The End of an Era

C has had the same lovey, Baby Tad, since she was about 9 months old. This stuffed toy has been wonderful for her - when we got it, it sang 6 different "daytime" songs; identified shapes and colours; made a kiss noise and said "I love you"; and most important, played 6 different songs for nighttime, in one minute segments. Ever since she figured out how to turn on Baby Tad's nighttime music we've heard at least 6 minutes of music every night, if not 12 minutes, or however long it took her to fall asleep.

Slowly but surely the other parts of Baby Tad stopped working... first the shapes and colours, then the kiss, then the daytime songs...

This week the unthinkable happened - the nighttime songs stopped working. C keeps saying Baby Tad is sick and doesn't understand why new batteries won't make him "feel better." I told her Baby Tad is still good for cuddling, just can't sing to her anymore but I know she's really disappointed.

(He's so well loved his hand is permanently dirty, no matter how many times I try to clean him.)

So, my dilemma is whether to get another Baby Tad and replace the one she has loved and cuddled for just under two years, or to leave it and let her either find a new lovey or become content with Baby Tad as is, with no music. Leave a comment and let me know what you would do!

Fun with Lightroom

C is getting older in front of my eyes. About a month back I started noticing a slightly different look to her face that would be there for a blink of an eye and then gone. Since then this look has been coming more and more frequently. I think it's part of her losing her toddler face, though I know it won't be completely gone for a good while to come. I managed to capture it a few days back and was just enchanted by it when in Lightroom, so ended up playing for a while just on the one shot. These plays are presets I got for free from a link Tracey included on Shutterbugs, with some tweaking after as needed.

I know which one is my favorite, but I won't share that until I hear others' opinions. Please leave a comment to let me know which you like and why.

Original (after my standard RAW conversion tweaks)

Blue Bear


Wheat Fields


Hit the Road

Go Away, Snow!

It snowed again today. What is with this weather?? We have never gotten this much snow before! C enjoys playing in it, but with me being 7 months pregnant, it isn't as easy to stoop down to reach the snow to play in it with her! I tried to help her with a snowman - ack, I couldn't do more than half of the base before my back and my belly were hurting too much for me to continue. No tobogganing either - C is too young to go on her own and I can't go on a toboggan because of the pregnancy. :(

So today, to make me feel better and remember what is to come, here is a shot I took last spring.

Busy Bee

In Celebration of Robbie Burns

Whether they know it or not, most people in the world know the poetry of Robbie Burns. The Scottish poet (Jan 25, 1758 - July 21, 1796) wrote many many poems and songs, including the one that every one knows - For Auld Lang Syne. Every January 25, Scots around the world (and a few honorary Scots) lift a glass in celebration of his life and his contributions. Here are some shots from the local Robbie Burns Night, put on by the Celtic Arts Society and Royal Canadian Legion.

The Pipe Band In All It's Glory

On the March


Here Comes the Haggis (and yes, haggis does taste good)


Highland Dancers Leaping (I love how they are all in midair :))


Kilts Swirling

Tutu 2

So no pics yet of guys in kilts, those still have to be converted/edited, but hopefully I should have those for you tomorrow, with stories from Robbie Burns night.
For today, you get to see C and her tutu!

C's reaction when I brought the tutu out


She loved playing in her tutu but kept hiding when the camera came out :)

Here's the Tutu

Just a quick one to show you the tutu I made for C on Thursday night.



Jon and I are heading out to a Robbie Burns dinner tonight, so hopefully I can get some great shots of guys in kilts. :)

Slackin'...

I know, I know, it's been ages (okay 4 days) since my last post but I've just been out of it this week. I got whatever Jon and C had/have so I've been too tired to do much of anything. Good thing is, I've been getting tons of sleep - no more insomnia for me!

C and I have been to a few playgroups, but I spent most of the time sitting on my butt gabbing instead of following the kids around with my camera. I did go out last night to make no-sew tutus with some of the other ladies in my group. C's turned out nicely but lighting and tiredness made the pics just look horrible. (I need an external flash!!!) I'll try to take more tomorrow so I can show it off. :)

Full Moon Rising

I love being back in an area of incredible beauty. I saw this beautiful sunset on my way to pick Jon up from work. I had to pull over and get a few shots, even though it made me late picking him up. :)

A (Cold) Day at the Park

Today C and I were supposed to meet three of her friends (and their moms, of course) at the park. It was a beautiful sunny day, but freezing cold - only 2 degrees Celcius (that's 35.6 degrees to all you Americans)! Considering we rarely get to zero around here it was way too cold for me!
The original plan had called for us sticking around for around 2 hours, including a picnic. Good thing is, the other moms all had to cancel out, so we only stayed at the park for around 20 minutes. :)

Here are a few shots of C playing. I had some fun editing in Lightroom, because with the bright sun and the shadows from the equipment they just didn't work without the edits. Let me know what you think!

By the way, the honey did seem to help at least a bit. We probably got an extra 3 or 4 hours sleep! Whoo hoo! Let's hope it works as well tonight. :)

Add another one to the sick list...

Just a quick update, no pics.

C is still sick, coughing a ton with a scratchy throat and runny nose and now it looks like Jon is coming down with the something as well. He's usually pretty good about fighting things off before they get too bad, but with us both waking up several times during the night due to C's coughing and crying (from the pain in her throat and ears), his body just hasn't been able to fight this one off. And as most people know, a sick man is almost as bad as a sick kid, at least in the complaining department! ;)

One interesting thing to note - Jon (while unable to sleep) found an article about using honey (with kids over 2) to help prevent nighttime coughing, causing kids to sleep better. It's supposed to work better than any of those over the counter cough remedies - not that we give those to C anyway! We're trying it tonight so I'll be able to let you know how well it works tomorrow. :)

Whatever Floats Your Boat

After playgroup today, C and I went for a short walk down by one of the harbours we have here. I love looking at all the different boats that dock here, whether luxury yacht or dingy dinghy. The boats that have a special place in my heart are those somewhat beat up, well used boats - the ones you can tell have be around and seen a lot in their days. Here were two that stood out for me today:

I really liked the reflection in this one

There was also this really great deep sea fishing boat with the big net reels and such, but the crew was hard at work loading it, getting in the way of the view of the boat itself. If I had been thinking I would have got out my 70-300mm and gotten some shots of the men working on it, and the coils of the net and such... Oh well, there's always another day. :)

Here's to Friends!

