Farewell

The time has come to do a little housekeeping...and not the kind with a mop and broom. Over the past year, my life has filled up with so much, well...LIFE! I love every moment of every day, but I need to rearrange a few things to make more time for the things that I truly enjoy.

I have enjoyed blogging, but its fun for me has run its course. Farewell blog :)

Hey Handsome!

The Kitchen...finito!

New Lens!!!

YEAH! I got my new camera lens yesterday. I was super bummed when I didn't feel well today, but I still managed to snap a few photos of Matt Man.

Play Time!!!

And, alas I am still trying to get good shots of my little 'energizer bunny.' I can only freeze his movement at high shutter speed, which isn't producing the contrast or the color that I am looking for. But, this is still a cute shot!

Hello Angel

Another goal of mine this year, learn to make a mean cupcake. And, not just fancy dancy decorating either...I mean a truly good, melt in your mouth cupcake. This project might be saved for the holidays.

This photo was taken right after a nap. Matthew was running around being his usual self, when for a brief moment he stopped, looked up at me, and held this angelic pose for...a millisecond!

Jeff loves this picture and I can see why. Matthew looks just like Jeff in this photograph. From his hair, right down to his chin...spitting image of his daddy. I wish with my whole heart that this photo quality had turned out better. I ordered a new lens that will hopefully allow me to capture my busy boy in his element and still produce a nice, sharp image.

Even more cuteness

More Three Months

Jeffrey has started to blow bubbles and can hold his head upright for long periods of time. And...he is started to inch himself forward. I have a feeling he will be crawling before long. He is such a sweet baby. I can't wait to take more pictures of my little munchkin.

3 Months

This is my first attempt at taking/editing photos of Jeffrey. Instead of hiring a photographer to take 3 month shots, I thought I would try my hand at it. I am pleased with the 'baby part' photos, but think I need a new lens in order to freeze movement and obtain 'tack sharp' photos. Let me know what you think!

Uh Oh

My baby is on the move! Jeffrey is rolling over at 3 months old. Please God, don't let him be an early walker...

My little munchkin loves to smile and talk

Almost 21 Months and 3 Months

Here are my two handsome boys! As you can tell from this picture, they truly are best friends.

Matthew is almost 21 months old.

He is very active. He loves to read, swim, build with Legos, and JUMP! He runs, jumps, climbs, and bounces around with ease. Matt also can pick out most animals, colors, shapes, some numbers, letters, and objects when asked. His memory is amazing.

Jeffrey is 3 months old.

He smiles easily and babbles all day long. One thing Matthew and Jeffrey have in common is they both wake up talking. It is so cute to sit back and listen in the morning.

Jeffrey can roll from his tummy to his back, sit in the Bumbo chair, and has quite the grip! He is very strong. I can't wait for his first all out belly laugh. He giggles from time to time, but I am waiting for a TRUE laugh :)

Kitchen Remodel

Well, ladies and gentleman, he has done it again...Jeff has transformed an outdated space into something truly beautiful.

As you can see from the before picture...our kitchen needed a makeover. We spent many months doing dishes by hand in a tiny sink and cramming all of our kitchen wares into shallow cupboards.

After a lot of hard work, weeks of doing dishes in the bathtub, and a stint of living with our appliances in the living room...it is almost complete! We just have to paint, install the new light fixture, and finish the pantry.

THANK GOD! I cannot wait to have a dishwasher, space to store things, and a refrigerator that fits a 12 pack of beer AND food!

I have had some free time to work on some personal projects. My latest endeavor is to learn more about the digital camera my sister is letting me borrow and to learn to edit my favorite shots.

This is the 'before' shot.

This is using a preset to enhance color. I like how the blues pop a little more, but it still isn't as bright as I would like.

Now, here is the color I am talking about! But...not perfect. The red is a little too fluorescent and now Matt's face looks a little overexposed.

Try, try, again, but I thought I would post my first attempts, so I can see improvement when I learn more.

Jeffrey's christening was yesterday. He was an absolute angel. We had such a great day celebrating such a happy occassion with family and friends.

I don't know if we will ever have a family picture with us all looking the same way!

Awww....my little prince.

I love kissing those cheeks!

Almost 20 Months

Matthew is so 'busy,' it is hard to take a picture of him. He is in constant motion. Jeff and I joke that he is either going 110% or he is sleeping! So, I had to get creative with this post. I decided to take pictures of things that he enjoys right now.

Of course, Mattew LOVES his baby brother. He is always by J's side. It is so sweet to see how protective Matt is.


Matthew likes puzzles right now. I think these ones are a little to easy for him at this point. But, he loves them!




Matthew also loves to read. He especially likes flip books. He even has memorized a few of them, so when we turn to certain pages, he will "read" a few words, before I get to them.

And, Matt's favorite bedtime buddy is 'Teddy AKA Ted.' He reaches for him as soon as we put him to bed. So sweet!

Other things Matt likes to do are go to swim class, play at the park, and recite 'A,B,C,D' in the morning when he thinks no one is listening.

Matthew still 'babbles,' but he knows more words than he lets on. I hear him talking to himself in the morning and words come out....he just likes to talk to Ted and not Mom/Dad.

Play Time with M & J

Matthew has really grown attached to Jeffrey. He loves to hold his hand and kiss his forehead. It almost brings tears to my eyes to see him acting so loving towards his baby brother. Today, while Matthew was 'talking' to J and holding his hand, Jeffrey smiled at him...it was so sweet! I love seeing their bond grow each day.

And, today I saw a side of Matthew that I had never seen before. We were playing at an indoor playground. Any time one of the other kids made their way over to sneak a peek at J, Matthew stopped what he was doing, ran as fast as he could over to J's side, covered him with his own little body and yelled 'Noooo!' He was SO protective of Jeffrey. It was cute, but at the same time I wasn't sure how to react.

I absolutely love having two little boys so close in age. I just know they will become the best of friends.