59 - I love my pics

I can't get this far behind again with printing my pictures! I haven't printed any pictures since December. For a normal person, that might not be so bad, but for my obsessed-with-taking-pictures self, that's awful! 326 pics I am picking up tomorrow. I am overwhelmed at the thought of organizing them all. And of course scrapbooking some for Eli's book. Notice I said "some." I used to scrapbook EVERYthing. I've always known when I had children, I would probably have to adjust my expectations of my scrapbooking and how I organize and display my photos. I am definitely making baby E a traditional, first year scrapbook, with all of his "firsts" in it. Am thinking I will also have a "family" album that is a slide-in album, so not all of those will be "scrapbooked" but at least organized, with journal cards so I know what was going on at the time. I did get for Christmas some new page protectors that allow you to make a 12x12 page, then the next page can hold 4 or 5 pictures that you slide in, or some protectors that allow for 9 or 12 4x4 pictures to slide in- it's a neat system. Kind of the best of both worlds, if you want to scrapbook a page you can, then slide in extra pictures so you don't have to spend a ton of time on all 12x12 layouts. I have made some digital scrapbooks, and I do like those. But I still like my paper and glue, being able to manipulate the pictures and paper and manually cropping them, etc. Adding on brads, and ribbons. I love looking at the final product. So for now, I can't see giving up on scrapbooking, even though I have not done any of Eli's book yet! I have sorted about 2 months of pictures and started on his first pages, but just barely. Whenever I have down time, I usually spend it taking a nap (because E is sleeping), or doing more 'necessary' things like cleaning or laundry or something. The more time passes however, I am more determined to set aside some time and get working on his book. It's just a matter of Doing It! I'm giving myself a pep talk as I type, can you tell?! So after I pick up all 328 pictures tomorrow, I am making it a goal this week to get them sorted and dated. Baby steps.....

57 and 58 - time with the grandparents!

Friday night we went to Doug's parent's house to spend a little time with them. Eli couldn't take his eyes off of his Pa!

On Saturday, spotted this woodpecker on the tree outside the living room window. I was able to take several pictures from the couch inside - they came out great considering I was shooting through the window! I think the window just acted as a filter. I love how you can see all of the holes the bird has made. This tree was very popular with several birds. If I lived here, I would spend a lot of time looking out this window, probably with camera in hand...

Moving on to solids these days. Here we are trying out carrots. So far, so good.

Hanging out with Pa! I love the light in their dining room.

Hi everyone! Too bad you can't see his tooth - we can FEEL his tooth on his bottom gum, but can't really see it just yet. Maybe it has just broken through? Time will tell!

56 - glad I had the zoom on

I was glad I had left my zoom lens on the camera, so when this little guy came flying around this afternoon I was able to snap him real quick! Nothing says Spring is coming like a red bird.

I would have been able to take MORE pictures of Mr. Red if Ms. Thang here hadn't decided to come running over and scare him away! She loves that pig toy by the way. Cracks me up to see her carry it around.

55 - a little duct tape never hurt anyone

I still can't believe I really used duct tape, but I was in a hurry this morning, trying to make it to the Y for the Wed morning Class of Pain. I swear the first time I toured the nursery at the Y, they said they don't change diapers or give bottles, so I thought, why bother bringing a diaper bag? We're not there that long anyway. Well, on Monday Eli probably could have used a pacifier, so I thought for today's visit we'll bring the bag. Then remembered everything is supposed to be labeled. I have a cute little tag I bought that I think is buried in the bottom of the bag, and I didn't stop this morning to try to find it, just pulled out the good 'ol duct tape for a quick name tag. I'm sure Doug was proud. I really should get out the cute tag, because we do bring the bag to the nursery at the church were we have Thurs morning Bible study, and that's tomorrow morning...well I suppose one more day of duct tape won't hurt.

Just thought I'd add one more picture of E in his "new" doorway jumper. He really likes it! So do I, he has something different to entertain himself while I do stuff in the house!

Brandon and Lindsay came to visit and we went to lunch. Here Brandon was ALMOST ready to take his first step on his own!! He was so very close....

54 - patty cake

Love watching my boys play!

Practicing my yoga poses.

