Day 31 - January 31

First things first... I've managed to do this for a whole month! Yay, me! One down, only 11 to go. I'm thinking maybe I should've gone with the one picture a week thing.... oh well, I'm committed now!!

Today's picture is not the best technically, but you try to capture the antics of a perpetual-motion toddler and you'll get some blur sometimes, too. I THOUGHT I was focused on her, but as you can see, it's Fred who's crystal-clear.

Anywho. Her new favorite past-time seems to be sitting on Fred. I'm not sure what she thinks he's going to do when she does this, but thankfully he just lays there and waits for her to get bored and move on to something else (which generally doesn't take long).

Added to her activity is her new favorite "outfit" - Jason's old Coast Guard shorts that he sleeps in... as a dress (as she calls it), or a cape. Mostly she just figures out how to get them over her head in some way and then wanders around with them on. I'm so proud.

(For the record, this picture was taken after dinner. Red sauce was on the menu, so she was naked from the waist up to protect the cream colored shirt she was wearing today!)

Day 30 - January 30

I have to thank my friend Bridget for tonight's picture. I hadn't gotten around to taking one today and then she wrote on my Wall on FB to tell me about her nutella, fluff and graham cracker snack (I recently discovered the greatness that is nutella).

So I had to make a snack of my own. And then I took a picture of it. (And then I was reminded of how much I'm loving my new camera + 50mm/2.8 macro lens combo.)

Day 29 - January 29

It's all about Fred today.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous spring-like day. The temperature got above 70 degrees and it was sunny and beautiful out! When I posted that we were trying to figure out what to do on facebook this morning, a local friend said she was going to Fairhope across the Bay. I then googled it, and found out that they have a dog park over there! It's been a loooong time since Fred had any good off-leash time, so we made that our priority today.

He was the old boy of the pack, but that didn't stop him from trying to keep up. Unfortunately, the arthritis that he's been dealing with on and off for the past 5 years or so caught up with him and he started limping a bit, so we left a little earlier than we thought we would. It doesn't seem to have bothered him, though, since he's been doing nothing but sleeping since we left!

This was after about 20 minutes of playing and a dozen trips to the water bucket.

(And for those who don't know Fred, he's only 8, but he's gray like an old man!!)

Day 28 - January 28

Today was a day of food-firsts for Michaela. It wasn't the first day she ate two different foods, but it was the first day that she ate them the way she did.

The first was yogurt at breakfast. For those who don't know, YoBaby yogurt is VERY runny and a little pricey, so we haven't let her feed it to herself, even though she eats everything else herself. This morning, I figured why not try it out... and she was fine. That freed up quite a bit of time for me while she ate!

The second food item was a banana. She's been eating bananas for almost as long as she's been eating solid foods. We started by mashing them up and thinning them out with milk. Then she got pieces of banana that were sliced and quartered. Then we graduated to chunks of banana, and the occasional straight-from-the-peel snack if I held the banana.

After her Fluffernutter sandwich this afternoon, and being a little lazy, I decided to just hand her a semi-peeled banana. She thought it was great and it certainly didn't slow her down. Ironically, when I peeled the second half and broke it into chunks for her, she was done eating for some reason. Apparently it tastes better this way!

Day 27 - January 27

I'm cheating. There, I said it.

I took exactly one picture today and it was not post-worthy (wrong settings on the camera and the kid moved so she's blurry).

So then I took 4 more pictures tonight of the hubs making me some Whirley-Pop popcorn. But I decided not to be mean and post one of those since he wasn't thrilled that I was taking the picture in the first place.

Instead, I'm sharing another picture I took yesterday while I was playing with my macro lens. I'm pretty proud of this shot. It's nothing special, just an old toy train that lives on our bookshelves, but the picture is straight-out-of-the-camera (with the exception of a tiny amount of cropping). I just think it's a cool shot.

Tomorrow, I'll get back to using a picture I'll actually take tomorrow. Really.

Day 26 - January 26

I took a lot of pictures today.... pictures of completely random things around my house. I had good light during Michaela's naptime and I wanted to play with my different lenses and see what works or doesn't with the new camera. (Incidentally, my 50mm and my 18-70 are out because objects in the viewfinder are closer than they appear, and my 75-300 is out because objects in the viewfinder are further away than they appear. So that stinks because now I have a wishlist going on B&H that I'm never going to be able to afford!)

