Little Man

My baby's growing up! Eli and I took him to the park this afternoon. He had so much fun. He sat on the spring airplane while Daddy bounced him around. And considering that Daddy bounces pretty crazily, it was amazing that he managed to hold on. And Daddy put him on the big kids swings for the very first time! He sat there and held on and giggled and had a ball swinging while Daddy pushed him. No more baby swings for my little man! Then Daddy took him up onto the play area. My little man climbed up the rock all by himself! It was so funny, he'd get to the top of the rosk and refuse to step onto the walkway. (He seems to be afraid of grates in the ground, and the walkway had holes in it.) And he slid down the big slide all alone! He just sat down and scooted out and slid down. Mommy caught him at the bottom, and then he turned around and helped catch Daddy as he slid down. I just can't believe how much he's grown up! He's even getting his first pair of big boy shoes soon! (Just as soon as I can afford to order them. Shoes are expensive!) I'm thinking about getting him the cutest little pair of thong sandals, but I'm not sure how he'll react to the thing between his toes.

It's late, so I'll have to get on tomorrow and give a more thorough update. Good night!

~Liz

Photo Shoot

After much trial and tribulation and endless hours of staring at Photoshop, I have finally finished editing Jeb and Brittany's engagement photos. I am really pleased with how they turned out. I only hope they like them half as much when I show them tomorrow. I just put the photos up on my Photography blog. Go check them out!

~Liz

Hodge Podge

I just got back from Decatur this evening. My Grandmother and I went up to see my favorite cousin, Tyler, graduate high school. Tyler and I have been like best friends ever since he was little. (Technically, I was little, too.) It was a nice graduation, and of course he graduated with honors. He's headed to Southern Miss next year to major in Jazz Studies with the intent to teach in college. He got a full Presidential Scholarship! I'm just so proud of him and who he has become. I love him to death. He's my Exit Buddy! (Ask me for that story some time.)

Last Monday I did my first offical photo shoot. It was an engagement shoot for my best guy friend, Jeb, and his new fiancée, Brittany. They are just so cute together I couldn't help but get great shots. I finally got a card reader that works and just finished reading up on Photoshop techniques (to compensate for my photography faux pas seeing as I was extremely nervous), so I can start editing tomorrow. I'll post a preview in a couple days for all to see. It was really funny when I got the card reader home and downloaded all my pictures onto the Mac (that my fantastic FIL gave me to use! Thank you!). Apparently the hard drive on it is really small (think 4GB small), and with all the pictures on it, I only had 44.4MB of free space! I could barely make anything function with so little space. So I just ordered myself a 160GB external hard drive along with a 4GB memory card for the camera since I ran out of space on the last shot Monday.

Poor little man is sick again. I don't know what it is yet, but he's been running a fever off and on for a few days and today on the drive home he vomitted. I felt so bad for him. He was screaming and crying (he always gets really upset when he vomits. I think it's kind of traumatic or him) and it was a full 10 minutes before we got to the gas station and I could get him out of the seat and comfort him and get him cleaned up. It's a good thing my car seat needed cleaning anyway, cause now it's just gross. Fortunately (TMI coming up) it was mainly chunky and not so much wet. Actually, I don't thing there was any realy wet to speak of.

Anyway, onto a new subject...I think that's about it. I'm going to go knit a few rows on the afghan I'm making for my MIL (so going to have to be a Christmas present...maybe even next year's Christmas present!) and get some much needed rest. Love you all!

~Liz

Tag Questions

I was recently tagged by Erin and I tagged my sister and cousin in turn. Well, Tracy pointed out that there is no 25 or 35. So she added questions. Here's my answers. (Your turn, Erin.)

25. Favorite music? Country - In particular Dixie Chicks and Rascal Flatts, although Dave Matthews Band is my all-time favorite group.

35. Favorite day dream? The one where I can see myself in the future in my own house with my four children.

Baby Booties

So, I finally finished the baby booties for little Sara Grace. I posted the picture on my knitting gallery. (Link to the right. ---->) Go check them out!

Mother's Day Continued

First off, Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! There is truly no more important and wonderful and rewarding job in the world and every one of you are wonderful mothers. You all inspire me and push me to be a better Mom to Brayden.

Well, as you may have seen in my post earlier today, I took my brother and sister out yesterday morning to do a little photo shoot. I then took the photos and put them into a beautiful and unique 8-frame collage picture frame I found at WalMart and gave it to my Mom for Mother's Day. I gave one to my Grandmother, too. Mom nearly cried, she loved it so much! There are no recent shots of either Brandon or Michelle and I was really very pleased with how they came out. And it was a good warm-up for the engagement shoot I'm doing for a very good friend in a couple weeks.

