Another Baby Blue

Let me set the scene for you . . . .

I'm driving and I hear the girl chattering away.

I look back, and this is what I see . . . .

That's my baby, and her smiling baby blue. She's so happy when she's riding in the car (and doing anything else for that matter - we are lucky, lucky parents!!)

What a silly little monkey, don't you think?

And I've said this before, but I just don't think she could be any cuter!!!

A Flower

We've had this plant for about a month now.

It's a miracle that I haven't sent it to wherever it is that flowers go when their owners have brown thumbs. The compost pile?

Good Morning Sunshine!

One of my favorite things to do is wake my babies in the morning. There's just something about being the first one they see and being the first one to wish them "Good Morning!"

My little guy usually likes to lay in bed and have me rub his back while he's waking. I like that too!

On this morning, he wanted "OUT!" so he could try to grab my camera. Actually, he likes to see his picture on the digital screen after he gets a picture taken - a little obsessed with it some would say.

I'm glad he hasn't REALLY figured out how to climb out of his bed yet. The day is coming though . . . .

The Girl and I

I took this picture by myself - I like how it turned out.

It's quiet and reflective and I think captures a sweet little moment.

And of course, you can tell how much I adore my littlest angel.

I promise I will post some pictures of the boy soon!!

A Big Girl

Here she is . . . . . just sitting in her brother's chair.

She's such a big girl! Oh, how I love my baby!

The Girl

She was playing outside and trying to grab my camera. I just love how this picture turned out, so thought I would share. I'm not sure what she is doing with her tongue - it's cute though!

Lucky Girl

She's a lucky little thing.

She's got a mama who loves her and two adoring surrogate grandparents that play with her all day long.

Well, mostly play - but cuddling and kissing are always bonuses!

My Friend

She's a beautiful person.

Made only more beautiful by the fact that she's such a great mom.

I think this little guy agrees with me.

Child's Play

There's just something about another person's toy that makes a kid so happy!

Grandma June just got a new slide, and my boy was demonstrating to me how to use it. In the process, he was having a grand old time!

You climb up the ladder like this . . . .

.

And sit up at the top like this . . . .

You slide down the slide like this . . . .

And you land on the floor and laugh and clap like this . . . .

It's such a joy to watch him be himself!

Me and My Girl

I have so few pictures of myself with my kids because I'm usually the one with the camera. So here's a few self portraits with my baby.

This is usually how I look when we are out in the yard - camera in hand, baby on hip.

Love her! Love her! Love her!

Ahhhhhhh. . . .

Spring is here!

Outside!

Just wanted to post some pictures of the kids playing outside. I've posted one of these before, but couldn't resist including it in this little collage.

Aren't they adorable?

A Baby Blue

I've always had a thing for blue eyed boys. . . . .

and I'm quite sure that I always will!!

She's a Smart One . . .

Look at this baby.

See all those books on the floor?

Yep, she read them all.

She's so good at reading that she can even read upside down. (The book - not her - she's not quite there yet)


That's kinda smart for such a little gal!

It's Rare . . .

But they CAN play together.



Sometimes. . . .

If the stars are aligned. . . .

And the moon is full. . . .

And the wind is gently blowing out of the west.

What I'm not going to tell you is that about 20 seconds after this picture was taken someones toy got taken, someone got pushed, both of them cried, and then they got over it and each went their separate ways.

And then he kissed her on the head before bedtime.

I have proof for when they are older - at least one little snippet in time when they were playing together!

A Typical Evening

He's playing ball.

She's being cute.

That's what they do best - play and be cute!

And of course be cute and play. Rewind to the last sentence, press repeat, and that's a day in the life of these kids!

I love these babies!!

She's a Girly-Girl. . . . I promise

Don't let the blue fool you. She may wear her brother's helicopter shirts and hand-me-downs, but she's ALL GIRL!

It's either do laundry or dig out the old clothes. Which would you do?

Aren't her eyes the best? I could stare into those eyes all day.

The Boy in the Shower

He loves to catch the water on his tongue.

He loves to get his hair wet.

He's a little unsure of the water, but is excited to get in it. It scares him, and it thrills him, and he loves it.

I think he's telling me that it is "raining" on his foot.

Yes, he loves the shower, and I love him!

