Thursday, February 25, 2010

Maternity Self Portraits - 36 weeks

I'm not sure I've ever taken self portraits before, so this was my first attempt. Since I don't have a remote, I set my camera on a tripod and used the timer. I thought now would be the perfect time to experiment with self portraits - 36 weeks pregnant and I can't wait to meet our little boy!! (I also posted these on the photography blog, and I'm too lazy to remove the watermark for this blog). I'm actually quite pleased with how these turned out. I like the lighting from the bay window and the vintage processing....feels kind of quiet and sweet to me.
I cheated a little with this one. Allen came home in the middle of my photo session (which was during Sophie's nap last Sunday) and I roped him into taking a couple photos, with me directing, of course. Here are the results!!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Phrases of the week!

Sophie is really starting to converse with us and show her personality more through language. It's so fun to watch. Her favorite phrases of the week are "I love it/it's perfect" and "I so proud of you." On Sunday "I love it" referred to her dress, tights and shoes for church. Since then, she has danced around saying "I love it" referring to her tutu and her princess backpack. "I so proud of you" is an extension of our potty training. We had a couple weeks with way too many poops in the panties, but Sophie made a break-through last week by using the potty for pooping. Of course I made a big deal out of this and said, "I'm so proud of you; good job," etc. Sophie picked up on this and now tells me when I should be proud of her and when she's proud of me. Example: when I finished making dinner earlier this week, Sophie said, mommy "I so proud of you." It's really cute! Another favorite phrase of late also derives from potty training, "no poop in panties." Sophie pretty much recounts this whenever she's wearing panties or wants to use the potty. I love listening to Sophie talk and express herself. She's becoming quite the conversationalist too!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day!

I couldn't decide on just one or two photos, since Sophie was quite the Valentine's Day model for me earlier this week. So here's a slew of images -- enjoy!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Mommy's girl

Yesterday morning while Allen and Sophie were sitting at the table eating breakfast and I was making Sophie's lunch, Allen asked Sophie if she was daddy's girl. Her response? -- "No, I mommy's girl," with a tilt of the head and sweet smile. I melted and then giggled. Allen should know better; of course she's mommy's girl, and she knows it. But, that one little statement pretty much made my day....

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Sneak Peek --

We're not completely done with the baby's room yet, but I thought I would share a sneak peek of a few details (the lighting isn't great in the photos, so bear with me...I was too lazy to attach my external flash to get better results...next time!). The stripes go around the entire room, and I have to say that I never ever want to paint stripes again. Even though the label on painter's tape says that you can achieve very straight lines, it's not true. I had to go back and touch up all of the lines with a little paint brush, and I'm not sure it was worth the extra effort. Don't get me wrong -- I love the end result, but I didn't enjoy the journey to that point!

Across one of the walls, we have six 8x8 inch square canvases with vinyl decals of various animals, including a whale, giraffe, elephant, monkey, squirrel, and peacock. I think these turned out really cute and they help to bring some more green into the room. (The bedding is the same that we used for Sophie -- green and white with elephants on the bumper and stripes or polka dots on the sheets.)
The closet for the room doesn't have any doors because it's essentially a nook above the staircase. Plus the doorway for the closet overlaps one of the windows by about 1/2 an inch, so putting doors there would be awkward. I found some cute argyle curtain panels to hang across the closet doorway. I took the colors for the room from the curtain panels, and I'm really happy with how everything is turning out. I'll post more photos when everything is done!!
I'm definitely starting to get more anxious for the arrival of our newest addition! I can't believe we're only about 6 weeks away....crazy! I've got a list of things to get done, but I'm starting to feel like it's all a little more manageable now. I just want to make sure to enjoy this time with Sophie before baby's arrival. I know that Sophie will be a great big sister, but I do worry about how she'll react immediately to a baby brother. She really has no idea what's coming, and it makes me a little sad to think that our family of three is coming to an end. The past two years with Sophie have been amazing, and I know that our lives with two children will be amazing too, but it's still a little bittersweet to think about having to share time between Sophie and the next child. I try not to dwell on what we're "losing" but what we're gaining -- a new life, a son, a brother.

And, with that thought, I give you our most recent photo of Sophie, from last week. I also took some cute Valentine's day-inspired images of Sophie last weekend, and I'll post those soon!