30 Day Photo Challenge...the end

I am at a bittersweet crossroads, it's been a fun time doing this 30 day photo challenge, but it has truly been a challenge which was the point.  I am going to be taking a bit of a break from the photo challenges for a month or two in anticipation of a few other crafty projects consuming my time.  I also have a really fun plan with a couple of willing subjects but more on that later...So, here is  my final post about the 30 Day Challenge - Photograph your kids:

Day 25: In low lighting (light from iPad, TV, Fridge, etc.)

I completely stumbled upon this situation and as it turns out I LOVE the under lighting.  I find it a little daunting that my 2 1/2 year old daughter is more familiar with an iPad than I am...I have a feeling this is just the beginning of having those types of moments/feelings.

Day 26: Telling you a story...

This will be a sequence of photos because I can't pick what expression I like best, I can't really tell you exactly what she was talking about but there was something about Chloe being naughty and Ryan being silly....

Day 27: With a prop that represents them...

This was a no brainer...it's blankie or beeshee to Naomi.  This represents her in every way that a little one can be.  It's her source of comfort and confidence, keeps her warm, can be used as a cape and has truly been with her from day 1.  I was a big blankie girl myself and I know exactly how she feels about hers :)

Day 28: Helping you with a task...

This one was easy because Naomi is a happy helper...well sometimes it's helpful and sometimes not so much.  I think this day in particular taught me a lot more than just a photography lesson, it was the lesson of let the littles in your life help.  Naomi's eyes just lit up when I asked her if she wanted to help.  Then the whole time we were making the waffle batter she just kept saying over and over, "Me helping you Momma?"  super cute.  And she didn't really make much more of a mess than I did while cooking...and if we've ever cooked together you know that generally is a huge mess with a lot of utensils.  I blame cooking for a job in high school - it was the best, I could use whatever pans, mixing bowls and utensils I wanted and someone else did the dishes!  Ahh living the dream...:)

Day 29: Playing in the sprinkler/pool/beach...

Hmm...well...this one couldn't happen in the last few days because it's been COLD.  So, here is a pic from earlier this summer in place of it :)

Day 30: You and your child...

Well, here it is the last picture of the challenge.  These pics are courtesy of Ryan's hand however, I did adjust the settings and just told him to keep clicking away.  Which is the true lesson I learned in this challenge, just keep taking pictures of whatever strikes your fancy and you can capture little snippets of time.  I think it would be a fun project to do this challenge each summer as a documentary of Naomi's summers.  We shall see...

30 Day Photo Challenge...Days 21, 22, 23, 24...

Well the days are ticking away...I am now at the point that I have enjoyed the ideas of what pictures to take and having a photo goal but am looking forward to just shooting whatever...not that anyone is counting or grading but I'm a pretty good self motivator :)

Day 21: Hugging a loved one...

It's me! :)  I changed my settings, metered for light and...handed the camera to Ryan.  There, now that wasn't SO hard was it?  haha.

Day 22: Tiny hands at work...

Oh so many to choose from, she is going through a HUGE water color painting phase...and really she does a good job and loves to do it.  Super cute.  I love seeing her express her creative side.

Day 23...Brushing Teeth

This one was really easy because she loves to brush her teeth.  Like 5 times a day.  Like that she knows where her special toothbrush at grandmas is.  Like right after she wakes me in the morning our conversation goes like this, "Hi Nay." "Hi Mommy." "Did you sleep good?" "Me eat!? Hungry!!  Teeth please!".  She definitely is a girl who knows what she wants!

Day 24...Sneak around a corner and capture them not paying attention

This isn't nearly as devious as I thought it was going to be.  She really is a good girl and is rarely doing things that are naughty.  So we're pretty low-key in our sneakiness, as in playing with Mr. Potato head :)  Let's keep it that way for the next 30 or so years!

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 18, 19 & 20

Back at the job of being a Class A momma-razzi :)

Day 18: Getting Dressed...

This was just too funny not to have a sequence of the process...we used to fight every morning to get her into her room to get her dressed...to unglue herself from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for 3 minutes to come and get dressed and finally I gave up and let her win and she normally gets dressed while watching Mickey.  A dear friend of mine gave me some sage parenting advice before I had Naomi and that was to say yest to the little things so that when you say no they realize you mean it.

