day one hundred seventy two

Proof that Liam's birthday balloon is still going strong, three months after it arrived at our house.  And Liam still enjoys playing with it (and plastic hangers).

I love this picture because it shows a sample of the chaos that is our home, and further evidence that children love balloons and non-toys.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/160 sec, ISO 800

day one hundred sixty seven

Sometimes I am surprised at how very little time I have for things I want to do these days.  Now that Liam is walking, and ultimately much more social, I find us interacting much more than previous months.  He was always an independent little thing - he would stay by my side at playgroups, it took him till the last day to finally start enjoying his tumbling class - but increased mobility gave him a greater appreciation for experiences that could not be had while sitting in my lap.  I love it, though it is exhausting, and I find us exploring the Great Outdoors much more often.

In the past few months, Liam began to enjoy interacting with his friends at playdates.  I was overjoyed, since this firstly meant that I could interact with his friends' moms, and secondly, he was having so much more fun.  I feel very lucky to have found such a great group of women to share my son's childhood with, although many of the mothers were military families - I knew I had a year or three to enjoy with them.  And then, the one family "rock" I was hoping to cling to throughout the upcoming terrible twos, the first day of kindergarten (harder for us than the kids, I am sure), puberty, engagements (I still joke about how Liam and Annabelle would make an adorable couple)..... had a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a farm, and move across state.  Please don't think I am upset for just the completely selfless reason of my son's soon-to-be-lost friendship... I am losing friends as well.  I worked with Annabelle's dad before I became a SAHM, we happily compared notes on pregnancy and infants and cloth diapers, and I then transitioned to becoming close friends with Annabelle's mom, who happily included me in her wonderful group of moms.  If not for them, I doubt I would have started this blog, since I was so inspired by Bill's pictures of his beautiful daughter.  If not for them, I would have never explored the crafty side of myself - I'll show a picture of my daughter's first handmade dress soon.  If not for them, I might be stuck home every day, since I'm very cautious about meeting new people and seeing new places.

Anyway... needless to say, I will miss Mary Ann, Bill, and little Annabelle very much.  I'm so happy that they had this dream of theirs come true (I mean, how often does that happen?), but I hope they know just how very much they will be missed.  Here are a few pictures of our group, taken last week using Bill's camera and tripod, and a timer - I just did some work in Camera Raw and Photoshop.  I'm not watermarking them, since I didn't take the photos.

day one hundred fifty two

A few candid shots taken at a local bounce house with my great friend Kate and her adorable baby girl, Mae!

I think the blogging bug has started to bite me again (along with every mosquito in the lowcountry).  Stay tuned :)

day, um, yeah.

So, it took me longer to recuperate from Liam's party than anticipated.  Along with the arrival of an early spring came a few more events, some more life-changing than others.

1) My son turned one.. .and started running.  Not walking so much, mind you, but running.  I knew he wouldn't move himself in an upright position until he felt it was faster than crawling, and he was always a speedy crawler.

2) My yard decide to commence it's attack on us nice and early this year.  We now spend many hours out there.. not with a camera, but with various devices used to prune bushes and torture vines.  I'm still not convinced the vines are on the losing side.

3) I've been feeling incredibly tired.  This is in part due to aforementioned running toddler, but mostly because..

Bill took this picture, so don't give me credit!

No it's not just pudge.  This is me at 13 weeks, and as of today I am exactly 15 weeks.  Pregnant, that is.  My poior husband has had to deal with putting my son to bed, then immediately putting his wife to bed.  I'm already using the incredibly large and oh-so-comfy pregnancy pillow, and I'm becoming out of breath if I lay on my back.  Not too much nausea (THANK YOU) but I apparently developed an aversion to chicken and blogs.  I took some pictures, sure, but the commitment of this blog irked me, and felt like it consumed too much energy.  So I decided I would stay away until I wanted to use it again.

So, here I am.  I can't promise I will post daily due to various pregnancy symptoms, but I will do my best to post, and enjoy posting.  I really did miss it here :)

day seventy eight and seventy nine

250 pictures to sort through, after a day of frantic cake decorating, cooking, entertaining, and trying to be everywhere at once.  So, so very grateful for an awesome husband and friends who came through for me.

