot on aperture priority (AV mode). only because parties are busy busy and i didn't want to fuss with manual. open wide at 2.8 (not the sharpest but i wanted LIGHT). ISO 200. no flash was used, all natural light.

party details..

it was a small get together. i wish i knew more people with kids. ashton LOVES kids.

the party hat i made for ashton and that he refused to wear :o(

took me forever to make the streamers but i think they came out cute i am proud of them we bought one of those DIY helium balloon kits. i highly recommend them.

ashton loved his streamers too :o)

no wise cracks on the inappropriate balloons ::side eye:: i wanted to use the small yellow balloons, but thanks to the crappy quality they kept popping, so i had to use the long yellow balloons. david insisted i take them down but i refused. they had TO MATCH (colors). LOL. and they do. they just. look.... like. uh.... never mind. i also made the banner. for a week i looked for birthday banners. i couldn't find one that i liked. so, i enlarged some font and printed it out on regular paper. cut it out and traced them onto colored card stock (cut out). then i punched holes on the top and threaded some string through the holes. VERY SIMPLE. anyone can do it. the hardest part is getting it centered but it worked out okay.

ashton LOVES balloons. which is why i decided to have a ton of them for his first birthday party. he ended up getting tangled while playing in them and crawled around the house attached to the balloons. quite comical.

the hand-dyed tissue balls. took me FOUR days.

ashton's smash cake. i baked/decorated. i did a lot myself to save money.

he was quite upset that we wouldn't let him touch the flame. oh the horror!

however he LOVED being sung to.

i was hoping he would smash his cake (hence the name. smash cake) but he picked at it instead.

ripping the cake apart and attempting to throw on the floor means "all done".

our neighbor (8 years old) tied ashton's pull toy to his jeans so when he crawled around it would follow (obviously she has a little brother lol). i just wish i had thought of it first!

the ice cream birthday cake david just had to get.

and my rainbow cupcakes i made but no one touched because the ice cream cake was a hit. :o(

i let the kids help ashton unwrap his gifts. he loved it all.. the attention from older kids and the new toys/books.

overall it was a success. ashton really enjoyed it which is all that matters.

my kid is ONE. ONEEEE! how did that happen?!?! so sad.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas.

2009-12-25T23:18:00.008-06:00

oh wait. that actually happened. hahahaha. i couldn't believe it but we had a white christmas down in texas this year. what are the ODDS of that ever happening?! that pretty much sums up ashton's perfect first christmas ever. it started on christmas eve when i headed out to do some last minute shopping (i know. i planned on doing something different and it failed. horribly.) and pick up ashton's new car seat (thanks MOM & mike!). when it started snowing! first it seemed like your typical flurries that texas gets every year. nothing big. just an hour or two of flurries. where nothing sticks and next day you're wearing shorts and flipflops again. boy, was i wrong. get ready for a play by play. i know my family (but mostly my mother) wants to see how it all went down for ashton's first christmas :o).

then it got worse.. much much worse.

by the time i got home we had two hours before we had to make it to david's family annual christmas party. thing is. i couldn't even pull into our own driveway, it was that icy. never the less, we packed up the car and the poor baby who didn't have a say in the matter and attempted to leave. we made it to the stop sign down the street and got stuck. so after we got out of that ordeal. we went back home and called it a day... missing the party and free food. we watched all the unfortunate people who had to drive in the weather on the news...

...and played christmas tunes (beat drum style) on our christmas gifts. my sweet next door neighbor brought over some sugar cookies that her kids decorated and some delicious homemade tamales the day before, which ended up being our christmas eve dinner. i called it a night around 9:30pm. santa was late putting gifts under our tree. i caught him at 8am this morning while ashton was getting a diaper change (he SLEPT the entire night without waking. too good to be true?).

doesn't david's bed head bring the lols? cute! ashton was excited! and not because he was chasing a cat. he knew, (i know he did), that today was a special day.

i love our christmas tree. i never blogged how we got it (i've been kinda sorta busy). we wanted to chop down our own tree this year (we have christmas tree farms in texas.. who knew!?) but ended up shopping at wal-mart. we went in on a friday where they had a butt load of noble firs (the kind we wanted if we had to buy a pre-cut tree). decided sunday we would get one and when we got there they only had ONE left. it came home with us. it's been a nice tree.. sheds a little but not nearly as much as the others we have had. smells nice. we had to buy all new ornaments that would be safe for ashton. (i.e. plastic. gah). we have four cats and glass ornaments were not happening this year. i went with a gingerbread/candy theme (of course). anyway. i really love our tree. i admire it everyday. i'll be sad when it gets picked up by the mulching crew.

