b maternity

Once again, I am leaning on my friends to act as guinea pigs for me. I had the great pleasure of taking C's maternity pictures. R, her son, was one of Roan's nursing support group buddies. I think she looks beautiful in these pictures. She has the most perfect, teeny belly for being 38 weeks along. I can't wait to get A's, who is en utero, newborn pictures!

I try not to photoshop too much, but does the shadow of R need to be edited out? Does it take away from the picture?



On another note, I think Choua and I are going deaf...or we cannot seem to enunciate around each other. We are always asking, "What?" or saying "I can't hear you" when the other speaks. We are getting so old!

scenes from an afternoon shower

I was invited to take pictures at a shower this past weekend. It was just a casual "session" if you can even call it one. The couple were so cute. I could tell the Daddy-to-be was really excited. He was sweet.



The little girl, above, just did not want me to take any pictures of her. Am I that bad?

I just loved these mini-Uggs.

saturday, part II

After nap, Tais Nub, Ethan and Aleah stopped over to head the our favorite place, The Morton Arboretum. However, with the road construction, by the time they arrived, it was 10 minutes to closing time so we decided to head to Sonny Acres to try to meet up with some friends. We were late. These are just some snapshots from our trip.

saturday, part I

A morning with Roan. Choua got up with him. When I returned home, they were both still in their pj's, Roan's playroom was a mess, and his diaper had not been changed yet, but at least he had been fed breakfast. I'm not complaining...I was pleasantly happy when I returned.

I quickly changed Roan's diaper, cleaned him up, dressed him, while Choua started lunch. While we were waiting for lunch, Roan and I watched Blue's Clues and it was so hilarious to watch him singing and guessing things. He really is talking a lot more now. I know I shouldn't be so proud...after all, he is almost 2.5, but it's quite an achievement for us. We've been working really hard and reading, pointing things out, and repeating things. I also find that I am listening a lot more and acknowledging what he is saying even though it's not perfect. I'm also calmly correcting him if he calls an object by the wrong name. For example, all fruits, except bananas are "apple".

Then we played with magnets, colored, danced, hugged, and sang...and then ta da! Lunch was ready!



Roan loves to lounge and watch DVDs, while eating his blankie, until a song comes on and then he has to get up and dance and sing.



I love this sweater from Crewcuts. It has suede elbow patches. Alas, I cannot justify $68 for a toddler's sweater. Momma is saving up for a D300!

h maternity

I had the great honor of doing my very first maternity with J and K. They were just the cutest couple! They definitely had the glow of expecting first-time parents. I was a little more reserved than I imagined myself to be as this was my first, but I was really pleased with the results from the shoot. My favorite shot could not be included as it shows a little skin so I think I'll need to get permission to post it. These are just a few that I have had a chance to resize for the web.



They live right on the route of the Chicago Marathon and had an awesome view of the race AND the city. Hmmmm...seems like the water is a little too green. I'll need to look at that more. It's not St. Paddy's Day anymore...it shouldn't be that green.

budget

Choua and I decided that we needed to be more in control of our money. With debit cards, it's so easy to spend away and then realize at the end of the week that we've got nothing to show for the money we've spent. Unfortunately for us though, we can see the money wasting away on our bodies. I should have added to my post about our anniversary "...and 25 pounds later."

Anyways, we are on cash only. Luckily, we've always believed in paying ourselves first so we've got one thing going for us. It pains us that we'll be in the market for another car in a year or so. It's nice to be payment-free (except for my SL). Our budget is pretty lax, but we'll re-evaluate after a couple of months.

It's funny, because I am so much more stingy now that I have to think of where I am spending my money. No more impulse buying for me. It's going well though. I am saving up for one final lens...maybe a Christmas gift?

indian summer

Roan and I went to the Morton Arboretum again. This membership has been the one that we have used the most. It basically paid for itself after two visits. By the time we left today, it was almost 90 degrees...and that was before noon! I think this may be the last weekend we'll have Summer weather in Fall.

I really wanted to get some pictures of Roan with the Halloween decorations here, but when I set him on top of a hay bail, he looked at me and said, "Sacairwee." This was the best that I could do.

This was huge pumpkin that had a face craved on it. I think the dark color was actually mold. It was gross. Roan touched it and said, "Eewie."

I tried to adjust the LAB color to make the background in the picture below more colorful as the full sun bleached it of any color in the real world. I think I may have gone too far.

The picture below is what I mean by the full sun bleaching the picture.

Next time, remember to visit the ball on the water last. He was drenched within the first two minutes. Usually, I bring extra clothes just in case there are water opportunities, but I knew there really weren't any here. I was wrong.

Above, another one I tried the LAB adjustment on. There must be something I can do to leave it more realistic looking.


Nothing special about the above picture, but I love that it shows his eyelashes. You can double click on the picture and it should enlarge it...if you care. :) After playing for about 1.5 hours, we stopped on the big treehouse to have a snack.

Roan loves Cheetohs! I tried to only let him have Baked Cheetohs. It's better, right?

"Eewie".

"Ummm..."

Roan is a really picky eater, but the stuff he does like to eat. He eats a lot of!

He also likes to share his food with his Mommy.