53 - aerobic meltdown

I guess I have seriously overestimated my aerobic ability, as proved today during the "Starter Fitness" class at the Y. Look at the title - it has the word "starter" in it - and it kicked my rear. This is coming from someone who used to own (and do) every Kathy Smith video workout! I felt like I was friends with all of the people in the Billy Blanks tae bo workout gym! I knew which Firm instructors were annoying and which ones were too perky! I could SKIP over the step bench. Ok, so all of this was like - dare I admit it? - 10 years ago? 15? In recent years, I have been walking for workouts, or doing the elliptical trainer at the gym, sometimes weights, occassional classes. Since having the baby, I have mainly walked for exercise, done the elliptical, and participated in stroller fit (which is quite the workout, despite the title making you think you might just be strolling along, gabbing with other mothers). Last Friday, I ran into a friend from church in the lobby of the Y. Turns out, she and another gal I know come up there every Mon, Wed, and Fri. I'm pretty sure God made sure I ran into her - I have been looking for a way to be more accountable for exercise, and then look what happens. It's so cool to see answered prayer. That's a whole other topic....so back to today. I decide to meet her up there today for the 9:00 "Starter Fitness" class. Wow. It was hard. My hips ached. I had to leave the step bench and do the steps on the floor, and totally modify majority of the workout. Like on my old VCR tapes, when they would show the older woman you were supposed to follow for the "modified" or "low impact" version. That would have been me today. "Just follow Cheryl if all of your muscles, or what is left of them after having a baby, are about to burst out of your body along with your heart because you are not in the condition to do all of these steps...she's over there in the corner. You'll recognize her with the super red face." Believe it or not, my baby came to my rescue. Apparently he was crying a lot in the nursery, so after about 30 minutes of the class, the child care worker came in with the white board with my name on it. Oh, darn, you mean I have to leave now? At least I could save some dignity and leave for a reason! The whole time I felt like I needed to be wearing a sign around my neck that said, "had a baby 5 months ago, not quite up to full steam yet for an aerobics class!" I do plan on going back though. You just have to get back up on that horse, right?!

52 - a man who cooks

I am very lucky to have married a man who likes to cook. It's not that I hate to cook or anything- I'm ok with it - but I can't say I LOVE it. I don't enjoy browsing through cookbooks just to browse, and it's taken me a long time to like anything on the food network, and that's only because I watch it with Doug sometimes. I'm more of an HGTV fan. Now that I am at home in the evenings, I am making dinner now (Doug used to make dinner since he got home from work before me). So, I am having to look at recipes a lot more and do more planning, and I am enjoying it, and trying to branch out a little. I tend to stick in my safety zone a lot. So all this to say, whenever Doug has a moment he can make a meal, he enjoys it. This morning, I was all about putting our instant oatmeal in the microwave, but Doug had something to say about that! He used oats, peeled pieces of apple, sugar and cinnamon to make our oatmeal instead. It was really tasty! I am glad he challenges me to think outside the box and try things. Even simple things like oatmeal!!!!

51 - A girl and her goat (and pig)

A church friend's daughter is a senior in high school and is in the FFA this year; she has raised a goat and a pig, for whatever it is the FFA kids raise animals for. I know they participate in a competition, can go to auction - and we don't like to discuss what happens after that - so I guess that's it. Anyway. She and her mom wanted pictures of her with the animals, as part of her "senior" pictures. So we went out today to the barn - it was really fun! I found myself quite fascinated with this FFA thing, since I didn't know much about that in high school. I didn't know goats will go straight back into their own pens completely independently, and that pigs are very curious and will come up to investigate people. I couldn't choose just one picture (that's nothing new) to post, so am posting a few favorites from today:

Audrey and Gatsby the Goat

Greedy goat neighbor trying to get in on the alfalfa action.

Random cat.

Here comes Pippen the Pig!

Pigs are sooo not into posing. I especially like how Pippen's tongue is hanging out in this picture as she is running! At least I think it's a she. Hmmmm.

50- how I got chores done today

I wore my baby around the house this afternoon so I could get things done!!

I love this spoon thing....

49 - photo shoot of not my baby

Today I took pictures of a former colleague's new baby. She is only 2 and a half weeks old! So, I thought I would post a couple of her pictures here, for my Picture(s) of the Day!

I like the perspective on this one, how the foot looks so big compared to the rest of her!

Even though the window light cast shadows, I still loved how these came out - if I look with a critical eye I see the harsh shadows, but overall looking at the picture, the relationship between the mother and the baby stands out the most to me.