C's friends that is!
C is still sick at home so instead of more lazing on the couch shots, I thought I'd share a few recent shots of her little friends. I'm hoping that C will be feeling well enough tomorrow for us to get out and go to our usual Thursday morning playdate (with most of these same kids). We haven't gotten out since Saturday, so I'm definitely going a little stir crazy!

Contemplative C

Bright-eyed E


G's gazing at the rain...


Model pose!


Dancing E

Lazy Days...

Today we stayed at home instead of heading out to one of the three playgroups we like going to on Mondays. C's getting sick so hopefully a day of rest will help kick the cold to the curb. So here are some lounging shots that comprised most of our day...

How on earth is this a comfortable position? C sat like this for almost half an hour!

She must be sick if she willing lays down like this!

Our offer was accepted!

Whoo hoo! We found out today that the owner of the townhouse we like has accepted our offer. It is, of course, still subject to various conditions, so I can't say that we have it for certain, but as long as the inspection and a few other things come out the way we like, we'll soon be living in a new place!

If all goes well we should have possession April 22. It means moving with a newborn, but we weren't going to turn this place down just because we couldn't move in until April. Compared to everything else on the market right now, this is a great deal! A 3 bedroom townhouse in a fairly central location for under $170,000. The townhouse complex is shaped like a rectangle with a HUGE fenced-in open space for kids to play in, as well as each townhouse having it's own fenced patio/grass area. It's an older complex (30 years or so) but they were recently completely redone on the outside - walls and roofing.

I can't wait to have a place where we can actually paint - we may not be able to find time for that until the baby is older, but at least I won't be restricted to plain white (or ugly yellow) walls forever!

We're getting into the market!

No pics today... just an update. :)

We found out last week that our landlords are planning on selling this place, so instead of looking for another place to rent, we've decided to buy! We went looking at duplexes and townhouses today, and found one that be just perfect for us. Well, this evening we put an offer in on it! Here's hoping....

Another Lesson Inspired Post

Here are two of my favourite shots from lesson one of the photography lessons that I took last year...

Fenced In

Chained


Here is one that was the favourite of the other ladies that were doing lessons at that time.

Red Drops

A Day Late...

Here's a shot from last year, at Foreshore Park in Burnaby, BC.

Thanks for looking!

Here Comes the Sun!

I was on my way to my midwife appointment this morning when I glanced over and saw a gorgeous sunrise. There was no way I was going to pass it by without a few shots :)

The sky then went a gorgeous purple-ish shade, but I was going to be late if I stuck around to capture it.

Speaking of my midwife appointment, all is good with baby; heartbeat steady at 150 bpm and right on target for size. C came with me for the first time, and was so surprised to be able to hear the heartbeat! She got a huge grin and said that the baby must be happy! :)

Colour Explosion!

Sorry about missing yesterday, but I have extra pics today to make up for it! I had laid down for a few minutes after C went to bed yesterday and the next thing I know, I wake up and it's today already! First time I've gotten more than 4 hours sleep at night since early December... gotta love pregnancy insomnia. :P

Today's pics are inspired by my fellow Shutterbugs - the new Shutterbugs actually! Right now there is a big group that just recently got new digital SLR cameras (or have had them for a while, but just now getting the time to play with and learn them), and about 40 of these lovely ladies have agreed to work through Jodie Coston's lessons on photography (check them out here ). The first lesson is all about composition, getting close to the subject, and viewing things from different perspectives. Although these pics don't quite fit with what the "assignments" are, they are definitely inspired by them!

Oldie but Goodie

Today has been a very busy and tiring day for me. I went shopping for some new maternity clothes... I know, I know shopping shouldn't be that tiring, but it is when you have to drive an hour and a half (one way) down island to get to the good shops, and then keep standing and twisting and bending for an hour of trying on clothes, all while being six and a half months pregnant. Oh and don't forget chasing after a two and a half year old as well! At least I got a bunch of stuff that will last me through the rest of this pregnancy. :)

On the drive home, there were some amazing photo ops of snow covered mountains with the sunset behind them - but silly me, I forgot my camera! So I guess for today I'll share a shot I took last spring at Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. I recently rediscovered this shot when searching for a macro photo for a Facebook photo contest - I had forgotten how much I love it! So here it is, my Dragonfly:

(don't forget, you can always click to view the larger size)

Princess for the Day

C just loves to play dress up. What little girl doesn't? For Christmas, C got a new princess dress up set - to go with all the other tiaras, shoes, and necklaces that she already has. :)
Hey if she's a princess, that makes me the Queen, doesn't it? :D

Dressy lady, but with a wand!


For some reason she just loves the "arms up in the air" pose for princesses...


Maybe she figures we'll all bow down before her?


Pretty Princess


Now for the Jester's hat!


Dress up time's over, but the dreams are still there!


By the way, yes I know the colour casts are horrible but her room is just not suited for taking pictures in... icky yellow walls, a frosted yellow-ish light fixture (if light bulbs weren't yellow enough already!), and then the (by comparison) blue light coming in from outside. Trying to get rid of the yellow without making her face look all blue and smurf like was interesting to say the least!