we did something out of sync. typically this is the moment where we rip open our gifts in excitement but because of all the snow and the fact it was SUNNY and nice outside we decided to get out and take some nice shots before it all melted. maybe even build a snow man.

you can't tell but that is an inch of ice on the street! (thank goodness for snow boots)

isn't his sweater the CUTEST!?

frosty the snowman kept his promise. he came back on christmas day! david did most of the building. ashton and i watched from inside, where it was warm, sipped apple cider, and munched on peppermint bark.

then finally, after lunch, and a nap for ashton, we were ready to open gifts. at 2pm.

a gift from santa. he has his own special wrapping paper (with santa on it). he loved this toy. he isn't walking alone yet. but he will (try) to push it while holding on to your hand and walking. it's actually quite comical to watch. hehe

next up..

..the cute wooden choo-choo train (and yes, i did just say that).

mama needed some new reading material. ashton doesn't really "get" reading yet. i read to him several times a day and sometimes i feel like i'm reading to myself. i hope he starts to love it as much as i do. he wasn't too happy with the books. in fact he seemed annoyed by them LOL. a classic. "the giving tree"

ashton's thinking "what is this.. more books?" hahaha. great classics imo. i love dr.suess. 'fried green eggs and ham', 'cat in the hat', and 'the best nest book'.

special gifts from his aunt ariane and uncle jon. love it. thank you!

stickers!!!! tons and tons of stickers!!!! he eats them right now. i have some practice stickers we are working with before he can use his good stickers (for art). but he still enjoyed getting it. this is when he started getting annoyed with unwrapping gifts.

legos!! i ordered this huge set. not thinking that it would be huge. well, it's huge (i know. made sense right?), it came in a ugly brown box (turns out it's wholesale for lego education but any joe can still buy them). it's a good price for how much comes in the set. could use better packaging though. what you see is how it arrived! he really loves legos (yes!). and ashton not enjoying unwrapping gifts anymore lol. oh no. poor kid. he has to un-wrap gifts. the horror!!! the HORROR!!! good thing there are bows to keep a kid happy! parents for the win!

so we switched gears. time for mommy and daddy to open some of their gifts.

so far he got new socks, undershirts, three stooges (volume 5.. david LOVES the stooges), and the bourne trilogy set.

back to ashton. woot woot.

david: "look ashton, a new BOOK"
ashton: "oh hell naw, these pine needles laying on the floor look like more fun!"
hahaha. i really hope he starts to enjoy story time... soon.. real soon.

this wooden car really caught his attention. he was grabbing at it before david even had a chance to get it out.

ashton lovesssss puzzles. he doesn't fully understand them yet. he knows the pieces can be pulled out and he knows they are supposed to go back on the board. he just doesn't get that they each have a spot etc. he still loves them though.

one of david's favorite beers. he had been eyeballing this gift set for a month. he wanted the glass ::eye roll:: hahaha.

another santa gift. i think this is when ashton finally realized what opening gifts meant. he was very eager to participate and even more when he saw what it was. (wooden beads!! cute right?! that santa sure does have great taste). see him pointing? one of these days that pointing finger is going to disappear. because i ate it.

clothes for david!

there he goes again with that finger. and am i seeing things right. is... he... showing interest.. in a BOOK?!!!!

a sign your kid is SO done opening gifts. david had to unwrap the rest. two sets (abc & 123) touch and feel flash cards.

my gifts! admit it.. how many of you are green with envy that i have a pioneer woman cookbook? hahaha just kidding. i love her. props to david for remembering i wanted a set of new mixing bowls.

the aftermath. david had it all cleaned and organized within 5mintues. he's pretty amazing.

his new set of wheels (he also got a cozy coupe car).

and just because this is freaking hilarious. i suppose he sat on a bow. he was crawling all over the place with it jiggling around.

when you know your kid is done with christmas until next year.

HI FROSTY! goodnight blogland. merry christmas to everyone. hope it was a good one!

how to break habits.

