Before and After: I Heart Faces

I have really been interested in photography for a long time. I have always taken lots and lots of pictures of my friends and family. Just this past year I have put a little more time into learning more about it and ways to improve. Finding I Heart Faces has really inspired me to be better. I decided to buy my first DSLR in May. I feel like I have grown by leaps and bounds. I still have so much to learn but looking back at my photos from just a year ago to now makes me realize how much I have learned. Here is a photo from last year, one that I thought was wonderful at the time.

And here is one I took recently. I have learned alot about editing. I love cropping and working with curves to get the look I am going for.

Sunday Showers

Over the last few days we have had some rain showers. Today was no different. As we went to the commissary to get groceries for the week, the sun was shining. When we came out it was a light rain. I am getting used to this. I guess when you live in Florida you get used to midday rain showers. I wish I could get some of the rain to go towards my mom's house. She has been living in a drought at her house. Every now and then Austin gets some rain but it always seems to stay dry at her house. One day it rain just north and south of her but no luck where she is. So rain, go to Texas, right over my mom's house and pour down as long as you want. I am sure she won't mind!

I had a good past week. I worked four days. It was not bad at all. McKenna completed her first week of school. She seemed to enjoy it. Kambry was oriented to her new preschool which she starts on Tuesday. I think she was a little disappointed when McKenna got on the bus Friday and she couldn't. She really thought that she was going to start school that day too. I met a few new military spouses. We are planning some play dates and get togethers so that will be fun. I think I am going to be keeping very busy over the next few weeks. I have a couple of photo shoots, Kenna wants to play soccer so we are checking into that, and I will be working off and on. I haven't taken many pictures lately but I hope to start taking more soon. I hope that everyone is having a great weekend..just a couple more days and we will be in September.

One more thing: My friend Laura had her baby boy this past Friday by emergency repeat C-section three weeks early and he is in the NICU for now for increased respirations. Please keep him in your thoughts!

Here's a silly picture of Aislynn in her cool new jammies.

The sound of children

Sometimes I wonder how quiet my house would be without any kids running around in it at all times. Then, I remember I had that once. It was okay but I think I will keep the noise. Don't get me wrong, I love my quiet times at night when all the girls have gone to bed. But, without all that noise I would miss listening to McKenna and Kambry play so nicely at times, talking about who is the mommy puppy and who is the baby. They like to be animals and take care of each other. I would also miss hearing the sweet sound of child laughter. It doesn't take much to hear it filled throughout the house. I would miss my job as a referee when they argue. Though, I don't like that job, it's funny to hear what they are arguing about. Sometimes it's something as simple as one of them following the other around the house or someone is looking at the other and they don't want them to look at them. It really is comical at times. I love to hear Aislynn babble away and try to be louder than me when I am talking. She has a way of getting your attention. I am glad that I have the noise that I have. It's a good kind of chaos! Here is a cute photo my mom took while we were visiting her in Austin.

First Day of Kindergarden

My first baby is already ready for school, but am I? I walked her to the bus stop this morning, waited anxiously with her for the bus to arrive, then reluctantly encouraged her to get on the big yellow school bus. She slowly went up the stairs, the doors shut and the bus drove away. All day I was thinking of her and what activities she was doing. The day was really long. Then it approached 2:20pm, the time the bus drops her off. I gathered up the other girls and trotted off to the bus stop once again. As the bus approached my only thought was I hope McKenna remembered what stop to get off at. Then, I saw her little head pop up and walk down the isle. She had a huge smile on her face as she stepped off the bus. Her first day was success! As we walked home she told me all about the cafeteria(she loves to eat) and how she got to color pictures. I am so glad that the first day is over. Now, we look forward to the rest of the year! Here are a couple of pictures from this morning.

Happy 1st Birthday Aislynn!