  So here she is...

 One little leg at a time...

 Those sleeve holes can be tricky stuff...

Finally dressed and ready to take on the day!

Day 19: Looking out a window

I L.O.V.E. her reflection in the window in this picture.  I also like that she looks a little more serious and pensive.  Not that I don't adore my silly, goofy, giggly girl but I love watching her personality develop and all the different facets of just who this little amazing person is becoming.

Day 20: Laughing

Naomi laughs from her toes, her giggles start deep down and are the most beautiful sound in the world.  She is very easy to get to laugh...a lot of times just one silly little face gets her going.  Tonight to get this one I just walked behind her stomping and she kept giggling at me, "More?! Chase?!".

This last picture makes my heart smile :)

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 8 - 17

We've been busy...and I've been having a photo slump...but I have done my homework so far but have really been having a tough time of balancing living in the moment and capturing it...we had 2 events in the past couple of weeks that I did not take pictures at...weird for me.  BUT then we got home from our vacation to Michigan and the urge to take pictures was back thankfully!  I will have a few upcoming posts about our vacation, the fair and some new recipes I've tried but for now on to the challenge days:

Day 8: Silhouette Shot -

I love the black and white of this shot - her eyelashes get me.  I also love the soft round cheeks and wispy hair.

 

 Day 9: Crying or having a meltdown

It was actually more of a challenge to get her while in mid meltdown because most of the time I am trying to soothe her while she is melting.  In this case Ryan was being the soother....by the way - the meltdown was over having to come in and wash her hands from playing outside because she touched bird poop.  Awesome.  haha

Day 10: Holding hands with someone

I snapped this one while walking around the animal barns at the fair.

 Day 11: Tiny Feet

This one is funny because she does NOT have tiny feet...she has big feet...but I thought this was cute as she was climbing around at the park.

 Day 12: Eating Breakfast

I thought I would capture a moment of her actually using her fork somewhat properly...you never realize all of the coordination required to do the simple things in life such as using a fork! 

Day 13: Shoot from above

This was while running around at the park as well.

Day 14: What they do during quiet time. 

We JUST started coloring with markers for 2 reasons - they are a mess and I only had non-washable markers so I picked up some washable ones and her coloring bug is back in a big way.  I needed to get some housework done so I put her at the desk with the new markers and a coloring book and away she went.

Day 15: Playing outside

Coloring away...on the picnic table seat...we've had numerous incidents of colorful backsides...

Day 16: Interacting with friends...

Disclaimer...I didn't actually take this picture...but I was there and thought it was beautiful and special and wanted to share :)  These are 2 of the sweet little girls that Naomi gets to tag along with at Hiawatha.  They are both so sweet and special, I wanted to share the moment of them all coloring together at this age because we only see each other once a year so they will all look and act differently next year!

 Day 17: Walking Away

...this was after bath time...she said she needed socks and Ryan was folding laundry and he gave her his tie dyed socks then of course she needed to put on shoes....oh the fashion choices this girl makes!  I had to include the one of her walking back to us though because the little smile kills me!

30 Day Photo Challenge - Days 5,6,7...

I have really been enjoying this photo challenge, it makes me pick up my camera every single day and try to catch natural kid moments...and perhaps stage one or two :)

Day 5: With their Favorite Stuffed animal/toy...
The funny story behind this picture...Naomi really likes this pig but like the books she is an equal opportunity kind of girl and gives a lot of affection to ALL of her pets...on to the funny story...so about a month or so ago we stayed at a friends house in Madison and were staying in their little boys room.  Ryan and Mindy B. were in the room getting it ready and Naomi kept dragging this pig around with her (she sleeps with it 90% of the time) and Ryan says to Mindy B. "I don't know what to do, she really seems to like that pig, do you think Carter is going to mind if she sleeps with it?"  Mindy's reply...that's not our pig...they come downstairs and I just burst out laughing...boys and the little details...

Day 6: Crack the Door and Photograph what they are doing...

