Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak from the photo session we had with Lee at Crescent Moon Photography last week. We went to Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant. BEAUTIFUL!! I'd never been there before and the road leading from the entrance is lined with these beautiful, big, oak trees. There's the main house in the center. Off to the side there is a horse stable. We took some pictures all over and even had one of the horses walk up to us. Sophie wasn't sure what to think. She did very well, all she wanted to do was walk.

Yes, it was like a million degrees out and we were a sweaty mess by the very end, but from what I see so far, they're going to turn out awesome. Except the one below of me. That was taken towards the end and my hair is drenched and plastered to my neck.

My favorite so far. She actually wore her bow for most of the shoot.

See? Sweaty!!

The rest of the pictures should be on their website next week or so. Very excited to see them!! Just hope I don't look this bad in all of them. I think some of the pictures we took at the beginning will be good, before I started sweating like a man.

But my little girl looks so adorable and that's what matters the most. This was mostly a photo shoot of her, for her 1st year portraits. We wanted some taken of the three of us since we don't have many pictures of the three of us. I'm usually the one with the camera.  

Sophie update: Walking all over the place!! Preferred method of transportation is still crawling but I think walking is slowly winning her over. She waves hi and bye, mostly bye, even when you're not going anywhere. Laughing all the time, when she's not screaming. Still screams when it's diaper changing time. HATES getting her diaper rash cream put on but it's necessary. She'll learn to get over it. She's getting so big so fast! 

I'm in love with Photoshop Elements

I just recently purchased Photoshop Elements 7.0 on eBay for a great deal!! I am in love. This is exactly what I was looking for. There are so many cool free things out there to apply to photoshop it's not even funny.

I've stumbled upon Actions for Photoshop. They are pre-made photo edits that you can install into Photoshop and then apply them to your photo when you're editing. Some may call it cheating, I call it being resourceful when you don't have a lot of time on your hands. I will eventually learn how to create my own layers and photo edits in Photoshop, but for now I'm just getting to know my new friend and all it can do for my pictures. I downloaded a bunch from The Pioneer Woman and Coffee Shop Photography.

So here's a few photos that I've recently edited.

Original Image

Autumn Glow Action from Coffee Shop Photography

Colorized Action from Pioneer Woman

Sun Kissed Action from Coffee Shop Photography

Warmer Action from Pionner Woman

I don't remember where I downloaded the following Action from.... I stumbled upon it somewhere on the web. It's called Dreamy Sepia.

Original

Original

That's all I have for now, there will be more soon. I have so many ideas running through this head of mine!

Tubes

Today was surgery day! After our appointment with the ENT Friday, it was determined that after 7 ear infections in 5 months, Sophie was prime candidate for tubes.

This morning we arrived at the Surgery Center of Charleston at 7:45 a.m. Poor kidd-o couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight but that didn't seem to bother her at all. As soon as we got there we were taken back to get Sophie's vitals and then prepped for surgery. She did cry when they took her back but 10 minutes later we were called back to the recovery room. She fussed a little but it really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. She looked a little dazed and confused but recovered very will. Within a few minutes she was drinking her sippy cup and eating some dry cereal.

The doctor said he did suction some fluid from her ears but over all they weren't that bad.

What a trooper she is! So proud of my little booger. I'm optimistic that she will not have the problems that we have had over the last 5 months and so happy to be done with antibiotics (for now).

We love you Sophie! You're such a good girl and we're so proud of how you did today!

Eating with a Spoon

I had to share these recent photos of Sophie feeding herself with a spoon. The good news is she is interested and eager to feed herself with the spoon. The bad news, well I guess it's not really bad news, she makes a MESS!! But it's cute so it's OK.

Yum, yogurt!

And that is how Sophie eats yogurt.

This next set of pictures were taken on Saturday. We drove to Georgetown for the Yarborough Family Reunion (that would be Ricky's side of the family). We did some swimming in the pool, met some family members that we'd never met before, ate some food, and then drove home. We had fun and can't wait for next year.

In the pool with Daddy

I had to post this because they look so much alike in this picture

And last butt not least :)

4th of July and some Sophie

Happy belated 4th of July! I finally downloaded some pictures from my camera last night and wanted to share. We had a pretty good 4th of July. Saturday Ricky had to go to Clover, SC for a Memorial Service for his Uncle who passed away. Sophie and I spent the day hanging out at home (with a short run to Target).

Sunday Ricky and I got a rare opportunity to take our boat out for the day while my in-laws watched Sophie. This was a much needed day and we enjoyed it!! We love Sophie and want to spend as much time as possible with her, but sometimes we just need some time together, as all parents do.

So after our day on the boat we grilled chicken, ate, and put a very tired little girl to bed. Ricky and I watched some fireworks in the neighborhood, and then a tired mommy went to bed.

Monday we took Sophie to the beach and she's loving it more and more each time we go.

Getting ready to head out!

Not crowded at all, the way I like it!

Captain Ricky

Anchored and enjoying the day

So just an update that Sophie is doing awesome. After her 6th ear infection last month we finally have an appointment with the ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor on July 16th. They're going to take a look and see what's going on in there. I'm not opposed to tubes at all, quite honestly I'm tired of putting her on antibiotics. If tubes are going to make her feel better then let's do it!

Sophie is walking!! Well sort of. She can stand on her own and take a few steps, but would rather crawl because she knows how to do this better than walking. We give her TONS of encouragement so she'll work it out in her own time. The important thing is she's learning and taking more steps each day. She does really well when we're not paying attention, but the minute we notice, she decides that she doesn't want to walk anymore. Crazy girl!

Wylie being nosey

Taco's and lima beans - Yum!

Hmm...interesting place for her lima beans

food has been dumped and now she licks the plate

Standing!!

and getting into things!

Sean's Baptism

Last weekend Sophie and I went to Charlotte (actually Stanley) for Sean's baptism. Ricky stayed in Charleston for some fishing plans that were made months ago.

Sean was a trooper, he slept through the entire thing, barely even made a move when the water poured over his head. Such a good baby. Sophie is at the age where she doesn't want to sit still. Nor does she want to be held, but she can't really walk on her own either. So she was a little restless but made it through.

I am now Godmother to both Garrett and Sean.

A few pictures courtesy of Amy (I forgot my camera!!!)

Change

I'm at it again. See what happens is that I get bored with things. It happens in every aspect of my life. So when I do get bored, I must re-decorate, re-design, re-organize, rearrange. It's a problem that I have and cannot be helped.

So I got bored with my blog and decided to re-design it based on all things that I've learned about GIMP and blog design. I'm no where near a pro but I think it turned out nice. I did the header myself, the side bar tabs and post divider. Even the little collage (which was a freebie I downloaded off of shabby blogs, I just added the pictures).

So this is what it'll be for a while. Until I get bored again. Or until I learn something new and feel the need to apply it to my blog. The ideas that run through this head are never ending. If only I had the time to actually sit down at the computer and do it (aside from being at work, because I should not be messing with my blog while I'm at work).

On a side note, my child no longer wants to sleep at night. She also no longer wants to go to bed at night. Even though her eyes roll to the back of her head and she is on the brink of falling asleep, she'll fight me tooth and nail. Then she likes to wake up anywhere between the hours of 1 - 2 a.m. and scream bloody murder. I know she's working on some more teeth, but it seriously has to stop. I feel like I have a newborn again. So we're going to try the "cry it out" method and see what happens. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime I've gotta get out my ear plugs!!