Can't explain it, but I really liked this one too. The walls in the room are painted pink, and I think that reflected on her skin and hair sometimes!

And, the classic hands/feet shot; again, I like the perspective, how little the feet actually are when you see them compared to the adult's hands!

48 - I love old stuff

I love old stuff. I love to go "antiquing," looking through junk shops, vintage things, thrift store type items - just love it. (thankfully my husband loves to go look at old stuff too!) Lots of my homey-accents in my house have come from antique shops, or out in the fields when we go antiquing in the Spring and Fall in the Warrenton/Roundtop area. I think it's the thrill of treasure hunting that gets me; you never know what you are going to find. Sometimes I go looking with a thought in mind, like, I would like something to hang on the wall in a particular hallway, something like that. The best "finds" though are when I have not been looking for a particular item, like my 1896 wooden church pew (took Eli's birth announcement picture on that bench!) that fits perfectly in our kitchen under the window. Or my "shabby chic" white nightstand in my front hallway, the '50's red clock on the shelf in my kitchen, and the red metal child's ironing board I use as a memo board. Actually the ironing board just holds magnets, it's too cute to cover up with random lists and coupons. My mom and sister like to go antiquing too - we all have something different that we gravitate towards; mom and Laura could spend a lot more time looking at glassware than I can, but I really like primative furniture. Anyway, today, I went over to my mom's house to borrow some tablecloths (I'm having a women's ministry event at my house this Fri evening). Mom started pulling out her vintage tablecloths; then she said the magic phrase - "this was my mother's." Really? That one? Let me see! Old stuff is cool, but when it belonged to someone originally in your family, it's so much cooler. And more beautiful. So, here are some pictures of the round, card table table-cloth that was my grandmother's. I love the detail in the stitching.

There's another table cloth behind it, but I didn't get too many close ups of that one.

I put it on this great little metal princess chair I have (bought out in a field of course) that makes for a great photo prop for a little girl to sit on! Right now it sits on my front porch. Maybe I'll put a plant on it this Spring.

Here's me with the camera.

Bye until next time!

47 - Hello!

Hello, bird in my backyard!

What's got your feathers in a ruffle?

Hello, pretty red leaves! Something colorful and alive in MY backyard? Truly a miracle.

Hello, Mommy!

Hello, Nose!

46 - red, white, and blue

I think the boy scouts have the coolest fund raiser. This is the second year in a row we have participated in this fund raiser - for $30, they will come put an American flag in your front yard on every flag holiday (I think there are 7 times during the year it's appropriate to put flags out. Don't ask me to name them, I get fuzzy on the dates beyond 4th of July and Memorial Day). Since a lot of neighbors participate, it's a really cool effect on the street. Here is my artsy picture of the flags.

And now, some regular pics:

45 - chocolate!

I've never gotten chocloate covered strawberries for valentine's day before! What a sweet surprise.

Remember how I kept taking portraits to make a valentine's day card? well, I just couldn't get my act together and learn my new scrapbook software in time. And couldn't pick a picture. And figured Eli was probably tired of playing "photo shoot." SO - here is my simplified collage of my favorites!

44: testing...123 testing....

It's pretty neat how the Lord has provided ways for me to make a little extra money these days. Doug and I definitely wanted me to be able to stay home with baby E at least his first year, and financially we know we can do that, but are not sure of the long-term. Anyway, I received an opportunity to be a test examiner for a company to help revise a standardized speech and language development test. I've actually done this one time before, so they have my name in their database I suppose. I administer the test to "average" children and mail the raw data back to the testing company, where they use the information to develop updated norms for the test. I get compensated for each child that I test, although they do have criteria for the types of children I need to recruit. It's nice that I can do the testing as it fits in my schedule. And, it's nice to have a little taste of my former professional life; even though I just stopped "working" last August, it feels like a lifetime ago!

43 - Definitely maybe

I don't get this rice cereal thing just yet. Eli isn't quite sure about it either. He definitely is interested in watching us eat, grabs at the bowl and spoon, and opens his mouth for the spoon. I put in the runny rice stuff, he grimaces, most of it runs out, then he opens his mouth for more. Actually, he has started swallowing a little bit more. I keep playing with the consistency to see what he accepts the best. Watching his skills develop is really the coolest thing.