Kirk + Julia

During the summer of 2010 I went to Wisconsin for the wedding of my friends, Kirk and Julia.

And just a few days ago I got Lightroom.

The two events came together to bring you this post.

I am trying to work on my editing skills. So, expect more posts like this where I go back and edit events that are loooong since past.

The full set is on Flickr. I just got an account today, so I'm not really familiar with how to best use Flickr. If anyone has advice on getting the most out of Flickr, please leave it in the comments. Thanks!

Swimming!

We took Judah swimming at a local pool today. The only other time he was in a pool was this summer at our friend's house. That was a very short swimming experience as it was an unheated outdoor pool. We pretty much just dunked him twice and called it good since it was so chilly out.

This time around we were able to play for a quite a while. He pretty much loved it, which didn't surprise us because that kid is ca-ca-ca-crazzzzy about bath time.

We brought our underwater camera (of course we did). So, here are way too many pictures of Judah at the pool.

Our camera is the Canon Powershot D10 (in case you were wondering). It is our second underwater camera. The first one we had was a Fuji and it was a p.o.s. It took on water and died while in Hawaii. My DSLR camera is a canon so we went that route for underwater/point&shoot.

I edited these photos using Lightroom, which my friend recently recommended to me. I think I might be in love. Lightroom is great. I'm currently using Adobe's free trial, but will definitely be making it my own once the trial runs out.

Check me out

Over at the boo and the boy today... Judah's nursery is being featured.

When planning Judah's nursery, I was constantly finding inspiring images on the boo and the boy.

So. Many. Great. Kid. Rooms.

I'm honored that I can join the ranks. So, get over there and show some love.

Yum, broccoli!

Judah had broccoli for lunch today.

And loved it.

Even if most of the time he had the wrong end in his mouth.

Gotta love Baby Led Weaning!

Monkeyshines 2012: the year of the dragon

It's Chinese New Year and in Tacoma that means magic is in the air... It's Monkeyshines time!

Not sure what I'm talking about? Here is Exit 133's article on them and here is my post on them from last year.

Judah enjoying his rabbit orb from last year and new dragon medallion

Last year, Bill found an orb during an early morning walk with the dogs. He found it outside the conservatory at Wright Park around 5:30 am. While he was doing that I was at home feeling sick and pregnant. Blech, no early morning searching for me last year.

The 2011 rabbit monkeyshines orb

This year, Bill was not inclined to get up early to walk the dogs. So, it was up to me. When Judah woke up I checked online and saw on Exit 133 that people had found some monkeyshines. I then quickly got dressed, changed Judah, and we were off. But, dammmn, it was icy! There was tons of black ice on the streets and sidewalks, so our progress was pretty slow going.

We first checked people's park and the planters around there on MLK. No luck (saw afterwards that some people reported finding marbles at peoples's , but there were out much earlier than us). We then (carefully) made our way over to Wright Park. We saw quite a few other hunters. I had been checking the landmarks in the park, but figured all the other hunters were probably doing the same. So we went off path and, wouldn't you know, we found a medallion sparklingly in the base of a tree trunk! Yay!

You can kind of see the swirls of color...

See the dragon?

That is now two years in a row that we have lucked out in Wright Park.

Judah really likes how the medallion tastes.

I am super glad we found a medallion, but, yowza, the photos I've seen so far of the orbs are crazy awesome. The artists outdid themselves.

Here is one that was posted on Exit 133

And one posted on the Exit 133's facebook page:

I'm posting this from my iPod while Judah naps in my arms. Once he is awake I'll update and add better photos... And now updated!

ipod photo

ipod photo of the medallion glowing when held in front of a light

7 Months

Judah hit the 7 month mark on Saturday. It seems like he just turned 6 months the other day. This month sure has flown by what with the holidays and what not.

Some things going on at 7 months:

-Judah's bedtime is now at 6:30 (used to be 5:30).

-I have been using baby sign language more consistently this month. I have been signing for milk, book, more, & all done.

-Still no teeth (I'm fine with that).

-Still not crawling (again, I'm just fine with that. I'm not pumped to baby proof this old house). He gets up on his hands, then his knees, and thennnnn he moves backwards. He has all the right movements, but is kinda doing them in reverse. It is pretty funny to us and pretty frustrating to him.

-Judah eats dinner with us each night. This last week he has been loving it and eating anything we put on his tray. The week before he wasn't really interested, but would play with it a bit. With Baby Led Weaning you just let them eat what they want. The point is more that he is enjoying it than getting nutrition (BFing takes care of all his nutritional needs).

-He goes to pee (and sometimes even poo!) in his pot a couple times each day. He always goes after he takes his naps, but the rest of the day is kind of hit or miss.

-He is at the point where he can play with his toys on the floor for a few minutes on his own. It is very handy so I can do little jobs around the house (or at least start them).

-He enjoys helping me vacuum. We will usually do it near the end of the day when he is having a tough time. It will usually relax him and he will quiet down for a bit.

-Judah naps twice a day. The morning nap is about 2 hours after he wakes up and then his afternoon nap is two hours after he gets up from his first nap. We usually just nap in my bed (so that I can nap too). I'm still hopeful that he will take his naps in his crib someday.

-He has been waking up a lot at night lately. Last night his longest chunk was only 2 hours. Totally lame. So very lame. I just got The No Cry Sleep Solution... but I haven't been able to read it because it is a paper back   and my normal reading time is when he naps, but the page turning wakes the little beast up! I really wish they had it for the kindle. I guess I need to sacrifice some of my precious internet time to read it. Lame (but so totally worth it if their strategies help him sleep better).

Ralph had to make sure the picture session was up to snuff.

I just can't believe how much he has changed in such a short time. Annnnd now I need to go upstairs, because he just woke up. Sigh.