Playing in PSE

So now that I am finally starting to understand shooting in manual mode on my camera and how to get a "correct" exposure (at least according to my camera's meter) I realize how much more I need to learn and understand about PSE (the editing program I use). So today I played around with an image I took yesterday of Brady right after he woke up from his nap.

Here is the Before (SOOC):

And the After:

The steps I took to achieve this look include following PW directions for copying her "Fresh & Colorful" PS Action in PSE (here's the link) and then applying the Base Sharpen Action that I purchased from Heather Ward's Lolly's Actions.

The image looks a little grainy to me. Probably because I used an ISO of 800. My other settings are f/1.8 and 1/250ss.

I know I just totally lost most of you on this post, but I'm trying to record it for my own memory. One of my goals over the next few months/year is to improve my photography skills. I have absolutely NO DESIRE to ever become a professional photog, but I do want to be able to take some killer pics of my family. I think photos and preserving memories are so important. And I want to be able to remember this time when Brady is young for forever.

Only in Alabama....

is it appropriate to use a pop-up tailgating tent as a patio umbrella and allow your child to get in the baby pool naked!

While said child swims naked Daddy works on a construction project 20 feet in front of him.

Ahh, yes, my friends in Ohio are for sure making fun of us right now:) Brady does indeed own a swim suit, but I keep forgetting to buy him swim diapers. Thank goodness everyone down here has privacy fences, otherwise the neighbors might think we're from around here. Have I ever told you about our neighbors across the street who let their little boy run naked ALL OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD? Actually, I just saw him this morning - naked - in our other neighbor's front yard.

The past few days have been busy for us. Friday I took Brady over to the Eastern Shore Centre to meet up with a few other moms/kiddos to play in the outdoor fountain. Brady had so much fun. He was a little timid at first and didn't like the water shooting out at him, but he finally eased up and had a blast. He played with so many other children (and of course stole all their toys). We only stayed about an hour and a half, but he was beat. Again, only in Alabama is it appropriate to take your kids to the outdoor shopping mall to play in the water fountain!

Saturday Rob and Justin left at 6:30 in the morning to go to Auburn for the A-day game. He didn't get home till 8:30 that night. I was exhausted from entertaining Brady by myself all day! And I get to do it again for the next two days - Rob is working TWO 14 hour shifts back to back Tues. and Wed. This is how he managed to get this past weekend off for the game.

I had to go to Goodwill last week to drop some items off and decided to walk around to see if they had anything good. I found this adorable child's school desk for $13 as well some books for Brady and a few other items. He loves this thing. He sits in it all the time - watching TV, eating snacks, playing with toys. I really want to paint it a funky color, but Rob thinks it should stay the way it is.

Isn't he the cutest?

4.13.10

Check out this blog - Knock-off Wood - HOW ON EARTH HAVE I NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE???? Ohhh, boy - I've got some big plans for Rob in the near future :) I only wish I had discovered this 3.5 years ago before we spent a small fortune on Pottery Barn furniture in our house. She even has plans for the exact Crate & Barrel Bookcase we have in our office. And nearly identical desk too. If you are a DIYer like I am you need to go check it out!

Speaking of DIY - I made myself a shirt to wear! This is the first time I've ever sewn actual clothing. First of all, I don't sew very often, and when I do it is always something for the house - usually curtains/drapes and sometimes pillows. I used this pattern and some cheap fabric I found spur of the moment at Hobby Lobby for $8.

(excuse my filthy bathroom)

It's pretty shapeless, but for $8 I figured it would be ok to run around and get sweaty in this summer :)

Also, I finally took Brady in for a real haircut. Up until this point I am the only one who has cut his hair. It was definitely lacking some shape. But after watching the lady doing the cutting I feel confident again in my abilities and will do it myself next time around. He had so much fun while we were there though. I took him to the kids "salon" here in town and he really didn't want to leave. He sat in the Hummer while getting his hair cut and then had to try out the Corvette before we left. The second half of the place was a mini toy store and a "spa" for little girls to have birthday parties at. I wish I would have brought my real camera. 

The Hunt

So here are my favorites from the Easter Egg Hunt we went to on Saturday. My friend Katrina hosted it at her beautiful home. She has two children, Noah (3) and Anna Lee (1). Brady and Anna Lee are in Kindermusik together. But Katrina and I also know each other from the Birth Stories More group that we attend. Anyway, we had a wonderful time at the hunt. Brady had so much fun playing with all the great toys. He especially loved these gigantic easter eggs that were laying around as decorations. He had a great time moving them around. Katrina's yard was beautiful. It was huge, and covered with all sorts of gorgeous trees with the most vibrant flowers I've ever seen. I may have been slightly obsessed with them :) Katrina is also an artist and she had such wonderful decorations, much of it handmade. I wish I had just a tiny portion of her creativity or talent!