Happy birthday, honey.

day seventy three, seventy four, seventy five, seventy six, and seventy seven

Before there is an outcry about the lack of posts - this has been an incredibly busy week.  First birthday party tomorrow, Liam decided it is wonderful to wake up three times a night, my family is visiting, and cooking, baking, etc...  I'm beat.  I should be sleeping right now, except I think I have insomnia at this point.

Anyway, I did take pictures.  I didn't take them off my camera till just now, and I will just post my favorites from this week.  Tomorrow I hope to present you with some lovely birthday shots, and resume life as normal.

You might notice my blossoming cherry tree.  I hope to take pictures of Liam next to this tree every year around his birthday.

He's still asleep, I might relax till he's up :)

day seventy two

And for today's post - another two-fer, since 1) I was so slack yesterday, and 2) now you will see some of why:

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/800 sec, ISO 100

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/50 sec, ISO 100

The first of of our acorn doorknocker, and the second is of some of our house numbers.  Prior to this weekend, they were a dull, deep brown.  Since my wonderful husband has painted, himself, the entire exterior of the house (love the shade of white I chose?  I do!), I decided to attack these pieces with some lemon juice, salt, a toothbrush and good old fashioned elbow grease.  They are MUCH improved.

day seventy one

Another late day :(  I'm sorry, but we've been very busy preparing the house for Liam's party.  I'll show you some of what we've done in Sunday's pictures.

Liam has been very busy eating dirt.  He also accompanied me on a 5K walk/run this morning with friends for both of us... but yeah, dirt, since I forgot to ask if I could post the other pictures (and need to give them to my friend anyway, I really am slacking).

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/1250 sec, ISO 100

I also had the singular pleasure of pulling dirt out of his mouth.  Just ugh, lol.

day seventy

Must go to sleep, must be awake early to walk a 5k... Here's a closeup of my pretty Yoshino Cherry with uncreative settings!

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/500 sec, ISO 100

I'll bring my camera to the festivities tomorrow, provided I am not walking out the door as a zombie.

day sixty nine

Very busy day, Bill is still at work, so here's a picture of the snapdragons I planted in the front yard a few days ago.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/120 sec, ISO 100

Note to self - taking pictures when you have a perfectly awake and spirited child, with no additional help, is a bit of an exercise in futility.  I'm glad I managed to get this one at all!

day sixty eight

Before everyone thinks, "Wow, Liam is a lucky boy, having playdates with all these adorable little girls!" I finally caught a picture of one of the other (equally adorable) little boys!  Here's Brayden!

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/320 sec, ISO 400

It was so funny - there was great lighting in the room, and the kids were playing nicely, so I took out my camera and laid out in front of Brayden.  His mom, Jessica, camped out next to me, and wow... this kid loves him mom.  I was too busy looking through the camera and snapping pictures to see what she was doing to make him so happy, but it worked!  And I TOTALLY love the outfit he was sporting today - I want it for Liam for Easter!  My baby is too little for sweater vests and ties, damnit!

day sixty seven

I had planted a few snapdragons in the front garden today, hoping that the sunlight there would qualify as "full sun" (I might be optimistic more than realistic, here), and took a few pictures, remembering to try out new apertures.

Then I came inside, and my husband informed me that the Yoshino Cherry Blossom tree we planted in the backyard to commemorate Liam's birth started to bloom.  Back outside!

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/2.8, shutter speed 1/200 sec, ISO 100

I had a lot of fun taking pictures of this tree.  For starters, for someone who is five foot tall wearing sneakers, I was finally of a decent height to get different angles of the branches, though as it turned out, shooting with the sky as a backdrop turned out to be a great choice.  Second, I did take this exact shot with different apertures, and ended up liking the f/2.8 the best for this particular photo.  It captured more of the branch and buds (f/1.4 pretty much only focused in on the main blossoms) while still decently blurring out the background.  I'll have to keep this up!

