How hard can it be?

After spending an aggravating 45 minutes attempting to create a watermark in Photoshop Elements, I am resorting to blogging. I'm done. I can not for the life of me figure out how to make one. Even reading tutorials specifically for "Creating a Custom Watermark" are above my head.
So, as you can see, I have my basic text watermark created in Lightroom. It seems this will be what I'm using. Boo.
And pictures. Daddy snapped the next one while I was at work.

Luckily, Sarah was happy to perform again for me when I returned home.

I've caught a few cute moments over the past few days which I'm happy to share. It is rare that Hannah (or Sarah!) will "pose" or sit still long enough for a picture, so when they do, I get a little snap-happy.
Sarah had just woken up from a long nap and had a little case of bedhead.

I told Hannah to pose for the camera. This is what I got!

And a few more "mom shots" from this evening.

I don't think it's possible for my kids to be any cuter. Just sayin'.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Prepare for picture overload in the next few days. ;)

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

I am the queen of all things random. My mind is always in a million places at once. Am I saying I'm scatterbrained? Not quite. I am very capable of holding down my thoughts long enough to focus on the task at hand. But when I'm not working, when I'm sitting at home on the couch with my girls, or lying awake at night nursing Sarah, I can let my mind go to the zillion different places.
I can easily relate to the dog from the movie, Up. I haven't seen the movie, but the commercial that played repeatedly while the movie was in theatres shared a bit of the dog's character. In the middle of introducing himself, he catches sight of an animal and quickly turns his head yelling, "Squirrel!" Yep, that's me. I find myself thinking of everything else while in the middle of one thing. Does that even make sense?
I'm not bothered by this, as I've been this way my entire life. Perhaps it goes along with creativity? I'm always thinking of things I want to create, to write, to capture with the camera. I don't see it as a bad thing. I'll take it as a blessing.
I'm okay with it. Life's a little random. For instance, Micah headed to Costco for a few items. He left the box of goods in the entry way for me to put away as he headed off to work. As usual, I let it sit in the hallway until he came home that evening. Upon further inspection, I realized the large can of parmesan cheese was missing. Where did it go, you ask?

Who would have thought to look in a boot?

In between hiding parmesan cheese in unlikely places, we like to raid the pantry.

Yes, that is plastic wrap. Yikes.

We like to color.

And sometimes that means we color on our baby dolls.

Turns out, baby now has some nice artwork on the bottom of her foot.

We lounge around in the living room where we get all the good sunlight.

Come evening, we migrate to the family room to hang out. Hannah likes to run through the kitchen.

This was taken right before I turned my back...and then found the plastic wrap, pantry raid issue.

We jump in the dining room.

Our days may be random, but I wouldn't trade it...not one mess, not one smile.

We welcome random. :)

Enjoy!

Cold, rainy, with a dose of wind.

The dreary days of Spring in Western Pa begin to be depressing at best. The calendar says it's April 18th, but the weather is suggesting something more like February.
Despite the less than desirable temperatures, inches of rain, and wind that'll knock you off your feet, we enjoyed our weekend.
I ventured out on Friday evening with a friend for manicures, shopping, and a little time to unwind after a very long week.
The girls finally began sleeping through the night again last Friday. Up until then, I felt like a monster. I was exhausted, irritable, emotional, and distraught. The girls were, too. Luckily, we all made it through the cold, and although I still need to wipe noses a few times throughout the day, we are, happy to report, all on the mend.
So, back to my rather eventful weekend. ;)

I finally bought a new pair of dress pants that actually fit. I've been wearing the same two pair that I bought four years ago. They no longer button, as I've had two children and am no longer shaped the same way. It was time they were retired.
I also bought two new pair of dress shoes. For those that don't already know, your feet grow with pregnancy as well. Unfortunately, mine have yet to return to their "normal" size. So I slid into a pair of 7 1/2's in one and 8's in the other and recognized them as my new normal.

Saturday...I know we did something on Saturday. Hmmm. Oh yes. My house was given a much needed cleaning. The vacuum (aka, feedas, if you talking to Hannah) was run, furniture dusted, kitchen scoured, bathrooms scrubbed. It felt so nice to clean and scrub away the germs that had made themselves home last week.

Sunday, we attended my cousin's baby shower. It was nice to get out again without the girls...but I missed them the entire time. It's funny how that works. I welcome a short break from the demands of motherhood, but even whilst enjoying my "free time", my mind is always on them. Little breaks are necessary. It reminds your heart how much you love their company. I needed the reminder this weekend. :)
After a short break after the shower, where Sarah and I snuggled for a quick nap, Micah and I headed to a nearby town so I could meet up with a fellow photog from the message board of which I'm a member. It was SO.MUCH.FUN to get out for the sole purpose of shooting.