I love this picture. It reminds me of an old black & white picture my mom recently gave to me of my dad when he was a little boy riding on a pony. They both have the same look on their face! 

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Ours didn't turn out as planned, but was still wonderful. Brady had another bad night Saturday night and everyone lost sleep again. Which led us to oversleep and miss church. So instead we headed for the beach! Brady had a great time and actually loved the sand and water. I have a few pictures I snapped on my small camera (I finally found my cord, yay!) which I still need to upload to the computer.

Thank YOU!

Brady got a fun little package in the mail today from Grandma & Grandpa Ayers - A new basketball hoop for the bath tub and Fizzy Tub Colors! He had so much fun playing with the basketball hoop/balls. Actually I don't think he even touched any of his other toys tonight! Thank you mom!

We went to a great Easter Egg Hunt this afternoon and I took a million pictures. I'm still trying to edit them. Hopefully I can get them up by tomorrow.

Happy Easter Everyone!

3.23.10

Which one would you rather eat?

The organic strawberries sprinkled with a bit of sugar?? Me too. YUM!

Not my kid though...

Hmmmm...

What'cha doing out there Brady? I hope you're not eating that chalk like I asked you not to.

Although I know better since I saw you loading up your trunk with contraband before you headed out.

Sorry bud, but I'm going to have to take the chalk away and ask you to park your car a little closer to the patio so I can watch you closer. (I then apologized to the neighbors for all the screaming!)

Today has been such a long day. I. am. exhausted. I woke up bright and early at 6:30 (I meant to get up at 5:30) and went to the gym - impressive, huh? There's nothing like wanting to get pregnant again to kick your butt in gear and make you want to get in shape so you don't turn into a total elephant :) Plus bathing suit season is nearly here. I bought a cute mom suit from J.Crew, but it's not nearly as cute on my new mom figure :(

So after the gym I came home, showered, and then took Brady to Kindermusik. He had a blast as usual. Then we came home to eat and nap. Only I didn't get to nap. I spent the afternoon cleaning. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the yard and eating strawberries & chalk.

I've decided I hate coming up with new titles for every post. So from now on I'll probably just be using the date unless I can actually think of a good one :)

Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival

On Friday we drove across the bay and went to the Fairhope Arts & Crafts Festival. I have wanted to go to this for the past 2 years, but it always falls on a weekend when Rob has to work. Lucky for me though Rob now has every Friday off so we were able to attend! I took my small point & shoot camera with us, but I haven't used it in so long that I have lost the cord to upload the pics with. Bummer. I'm sure I'll find it eventually though. Here are the treasures we bought.....of course everything is for Brady :)

Brady's personalized Easter Pail

A silhouette of Brady.

This is one of the neatest things I've ever seen done. I thought the man doing them would snap a picture of his profile or sketch it on paper, then cut it out. But, nope, he sat down right next to Brady with NOTHING but a piece of paper and scissors and cut this out in about 3 minutes. Meanwhile Brady was flailing his arms and legs all over the place. Definitely a lost art!

Brady's Quiet Book for church.
I have actually been wanting to make one for him myself. But my sewing skills certainly aren't up to par and I have a slight case of OCD, so I knew I would hate whatever I made since it wasn't perfect. So when I saw this I knew I had to have it. Personally,I would have chosen some cuter fabric, but I know it will keep Brady busy.

Here are the inside pages.

Today was such a BLAH day. Tell I'm not the only one that has those! It started off poorly when Frank woke us up at 2am scratching and shaking all over our bed. He wouldn't stop, so finally we turned on the lights and looked at him and he was breaking out in hives. Poor thing. He got a TERRIBLE case of them last year too. I think he either ate or got stung by a bumble bee both times, but not positive. Anyway, he was having some sort of allergic reaction.  This morning I noticed he was actually bleeding under one of his arms where he had been scratching himself so much. Poor thing:( Anyway Rob got up to get him some medicine and bring his cage inside. He was driving us nuts in our bed. We were up with him for an hour and then just as I started to drift back to sleep Brady woke up screaming so I had to go put him back to bed which took about a 1/2 hour. Needless to say, we didn't get a full night's sleep which led to all of us oversleeping this morning and missing church. So I was already not too happy when I woke up.

On top of all that the weather today was cold and overcast. I did take Brady out back to swing for about a 1/2 hour this morning, but then I made him come inside because I was freezing. I put him down for a nap but he woke up after only an hour (he normally sleeps for at least 2) so I went into his room to rock him back to sleep, but he would n't let me put him down. So I rocked him and let him sleep on me for another hour and a half. I tried to enjoy my time with him as best as I could sitting straight up with my arm falling asleep :) By the time Rob got home Brady & I were both going a little nutty, so thankfully he suggested we go out to dinner so that we could get out of the house. Let's hope tonight/tomorrow is better!