I learned that I'm really ready for it to be spring so I can get out and take the macro shots of flowers that I just LOVE. My macro lens combined with my new camera just makes for some FUN (and no difference between viewfinder and picture!)!!

So this is just one of my favorite shots... my Willow Tree figurines end up on the business end of my macro lens a lot. Today was no different!

Day 25 - January 25

It was a day for the doctor. Finally, after over 6 months since her last visit (BAD mommy!), I got Michaela into the doctor today. The appointment took 2 hours courtesy of a misunderstanding on insurance stuff, my inability to see the stack of new patient paperwork (and not just the top page), and then the actual check-up itself.

So it's only fitting that today's picture is representative of the visit to the doctor.

What I learned is that the kid is tall (YAY for that!! She got her dad's height - along with his ears), but she's skinny; she's in the 90th percentile for height, but only the 25th for weight! What I also learned is that she apparently doesn't like the doctor's office. She was (pardon me as I make up a word here) keeeeee-ranky! She's going to be so happy to go back in 2 weeks for more shots since we're so far behind on them!

So here's her little certificate about her growth.

Day 24 - January 24

It's Meatless Monday around here. I didn't really start doing it on purpose, but over the past few weeks, it seems that I've chosen one meal a week that doesn't have meat in it and I happened to end up deciding to serve it on Monday (I meal plan a week in advance and grocery shop on Mondays for the week).

So, today's Meatless Monday was Gnocchi with White Beans, courtesy of Healthy Cooking Magazine. It's pretty tasty, and for my WW friends - only 7 points per 1 cup serving!

YUM!

Day 23 - January 23

Grandpa Joe left today. But luckily his flight wasn't until late this afternoon, so we had the chance to hit the playground this morning for a little fun!

Michaela has learned the fun of having two people hold her hands and swing her in the air while she's supposed to be walking somewhere. The downside to this is that she says "Again!" and starts to hang on your fingers before you get the chance to get a good grip so there's often the chance of a falling child. The upside is that she's the world's slowest walker, so we can usually get about 3 or 4 steps further than normal by employing this technique.

The upside for her is that it's just plain fun. Especially when both adults are tall - unlike the times when it's tall Daddy and short Mommy.

Day 22 - January 22

Today we headed out to Battleship Memorial Park to check out the USS Alabama, along with the dozen or so aircraft and the submarine that make up the park. Unfortunately, we got a late start so our time was limited, but now we know to give it more time and to bring all our visitors there!

Day 21 - January 21

I worked out the new camera today. I learned I want new lenses, too. Now I REALLY need to sell some pictures...

Anywho... we headed over to the base today to show off Jason's "new" workplace to the latest visitor - his dad. Michaela was super excited to see the "hehcockers," but also thoroughly enjoyed the chance to just walk around a little bit.

Here she is with Daddy and Grandpa Joe, heading back to the car after the fun and excitement of the "hehcockers" and "trucks" (the mules they use to push out the planes). And Joe was nice enough to carry my pink camera bag and the paisley diaper bag so I could try to get the shot.

Day 20 - January 20

New camera!!!!!!!

My new camera came today! You'd think I'd post a picture TAKEN with the new camera, but, no, I'm just going to show off the new camera.

Isn't it pretty?

Now I just have to figure out how to make it work. To say it's an upgrade from my old Sony a100 would be a slight understatement. I took one little photography class and all of a sudden I think I'm expert enough to use this thing? Yikes!!

I'm seriously going to have to start trying to make some money on the side out of my "hobby." That's the only way I'm going to be able to afford the next upgrades I *need*. Anyone want to buy a lovely print of Kodiak scenery???

Day 19 - January 19

We headed back to a playground today after a few days off. So I'm back to a picture of the kid. I tried to take a picture of our fancy tomato salad at dinner tonight (we tried a mix of different kinds of tomatoes - a little disappointing to be honest), but I wasn't paying attention when I took the pictures and the exposure is off so you can't even tell that it was fancy tomatoes.

Anyway, you're all stuck with the kid again since she's the only other thing I take pictures of. She was actually hanging from the railing, but I couldn't get her to do it so I could take a picture. But I thought this was cute anyway.

Day 18 - January 18

I seriously need to just wear my camera around my neck like a stereotypical tourist for the rest of the year. It's the only way I'm going to be ready for everything and prevent this kind of crappy picture from being my picture of the day. What did we ever do before cell phone cameras??