2009-12-21T10:41:00.004-06:00

do you complain how you never have time to get things done. i.e. clean the house, cook dinner, take your baby/kids somewhere fun (park, museum whatever, anything), workout etc etc etc? yet you are all caught up on your DVR and celeb gossip? LOL! i think even though i recently cut back on my computer/tv usage, it's still not enough. it's hard breaking a computer/tv habit. i don't even know where to begin. i could start of by admiting that ashton went down for his nap at 9am. it's almost 11am and i could have cleaned, figured out what's for dinner, and take a shower. what did i do instead? play on the internet! it would be more justifiable if i didn't do this everyday, but i do! i need to manage my time better. anyone have sites or recommendations to help me out?

WHY?!!!!

2009-12-21T00:05:00.002-06:00

update to the last post about nap training. ashton has been sleeping in his crib as if it was no big deal. it took ONE night. few tears were shed (we opted for a method that wasn't CIO. i am surprised it worked). i couldn't believe it. so, early tonight this is what happened:

david: "do you put ashton in our bed anymore?"
me: "not since he has started pulling up on the rails"
david: "so does that mean he won't be in our bed anymore?"
me: "until he knows how to get down safely. nope"
david: "so the bed rails can come down?"
me: "sure go ahead. it would be nice to get into our bed normally"

i just walked into our bedroom for the first time since david un-installed our bed rails and my heart broke in a million pieces.

me: blank stare as i feel that deep empty pit feeling in my stomach. "i want the rails back. right now. put them back. NOW."
david: "why?"
me: "i think i am going to throw up" ::leaves the room::

WHY WHYYYYY do babies have to grow up? it's not fair!

::sniffles::

dear ashton, you're growing up waaay too fast. sloooooooooow it down. thanks. xoxox mommy.

nap training fail.

2009-12-07T18:02:00.002-06:00

david and i have started to sleep train ashton (we are co-sleeping since i nurse and it's just easier. but now that ashton has started to crawl easily on all fours and stand up where ever he pleases we feel it's no longer safe for him to be sleeping in our bed). i tried getting him down for two hours for his nap. we are using the lady sleep shuffle method. you stay in the room with them and gradually move to the door. until they sleep by themselves. anyway. ashton spent one hour crying (my head hurts) and one hour fooling around in his crib. i was right up against the crib with my back facing him (when i was facing him it just seemed to upset him). he was rubbing my back softly when he stopped. i slowly got up and peeked into the crib to see if he was finally asleep. this is what i found...

:o)

2009-12-06T21:51:00.003-06:00

i love how david's eyes are shut in the first picture and i love it even more than i posted it. hey it was the only one. he should learn to keep his eyes glued wide open ;o) they must be banking it. they had two cars like this and the place was PACKED. david and i both figured hardly anyone would be at the festival because it was freezing and rainy. boy we were wrong. i love this place!

great news! i tied first place in the gingerbread contest at the german deli.

the house i tied first place with (we both won a $250 gift certificate). they said it was super hard deciding on the two, so they did something they have never done, gave us both first place lol. i'm not complaining. when i saw her house this afternoon i was FOR SURE i was going to place second. she did an amazing job on it. i congratulated her after we won and found out this was her second gingerbread house ever. just like ME! lol. i asked her if she plans on entering again next year (she is). so i better step up my game. mayyyjah competition lol.

house that placed 2nd

placed 3rd.

i don't know why that second picture came out so blurry but it was the only i had of the inside of the house (i was trying not to hog the entire table up). this house won the "most creative" award.

and now for the rest of the gingerbread houses:

MY HOUSE! when i started taking picture this one lady was looking at all the houses with a few of the people she was with. she pointed to mine and said, "i would vote for that one". my face lit up. i told her it was mine and she ended up talking to me for like 15minutes about how much she loves it and wonderful it is. talk about ego boost :o). i was so proud.

the judge... judging. i should have taken a picture when he lifted mine up to announce it made first but i wasn't paying attention lol.

my boys with the blurry gingerbread houses (my fault).

now for some random pictures of the german deli. YOU have no idea how thankful this place is so close to us! when i need a german fix (which is pretty much every week) i head here. now i have $250 to waste in this spot. (merry christmas to meeeee!).

that isn't even a fourth of the store. they have everything you can think of (for double the price. but when you have a german craving it sure does beat the expensive flight over there to bring it back lol).

the gingerbread house that started it all. they had this out on a table a weekend ago with the gingerbread entry forms next to it. i guess someone in the store made it or they had it made. it's supposed to be some buildings from a town (david's favorite german town btw) rothenburg.

david looks thrilled (wth?!) lol. a german map. you stick pins where you were stationed or from.

one pin for me and one pin my mother stuck in there awhile back. (the two push pins next to each other by themselves).

well, wish me luck.