day sixty six

Let it not be said that a year went by without snapping a single picture of Liam's favorite toy... the lid.  This translucent blue lid is off of his Evenflo In The Garden Exersaucer - it was ripped off moments after Liam was placed in it for the first time, and has never looked back.  These days, Bill and I have been offering Liam choices, such as "Frog rattle, or book?"  Book will win.  "Pork chop, or french fry?"  Our son is a carnivore, so that's easy.  "Mommy's old $500 Palm Pre, or The Lid?"  He would prefer both, but if it came down to it... he would want the lid.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.8, shutter speed 1/400 sec, ISO 800

And here he is, happily showing it off to his father.  He loved to look at people, light, anything through this lid.  Some people will save their child's favorite teddy bear... ours has no interest whatsoever in such things, but man I better not lose this lid.

Also from a picture standpoint, I should have lowered my ISO.. I had just been taking pictures upstairs, and forgot to jchange it from 800, whoops.

day sixty five

I really like this picture of Liam.  First you have the ever-present drool represented.  Then you have my son's fascination with touching things using his middle finger.  I also love the look of concentration on his face as he figures out how to use his ride-on toy's horn.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.8, shutter speed 1/320 sec, ISO 100

I tried using f/1.8 today, though I personally didn't see a huge difference in focus.  This is probably because the lighting in my formal living room kept shifting due to cloud cover, and I was really kept busy adjusting shutter speed.  Tomorrow I will try to take the same shot using 1.4 and 1.8 and seeing the difference.

day sixty four

Another busy day (house painting since the weather was just overcast, sigh!) and I had to get a picture of this flowering bush before all of the blossoms fell off.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/2000 sec, ISO 200

Looking at this, I'm thinking I need to fall a little out of love with f/1.4.  I'd like the whole flower to be in focus, so I'll try 1.8 tomorrow and see how it goes.

As for yesterday's mystery, I might have figured out how to prevent it, but not the reason why it happened.  I had really bumped up the Clarity slider in RAW on this picture as well, and the same thing happened when I opened it in PS.  Does PS not like that sort of extreme boost?

day sixty three

So, here are one of the last few blooms on my other mature front yard tree.  It bloomed when I was in NY (sigh) and I had other flowers to capture this week so this is pretty sad.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/1250 sec, ISO 100

Now, needless to say I am pretty miffed.  If I open this file in RAW, it is perfect, no grain.  I then open it in PS (just to put the watermark on) and it becomes distorted.  This has never happened to me before, and I have no idea why it is being temperamental - not sure how many PS users read this, but if anyone has a clue I'd love to know!

day sixty two

More company over tonight, so we'll interrupt our regularly scheduled garden feature to showcase Liam in tonight's bathtime routine:

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/120 sec, ISO 400

Not bad considering I forgot to up my ISO to 800.

day sixty one

And the trip through my "spring" garden continues with an afternoon photo of a blossom from my Bradford Pear.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/4000 sec, ISO 100

day sixty

We have company over tonight, so there's not much of a blog post.  Here's some of the flowers that grow next to our garage:

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/320 sec, ISO 100

day fifty nine

Okay, to make up for not posting yesterday's picture on time, I'll make today another two-fer, even though it isn't Tuesday!

First, we have Liam waking up from his afternoon nap to see his daddy, and is absolutely thrilled:

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/200 sec, ISO 400

 
Next, here he is making faces at me through our (rather dirty, I guess the powerwasher missed the door, lol) glass front door.  I was taking pictures of my other white flowering tree, and discovered that Liam would make for the better shot.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/320 sec, ISO 100

Okay, Internet, hopefully these are suitable reparations!

day fifty eight

Good news - I'm home, and Spring arrived while I was gone!

Bad news - I forgot to click "Publish" last night!  Internet, you can grant me a small reprieve, right?  I did take this picture as soon as I got home at twilight.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/50 sec, ISO 800

These are blossoms on my pear tree in the front yard.  I have blooms everywhere, all of my trees are white, and pink and white flowers are adorning some bushes.  Will post more in today's post!

day fifty seven

Today was, by far, the best day out of this trip to NY.  I spent time with my mother's father's side of the family (which is easily populated by my most awesome family members), and finally had the opportunity to meet Liam's newest cousin, Jason.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/320 sec, ISO 400

I love capturing moments like these.  I took several great (to me) shots today, but this particular one had to be the choice of the day.  It makes me so sad that these two (and myself and Jason's mom Samantha) are 800 miles away from each other normally, but I am hoping to coax this gorgeous family to come visit the land of sunshine and spring/fall beach weather.