My attempt of a starburst. I need a little more practice.

This picture gives me goosebumps. I love our country. God bless America

Spring is here, but there are still remnants of the cold, long winter.

My roots are here in Western Pa

We caught "the golden hour" of sunlight

Spring flowers hold the promise of warmer weather, sunny skies, and sunkissed babies

There were over 180 pictures from the 1 1/2 hour get-together. I learned a few things from my e-friend, and we had a blast together. There will be more get-togethers in the future!

I'll leave you with that. And I promise there will be baby pictures up soon! ;)

Blech.

This'll be short.

Everyone (but me!) ended up with a nasty cold this weekend which resulted in snot, coughs, vomit, fevers, fussy babies, and one four hour visit to the ER. Luckily, everyone is on the mend, although Micah and Hannah are still fighting it off!

I had my best friend's baby shower this Saturday and got a ton of great shots. I won't share without her permission, so perhaps they will be posted at a later date.

And a few from the past several days:
Hannah is great at sharing.

Finally feeling better.

She actually posed for this one!

Little Bean's still on the mend.

There is some exciting stuff going on photography-wise in the near future. I'll be meeting with my Creative Coach soon to take some portraits.
I'm also taking my cousin's engagement pictures for added practice and skill building...although I've warned him not to get too excited.
If you're friend or family and wouldn't mind being my guinea pig while I improve my skils, let me know! I'd love to work with different subjects other than my fast-moving toddler and baby...although, truth be told, they are my favorite subjects!

;)

Drive-by.

This'll be quick. I have two babies who need to be put to bed, and a husband who needs to finish his research paper and discussions for class tonight.
First things first, my new Kelly Moore bag arrived...and? And, she's a beaut!

Although the size of this bag is a tad intimidating (I could probably fit a few small children inside...totally kidding, but really, it's big!) I think I'm really going to like the extra space. I'll feel so much better about toting my camera and a spare lens around. The bag is big enough to fit my camera, speedlite, all of my extra lenses, memory cards, batteries and charger, baby items, purse items, our 13" hp laptop, and probably a dozen other things. Hey, I like big bags...and I can not lie. ;)

Oh, and just for kicks...my daughter is adorable...and my husband's not bad, either.

Oh, and the fig bars? Awesome. Like, I ate seven of them yesterday. Emabarassing.

Drive-by complete.

Full weekend.

It's been quite busy in our household over the past few days. I decided I'd make a third attempt to potty train Hannah. We're still undecided on the success of this venture, which kind of means it isn't working out so well. The girl understands the concept, knows what we are saying and what we are asking of her, but just doesn't want to take the time to actually do it.
After chasing her around for two days and having her sit on the potty more than she did anything else, I think I'm calling it a fail and moving on. We'll try again this summer when I'm off from work...right? I'm not giving up entirely. I'm still going to put her on the potty multiple times per day. She does well some of the time, so I don't want to lose ground.
Potty training makes for some interesting fashion statements.

She is the "one sock wonder child".

Although I was admittedly frustrated and stressed by this whole potty training endeavor, Hannah was none worse for wear.

And when I ask her if she has to go potty?

She politely responds, "Nope!" And then continues on with what she was doing.

Notice the blanket on the chair. At this point, we had put her in big girl underwear. To avoid a potential furniture disaster, we placed a barrier between her and our armchair.

In other news, I actually went out on Saturday. Hannah stayed with Gram and Pap, and I brought Sarah along for the ride. We met up with my childhood friend, Brittanie, at a local restaurant for breakfast.
Sarah is THE BEST baby. We sat and talked and ate for over an hour as Sarah watched and listened from her carseat in the booth beside me. She ate once, took a quick snooze, and cooed and gahed at everyone and anyone who gave her attention.
Afterwards, we all headed to Target for some groceries. Sarah had had enough of this outing by this point, so I hurried to grab my items and headed home to Hannah.
Sarah was happy to be home.

The girls napped and I played.

We are currently hanging out in the famiy room. Micah got our desktop set up in our living room so that I can edit pictures during the day if I find myself with a few extra minutes.
Micah is re-rolling dough in the kitchen. We are trying out a recipe for apricot fig bars from a fellow blogger, Nici, over at Dig This Chick. Unfortunately, both Micah and I read the recipe incorrectly the first time and are trying it again. Hopefully we'll have a tasty fig bar to taste before 1:00 tomorrow morning.
Although we completely anihilated the crust, the filling sure looks good! (This was pre-puree, if you were wondering.)

I wish I had a picture of the finisehd product. Hopefully tomorrow.
If you'd like this recipe, please visit Dig this Chick's Apricot Fig Bar recipe.

That is all.