Yes, Moose Munch, you temptress, you...beckoning me to the pantry with your sweet siren song. Utterly irresistable, and you know it. You have my number, and I don't mind.
Seriously, who buys their "friend" FOUR BAGS...as in FORTY OUNCES...of Moose Munch for Christmas??? A friend who lives too far away to throttle, that's who. Yeah, secretly it was my favorite gift!
PHOTOS FROM OUR WALK BY THE RIVER:
A little "action" shot as M "runs" down the "hill"....hmm...just so you know, every time I use quotations, I stop typing and make little air quotes with my fingers for effect. Not. Not an exciting photo, but I love the color of the bushes behind M: Not sure what to do with the mud on his hands. It ended up on my jeans...but I didn't mind!
M and I went for a walk today! I think the temp was in the high 50s, so it was warm and sunny...just the way we like our winter weather!
Even though I just posted about post processing, I am happy to say that I did not edit any of these photos at all! Thankfully, they came out much better than that overexposed bunch I posted awhile back.
As usual, M isn't smiling in the photos. I was lucky to get him to look in my direction! He actually did have a great time...playing and laughing...but he would turn it off the moment he heard my autofocus beep!
photos from playing with balloons in the morning and playing at church in the afternoon:
(if you'd like to see the slideshow in full screen, first click the play arrow then click the square with 4 arrows on the bottom right of the box)
UPdate:
M is finally getting some teeth!!! The best part about this will be no longer having to watch him swallow string cheese without chewing....yuck!
Since M understands the differences between boys and girls, I thought I try to see if he could get "he" and "she." Last night as we read I would ask questions like, "Does he have a ball?" or "Does she have a hat?" when there were pictures of both boys and girls on the page...and he always answered correctly.
If you ask what word starts with D, he will say Daddy...and M he will say Mama and (sometimes) also point to himself. He often remembers what words look like and can point them out when you ask.
M enjoys playing pretend, and he seems to have a great sense of humor. Not that he giggles at everything but that he "gets it" and laughs when you make a joke.
I asked Scott if he wanted to add to this update, and he said, "He's stinkier than two months ago."
Carefully I lined up the white dots, then twisted ever so slowly. As I heard a faint "click," the heavens parted and the angels began to sing. How glorious is a 55-250 zoom lens? Especially to photograph a boy who hates to have his picture taken?
Most of these photos were with the that lens as I was practicing with my flash off.
Hey...anyone know where I can watch a video of the Olympics Opening Ceremony???
Bunch of photos here. Anyone know how to take nice, clear pics w/out the flash on? Mine are almost always blurry even though I try to be super still. This group of photos include:
- playing in the pool on the back patio - making a smoothie with play food - watering flowers - attending a carnival...a church in our town was celebrating a festival this weekend complete with a carnival open to the public. We decided to check it out, and it was both fun anddisturbing! M had a blast on a few "rides" and thought the live music was funny, but the lack of safety and quality of both the rides and the prizes really bothered me. You can see from the photos the condition of the rides. On the "ride of death" a chain broke causing a little boy to hold on for dear life so as not to fly out of his seat. Some of the prizes looked like they had been sitting in a Goodwill storehouse collecting dust since 1988. Where's OSHA when you need them?
Here are some new pics with the new camera. Just stuff from around the house. They haven't been edited at all...I'm trying to see what kind of images the camera will take w/out doctoring.
We're trying to go to one nap/day. It is not working well. Not well at all. It seemed necessary because he started cranking out some serious napping, but his nights were going back to restless sleep AND he was waking way too early (earlier than his normal early). But...unfortunately he won't sleep longer than an hour for the nap, which means he desperately needs more sleep, hence a second nap that is way too short (today 25 mins), and he wakes up MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. Once M's sleep gets out of whack and he gets overtired, he seriously cannot sleep. So today I was the prisoner of a very tired, fussy boy. Ugh, sadness depart, leave gladness in my heart!!!
Here are some photos from this weekend. Insert repeated apology about blurry pictures here. When we are inside and I don't use a flash, the photos are pretty much horrible. But I don't have setting on my flash, so it totally washes everything out. You can see in one photo how S is clear, but M in all of his quickness is a blur!)
Anyway...the photos are of the following things: 1. Scott & Matthew at the piano...I asked M to smile for me, and he did...or at least he tried! 2. M in his cowboy hat (it's actually a sheriff's hat and S thinks it looks pink) riding the horse that Pa made for him. I love how his little toes dangle down. These photos also show that we have lived in this house over a year, and I still haven't hung up the mirror that is leaning against the wall. Slacker!!!!!!!
We went to the playground...Matthew played with sticks, pinecones, and wood chips, and I played with my camera settings. So much to learn! Matthew was most interested in the firemen playing ultimate frisbee. He would watch them throw and then act like he was throwing, too.