2009-12-05T13:13:00.003-06:00

i only had time and energy to finish one. turns out my cold took a turn for the worse instead of better and finishing this house was almost not going to happen. i probably won't win. i have had some people tell me it's too simple for a gingerbread house. but i love it. david doesn't want me to give it up for charity (silent auction after judging contest) so he asked me if i would be willing to make another one JUST like this one for us lol. everything is edible (even the trees) except for the base board and the snowman's nose (a toothpick). what do you guys think?

i'm worried how i am going to get it to the store. it's a 35min drive :o/ lol.

SNOW!!!

2009-12-02T22:30:00.008-06:00

first, i haven't updated in a while thanks to a cold i am fighting. i feel like POO. with that said, it snowed this morning! ashton was in awe of the fluffy wet stuff. i could not believe my eyes when i looked out our bedroom window and saw it.

he loves to point and say "da". we think it means "look". since that is what we do.

david looks thrilled to be heading to work. lol

i love his reflection and expression.

i am not making it up. he was in love with the snow.

it was gone a few hours later.

i'm also entering into a gingerbread house competition at the german deli in grapevine. (this weekend). so far i have spent one entire night designing two houses (one for me, one for the competition. i will donate the house for charity after the judging). i couldn't purchase any patterns since i didn't have time to wait for it to arrive in the mail. instead and with some inspiration, i made the patterns myself. this royally messed me up. two pieces ended up backwards! i was able to save one piece but the other i will have to remake. then i realized i didn't even bake one of the roof sections and THEN by the time the icing was semi-set, i realized that i had one of the pieces upside down. i had to rip it out and redo it. such a freaking headache! lol. so far the house is not turning out the way i imagined it. if you plan on making a gingerbread house, you DO NOT need that much glue icing to hold the pieces together. i realized this after i made it that you don't need a lot.

one day designing, one day baking, and one day half assembled. terrific. at this rate i will be finished next year lol. tonight i have to bake the two pieces i need to finish this house and the next house (a different design. i'm channeling the hansel and gretel house). i hope to have them both done by saturday (the last day you can turn in the house). HOPEFULLY i will have it done on friday so i can share them here and you can tell me which one you think would win. lol. first prize is $250gift card so it's a pretty good prize lol. i doubt i will win anything but it's worth a shot. if anything despite the headaches it's still fun.

our holiday week was spent with my mom and mike. i love being around them. they are so much fun. they come down again in a week and we are all looking forward to it. this time i plan on checking in advance for any activities. here are some shots i was able to take during the thanksgiving holiday.

such a goof ball.

oh yeah. for a week we lived without a heater (we had a lot of fires). i almost froze to death while my mother kept saying the house was warm. we had our a/c unit up in the attic replaced this summer and apparently the installers didn't check to see if our wattage matched with fuse breakers or something. melted the wires and fuses. thankfully they came out yesterday and fixed it just in time before it snowed today.

thanksgiving day!

ashton meets santa at nordstroms on black friday (he also got a pair of new shoes!)

one of the many walks ashton enjoyed with oma and opa.

and some fun fake polaroids. (poladroid).

whew. okay that was a nice break. now back to baking. :oD

prettiest blocks ever made.

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by haba.

the room looks so much bigger without the rugs! (in the wash)

some more pics i have taken throughout the week. i'm a little behind in my photo sharing so please forgive the photo assault.

with his new walker. which he LOVES

bedtime for a sleepy boy.

laughing.

i love my 85mm lens. i really really really do!

fix-it friday edit.

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this is my edit for the fix-it friday i heart faces blog. (i did not take the picture)

BEFORE:

AFTER(S):

i cropped the image. as for editing. i honestly don't remember what i did but my main focus was to try to down tone the blow out leaves first. then i lightened the image and did a quick saturation boost to the leaves. i also messed with curves a bit.

Be sure to head over to I heart faces to see other amazing, creative edits!