Self imposed photo challenge

I got a new camera!  I am so excited about this!  I've had my eye on a digital SLR camera for some time now (like since Cecilia was born).  One of my photographer friends was selling the body of an entry level SLR for a steal of a deal.  It was her old back-up camera that she only used once.  I claimed it within 20 minutes of the FB post.  I ordered a lens online for it, and it came in on Friday.  Now its time to learn how to use it.  Of course, I could just set it on auto and go, but that is really no fun.  I'm so excited to learn how to use this camera to its full potential.  YAY!

Already I can see a huge difference in the quality of the photos from my old point and shoot to this camera.  The way it captures the light is so much more accurate to what I actually see.  One thing that will take some adjusting is the lens.  I bought a fixed lens at 50mm, so it has no zoom, and it is a considerably tighter crop than what I am used to.  I did some comparison testing from old to new with the girls.  Its pretty remarkable!

 

 

So, because I have this awesome new camera, I am imposing a 30 day photo challenge on myself.  In addition to the usual Fries family life logging that I do, I'll be posting a photo a day to go with my photo challenge.  I'm counting on all 10 of you, my faithful blog readers, to keep me accountable : )  I've looked through several challenge lists and decided to pick and choose to make my own.  Here's what I came up with:

Day 1 -  We want to see You....

Day 2 -  It's all a BLUR!

Day 3 -  smiles

Day 4 -  Your pet.

Day 5 -  Touchy Textures

Day 6 -  Let's play with...

Day 7 -  Shadowy Silhouettes

Day 8 -  A is for....

Day 9 -  Get Vertical

Day 10 -  Power of Three

Day 11 -  What's Cooking?

Day 12 -  Wood You...

Day 13 -  Reflections on...

Day 14 -  Something that means a lot to you.

Day 15 -  Orange you glad...

Day 16 -  Something from your bathroom.

Day 17 -  Mission: Purple

Day 18 -  Your handwriting

Day 19 -  2 Make a Pair

Day 20 -  Up!

Day 21 -  A Bright Idea

Day 22 -  Seeing Patterns & Shapes

Day 23 -  Get Low

Day 24 -  Seeing Red

Day 25 -  Sunrise, Sunset

Day 26 -  A device that you own but never use/touch.

Day 27 -  Fill the Frame

Day 28 -  Looking In

Day 29 -  Shoes

Day 30 -  You again…

Day 1 is tomorrow.  See you then :)

First Snow

The snow came in yesterday.  It was less than they weather people thought, thank goodness!  But, it was enough to pile on the lawn and make it a fun winter wonderland for the day.  I think we got about 5-6 inches total.  It will most likely be mostly gone by the end of today.  Gotta love Colorado! 

When Cecilia woke up and looked out the front window, she told me that it was "messy".  She was very insistent about it and kept moving her arm in a big circle as if to say "its all messy all around out there".  I corrected her and explained that it was snow.  She said "OOooOOOhh"  like she does when the light bulb in her little head turns on.  She calls the snow, "nows".

We had MOPS in the morning (thank goodness- I've been going crazy Jon being gone hunting all week, but that's for another post).  After the girls napped we got all bundled up and headed out to the nows, er I mean snow.  Cecilia was so excited!

I realize that Cecilia is wearing two different gloves.  Actually, the one on her right is not even a glove, its two socks :)  It is on the list to get her appropriate winter accessories.  To be fair, this is really the first time that Cecilia has played in the snow.  She was too little last year, and we didn't really get snow last year.  She didn't seem to care at all.

I tried to teach her how to make a snow angel, but I couldn't get down there with her because I had Lilly and a camera.  She was so cute.  I would show her how to move her arms, but she would just put them out in front of her and then back in the snow.  She cracks me up!

 Cecilia played for a solid 30 minutes in the snow.  She loved tasting, marching and throwing the snow.  

 When she was finished we had hot chocolate.  Another first for her.  She loved it!  She kept telling me over and over "Mom, nows shun!", which translates to: "Mom, snow fun!"

Like Father Like Daugher

There is no doubt, Lilly is Jon's kid.  They have the same complexion, smile, eyes, and hairline.  In fact, Jon still has more hair than Lilly!  The smile is the give away.  The both have the same a-symmetrical bend in their bottom lip.  I love it! And the thumb sucking.  Yep, she got that from her Daddy, too.

 

E-I-E-I-O

We went to a farm!  (Okay, so it wasn't necessarily and e-i-e-e-o kind of farm, but I thought the title would be appropriate since we are teaching Cecilia that song.)  A few weekends ago we headed up to Miller Farms for the day.  It was beautiful weather! The girls did great, and it was nothing short of the perfect family outing. 

Cecilia loved climbing up the big hay stack, jumping on a big pillow, playing on the train, feeding the goats and picking produce.  Mostly, she loved to play in the dirt.  Lilly was so good.  She hung out in her stroller before we got on the trailers to head out to the fields, and then she fell asleep in my arms for a nap while Jon and Cecilia picked most of the veggies.  I wish I had brought the baby holster (baby Bjorn) with to the fields, because 14.5lbs gets really heavy after a bit. 
 

We picked onions, cabbage, kohlrabi, corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and carrots.  Corn was Cecilia's favorite because the ears were right at her level.  Jon took her into the corn field and came out with three bags of corn because she just couldn't help herself. Good thing it freezes!  We also bought a few big pumpkins and a watermelon. 

 

By the time we got to the car, Cecilia was so tired.  I tried to keep her awake with lunch in the car, but she fell fast asleep with a piece of ham in her hand.  

