bath time with a new camera.

so i definitely spent the whole weekend with the new camera glued to my hands.  there are a few differences in the controls & dials from my old rebel but i think i'm kinda sorta maybe getting the hang of it.  it's still gonna take lots of practice til it's all second nature again though {check out some practice shots posted on my photo blog}.

good thing i have such a willing & happy model to experiment on!  p-ray was in true form last night during bath time so i snapped a few shots.  but here's the thing... the light in our bathroom is crrrrrap.  no pun intended.  no seriously, it's bad {and ok, the pun was kinda intended}.  i had to do lots of white balance tweaking in photoshop & the such as.  overall though, i think the cute kid speaks for himself, amiright?

he's crazy about his baths.  he would stay in there all night if we let him.  but only sitting up.  getting on his back or tummy is pretty much out of the question & in his mind?  pretty much the most terrifying thing that could ever happen to a kid.  {screams people, screams.  panic.  shaking!}

and getting out?  that's no fun at all.  but there's just something about a baby fresh out of his bath all wrapped up in a warm cozy towel that may or may not be on my list of top five favorite things.  ever.

our week by iPhone - week 61

this?  wasn't a typical week.  a sick kid, a couple trips to the pediatrician & lots & lots of elmo, buzz, woody & lightening mcqueen.  i didn't mind the movies much & there were also lots of snuggles.  so that part's good.  parker continues to get better but also continues to cough & require lots of nose wiping.  persistent coughs are so annoying!  am i right??

this is kinda what our week looked like through pictures.

monday.  ok, actually this day was business as usual.  we went to stroller strides {first time in weeks!}, colored pictures & slept in uncomfortable positions.  this all went down pre-sick-kid.

tuesday.  sick day number one.  we spent most the morning snuggling & watching movies but then i figured i'd get us out for some fresh air.  this was fun for about five minutes... then parker was over it & just wanted to be snuggled some more.  but one thing p-ray loves despite sickness?  baths.  they never go outta style.

wednesday.  after spending the majority of the day cooped up in the house, i had to get p-ray & i out & about.  we spent the afternoon at the mall buying new sweaters {ok, just one for me}, lusting over cute new boots {ended up going back on saturday & buying them... no big deal} & then sitting in the car letting a tired little boy sleep in the back seat since naptime was apparently out of the question.

thursday.  i called in sick from my day in the office to stay home with the little man who at this point was consistently hacking up his lungs & requiring regular nose wipes.  we read books while sitting in laundry baskets {mostly just parker} & threw all our favorite stuffed animals in our crib & then took naps with them.  ok that last part?  also just parker.

friday.  since the pediatrician told me parker would no longer be contagious 2-3 days after his cough had presented, i figured i'd give stroller strides a shot.  although, i still didn't let him get out at the end & run around with other kids, just to be safe.  he didn't like that.

friday was also new camera day & pizza night.  obviously parker had sufficiently stuffed himself & is telling me he can't do anymore pizza at this point.  as for my new camera?  in.  love.  but it's kinda been dark & dreary around here so i haven't been able to shoot anything too spectacular.  but spectacular?  don't worry, it's coming.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
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!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please 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=125474" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here:

a day without pixar & other randoms.

thanks so much for all the love on the last post folks!

parker is doing much better.  well, he's on the road to improvement anyways.  i know this because we made it through the day without watching any cars or toy story.  that in itself is a sick day christmas miracle.  now the little monster just has a snotty nose & a flemmy cough just like any other kid with a cold... i can handle that.  barking like a seal & struggling to breath?  not handled so well by this one.  but it looks like that ship has sailed & we're into happier harbors.  so that's good.

today is friday the 13th... anyone buy into the spookiness?  i don't.  but then i always re-think the plans i make on this day wondering what could go wrong.  but it'll probably be like any other friday night so what could possibly go wrong with dvr'ed episodes of modern family & pizza?  be jealous of my exciting life.

actually today is a very exciting day!  it's new camera day!  true story.  at approximately 2:00 pm ups should be showing up at my doorstep with a shiny new canon 7d.  yup, i upgraded.  it was time.  i had exhausted every nook & cranny of my trusty little rebel t2i & am gonna see what a bigger badder body can do for me.  so that's exciting, right?

and lastly, since i can't write a post without a picture, here's a shot from our vacation that is as random as this post.  what...?  you don't let your kid run through the mall chasing trains in his socks?  lame.

wordless{ish} wednesday: crappy croup.

remember all that talk of routine, working out & being back in the normal swing of things?  yeah, not happening this week.

