Adventures at the sprinkler park

We visited a nearby sprinkler park for the second time the other day.  Sofia had a blast.  She enjoyed it the first time, but this time she seems much more comfortable.  She was wiggling and happy screaming the moment I opened the car door and she heard the kids playing.  Once I got her situated it was all I could do to get her coverup off before she got into the water.  Made me glad that I put sunblock on her at the house.

I brought along some snacks and a PB&J.  I mean, what's better than a good ol' PB&J after being in the water?!

Here are a few pictures...

Bluebonnets and Buttercups

that's what little girls are made of.

I was super excited to finally get Sofia out to take pictures in the gorgeous Texas Bluebonnets.  As I was scouting out the perfect spot I found this little gem, on my way to work on morning.  It's only about 5 miles away from my house...

It wasn't a huge patch, but just enough of a patch for us to get some great pictures.

Then, about 1/4 of a mile down the road I ran into this pink perfection!

I think I am in love.  I've always loved buttercups, but I mean... my daughter, in a field of buttercups.  Couldn't.be.cuter.  Seriously.

I am the proud new owner of...

 

Canon 40D, meet blog readers.  Blog readers, meet Canon 40D.

Holy crap!  I can't believe she's actually mine!  ALLLLL MINE!  SQUEE!  I found this beauty on craiglist this morning and after much debating and agonizing, I decided to take the plunge.  After all said and done (and using my "camera" savings) it only cost me $200 out of pocket.  I can't WAIT to give her a go. 

Day 16-22, 365 days of photography

 Day 16, January 16, 2011
One of MANY things I bought from etsy seller: babyfables. She has some CUTE stuff! Visit her etsy store at, http://www.babyfables.etsy.com/

I bought this iron on transfer for Sofia's 1st birthday. She even customized it in the colors I plan to use for the party!

Day 17, January 17, 2011
Sofia and I enjoyed the sunshine and spent a little time outside.  It was a little chilly, but she liked being pushed around in her car.

Day 18, January 18, 2011
I spent the morning organizing all of my scores.  I used to have them in a binder, but I was collecting too many scores and would soon need more than the two I was currently using.  Now I can have them all in one place *and* more organized.

Day 19, January 19, 2011
nothing to see here... move along, move along!


Day 20, January 20, 2011
Today our heat went out.  It was 68 degrees inside when I got home.  And it quickly feel to 64 once the sun went down.  By the time I woke up on Friday morning for work it was 57!  We had to place a small space heater in Sofia's room and bundle up in ours.  I even lit a fire for the first time since we moved here.  It was really nice!  I wish I had taken a picture of the actual fire, but the aftermath is going to have to do.

Day 21, January 21, 2011
The awesome librarian at our school placed this book in my box today.  She's great!

Day 22, January 22, 2011
Our cloth diaper stash!  We're up to 22, and yes, they're in rainbow order. ROY G BIV, my science teachers would be proud!

Day 10-15, 365 days of photography

Wow, I'm way behind...  I guess I forgot to update 10 and 11 when I updated on facebook


Day 10, January 10, 2011
It's cold one here!

 

Day 11, January 11, 2011

Finally finished this movie.  It was cute, but I was wishing they had finished the last scene with out the "break down" (sorry that's it's flipped, I couldn't figure out how to turn it)

 

Day 12, January 12, 2011

This one seems a little weird, but I think it's pretty cool. it's a trash bag, full of trash... Why? Because today was trash day and we only had ONE bag of trash to put out on the curb. Strangely, that's exciting for me. We just recently began using cloth almost exclusively and I think it's really cut back on our trash output. And the stink output (since the poo is flushed down the toilet rather than left in the trash can).

 

Day 13, January 13, 2011

  She's completely holding her own bottle now! In fact, she nearly rips it out of my hands to get it to her mouth ASAP.  Ugh, she's getting too big too fast!

 

Day 14, January 14, 2011

This is the new way that Sofia has begun welcoming us when we go in to get her. This also signifies the retirement of the mobile. We had to take it down so that she wouldn't pull on it any more.