This is the highlight of my day for sure, though. Maybe even my week or my month (jury's still out on those, but this is going to be tough to beat). Today I saw my first LIVE armadillo. I've seen dead ones (you know, road kill) around, but never a live one. But there he (she?) was, a few hundred feet away, while we were out for a walk with the dog and the kid. Right after I took this picture, I spooked him and he jumped straight up in the air about a foot and then ran away.

Seriously bad picture warning - taken with my iPhone and then zoomed/cropped the best I could. But he's there... I swear!!

Day 17 - January 17

Today being a federal holiday, the hubs (that's what I like to call Jason) was around and he was apparently feeling all domestic.

Something that felt like a brick wall hit me late this afternoon and I was actually having a hard time standing up (could've been staying up til 1:30 last night to watch "The Other Boleyn Girl"). So Jason volunteered to cook dinner and, after that, he headed to the laundry room to take care of the second load of laundry.

I think I'll keep him!

Day 16 - January 16

I'm cheating today. I'm going to post two pictures. I can't help it.

Today, Michaela is 18 months old. I don't know how that happened. It seems like she was born yesterday, but all of a sudden I have this toddler who runs me ragged all day and who amazes me with how stinkin' smart she is! Seriously, with as much as she's talking and signing and understanding, she's going to be smarter than me by the time she's five. We're screwed.

To the two pictures...

The first one is a perfect capture of her personality and turdiness. (Yes, turdiness is a word... she is a turd sometimes.) Lately, I can't take a picture of her because she either looks away, says "CHEESE!" in such a goofy way that the picture is terrible, or she runs at me saying, "I see! I see!" before I even get the chance to take the picture! So this first picture captures that moment of her pointing at the camera and trying to get to it before I can take a picture - the picture/portrait I wanted to take to mark the fact that she's 18 months old today.

The second picture is to show that she really can be a cute, sweet girl who sits kind of still for a picture... as long as someone's with her. Plus, I promised myself I would get in front of the camera more often this year (and in the future), especially WITH Michaela, so she has those pictures of the two of us to (hopefully) cherish as she gets older.

I'm a cheater - two pictures in one day - but I think it's worth it. Happy Half-Birthday to my Sweet Girl! I can't believe you're 18 months old already!!

Day 15 - January 15

Yard sales might make people a little punchy. Well, at least yard sales that start at 7am in the freezing cold with crowds that thin way too soon and stuff doesn't sell as well as you'd hoped.

That's my guess from this picture anyway.

(And I seriously need to start thinking about bringing my camera with me wherever I go. These iPhone pictures are not cutting it.)

Day 14 - January 14

I can't believe I'm going to do this... I apparently have no shame or something.

Another stop at the playground today. I was bit tired so I decided to lay down on the bottom of the slide with Jason kept the toddler entertained (and she said, "Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama" over and over again until I answered her).

It's been crisp and cold here - and the slide is plastic. Here's what happens to your hair under those conditions. (and iPhones don't take the most flattering pictures...)

Day 13 - January 13

I said I was going to mention the cold in the picture for today. At that point, the only picture I'd been able to snap was an iPhone pic of my dashboard display, saying it was 27 degrees out this morning. But then we got out for a walk with the dog this afternoon, and I brought my camera along. So no more dashboard picture. (But, seriously, 27 degrees? In Alabama? Hello, this is the Deep South. It's not supposed to be that cold!!!)

As we pass the playground across the street from the house, EVERY time we pass it, Michaela says, "I play?" about a million times. Most of the time we're in a hurry to get home for dinner at a decent time, so we say no a lot. Today, we figured a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

Michaela wasn't the only one who wanted to play I guess.

Day 12 - January 12

Yeah, yeah... so it's January 13th right now. We had friends over last night so I didn't get to this, but I DID take the picture yesterday.

And, sorry, Justin, but the kid is back.

As you look at this one, think of a cute little toddler voice saying, "I dwum."

(And yes, those are mittens. It's a little chilly here this week. More on that in the next picture.)

Day 11 - January 11

It's my big girl curtains!!! These are the picture for today because I spent all frickin' day (ok, the afternoon and part of the night tonight) ironing them. Seriously, over 3 hours to iron curtains.

These are the first curtains I've ever spent more than $40/panel on. Usually, my curtains come from Target or Walmart. But the giant 11 foot ceilings and 9 foot (and wide) windows in our living room called out for something a little more high class... and 108 inches long, which is nearly impossible to find cheap! So I, of course, fell in love with these from Pottery Barn. And now they will hang in every home we live in for the rest of my life. But I love 'em.