Z-Packs All Around

I think we are finally on the mend around here.  I ended up taking both girls back into the doctor on Monday morning because we were still fighting the sicky battle around here and my mother's intuition was telling me that they were not well.  When Dr. Jill walked in I told her that I probably should have made it a 3 for 1 appointment, because my ears were still bugging me and I still felt icky too.  She checked us all out, and sure enough all of 3 of us had ear infections.  Cecilia took first place though.   She had two very red ears.  Some of the worst Jill has seen on her.  Poor baby!  Z-Packs all around and I think we are all feeling better.  YAY!! 

Last weekend we were able to have dinner with Grandma Katy and Papa Jim and my parents and Nick and Megan.  It was great to see family, and go out to dinner.  The girls did great too!

On Tuesday when I was putting the laundry away, Cecilia found all of her panties in her drawer.  She decided she would try them on.  All of them.  At the same time.  It was adorable, and she was so proud of her self.  It reminded me of Joey and Chandler on Friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q--6wtCPHg8.  

 

She is showing more and more interest in using the potty.  I'm still not pushing the issue.  I figure when she is really ready, she will go and it won't be a big deal.  I found her in the bathroom teaching her dolly to go on the potty.

Lilly is really starting to come out of her shell.  She has been showing so many more emotions this week.  She has been gasping and squealing when she gets excited, and she has been laughing at random things too.  She is so cute!  She has been a terrific sleeper, still.  The other night she slept for 10 hours!  It was amazing.  Although I must admit, I love nursing my baby, especially in the middle of the night, when it is quite and it is just her and I.  I wish I could record those moments and DVR it forever. 

Sicky-Sicky-Sick-Sick

That's the technical term for the reason the blog has been neglected:  Sicky Sicky Sick Sick.  At least that what the doctor told me was the official medical term to describe my family's state of being the last two weeks.  Jon had it first.  And he had it bad.  We think he had some version of a flu.  He had a fever that topped out at 102.7 for days, night sweats, chills, sore throat, coughing, runny noes, you get the picture.  He even stayed home for a day and a half from work and went to the doctor.  It was "just a virus" though.  Darn!  I was hoping for the treatable kind of Sicky-Sick.

I was bound and determined not to get it.  I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.  Then  I felt that all too telling pang of yuck in the back of my throat.  I cleaned some more.  It didn't work though.  But I am sure that I had something different than Jon.  My ears hurt.  My ears never hurt.  I brushed it off for a few days.  Then I had a slight fever, cough, runny nose, and no energy.  I decided I might as well have it checked out because 1. my ears never hurt, and they really were hurting now, and 2.  I've already hit my out of pocket max for the year on insurance, so it doesn't cost us anything for me to go to the doctor :)  The good news is that my sicky-sick was  treatable (YAY!)  The bad news, is that I had a double ear infection.  The last time I had an ear infection, I was three years old.  I confirmed this with my mom.  Mom said "you probably don't remember".  Oh yes, I remember.  It is probably one of my earliest memories.  I remember the pain.  I remember lying in my parents room and watching The Price is Right.  I remember the blue carpet and the brown chevron patterned bed spread.  I remember the sunlight streaming in the windows that were very tiny at the top of the walls.  I remember being sad because Papa Jay just died, or was going to die.  I remember.

Lilly and Cecilia both have the yucks too.  Bad coughs, runny noses.  Lilly had a slight infection that the doc said she would not treat because she is getting some of the antibiotic that I am taking through the breast milk.  I haven't taken C in yet, but if she is really not doing any better by tomorrow, she gets her turn at the doctors office. 

Last Friday, in an effort to rid my house of the sicky-sick bug I got the bleach out.  I bleached every single surface in my kitchen and bathroom.  I bleached all of the door knobs, window sills, light switches, drawer pulls, etc.  I cleaned some more.  I think it is helping, but it is hard to say.  I'm sure that some of this is from Cecilia being at school.  I'm sure she is bringing it home with her.  I just hope the entire fall and winter season is not like this.  I can't afford that much kleenex.

Even though we've been sick around here, life goes on.  It's been busy around here.  While Jon was sick, the alternator in his car went out.  So it was kind-of good timing that he wasn't going in to work anyway because we were able to get his car fixed ($$$) and not have to worry about barrowing a car.

The girls and I went to the Butterfly Pavilion with my Mom, Ma, and the wild boys.  It was so much fun!  I got the annual family membership earlier this year via Groupon, and I think it will be the perfect rainy day activity for us.  Cecilia even held Rosie, the tarantula!

The firefighters came to visit the MOPS group last week.  This is the third year in a row Cecilia has gotten the tour of the fire truck.
 

Grandma went to school with Cecilia for a few hours last week.  She said that Cecilia is very affectionate with her classmates and that it was a side of her that she hadn't seen before.  I guess Cecilia would bring kleenex to whom ever sneezed.  Gently put her arm around someone who was crying, and give hugs all the time.  So sweet!

Lilly is officially rolling!  She has now mastered front to back and back to front.  She still thinks her thumb is gourmet, and she is loving her rice cereal.  Cecilia loves to play "Little Mommy"  she likes to pretend to feed and change her baby dolls all the time.

 

I've been picking up speed with Fries the Moment Design (check out the blog here).  I've just completed a few more senior albums and have more albums, websites, and branding concepts on the horizon.  I found Pinterest, I like it so much I added a link to the blog so you can find me there :).  It is so much fun, and a brilliant idea!  I frequent that site daily.  I also started back at Weight Watchers.  I have just a few pounds left to get back to goal and its still free until Lilly is 6 months old.  It will be nice to fit into my skinny jeans for the winter :)