We drove over to Mississippi today to visit Eli's Mom. It was a nice visit. We don't get to see them but once every couple months. We sat outside for a long time enjoying the nice day and chatting. Eli's Dad gave me a new lense for my camera that I'm very excited to play around with and gave me an extra 1Gig memory card that he had as we were getting in the car, which is a blessing. I'm just thrilled about my new toys. He spent a long time today showing me new things and new editing techniques. While we were there, I got to see the pictures we took at Easter. Oh, they are so fabulous! I've put them in the post below.

When we got home I went over to my mother's and she gave me my present. She and Clint are replacing all the lightbulbs in my house with the new energy-efficent bulbs. They're better for the environment and will help make a cleaner Earth for Brayden.

Well, that's about it. I'm going to go lay in bed and enjoy the last little bit of my Mother's Day.

~Liz

Photo Shoot

In preparation for a Mother's Day present for my Mom, I took my brother and sister out yesterday morning to the Mobile Botanical Gardens and did a little photo shoot. It wasn't much but it was my first time out and I'm really proud of how they turned out. Of course, I don't know much about photo editing or they would look better. But I really wanted to share! I'm heading to my MIL's today, so I'll post more when I get back. Happy Mother's Day!

Tag!

I've been tagged my Erin. I had fun reading neat obscure facts about her, so here's my list. I am tagging Michelle, Tracy, and Mom.

48 ODD Things about you! Learn 48 things about your friends, and let them learn 48 things about you!

1. Do you like blue cheese? No
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Heaven no - I've never smoked or otherwise taken any type of drug
3. Do you own a gun? No
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at sonic? I get milkshakes at Sonic
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Yes - I never know why
6. What do you think of hot dogs? They're okay, but I'd rather have a pizza
7. Favorite Christmas movie? The original Grinch Who Stole Christmas (my Mom rented it for me when I was very little and then declared I looked just like Cindy Loo Who in my long nightgown. Her nickname for me was Who Baby after that.)
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee
9. Can you do push ups? Yes, but I top out a 8 or 9
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding band
11. Favorite hobby? Knitting
12. Do you have A.D.D.? Yes
13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? My self-doubt
14. Middle name? It was Nicole before I got married - now it's my maiden name (Dennis)
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: Andrew, please don't climb on me! I need to go get the baby monitor so I can hear Brayden wake up. Good lord my house needs cleaning before company arrives!
16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday? bread, milk, pizza rolls
17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? I only drink water and milk - Oh, I guess I drink a cup of coffee most mornings
18. Current worry? That I won't get the baby booties finished by tomorrow.
19. Current hate right now? I don't generally hate anything. It's a waste of my time and mental faculties
20. Favorite place to be? In bed
21. How did you bring in the New Year? In my favorite place to be!
22. Where would you like to go? Italy
23. Name three people who will complete this? Tracy, Michelle, and Adele
24. Do you own slippers? No, but I'd love a nice soft, squishy pair
26. What year would you go back in time to? You couldn't pay me enough to go back to any time. Right now is the best time in my life.
27. Can you whistle? No. Eli swears it's just lack of knowing how, but I'm telling you I just can't do it.
28. Favorite color? Blue (or Purple)
29. Would you be a pirate? No - I'm not the salty sea air/wind blowing in your face kind of gal.
30. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower - It's all about relaxing and excaping for a few minutes
31. Favorite girl's name? Laura
32. Favorite boy's name? Brayden
33. What's in your pocket right now? Receipts from stuff for the baby shower.
34. Last thing that made you laugh? The mental image of my sister banging her forehead against the keyboard to spell her name - Oh, and my Mom threatening to fart on Michelle if she didn't get out of her space on the bed
36. Worst injury you've ever had? Food poisoning
37. Do you love where you live? I want to live in Birmingham or Tennessee
38. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2 - I'm adamantly against TVs in the bedroom or we'd have more
39. Who is your loudest friend? Erin
40. How many dogs do you have? None, but we really want a Shih Tzu
41. Does someone have a crush on you? Wouldn't have the faintest clue
42. What is your favorite book(s)? Coming Home by Rosemunde Pilcher
43. What is your favorite candy? Hershey's Dark Chocolate with almonds
44. Favorite Sports Team? I don't do sports
45. Your favorite meal? Chicken Wiki
46. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping
47. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I wonder if I can hit the snooze for another five minutes before the kids get here.
48. Do you have any odd habits? I have a tick in my throat when I'm upset or agitated.