my little monster has croup.  the distinctive seal barking started yesterday morning after a few days of a stuffy nose.  his raspy breathing & "stridor" gradually got worse until after {a very short} naptime i knew he was going downhill fast.  i called his pediatrician & within thirty minutes of my call we were sitting in the waiting room.  she looked at him, took his temp {he had a fever} & listened to him struggle to breath.  "yup, croup."  before i knew it they were sticking his leg with a steroid shot & prescribing albuterol treatments.

thank-freaking-heavens for modern medicine.

croup used to be a dreaded & deathly illness.  and it can still be very serious to this day when not treated promptly.  we are headed back to the doctor's office today to make sure he is really getting better & to possibly receive another steroid treatment.  since his pediatrician had just hospitalized a previous patient for RSV, she's not taking this lightly & for that?  i'm grateful.

here's to hoping we get our giggly non-seal-barking p-ray back asap.

{linking up with wordless wednesday at and then she {snapped},  baby baby lemon, the paper mama, & a little king & i}

family pictures!

dudes.  duuuuuuudes.

if you know me in real life then you might know what a big deal this is.  if you don't?  just know that it's a pretty big deal.

we literally haven't had good family pictures taken since parker's been born.  nadda.  i know what you're thinking... "amy.  you take pictures of families all the time!  what's wrong with you?"  ummm, well, i haven't figured out how to take a picture of my own little family whilst also being in front of the camera.  i was complaining about this predicament to a friend who said, "ah yes.  the cobbler's son has no shoes."  exactly lindsey, exactly.

so even though this picture is far from the dream family photo i have locked away in my head {obviously sam's first choice of picture attire wouldn't be a white shirt & tie... but it was after church & it will have to do} i'm gonna take it.  and my left side isn't even my "good" side... but?  it will do.  and so what if, as sam said, parker looks like a sixteen year old girl wearing her boyfriend's shirt?  i kinda love it.  and for the record, his socks do match.  you just can't see the red stripe on his right sock.  and yeah, i realize sam & parker are making the same scowl-ish expression.  i kinda love that too.

to me?  this picture is imperfectly perfect.

a big thanks to my sister gina for taking it.

and for good measure, here is a picture that my sister took from our last trip down there in september.  it's a few months old but i love it nonetheless!  can i have that tan back please??

i should mention that sam got me a camera remote for christmas.  i suppose there is the possibility of setting the camera up on a tripod & seeing what i can get... but for now?  this will do!

our {trip} week through iPhotos - w. 60

and we're back!

holy crap, so much to say.  we're like, nine days into a new year & this is my first post.  whaaaaat?  how does that even happen?  i'll tell you how.  vacation with the fam.  limited computer access & nights of movie watching & family shenanigans that don't allow for blog posting.  and i was totally ok with that.

i kinda really sucked at taking pictures on this trip.  i managed to squeak out a few on my iphone but the trip is not very well represented.  i got a few more on my real camera which i'll share later but i kinda just decided to forgo getting those "perfect" pictures for just enjoying the moments.  i often thought of taking my camera out but then decided i didn't want to be bothered with the worries of good light, catching perfect smiles & perfectly capturing the moment.  instead i just kinda enjoyed it.  and that's ok too.

this trip was good times.  seeing my whole family is always good times.  there's just something about going to your parents' house that brings out your inner child.  aka: sleeping in, junk food eating, napping & indulging in mom's home-cookin'.  this trip consisted of lots of those things.

but now that i'm home & sitting back in my office, this kinda feels good too.  i'm excited about the new year.  i'm excited about what 2012 might bring & about some goal setting & fresh starts.  i'm excited to get back in our normal routine & to quit justifying all the junk food with talk of the holidays & get back in shape & back on healthy-eating track.  because i've kinda really fallen off the wagon.

so there will be talk of all that later.

for now, here's a few snapshots i did manage to grab of our trip with my iphone.

ugh, looking at these pictures now i really wish i had taken more!  oops.  two of my sisters & my dad aren't represented & i'm missing lots of cousins & brother-in-laws.  but they were all there too, i promise.

seeing parker with all his cousins is one of the coolest things ever.  he's the youngest of twelve grandkids on my side of the fam & it's a blast watching my nieces & nephews play with him.  he thinks they're so funny!  i'm pretty sure i have the best family ever.  i'm willing to fight anyone who tries to tells me otherwise.

that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

Game Rules:
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!

2.  if you want to grab the code below & put it in your post to have the linky with all the thumbnails show up on your blog do it.

and please 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=124421" type="text/javascript"></script>

...and get on the linky here: