Baby's First Christmas...

Christmas Eve:

We wanted Caleb to open a present from mommy & daddy for his first ever present. He did pretty good, except when the darn tape got stuck to his fingers. It was pretty funny.

He got a book! Many more presents to come...

Then we went over to Aunt Katrina's and Uncle Marc's house for Christmas Eve. It was fun and he got a ton of toys.

Christmas Day:

Here's Caleb first thing in the morning, come on mommy! its time for presents!!

Checkin out the gifts under the tree!

Hmm what should I play with first!

Then we went over to Granddad's and Grandma's for Christmas Day, He got a lot more toys here too.

With his Aunt Julie and the Tonka truck she and Uncle Michael bought him.

Now just a couple fun pictures of my new ornaments!

Christmas Gifts...

So in attempt to trying to save a little money this year, I made a couple Christmas gifts. These are for my cousins 3 year olds. I hope they like them, they are crayon rolls, and probably cost about $2 each to make:

And Caleb got one Christmas gift early, since it was so cute we wanted to put it together and let him play a little.

And in B&W b/c you know I love B&W!

Winter Wonderland...

So Yesterday we went to go see Santa, this was the jist of the whole visit. Who know a guy with a white beard could scare a little boy this much!! He was a very good santa though, looks just like the guy!

Then today we got the crapload of snow. Didn't make it out till the evening. He was a little confused at what the stuff was,

But then thought, hey at least some weird creapo guy with a white beard isn't around...

Yeah I think I really like this! its not bad at all... But my feet are getting a little cold here.

10 Months Ago...

10 Months Ago today, my son was born, my life changed forever in the best way possible. 

I can't believe he is 10 months old, its amazing how fast time flies, it seems like just yesterday we were up all night holding him and watching him sleep, checking that he was always breathing, and worried about anything and everything concerning him. 

Now he is 10 months old, walking around, yes walking, he took his first step today by himself, still very uncoordinated (like his mom).  But he can walk with only holding one hand!!  its amazing how fast they learn things.  He is getting into anything and everything, he rules the house.

Anyway that's all, pretty soon we'll have his first christmas then he'll be a year old.  Its amazing!

1st Edition: You know you want it...

*Stealing this idea from my good friend Lori B*

Looking for that perfect accessory for NYE? All under $55 too:

Anemone Cuff Bracelet from swarovski crystal $40:

B&W Pleated Bag $55:

Jacqueline Zsa Zsa Bling Ring $35:

Ice-Ice necklace $45:

UPDATED: 52 things to accomplish in the next 52 weeks...

I decided to build a list of things I want to do, learn, accomplish in the next 52 weeks. I'm sure I won't be able to build the list all in one day but I hope to have it complete by the New Year and then accomplish it by the end of 2009. We'll see!

Black Text - Not Yet Started

Purple Text - In Progress

Red Text - Complete

~Be Smart:

1. Build a budget and stick to it.

2. Learn Custom White Balance.

3. Create a weekly menu and use it, at least 4 times (0/4)

4. Learn and create a workflow in Photoshop.

5. Try 7 new meals in 7 days (0/7)

6. Learn 1 new recipe every month (3/12)

7. Stay Debt Free.

8. Prepare a Will.

9. Shoot in RAW.

10. Read 1 book every month (3/12)

11. Take on a difficult task at work.

12. Learn to see the light and photograph it.

13. Read a book to my son every day (75/365)

~Be Green:

14. Stop using paper towel.

15. Only use reusable grocery bags.

16. Eat leftovers.

17. Plant a garden and eat what grows.

18. Plant a tree.

19. Go to the Farmers Market and buy something.

20. Recycle

~Be Nice

21. Send someone a card for no reason.

22. Donate unused clothing and home goods each season.

23. Get a list of birthdays and send birthday cards.

24. Send someone flowers for no reason.

25. Make Tony breakfast in bed once a month (2/12).

26. Reconnect with an old friend.

~Be Healthy (body, mind and home):

27. Organize my bathroom.

28. Organize my kitchen.

29. Clean out my closet.

30. Clean out the basement.

31. Stop biting my nails, its a nasty habit.

32. Go down one pant size.

33. Drop X lbs (its a secret!)

34. Pack a Lunch 4 days a week.

35. Go to the Dentist.

36. Buy all new Makeup.

37. Clean and Organize the Laundry Room

38. Paint one room in the house.

39. Give up Pop for 30 days. (0/30)

~Be Happy:

40. Update pictures in our picture frames!

41. Cook and host a holiday meal.

42. Buy something from Etsy.

43. Get a pedicure every month in the summer.

44. Take Caleb to a baseball game at Comerica Park

45. Take a photo of Caleb worthy to be made into a canvas and do it!

46. Take Caleb to the zoo.

47. Have a date night with Tony once a month. (3/12)

48. Finish Caleb's 1st year Scrapbook.

49. Splurge on one great item for me.

50. Have a spa day.

51. Start a Disney World Fund.

52. Keep a blog.

Pictures of my little man...

So here's a picture of what my Christmas tree looks like in my son's eyes. This is just one of those many times I wish I had an L glass!!!

LOVE Baby Feet, here's a different perspective!!

So lately I've really been trying to "find the light" catchlights are so hard for me, I wonder if its b/c I live in Michigan with horribly overcast winters!!

And in B&W b/c well sometimes I just love B&W!!!

So I've been taking more photos, venturing off to more than just my own kid so I started a photography blog, check out my profile for the link. I'm going to post my first newborn there!!

Baby C

So today I had a bunch of fun with the W family and their new addition Cayden. He was such a great baby, very laid back and cuddly. I have no experience whatsoever in shooting newborns, but this was a lot of fun. Definitely harder than I would have imagined.


Cayden is only 12 days old!!




**This is the first time big brother Carson held his little brother! He was so cute!!

**This reminds me of one of her maternity pictures!!

I Love little baby feet, and you can still see the heel prick...

A new recipe...

So I was driving home from work the other day trying to think of what to have for dinner. Running through my mind of what we had in the fridge / freezer / pantry, I remembered that I had some extra hash browns from a previous recipe that I made. I really hate it when I have a small amount of something and I usually end up throwing it away.

So anyway I decided to try something new, without a recipe I decide to put the left over hashbrowns to good work.

I call these: Beer Battered, Fried Potatoes and Cheese Balls

So its really easy,

• I just softened some cream cheese (also left over from a dish)
• Mixed in about 1/4 of a bag of shredded hash browns
• Added Cheddar Cheese
• and rolled those into balls

Then for the beer batter mix:

• 1.5 cup beer
• 1.5 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• season to taste

~So I didn't put enough seasoning in for mine so next time I'll be adding more garlic / salt and whatever else sounds good at the time.

Anyway, I dipped the potato / cheese balls into the beer batter mix, then rolled them in seasoned flour and dropped them with a spoon into our tiny fryer. You could also fry these in a skillet if you want. Probably only in the fryer for 2-4 minutes.

They were actually quite good and this time I took a picture! Oh and we had chicken with this, this was just a fun side.

Later that night we did a little more decorating of our Christmas tree, we still haven't finished but I guess that's how it is with a 9 month old running / crawling around.

Costco Rocks!

Ok I don't normally post 2 times in one day, and I don't know why I'm so happy about this but I just want to say how much I LOVE COSTCO.

I bought my DSLR camera there, well I actually started out with the Canon Rebel XTi, a month or so goes by and I notice that there is a better deal on the XSi there, so I jump on it. After all you can return electronics within 90 days (most Costco items you can return whenever no time limit!). So I returned it and got what I thought was a great deal on the Rebel XSi. So I've now had my camera for 82 days anyway, I noticed yesterday that the XSi went down in price $50. That's a good amount of money. So today I decided to call up their customer service and ask if I could get a refund for the difference.

Not only did I get a refund, their service was super fast, I probably was only on the phone for 10 minutes. I got $30 back (less shipping, the first time I bought it I got free shipping).

WOOHOO

So thank you Costco for your great customer service, I will always come to you for my shopping needs!

My Wish list

Ok I know that I won't get all of this stuff, and I probably won't get most of this stuff, but this is what I'm covetting this Christmas (in no particular order!)

Tamron 28-75 mm f/2.8 lens for Canon - SWEET

These Pearl Rings from Red Envelope:

Canon 430EX or EXii Speedlite:

Seamless Paper in White, and Mocha (below) and maybe a gray color

The Photoshop Elements 6 book for Digital Photographers:

Learning to See Creatively, by Bryan Peterson

Oxo Good Grips® Food Storage Pop Containers

oh and of course peace and goodwill on earth!!

9 Month Stats

I almost forgot to post Caleb's 9 month stats:

here's a look at his past stats:
Birth: 7lbs 12 ounces, 21 inches long
5 days old: 7lbs 12 ounces, 21 inches long
2 weeks old: 8lbs 7 ounces, 21.5 inches long
1 month old: 10lbs 7 ounces 23 inches long
2 months old: 13lbs 2 ounces, 24 inches long
4 months old: 16lbs 8 ounces, 27 inches long
6 months old: 18 lbs 14 ounces, 27.5 inches long

drum roll please....
9 months old (plus 11 days): 20 lbs 14 ounces, 29 inches long

can we say growth spurt!

and for fun, here's his percentage chart, he's in the 50%-tile range now.