Oh!  This shot is SOOC, which made me very happy!

day fifty six

I caught this shot while driving on route 9D through what I believe was Putnam County, NY.  It was snowing, and it was through a car window, but for someone who really misses picturesque New England architecture under snow cover, I had to take what I could get.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/500 sec, ISO 400

I still hope that when Bill and I retire, we end up with a house in a quaint little town in the northeast.  And I promise I will hire someone to shovel the driveway when it snows for seven weeks straight, sweetie :)

day fifty five

A disclaimer:  I did not take this picture.  My entire immediate family came over to meet Liam, some for the first time, and while I did take some pictures earlier today, I set my camera to aperture priority mode and let some people take a few candids.  My sister Erica took this picture of me and Liam, and I love it since I have so few pictures of the two of us, and there was no posing.  I was singing "Where is Thumbkin?" which always grabs his attention.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, aperture priority mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/60 sec, ISO 800

Great times were had by all, I got to meet my not-quite-two-week-old niece, Flora, and now I am ready for bed.  Glad I managed to get this picture up in time (though I did call Bill first, he takes priority over my blog <3 ) and now it's time for sleep!  I hope that I hear more from Erica and Anthony in the future :)

day fifty four

Liam and I made the switch to grandparent set #2 today, and he was very happy to spend some time with his young uncles.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/640 sec, ISO 400

There have been some technical difficulties, notably not being able to connect to my mother's wireless network with the Photoshop laptop, and then not being able to find my phone's charger which would enable me to use my phone as a USB device to transfer the blog photo to my netbook, which can connect.  After much grumbling and griping to Bill, I stormed upstairs, and my stepfather conjured up my mother's phone charger, which is compatible with my phone.  So, yay for not missing a blog day, even though the world was working against me today!

day fifty three

Further proof that my son is in love with himself.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/100 sec, ISO 800

day fifty two

Hello, six inches of snow!  *wave dejectedly at my husband in SC, where it is 80 degrees*

So, we're snowbound today.  This did not deter my mother + crew from stopping by to say hello to Liam, and fun was had by all. 

I actually had a GREAT shot today of Liam, but the, um, "prop" needed some adjusting.  It was completely unplanned, but I think I will try and stage it tomorrow, it was such a cute concept.  Anyway, you're not getting a picture of the snow, Internet, Bill would much rather see a picture of his son.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/1000 sec, ISO 400

"Dad?  Dad?  Dad!"  I will be hearing this at 3am, I suspect.

day fifty one

Liam didn't sleep much over the past 24 hours, so another short post.  We visited Mahopac today, where a cousin of Bill's threw herself a lovely birthday party.  We socialized, and I ogled the view outside her back deck, where people were ice fishing and sledding on the lake.

Yes, I did post pictures of gorgeous flowers in near 70 degree weather not two days ago.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/2500 sec, ISO 100

I hope I can get another picture of this view later this year, if we visit in the fall - absolutely stunning.

day fifty

Sorry day fifty, though you are a milestone day (and my son's eleventh month birthday), you will not be receiving a nice long post.  I am beyond beat.  Liam, however, was not.

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/80 sec, ISO 800

Not particularly thrilled with the grainy turnout, I think I need to tweak my laptop Photoshop settings, ugh.  This will not happen tonight.  Goodnight all.

day forty nine

I need to pack, so this post will be of the short and sweet variety.  Simply put...

Using Nikon 50mm f1.4G, manual mode, f/1.4, shutter speed 1/1250 sec, ISO 100

...why the heck am I going to NYC in February when I can stay home in the near-70 degree weather and ogle my flowers?

Yeah, I don't know either.

Editing my post to add one more picture... maybe looking at these will cheer me up in the bleary northern weather.