Day 172

Today I had the privilege of taking maternity photos for not one, but two of my dear friends.  These ladies are not only friends; but they are also my coworkers and they are due within a week of each other.  The extended grounds of our office offer some amazing photo backgrounds, so we walked out to get some shots. 

This was my first time shooting photos with my new camera and they turned out fairly well.  I am pretty critical of my work though and I can tell that my focus wasn’t spot on for several of the photos.  During this shoot, I could barely even figure out where the various settings were, so it was quite the challenge.  This was a test shoot anyway, so I’m pretty pleased.  I had never really set up a portrait shoot before, especially maternity shots, and I wasn’t sure how the poses and such would work out.  Having a double maternity shoot made it even more challenging, but also a lot of fun.  Here are a few of my favorite shots from today (I will be editing the first photo so that the sign on the right side is removed from the photo):

  

Day 171

Just a little shot of the view out my back dining room window before I share the exciting news…

Look what came in the mail today!!!

My new camera!!  I think I’m in love…..LOL!! 

Having decided I wanted this camera several months ago, it has been quite the wait and I was squealing for joy when the FedEx guy rang my doorbell.  My decision to buy this camera came right after the earthquakes and tsunami hit Japan, during which Canon took quite a big hit.  Production was greatly slowed and stocks of this camera (and many others) were nearly depleted.  Those that were still available were fetching higher prices than normal.  And my situation was even more dim as I had decided to buy a refurbished camera through Canon’s Loyalty Program (LP). 

Through this program, you simply trade in a broken camera (I traded in a cheap, broken Canon point-and-shoot camera) in exchange for a greatly reduced price on a refurbished camera of your choice.  I read on several photography forums that often times the camera is not refurbished at all, but simply a return of a brand new camera.  And everyone had great things to say about the program.  So I called Canon and was told that there were no 7D’s in stock via the LP and that I would have to call back.  Several days and a couple of calls later, I learned that this camera was in high demand and that some people were calling several times a day to check on availability.  Before long, the 7D was totally removed from the refurbished portion of Canon’s website.  I was a little heartbroken.  Several months and many unsuccessful phone calls later, I was just about to give and buy a new 7D (at higher than normal price); but, I decided to try one more call last Thursday. 

Lo and behold, the LP phone line was busy.  I tried back a little later and it was still busy.  This had never happened before and it was a signal that maybe something was going on.  I called back later that night thinking that they were probably already closed, and heard them say “yes, you’re in luck….we have the 7D in stock”.  I about fell over.  And then I jumped up and down like a little kid in all my excitement.  Not only was I getting the camera I wanted, but I was saving roughly $700 on it.  Wow!

Cut to today and my camera arrived.  I opened up the package and it was Brand. Spanking. New!!  I’m so excited.  I got it out of the box and inserted the card & battery and went to take a picture and quickly realized that the 7D is VERY different from my Rebel XTi.  I didn’t even know how to take a photo in manual setting because the buttons, knobs, and placement of everything is so different.  Ack!  Looks like I have some reading to do….time to become one with my instruction manual! 

But, did I tell you that I love it already?!!!

Day 170

It was my first day back at work today since my pneumonia diagnosis.  I made it until about 2:00pm and then had to head home for a nap.  Seems that I hit a wall mid-afternoon and I can barely function from exhaustion.  I have been listening to my body and trying to give it the rest it needs. 

After my nap, Crockett and the kids got home and the boys went to LilCrockett’s baseball game while I dropped off Mia and a friend at guitar lessons and then did some shopping at Babies R Us.  Our office is throwing a surprise baby shower for my friend Ann on Wednesday and I was responsible for collecting money and buying the gifts.  When I got home, I had to wrap the presents.  By this time, I was tired so I spent the rest of the night relaxing with my computer and a book.  I’m reading The Hunger Games trilogy and I can’t seem to put them down…they are a fantastic read!  