Weather

It's beautiful here today, but all the weather people say the tide is turning.

Tomorrow's forecast: Rain

Monday's forecast: Rain

Tuesday's forecast: Rain

Wednesday's forecast: Rain

. . . you get the picture, right?

I thought I better post some pictures of the sunshine while I had a chance. Also, this will be nice to look in on next week when I'm stuck indoors with frizzy hair and no hope of sunshine.

My boy loves to be outside! Other than the race car, on the tractor, or any other multi-wheeled vehicle, outdoors is his favorite!

Have a great week. And I hope this brings a little sunshine your way too!

The Eight Faces of Baby

Nothing is cuter than a smiling baby. Especially when that baby is yours, and she is without a doubt the cutest almost-11-month-old little girl in the history of the world.

Did I go to far with that?

I've been playing around in Photoshop tonight. A friend of mine has been lucky enough to have me call her a few times a day so her husband can help me navigate around this wide world of computers. I'm still not sure what we did or how we got there, but here are some of the results of my playing around in Photoshop.

Here's my baby. Get used to this picture because you will be seeing a lot of it in this post!
This is the Straight-Out-Of-Camera (SOOC) shot. It's dark and flat - yucky (although she is to die for, I know). Let's brighten and add a little more color and definition. This is partially from a Photoshop Action Set and partially from a little lightening on my part. Not bad. Do you see her little carrot-nose? I just love a little carrot-nose on a cutie baby!
Above is another Photoshop Action. It is very similar to the action above this picture, but just only slightly different. This action was created specifically for portraits to give it a softer more ethereal quality - as if my baby needed to be any more ethereal than she already is!

Here's a black and white Photoshop Action conversion. It's nice, but I think a little flat. I added a little more definition to this photo by darkening the edges. Overall, I think I could do a better job if I would have converted it myself.

Here's a cool Action called "Sunshine." This would obviously work better on an outdoor shot where there is actual, well . . . sunshine.

Here's a faded version of my baby.

Here's a vintage version of my baby.

Those eyes are a little scary, but whatevs - she's still adorable!

Here's an Action that I think is cool called "Heartland." I think it's a nice mix of black and white and vintage sepia toned photos.

Well, that's all for now. If you have Photoshop and you want to play around go to this link http://thepioneerwoman.com/ and download the actions sets from her Photography section. You'll love them and just might find your self still sitting in the same chair after 2 hours on the computer. But hey, I'm OK with that because I'll never get tired of looking at my baby!

Seriously, can you blame me?

The Boy

He's just in his own little world.

Driving tractors, planting fields, doing, you know. . . "farm stuff."

Is it even possible to love this little guy any more than I already do?

They're Here!

It's Official.

I now have a little chipmunk.

Those 2 front teeth look so big in her little mouth!

Driving

Can you believe my baby boy is driving?

As soon as we get home, it's "Drive Daddy's Race Car!"

He would sit in this thing forever. Just steering and hanging out the window.

Of course there's no key in the ignition. Who knows where he would end up?

Now he wants out - but only to "drive tractor!" When I say we are going inside, this is the face I get.

I love my little munchkin!

Fun with Photoshop

I got a new book today. It's a Photoshop book, and I plan on reading it cover to cover as soon as I get the time to do that. For now, I just scanned some pages that interested me and here is what I came up with . . . .

I took these pictures of the kids a few months ago. Please disregard that dog hair on Harper's chin in some of the pictures - I was just too lazy to edit it out, and well, it is a true representation of her. I mean, we have LOTS of dog hair around here . . . but I digress.

Here are some edited pictures that I did before I got my book - just a few things I've learned - saturating some colors and sharpening some features. Not bad I'm thinking.

Her eyes are AMAZINGLY blue, I know. Yes, I MAY have went a little overboard in the saturation department, but overall, I thought these images turned out nice.

Now, here's the "Trendy" editing from my new book. I can't say that I really LIKE these pictures, but I guess this edit has a place - just not on kids or babies, but I could see how it COULD be cool on some artsy adult photographs.

Dirck said it looked like I took these picture with a really cheap camera!

Now, here's the "Portrait Softening" editing from my new book. I like these two images the best, although I think I may have gone a little overboard in softening the girl's cheeks. Just my thoughts.

I'm still playing and reading up, but which do you like best?