I just didn't love ironing them!

Day 10 - January 10

I'm not proud.

But if this is supposed to be about the moments of your day, what better picture to post than a snapshot of my traffic warning.

It was probably just a matter of time since I know I drive too fast - always have. But here's my warning for going 52 in a 40. I don't know why I only got a warning, but I'm thankful. It's the first time in my 16 years of driving that I've been pulled over. I didn't know my hands could shake so much.

Lesson learned. I will now be the slow-poke getting in everyone's way around Mobile. Don't give me dirty looks... I don't want an actual ticket!

Day 9 - January 9

In our house, Daddy is in charge of baths. I miss out a little - since it seems a lot of fun goes on during baths - but it's their time together and my terrible back issues make bending over the tub a little less than comfortable. So Daddy does the baths.

Tonight was bath night, so I snapped a quick pic with the point 'n' shoot of Daddy and Michaela doing their thing!

Day 8 - January 8

Road trip! Ok, well, trip across the Bay anyway. I had to do some shopping for a Mardi Gras Ball gown today. And although I'm currently strictly following my Weight Watchers regimen to get rid of some excess "welcome back to civilization, what restaurant would you like to eat at tonight" weight, I couldn't help but help myself to a fabulous fried shrimp po'boy at a little family place over there on the Eastern Shore.

Thankfully, it's a 45 minute drive, so we won't be messing with my diet often over the next 3.5 years.

Yummy.... Kravers....

Day 7 - January 7

Poor Fred. Ever since the kid came along, he's been relegated to second-class citizen. Gone are the days of being our "child".... the special birthday cakes (we forgot his birthday this year), the footprints cast in plaster, the rides in the car, and all the other fun parts of being an only "child."

Instead, we have fun laughing at Michaela in the bath, and he gets stuck sitting in the hallway outside the bathroom, pouting, while laying on Jason's sweatshirt. So sad.

Day 6 - January 6

I almost failed already.

I took a few pictures at the park today and realized after I got home that my white balance was on the wrong setting so everything was blue (I had it set for indoor light instead of sunlight). I didn't look closely at the pictures until I got home. Then I forgot about posting a picture until a few minutes ago and really didn't want to futz with trying to edit one of those.

So I went to the backup plan. Today is the 12th Day of Christmas, also known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day. So in honor of that, tonight's picture is of our Christmas lights burning brightly for the last night. Yes, I plugged the lights back in (they're on a timer to turn off a minute before I went outside), ran outside in the cold and stood across the street at 11pm to take this picture.

Day 5 - January 5

After roughly 11.5 years of cooking burgers for me, he finally got one right. Usually there's no pink to be found, let alone that much of it! Congratulations, Jason! It's about time!

Day 4 - Jan 4

Another day, another playground. And another picture of the kid. I'm already starting to think that, although I like how much of my life is focused on the toddler, maybe I'm going to need to branch out a little bit if this is going to be interesting at all this year.

But she is cute, so we've got that going for us!

Day 3 - January 3

Yes, I'm calling it Day 3 even though it's my Day 2. It'll get too confusing if I don't. I'm all about keeping it simple.

We squeezed in a few minutes at the park across the street on our way back from our walk tonight. Michaela ran around from swings to slide to merry-go-round to rocking toys like it was the first time she's seen a playground. Guess she's been missing it!

This was taken with the Hipstamatic camera app on my iPhone. There will probably be plenty more of these that show up over the next 362 days!

Hoppin' on a bandwagon

Thanks to my friend Melissa, I've decided to do the 365 project. I take enough pictures, I might as well actually put them to use - and have a reason to pick up my camera every day. In the end, this will probably just remind me how much I want a new camera. But it could also just end up being a cool way to document the year.

I didn't read Melissa's blog post about doing this until today, so I'm starting a day late. If I had taken a picture yesterday, though, it would've been of our brunch spread. We had a bunch of people over for a New Year's Day brunch and I made way too much food, as per usual. So pretend it's yesterday, and pretend there's a picture of a packed table. Ok. Done with that.

The other thing we intended to do yesterday - but got too worn out by the brunch to do anything else - was to take down all the Christmas stuff, including our needle-shedding tree. So today's picture is of the star packed away in its box for another year, with the mostly naked tree all blurry in the background.

Now to remember to do this every day!