Today is a very special day. It's Aislynn's first birthday. She is a sweet, happy baby and has grown so much in her first year. She is talking a lot! Mostly babbling and baby talk but she loves to make noise. She is also crawling all over the place. Just in the past couple of weeks she started pulling up on everything. Sometimes she cruises the furniture and other times she just stands there. She likes to eat table food with all of us. Baby food is a thing of the past, I can hardly get her to eat it. She still loves her yoBaby yogurt though. Aislynn is still wearing 12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper. She has 6 teeth(2 bottom and 4 top). She loves to play with her big sisters and follows them around the house. I have really enjoyed this past year and can't wait to see her grow even more. I love you Aislynn Kate! Happy, Happy Birthday!

Family Photo Time!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet up with Julie Rivera. She lives in Texas and takes beautiful photos. For those of you who participate in I Heart Faces, you might recognize her because she is a contributor for their site. We met in downtown Austin and had a great time even though the weather heated up really fast. Click here to go to her site to see a quick peak. I can't wait to see more.

Belly Bump

Here are some more photos that I took of my friend the other day. I just love belly bumps. Even though the last few months of pregnancy can be very uncomfortable, when it's all over I really miss my belly bump, or in my case the humongous belly hump.

Photoshoot Fun

My good friend Meg let me take some pregnancy photos of her this morning. I have been working on them but so many turned out so great that I can't narrow them down very well. Here is one of my favorites. Meg, I hope you like these. You are a beautiful pregnant woman! Can't wait to see your precious little boy.

Vacation

Has it really been a week since I posted anything? Well, I am hoping to have some free moments to update everyone on my trip so far in the very near future. I have been trying to keep up with everyone else's blog also. We have been driving a lot in the last few days. We just made it to Austin and will be here for a few days. Can't wait to meet up with more friends later this week. I will post again soon!

I Heart Faces "Crazy,Silly, Funny Face"

Even though I have been extremely busy with work lately, I have found time to still break out the camera every now and then. Last week we took the girls on a bike ride and afterwards they were being silly for photos. This one of Kambry just makes me smile. She is always giving me silly faces and I just love it!! I was happy to see that the theme this week at I Heart Faces is Crazy, Silly, Funny Faces. Hope you like my entry. Hop on over to see the others!

Labor and Love

This past week at work has been awesome. I think I am definitely wanting to do labor and delivery a lot. Of course I really like the labor and delivery part better than the scheduled c-section but I know some people have to have c-sections for certain reasons and that's okay. The things I enjoy are seeing the excitement in a soon to be new mom, seeing the nervousness in a soon to be dad, watching the grandparents get ready to be grandparents and listening to stories of how their children were born. These days are great. I love being a resource for my patients and making them feel as comfortable as they can. I think to myself, "Hey, I have been through this a few times, what would I want?" You really get to know your patients well. Where I work we are one on one with our patient in labor so there are no other distractions or things to tend to and I really like that feeling. I have been helping moms breath through contractions, get epidurals put it, push out babies, dry babies off, breastfeed, and recover. So far, I am really enjoying this job a bunch. I am so glad I decided to go back to work.
I have one day off and then I work four more in a row before we head to Texas. It will be a nice break for all of us.
Here is a photo of Kambry jumping around in her new rain boots after the rain the other day. She is just too cute!!

Sister Love

When you see your sister sleeping on the floor...

you go try to wake her up and give her love!

It's August already

So the photo shoot thing didn't work out. I ended up taking Aislynn in to see the doctor on Friday and it turned into an all day thing. She was still getting fevers every night and her appetite wasn't what I was happy with. They ran all these tests to see what it was and everything came back negative. Good for us but now we think it's just some kind of viral thing or her teething is just lasting a long time and giving her a hard time. She didn't hardly have any problems with the first four teeth so I don't know why this time it's such a change. Poor thing doesn't want to get in the car seat because she thinks I am going to take her back to that place where she gets poked and prodded and looked at all over. She was a trooper through it all.
I am off for the next couple of days and then I am doing a lot of working before we leave for Texas. It's going to be great to see friends and family, I just can't wait. I have no new pictures for you to look at. Maybe I can take some of the girls tomorrow. Well, I am getting tired so have a great weekend everyone.