Things That Make Me Cry

Whew! These pregnancy hormones are really starting to get to me. I'm going to be a total wreck post-partum! Here's a few things that have made tears well up in my eyes over the past few days....

~This morning when dropping Brady off at school he saw his babysitter that we've been using on Friday nights while Rob & I attend childbirth classes and he ran up to her and gave her a big hug. She is a nanny for a little girl in Brady's class, so we see her often. 

~When I picked him up today his teacher told me he was a "rockstar" and did really good today. She was showing the class flashcards with pictures of different objects/animals on them and he was not only getting them all right, but was sitting still and behaving really well.

~Then I got a text from the babysitter saying that he tried to leave with her! And he looked really sad & confused that he couldn't go! I love that we have found someone that he loves so much!

~While getting a much needed pedicure last week I started a conversation with a lady in the chair next to me and she was telling me a story about how their family's house burned down a few years ago after being struck by lightening. They live further out in the county where there is only a volunteer fire department and said that the firefighters were taking turns running back into the house to salvage all her family's photo albums and keepsakes. As they were bringing them out neighbors were grabbing them and running them to their own houses to dry them off with hair dryers since it was pouring down rain. A few minutes after they finished the entire house shot up in flames.

~After reading such good reviews about Ann Voskamp's new book I decided to order a copy. While reading an excerpt about her sister being hit by a truck and dying in front of the family while her mother held her, I lost it. I can't quit thinking about it. I've never anticipated a package from Amazon so much before in my life. 

~This afternoon Brady was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and I overheard from the family room Mickey say "what sound does a sheep make?" and Brady yelled out "Baaaaa!"

~Last night before bed Brady wouldn't quit pulling my shirt up and kissing and hugging my belly. He also likes to push my belly button back in, like he's really pushing a button!

And lastly, these videos of Brady I found while reorganizing some files on our computer....

Starbucks

I brought coffee today for our Mom's Bible study and had some leftover cups. Brady thought he was pretty cool getting to drink his juice out of a Starbucks cup. Is it bad that he can pronounce "Starbucks" and gets excited when I say we're going there (don't worry, I never allow him to get anything!)?

I also registered him for Mom's Day Out for next school year today. He'll be going 2x/week again. I LOVE that our church offers this and that he loves going!

Another One

Here's a pic taken back in October when Rob's parents came down for a visit. Not the best picture in the world, it was an overcast day. But I love seeing the difference.

Before (SOOC):

After:

I think I'm in love :)

We've been staying busy lately trying to get Carson's room painted & crown molding installed. Now the tricky part - trying to convince Brady to start sleeping in his "big boy bed" (twin bed) so that we can kidnap the crib!

We're looking forward to a fun weekend coming up - my parents are coming to visit! I told Brady a few days ago and he keeps looking out to the front porch thinking they're going to be out there already. Today he told me that "Pa" and "Big George" - the dog were coming :) He also referred to "grandma" as "Ma". I don't think he likes the "grand" prefix :)

Clean Color

One thing I am trying to work on before the baby arrives is improving my photography skills. I want to have great family photo albums with beautiful pictures of our kids and daily lives. I am becoming way too aware of how quickly time is slipping away and I want to preserve our memories before it becomes too late.

I am a member of clickinmoms.com. And when I say "member" what I really mean is I like to stalk to the boards, but have never posted:) Anyway there has recently been a bunch of hype about another photographer, Erin Cobb, and a new video tutorial she has made to teach her workflow and how she achieves her beautiful photographs. Photoshop (I use Elements) and post processing in general has been something I have been struggling with ever since I got my camera (over 2 years ago). So I couldn't resist the urge and decided to splurge.....and boy am I glad I did. Here are two examples that I snapped of Brady this afternoon when we got home from church:

Before (SOOC - straight out of the camera):

After:

Before (SOOC):

After:

Can you tell the difference? I sure can. It is subtle, but the finished images look so much more vibrant and polished. Some of the things I've been learning about are levels, saturation, brightness/contrast, curves, vignettes, skin softening, making the eyes pop, and sharpening. I am super excited. I think I'm going to be much happier with the candids I snap everyday!

If you're interested here's Erin's info:

personal blog (and link to Clean Color tutorial on sidebar)
professional blog
professional site

Art With Mama

A very unwelcome sickness has been lingering around our house for weeks now. Really ever since Christmas. Brady and Rob have almost completely recovered. But since I can't take many medications right now I'm the unfortunate one that can't quite kick this ugly congestion/sinus bug. Our Mom's Bible Study class at church was supposed to start back today and I was so excited to go, but just wasn't feeling up to it. So instead we stayed home and did watercolor paintings to send to some family members back in Ohio. Then I cut a bunch of hearts out of some old scrapbook paper and let Brady have some fun with a glue stick. He's been begging to paint again all afternoon. 

Dirty old white t-shirt courtesy of Rob. 

After we were done with our art we had snacks.

The masterpieces....

What our kitchen looked like after a morning of crafting/playing. Thankfully it didn't take me long to clean it all up.