While I didn't take my flip video, I was able to capture some some quick frames of Matthew walking. (I actually read...errrrr, scanned...my manual and found out my camera has a burst feature to take a few photos in rapid succession!) Anyway, this boy went from 0 to 6 in nothing flat (I said "6" because that seems like the average amount of steps he is taking at once). I have the feeling the same will happen with his speech. One day, nothing...the next day, he will be reciting the encyclopedia. Anyway, anyway, I'm going to try to load them in a slideshow so you can see them in succession.
The photo above shows how clear my camera CAN take photos...I just wish it was (or I was) consistent with such clarity!
New posts & photos -- Birthday Party & More Party Photos -- at Matthew's site
This photo didn't quite make the cut for Matthew's site, but Smooch and I think it is so funny that I had to post it. When I opened a bag to look at the toys inside, Matthew hunched down so that he could see too...and Smooch caught it in this photo. Besides Matthew's posture and expression being funny, this picture shows that his negligent mama needs to buy the poor child some new clothes (notice the too-short sleeves and peek-a-boo belly!). Either he is growing too fast or my laundry skills need improving.
Perhaps being 1 makes the learning speed up even more because just since his birthday Matthew has started standing on his own more, holding his phone up to his ear (something he was not even interested in before), etc. Even his receptive language, while previously awesome, seems to have exploded as he responds to commands and questions. Last night he was feeding his plastic chicken with his spoon! Very cute!
On a SAD, SAD, SAD note, Smooch left this morning. We were totally bummed that we could not bribe her to blow off her last semester of college and her full-time job to stay here and play with us every day. You can read this with the gushing of a big sister: It was sooooo wonderful to have Stefanie here! Even little Mr. Unsociable absolutely adored Smooch. She was the biggest help...especially when Scott woke up very sick on Matthew's birthday. But besides her assistance with absolutely everything, it was just great fun to stay up late giggling every night!
New post and photos -- "1st Birthday Photoshoot" --are on Matthew's site. This was a highly unprofessional photoshoot which included my camera, an old sheet, some bribing with snacks, and a lot of crying (by me). I'll post photos from his birthday tonight after we have lots of birthday fun today!!!
This is the awesome Costco chocolate cake...had it for breakfast after hitting a few stores. Snow! The snow made it an great day to stay indoors and start decorating for Christmas! I was able to enjoy the snow only because I knew that today it would be melted away...and we'd have sunny skies! I tried to get Matthew to eat some snow off a yucca brach, but he wasn't too crazy about it. I decided to make some ornaments using clear balls and metallic paint...here there are drip-drying. The precious one all bundled up. He really enjoyed the day: the trees with lights, the snow, the fireplace, the Christmas music...it was a great day!
I made a good salad for Thanksgiving...if you like that kind of thing (I don't like to waste precious stomach room with green leafy things). It was baby spinach, Bosc pears, feta cheese, pinon, and a vinaigrette. I think it would be great with chicken added, too.Trader Joe's is supposed to have a pear champagne vinaigrette, but I couldn't find it...so just used raspberry.
My super husband bought me a new camera...very nice one with a Leica lens. Problem is...either I am not working it correctly or the shutter speed is sloooooooooow. I'm dying here trying to get good photos, but I mostly end up with "head shots"...and not the kind you send to modeling agencies, I mean TOP OF THE HEAD shots!
So if anyone has a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 (or is a camera know-it-all) and has better luck with quick shutter speed, please let me know!
I gave the boy a haircut yesterday...all by myself...what was I thinking??? Actually he did REALLY well despite the fact that he had been up from about 11:30pm-3:30am the night before...and the fact that he kept trying to look at the clippers! The crazy thing is this...I am going to call it "baby math"...his hair was not that long, so how did it get all over our whole house? It is like right at the moment that each strand is cut, it goes into self-preservation mode and immediately multiplies by some crazy baby math way before it scatters to cover every inch of the house. I keep finding little black hair everywhere! I think it is the same baby math that happens when you accidentally spill one tiny drop...even less than 1/8 tsp...of baby food onto the kitchen table. Before you can even grab the napkin you have ready for such incidents, somehow baby's ever-flailing arm makes contact with said food and, within seconds, the food has mysteriously multiplied and is now in his hair, covering his arms, all over his face, smeared on the table, and even on the floor. All from a drop of baby food. A miniscule drop. And then, as the cherry on top, baby sneezes...making sure that you, too, are covered in baby food.
Photos are of new haircut...and the result of staying up all night!
There will be a day When all will fade away And all that will remain Is loving You face to face Jesus, I pray That You would come today Faith will be replaced With loving You face to face - Face to Face by Telecast
Yes, Moose Munch, you temptress, you...beckoning me to the pantry with your sweet siren song. Utterly irresistable, and you know it. You have my number, and I don't mind. 
Not an exciting photo, but I love the color of the bushes behind M:
Not sure what to do with the mud on his hands. It ended up on my jeans...but I didn't mind!
