"get to know me monday." - w.6

so i have quite a few questions that were left unanswered from my "ask my anything" post way back before our hawaiian vacay.  i've been meaning to answer them because they were all really good ones, so i'm gonna pick a few & answer them each monday for the next few weeks.

nicole asked a few questions.  here they are one by one:

1)  "how are your photos so clean & clear?  do you use photoshop?"

first & foremost, i don't claim to be any sort of photography expert & am still learning new things every day.  and a lot of times, i just get lucky with a shot.  so.... that was the disclaimer.

the most important thing to taking a good picture is good light.  if you have bad lighting, it's gonna be hard to produce a crisp, clear shot.  outdoor natural light is ideal.

i do use photoshop & honestly, that can make a significant difference.  to see some before & after shots, check out my photo blog & you'll see that my straight-outta-the-camera shots don't look quite the same way they look on this blog.  yup, i'ma cheater.

BUT, photoshop doesn't take a crappy picture & make it amazing.  i mean, there are some things you can do to salvage a shot {vintage tints, textures, black & white conversions, etc.} but if you're looking for something you can blow up & have look as good {or better than} life, ya gotta have a good shot out of the camera.  period.

2)  "are you using manual on your camera?"

yup.  and i am stilllll learning.  i swore to myself that if we spent the dinero on a decent dslr, i wasn't gonna use it as a point & shoot.  so i dove right in & attempted to learn manual & haven't looked back.  if you have a dslr & are intimidated by your manual settings, don't be.  i still switch things around & experiment & i often take bad shots because of the settings.  but i am learning.

are you brand new to digital photography too?  the tutorial i often swear by when learning your camera is the "31 days to a better photo" series at life with my three boybarians.  somewhere around her day ten tutorial a light bulb went off & it all made sense for me.  well, enough sense for me to start intelligently experimenting.  so check it out, yo.

3) "how do you get the photos on your page so big?"

if your photos are still loading small in blogger, there might be an easy fix.  go to your settings tab in your dashboard then scroll down to the very bottom where it says "global settings" & hit the "updated editor" option.  now, when you upload a picture it will let you choose whether it's small, medium, large, or extra large.  mine are all extra large.

hope that helps!

and that's it for today.  are y'all still liking the ask me anything posts?  if so, keep the questions coming & see your answers in a couple weeks.  ask away in the comments, tweet me, facebook me, or shoot me an email, mmmmk?

and don't forget to vote!  don't ever, ever forget to vote.  please?

easy like sunday morning - {crepes edition}

lazy sunday mornings around here are the best.  especially when sam gets the crazy notion to make strawberry cream cheese crepes & parker decides to be super cute & snuggly in his dinosaur pajamas.

and that's why everyday should be like sunday.

weekday recap - {in iPhone pics} w.21

alright, i'm gonna give you warning right up front... i took crazy amounts of pictures this week.  i don't know why, i just couldn't stop.  seriously.  parker was doing hilarious things, we actually went places, & the weather was notable, for good & for bad.  somehow i managed to keep it to just six pictures for each day.

but still, proceed at your own risk & don't say i didn't warn ya.

monday.  the weather was gross.  parker & i bundled up in hoodies & rain coats & headed to costco where parker proceeded to be crazy cute.  proof here.

that night he amazed me with his shape sorting skills.  well, more like hitting-the-shapes-against-the-sorting-bucket-and-occasionally-get-lucky-with-getting-one-in skills.  i was still impressed.

tuesday.  you know it's gonna be a good day when your kid wakes up & gives you a smile like this.  for real... he cracks me up.  and then he proceeds to park himself on his belly, head in hands, on his pillow pet, to watch the  slideshow of pictures our apple tv plays while playing music.  kills me.

that afternoon we took off our sweats, put on real clothes, & headed to the mall for some shopping.  parker explored the changing room while i played dress up, we both modeled fedoras & had a mini photo shoot, & then split a soft pretzel.  i don't think a day gets any better.

wednesday.  i looked out the window during a sunbreak & thought to myself... "hmm, we should go for a run."  so we did.  only thing is, i did not account for the fact that sunbreaks last 5 minutes around here & it wasn't long before p-ray & i found ourselves caught in a hail storm.  he stayed nice & toasty zipped up in his rain-shield bubble while i on the other hand, came away soaked through all layers of my socks & clothes.  but i kinda liked it.

we dried off & headed to where else?  target.  i still love to wear parker in his sling for quick in & out trips.  i will be sad when the day comes that i can't wear my baby anymore.

that night i found some old lights from my college dorm room & put them up in p-ray's room.  i'm kinda loving them & p-ray has found something he is totally loving as well... his new bff, the toothbrush.

thursday was my day in the office & as per the uge, i arrived to find a huge stack of files on my desk & an overflowing inbox.  i was pretty proud of myself when at the end of the day, the inbox was empty.  totally braggable.

i drove home in some gorgeous sunshine, snuggled with parker on the couch for a good half hour once home, & sam bbq-ed salmon.  it may have only been fifty degrees out, but it wasn't raining & that means bbq at our house.