Not that this is news to us, but we are blessed with an EXTREMELY easy going little girl, this is the face I get to see first thing in the morning every morning...she calls out, "Mommy...mom...up...mom....MOM!"  Then when I walk in she says, "Hi Mommy" ahhh....we are counting the blessings, I know that if she is anything like me in about 12 years mornings will but a much more...dramatic....event :)

Day 7: Playing in the bathtub...
So, this day posed an odd challenge to our little family...Naomi has started HATING baths...the timing out is ok though - we are going camping soon so we are "practicing" taking showers because that is all we will have for about 5 days...so in lieu of a pic of playing in the tub, we get post shower BIG eyes...

Spoiler alert...day 9 should be interesting...Crying or having a meltdown - HA!

Hot Child in the City...Happy 4th!

Last week was miserably hot...Naomi kept going around the house saying, “HOT!” most likely because I was doing the same. We had a new babysitter watching Naomi for a couple of days last week while our regular sitter took some much needed, well deserved family time off for the 4^th so Naomi got to spend 2 days at home with her new “friend”. The first morning leaving was a little rough but by lunch time she was dragging the poor sitter around the house (the very hot non-air conditioned house) telling her what to do and where they were going to go.

The next morning when Naomi woke up, I asked her if she knew what day it was and she said, Katie my friend? Yes, honey girl, it was Katie your friend day – super cute. It went remarkably well. So much so that I even was able to get one of my photo challenges done really easily while they were playing “Chase” through the kitchen.

Our only hope to escape from the heat in our house is our basement, we have been in process of converting the former owners old office space into a toy room for Naomi and last week's heat wave was all the motivation we needed. We had carpeting installed, brought down a lot of toys from our living room (somehow it STILL looks like there are a billion toys upstairs too) and enjoyed the basement coolness.  We broke out the camping cots and brought down Naomi's pack and play and slept in there - Naomi thought it was a great adventure.

We hosted a small get together with a couple of friends for the 4^th...it was hot...so hot. I literally brought a fan outside just to get some air flowing!! Ryan picked on me for it but I really do think it helped...that and frequent dips in the kiddie pool!

We tried SO hard to get Naomi to take a picture with us and this is what we got...stinker :)

Baby Girl Charlotte and her amazing eyes

Baby William

Miss Natty P

Busy fingers, even her little fingers are patriotic!

That night we took Naomi down to the fireworks with Grandma, Boppa, Auntie Amber and Uncle Jus-Jus. It was Nay's first time experiencing fireworks – she did really well with holding the sparklers...

 

After the first firework she just said, “WOW!”

then sat in my lap, then grandmas, then Boppa's, then Daddy's finally back to grandmas.
 

They kept her attention for about 10 minutes then she wanted to play. We trekked back home in the dark and Ryan had ridden home with his dad to haul back some chairs and he met us at the end of the drive way with a sparkler and Naomi asked, “Me do?”
 

 

so I got her out of her stroller and let her hold it, half way through it she looked up at Ry and I and said, “Ni-night?” Yes, Naomi, you can go ni-night. Funny girl had had enough of the celebration.

I can remember the 4^th of July being such a huge marker of the halfway point of summer, being so excited to go play at the park with my friends and run around. I can't wait to see what the 4^th means to our little family in future years and what Naomi's memories of the holiday's are.

30 Day Photo Challenge, Days 1-3

I received an email from a friend this weekend with a link to a blog that has a 30 day child related photo challenge...she knows I love homework and that my favorite subject is Naomi...so here we go!  Here is the photo challenge:

Day 1 - You and your child...

Here's what I learned; Tripod + self timer + toddler = a ridiculous number of pictures of us looking very goofy!  It was fun though and it's nice to have another pic of Nay and I...

if not for this "assignment" I would not take a pic of myself.

Day 2: Sleeping

 

What I learned...want to make your husband wonder if you've lost your mind?  Just start snapping a ton of pictures in your toddler's room during nap time.  Our conversation went something like this:

R:"WHAT are you doing in there?!?!" in a whispered shout.

M:"Homework, I HAVE to take a pic of her sleeping and it's too dark at night"

R:"Oh. Weird."

The End 

Day 3: Reading their Favorite Book

What I know.... I took a couple of different pics, Naomi LOVES books but does not have a favorite one per se - she likes all of them, so I wanted to capture that, that phase of her toddlerhood of wanting to experience it all!

I am excited for the upcoming photo challenges, it's fun to try out something new and take an idea and run with it.  Here is the link to the blog that has a ton of photography related ideas, discussions, etc.

http://www.clickitupanotch.com/