 

Day 15, January 15, 2011

horrible, horrible picture.

I finally got a chance to sit down and pretty much finish her birthday banner. All that's left for this project is to string it with ribbon.

Updates OTHER than 365 days

I got a check in the mail yesterday from our escrow account!!  WOO HOO!  I bought this house almost 3 years ago and have never received a check from my escrow.  I'm pretty darn exciting!

My plan is to put about 40-50% of it into my camera account and then placing the other 50-60% into our joint savings account.  I also had forgotten to cash my dad's check (our Christmas present), so I plan to put 20% (my part) of that check into my camera account and the rest into our joint savings account.

So it looks like after that, I'll have almost 50% of what I need to purchase the camera + lens that I want.  After this months paycheck (if I get to put any away for the camera) I'll have about 58%.  Ugh, I want that camera SO bad!

Day 9, January 9, 2011

Day 9, January 9, 2011
I couldn't choose between these two pictures.  Both tell a story about the night before and the afternoon today.

Last night was rainy like no other.  But it was sooo soothing.  It seems like it's been forever since it has rained here and the sound of it hitting the windows and house was very calming.

This one, to me, tells the story of today.  Cold, damp, and dreary.  Even thought it's dreary I still find beauty in the winter. I love the way the clouds hang low and grey, but yet the air is clean and clear because of the rain.

Day 6, 7, 8- 365 days of photography

Day 6, January 6, 2011
I decided that to help myself keep up with the C25K program I needed to buy some cold weather jogging gear.  I really don't have a choice but to jog outside.  I can't afford a gym membership and I just don't really want to go to a gym right now.  It would be too much "extra" out of my already tight schedule.  So, I splurged and went to TJMaxx and bought a few things to help me fight the cold.  I say splurged, because I'm seriously trying not to spend ANY money outside of gas, groceries, and bills... at least for the next few months.  But, here's what I bought.  I thought it was a pretty good deal for 75 bucks.

Day 7, January 7, 2011
I finished the first week of C25K.  Three days of: 5 minute warm up walk, then intervals of 60 seconds jog, 90 seconds walk to total 20 minutes.  DONE!

is it bad that I don't have a picture for this??  It's the only thing remotely interested that happened today, and I didn't know how to capture it...


Day 8, January 8, 2011
Sofia, Bandit, and I went on a walk together together this evening.  We were trying to beat the bad weather that's suppose to be heading our way. 

Day 4 & 5- 365 days of Photography

Day 4- January 4, 2011
Finished putting/repositioning these things in our master bedroom. I still need to put stuff in and on them, but at least I got them up! :)

Day 5, January 5, 2011
On to day 2 of C25K. I've really got to lose the rest of my baby weight. I'm hoping this program will help me stay on track.

Day 2- 365 days of photography

Day 2, January 2, 2011
Sofia and her Grandpa.  :)

New year, new beginnings, new goals

I'm not one for New Years resolutions.  The excitement of the new year fades quickly and most of the population does not stick to the resolution(s) they made.  But I guess you could say this year is different for me.  I feel more resolve to change certain things in my life.

I've decided to do a scaled down version of 101 in 1001.  Let's face it, a lot of things can change in 2.75 years.  So many things on my old list be came unimportant or things that just weren't attainable any more with a new baby.  But, I did complete quite a bit of it, and as a list maker, it made me feel good to cross off a few things here and there.  So, I decided that this year I would make 27 goals for the year.  One for every two weeks of the year.  They don't have to be completed weekly, I just wanted to scale down the number of goals.  I originally started with 52, but I trouble coming up with that many.  I'll start with 27 and if I have more to add I'll add more.

I've decided to make some of the goals more long-term and therefore, more difficult to achieve.  But others will be quick and easy.  That way I can feel like I'm accomplishing *something*.  So, here they are.