parker & sam spent the rest of the night wrestling & i tried super hard to get a good picture of them, but they were all a blur.  those two don't hold still for a second when they're together.

friday.  after parker woke up from his butt-up-in-the-air-and-snuggling-with-his-blanket sleep, we went to stroller strides which was outside since it was gorgeous out.  hoooooray.  even though "gorgeous" still entailed bundling parker up in his hat & heavy coat, it felt amazing to be outside.

after stroller strides i took parker to the doctor for a check up {he's still fighting the same cold from two weeks ago} & he enjoyed playing with all the germy waiting-room toys & hanging out naked.

that night we went to our favorite dive burrito bus for dinner & sam taught parker how to drive in the costco parking lot.  ok, so we were actually parked eating our burritos & parker was sitting on his lap.  but still, it blew p-ray's mind.

happy weekend everyone!

did you take your "week in camera phone" pictures?  link up!

there's only one rule to linking up:
1.  your pictures have to be taken by your camera phone. that's it!  you don't even have to have a picture for every day.  got one camera phone pic of something fun from this week?  link up!

optional:
grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog .  if you wanna be really cool, post a link to my blog so others can come here to grab the code, too.  the more kids who come out to play, the more fun it will be, right?

Grab the code here:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=84105" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:




start off your weekend right & click twice to vote!

april 8, 2010

{in case you missed last week's flashback friday, you can check it out here.}

we're counting down to p-ray's first birthday & for anyone else keeping track, the big day is in t minus eighteen days.  in eighteen days my baby will have experienced 365 days of life.  one trip around the sun.  all four seasons.   every holiday.  all twelve months.  and perhaps most importantly {to his dad at least} baseball, basketball, & football seasons.

but before all that, one year ago today, we were here.  thirty-seven weeks pregnant, a belly that defied gravity, a back that felt like it belonged to a 90 year old woman, & a full-term baby boy tucked away inside getting stronger by the day.

the thought of being thirty-seven weeks & technically "full-term" was crazy exciting.  it meant parker could be born any day & he wouldn't be a preemie.  his vital organs were fully developed & at this point, he was just inside hanging out & getting fatter.  which i was ok with because well, who doesn't love a fat baby?

one year ago today i was finishing his nursery, ordering his bedding, buying his sock monkey, & washing & folding all his tiny baby clothes.  and now?  he's spent a year sleeping on those sheets, he's been measured up against that sock monkey once a month twelve times, & he's outgrown all those teeny tiny baby clothes.

and he's become this silly little boy who greets me every morning with a smile & giggle & squeezes me around my neck when i pick him up out of his crib.  who reaches out to me & says "mama" when i walk into a room.  who has relied on me & sam to care for him every single day of his life.

and who likes to snuggle with me on the couch after i've been away at work for a day.

i've been ok with the last twelve months speeding by.  but now?  i want time to stop.  now it is going way too fast & i feel like my baby isn't just changing anymore, he is disappearing.

so if someone could just tell me how to keep another twelve months from going by, i'd be much appreciated.  thanks.


i'm always much appreciated when you click twice to vote.  

a good life giveaway! - {sesame street baby naturals}

it's giveaway day, yay!  and there will be not one, not two, but THREE winners from this giveaway.  hazzuh!

so i'm not even joking when i say that when the folks from The Village Company contacted me about hosting a giveaway for their new line of Sesame Street Baby Naturals products i immediately said yes because i knew the post could include super cute p-ray bath time pics.  so get excited, because this post haz them.

also?  i don't think i would have agreed to try any ol' soap on my baby.  ever since parker was born we've used hypo-allergenic, dye free, & paraben free products on him.  he's got pretty sensitive skin & is prone to eczema like his mama.  so that's why i am pretty stoked about getting some of this stuff, & getting to give some of it away to my readers!

so we tried it out last night...

...and i think he liked it.  the soap got in his eyes when rinsing {per the uge} & it didn't seem to bother him.  the lotion left him smelling clean & cuddly {seriously, he smelt cuddly} so that passes the test in my book as well.

it was his first bubble bath which kind of freaked him out but i quickly convinced him all the cool kids like bubble baths.

then he gave me this look.  what do you think that means?

anywho, if you guys wanna try this stuff out you totally should.  it's found exclusively in select target stores so check & see if it's carried at yours HERE.  

wanna be one of {three} winners to get some for free?  

here's whatcha do:

•  follow The Village Company on Twitter HERE.  Leave a comment here telling me you did so.

•  like The Village Company on Facebook HERE.  Leave a comment here when ya do.

i will pick THREE winners when the giveaway ends on april 14th at 11:59 pm pst.  oh yeah, & you gotta be a U.S. resident to enter.  sorry foreigner friends!

good luck!

care to spare a couple clicks to vote? i would love you for it. and i do.

wordless{ish} wednesday: parker the bully.

caught on camera:  parker picking a fight.

i'm pretty sure sam won.  but i don't think parker minded.

{linking up with a little king & i, paper mama, supermom, parenting by dummies, live & love out loud, baby baby lemon, angry julie monday & a beautiful mess.}   


parker doesn't mind your votes either. in fact, he loves them almost as much as me.