Since I didn’t take any photos today, I thought I’d share a photo of the gifts I made for my friend’s daughters and the baby.  My friend Emily found the cutest big sister shirts online HERE for her girls.  Though I loved them, I didn’t want to spend quite that much money, especially since I had three shirts to buy and I still wanted to chip in on the group gifts.  So, I decided to try to make my own big sister shirts.  I used Stampin’ Up!’s My Digital Studio software and created a design that was similar to the one online.  Here’s the digital image I came up with:

Next, I printed the design on t-shirt transfer paper (follow the directions that they give you), cut directly around the circular image, and ironed it on a new t-shirt.  I made similar designs for the middle sister & the baby.  The middle sister’s shirt reads “big sister” and the onesie reads “baby”.  I used the name Junior on the onesie because that’s what they’ve been calling the baby so far since they do not know the gender and don’t have names picked out.  Here are the finished products:

And the baby’s onesie by itself….

The shirts turned out way better than I had imagined.  I spent $16 on the shirts and $3 on transfer paper.  Quite a savings from the $50 plus shipping that I would have paid for the online version.  Thanks for the great inspiration, Emily!

Day 169

It’s Father’s Day, so of course I had to take a few shots of my awesome hubby with the kids after they gave him the cards they made.

And here they are later in the neighbor’s pool.  This photo was taken shortly after Crockett snuck up on the neighbor’s garage, which is next to their pool, and squirted the kids with a squirt gun before jumping down into the pool.  We made sure to tell the kids they were not allowed to do this themselves!

And because they are like family to us, I had to include a photo of our neighbor Joe and his girls, Lupa & Ambo. 

Joe’s son, Ryan, and his family stopped by later so I had them pose for another photo.

Day 168

Today our church was hosting their annual Garage-a-palooza event for kids.  One of the church campuses is housed in an old auto dealership building, hence the name.  During the day, the kids get to try 2 different activities and learn more about God.  LilCrockett chose magic card tricks and fishing for his activities.  GothGirl chose cooking and cake decorating.  Here are 2 of her creations…

Dirt cups complete with gummy worms and silk flowers.

Decorated cake (the cake was pre-made for them).  Since Father’s Day is tomorrow, she decorated hers for Crockett.

Both kids had a wonderful day.  Our church and all the volunteers go out of their way to make it a fun-filled time. 

Day 167

We’ve been seeing a lot of this lately…

which means lots of rained out baseball games.  I think LilCrockett has had more cancelled games this year than he’s played.

Day 166

I finally broke down and went to the doctor today.  I’d been feeling very worn down and was having some symptoms like tightness in my chest and being out of breath with even light activity.  I figured it was just a virus, but thought I’d better get it checked out anyway.  I figured they’d tell me to just go home and give it more time.  Well I was wrong.  The doctor heard about my symptoms and decided to do a chest x-ray and an EKG just to make sure there wasn’t something more serious going on.  Again, I figured it was just a waste of time and tests.  Fortunately the EKG was fine so my heart was OK; however, the chest x-ray showed some mild pneumonia, particularly in my lower, right lung.  I was a little shocked.  On one hand I was glad that there really was something wrong (that I’m not really a hypochondriac); but on the other hand, I did not want to get this kind of diagnosis.  Seems a little odd to have pneumonia at my age, especially when it’s summer.  Anyway, he prescribed 2 antibiotics, told me to get some rest and come back in 2 weeks, and sent me home.  I must say that having an actual diagnosis is probably a good thing because I’ve taken my recovery a little more serious…it will force me to get lots of rest and take care of my body rather than just trying to will my body to be better.

Here are some more flowers from my yard.  This one I do know.  It’s a Clematis that I got as a start from my late grandfather’s plant.  Besides the fact that the flowers are beautiful, I love that it’s a living reminder of him.  My grandpa told me that Clematis plants can take several years to really take off, and this one was no different.  In fact, it actually had a rougher start than normal.  We originally planted it out by our shed and unfortunately, the neighbor’s lawn service mowed it down several times thinking it was a weed.  We moved it to a safer location and finally a few years later, we have this big beauty.  I know grandpa would love it too.