1. Get on a budget, and try to stick with it for good!  I've lived out of my/our means for a while.  Living on credit and not really having a solid plan to pay it off.  Right now I'm using Mint.com for budgeting, and I recommend it, it's pretty cool! (0/12)
2. Pay off credit card 100% and keep the spending within a limit that I can pay off *every* month- I'd say $500/month.  I paid the card off a few days ago using a lower (than the CC) interest rate loan that we already had.  But now the challenge is to keep the spending down every month so that I can keep the balance at zero. (0/12)
3. Lose 6 pounds.  I've got 6 pounds of baby weight left to lose! (0/6)
4. Lose 4 pounds to equal a total of 10 (0/4)
5. Lose another 5 pounds to equal a total of 15 to put me into the middle of my BMI range. (0/5)
6. Save for  and buy new camera (monthly goal $150).  I've got my eye on this one!  ::love::
7. Take pictures of Sofia monthly.  This one should be easy as I'm already doing it, but I want to make sure I continue it! (0/12)
8. Go to the dentist every six months.  To some this might seem silly, but I, sadly, have not been to the dentist in years.  It just wasn't something that was instilled in me in my childhood. (0/2)
9. Finish Sofia's growth chart
10. Hang curtain rod and curtains in Sofia's room
11. Get Bandit's claws clipped or filed every 3 months (0/4)
12. Buy and start a compost bin.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a while.  I really want to be better about not being so wasteful.
13. Try to finish C25K program- 9 weeks.  I don't know if this will be feasible for me because of my knee, but I think it might help me to get back into running. (0/9)
14. Sell maternity clothes, put that money towards camera savings
15. Start savings account for Sofia
16. Sell Sofia's no longer used toys and "gear".  Put that money into her savings account.
17. Get cloth diaper inventory up to 24 diapers and/or GroVia inserts (16/24)
18. Fill Sofia's month-by-month picture frames, 13 total pictures in each (0/13 x2)
19. Have a small, successful, and cute first birthday party for Sofia.
20. Buy an external hard drive, keep all pictures and important files updated on said drive.
21. Get house "baby-proofed" (stove button caps, oven locks, doorknob locks, cabinet locks, toilet seat locks, etc)
22. Try to be consistent in using coupons (i.e stockpile non perishables)
23. Work on my photography skills (do any one or more of the following- complete my photography book, complete the 12 weeks to better photography, and/or take a photography class)
24. Buy a chest for my Grandmother's silverware, polish said silverware and store correctly
25. Buy and install fireplace doors or screen (kind of counts as baby proofing)
26. Buy and install a ceiling fan for Sofia's room
27. *Possibly* re do fire place hearth and surrounding area with new glass tile
    

5 months

Sofia turned 5 months on Monday, October 25 and promptly began to roll.  Literally on the exact day of her 5 month birthday.  Weird.  Also this week she had her shots for the month on Wednesday.  She did SO much better with these than the last time she had the same vaccines.  The last time she wailed for an hour or more, poor thing.  This time we gave her a little tylenol after she got home and she was golden.  I know what you're really waiting for, oh faithful 2 readers, photos.  Well... at least that's what I wait for.  ;)

Pictures

I'm sure that majority of my "readers" (that's laughable) have already seen this slide show, but here is Sofia's newborn slideshow www.libbyannphotography.com/sofia

And here are a few of my favorites that my best friend took while visiting.  **note to self, start taking more pictures**  It's only been one week since BFF was here and Baby S has already changed so much.  Guess it's time to get on the ball.

Picture Perfect Saturday

I have two things for this Saturday, AND, I'm actually doing it on Saturday.  YAY! Go ME!


First thing I have are some interesting friends I met on in my yard.  Here, take a look.  I'm kind of bummed that they're eating my passion flower vine, but I thought they were pretty cool.

The last thing is what I purchased for my step sister for her birthday and my step dad for father's day.  Just take a stab at where I got them... ;)  The far left is for my stepdad and it will say Kyle 6-20-10, the middle is my step sisters, it will say Zoe 5-27-10, and I got them each a small tin to hold them in.  I thought they were pretty cool.  Especially since they are both avid guitar players.  The picks might not actually be usable, but they're pretty and they were fairly inexpensive.