Back-Up

If you are wondering why I have not been HERE (ie this blog) for a couple of weeks it's because I've been over at our ORIGINAL blog (two host sites ago) backing up all of my posts.  It's a long story, but basically at one point in time, my hard drive crashed, leaving that blog sort of suspended in cyberspace indefinitely.

Or not so indefinitely ... the host is shutting down on 6/30/12.  Therefore, that blog will be no more, and I want to make sure I have all of the information off of it.  It's taking FOREVER because all of the entries are really encripted in these hidden files amidst a bunch of computer code.

BUT, I am determined to capture those memories, so I am plugging away.  I'm currently on the entry from 11/18/08 ... the first entry was 12/17/07 and the last one is in June of '09 ... so I am just over halfway done.

I've got to get crackin!  But, I wanted to stop in and say hi here, mostly because I am getting so blog-stalgic from reading all of the details about the first year of Tyler's life.  I was so diligent about blogging, and now I have this beautiful memoire of probably the most lif
e-changing year of my life.

You guys are there too!  WOW, your comments are so fun to look back and read.  I have just been laughing and tearing up from them ... some of them from your words and some of them from the context.

The MOST classic comment award thus far though goes to my great friend Kati R, who upon playing with my now "ancient" Nikon d40 camera that took mediocre at best photos, commented ...

Kati's son Will in that original photo (He's now almost 4 1/2!)

Kati: "The pictures are AMAZING!!! I can't wait to get this camera! Thanks for sharing and posting! The blog is adorable...I think we need to start one :)!"

That comment was EXACTLY 4 years ago on 6/28/08 ... LOL!!!!!  The reason I am laughing is because Kati is now a locally famous professional photographer and has an incredible website http://www.beanandsproutphotography.com/.  Isn't that just so crazy to see how things can change in 4 years.  So very proud of you Kati.  I love that I got to be a very small part in your start by handing you my DSLR ;)  Love it!  

Anyhow, I need to keep at it with my back-ups ... ONWARD.  But, the good news for you is that I am feeling incredibly inspired to keep up at blogging even when I am feeling so tired and overwhelmed with life.  Having those memories now to look back on is priceless.

Here is a totally random entry from 2008 ...

5/28/08

No Longer a Newborn

Dear Tyler,

I can’t believe that tomorrow you will be four months old.  Anything three months or under just sounds “newborn-ish” to me but four months is so sturdy & grown up (relative to babies that is).  It is nostalgic, but it is also so fun to see you growing big and strong.  You are so fun to be around these days.  You coo, sing, and tell stories all the time.  You LOVE when daddy plays the guitar for you.  

When you wake up in the morning or from naps, you don’t cry, you just sit in your crib and talk and kick your legs.  When we come in to get you, you smile and kick even harder.  You also love your fuzzy blankets.  When you are tired, you put them over your face and fall right to sleep.  Most of all, you love your fingers.  You suck on them whenever you can, and it makes you so happy.

You are not the biggest fan of tummy time, but will tolerate it for about 5 minutes.  From day one you have been incredibly alert and strong.  You constantly are checking out the world and swinging your head from side to side.  You sleep so well in your crib, but you also love taking naps being held or cuddling in bed with mommy or daddy.  Give you your blanky, your fingers, and your mommy and you are the snuggliest baby around. 

You are just the sweetest baby.  As you can tell from all of the photos we take, we could not be having more fun with you.  Tomorrow, on my first official mother’s day, I thank God with all of my heart for you and for the way that you have completed my life this far in a way that nothing else can.  Love, Mommy  

I TOLD YOU ... BLOG-STALIA to the max.  :)  ~ Jessica

Car Show

On Saturday I took the boys with Marc, Hannah, and Evan to the Sherwood Car Show.  Hannah wanted to take photos of some old trucks for Evan's big boy room decor.  She had a wide lens on so I used my 50mm to get a few more detailed shots in case she wanted to use any of them.  It was not easy to take many pictures because I had both boys with me, but I got a few cool ones.  It was fun to get some practice in constantly changing light situations but of non-moving subjects.  I also had fun delving a little deeper into lightroom (the photo editing program I use).  Typically, I don't go that crazy with editing because I am taking pictures of the boys, so it was fun to have a little more creative freedom.

All in all, it was a great time.  The boys loved the cars (though tough to understand look.but.dont.touch), and I enjoyed capturing some of the beautiful details.  Hannah has inspired me to maybe print some of these for our under-the-stairs playroom which has sort of a car theme going on (aka hundreds of hot wheels cars).

Enjoy!

We had to take a picture of the fuchsia car for Ella! 

Silly Shoes

I have been so excited to post about Silly Shoes, but I have been bogged down with work and other commitments so I have not had enough free time to do so.  I finally have a free evening.  Sad that my happenin' friday night consists of a blog ... and I'm excited about it.

So ... Tyler's principal Teacher Patty LOVES Pete the Cat.  She has a Pete the Cat doll that the kids can check out for trips.  Tyler took Pete to the beach with his grands.  Tyler and Pete had a great time.    If you have not read a Pete the Cat book, here is a link to the video of the book/song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U

Anyhow, inspired by Pete, T's class had Silly Shoe day.  I had Tyler decorate his converse with pipe cleaners and some cheap plastic animal shaped beads from the craft store.  He seriously got into the project.  He spent a good hour making his shoes (good hand-eye coordination practice + color coordination ... it was a great learning activity).  Then of course he had to model his shoes in the back yard.  What a great project.

I did a preset edit on this one just for fun ;)

Here are the photos that Grandma and Granddaddy snapped at the beach.