The last ones for this year

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I tried to get a few pics today, being that it was my last opportunity to take pictures in 2008.

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This was about the best one I got.

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Toddlers are ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS on the go! So most of my attempts to get his picture looked like this!

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But then I got this beauty when we went upstairs. I had to play peek a boo behind a curtain to get this one. I think it was totally worth all the effort!

Misson 24 - Nostalgia

I am an agent for a photogroup called Mission 24. Every few weeks I get an email assignment that I have 24 hours to complete. There is a little more to it, but I figured these kinds of exercises might help me improve on my photographic journey. My first assignment is "nostalgia." So, sit back and get nostalgic with me...

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A photo from a page of my honeymoon scrapbook. Well, it is actually the second book, you can see the first book with the palm tree cover laying underneath. We were very fortunate to honeymoon on two islands in Hawaii. Book I chronicles our Oahu adventure and book II is all about our stay on the big island. I still haven't finished my second book, but I get nostalgic whenever I work on my scrapbooks. Something about these vintage postcards speaks to me as well.

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More nostalgia... We haven't named him yet, but this is our 'Elf On A Shelf.' He came to our house with a mission from Santa to chronicle who has been naughty and who has been nice. Now you know how that jolly old soul knows if you've been bad or good... so be good for goodness sake!

Family traditions are wonderful things and I hope maybe one day Wesley shares our elf with his children. Until then, we're working on creating some nostalgia with this little guy.

Murphy

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I was playing with my Christmas presents and needed a semiwilling subject to practice on. I took some pictures of Murphy sleeping on the back of the couch, but they aren't that great. I'm working on lighting. I put him on Wesley's chair and he sat still for this one shot and then walked away. I am very excited about my Christmas toys! I forsee lots of pictures of Wesley in 2009.

It's Christmas!

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Our Christmas morning came today and noone was disappointed! Wesley enjoyed his gifts and we had a lot of fun opening them!

Christmas Eveish

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We were gifted with a Silent Night this Christmas Eve. Thankfully, most of our nights are silent these days!

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I had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so we wrote Santa a letter and asked him to come to our house Christmas night. He said there was no problem with delaying his visit to our house, so we celebrated Christmas a day late. On our Christmas Eve, we tucked Wesley into bed and after Santa dropped off the gifts I snuck downstairs to take a picture before Wesley woke up for our Christmas morning.

Wesley and Eilee November 2008

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This set of pictures were taken back in November when we were in Rochester for Christmas. We used some of the pictures in Christmas gifts, so I didn't post them on my blog. But they are too cute not to share!

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Moving on up!

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Today Wesley made the big transition to the toddler room at school! I had the day off today, so we went to school and played a bit while Wesley got used to the new room. I even fed him his breakfast and we played some more. Before I left, I read him his favorite book, "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa" and he just wanted off my lap and to go play. I picked him up this afternoon and his new teacher said he did great. I am so proud! I tried to get a few pictures this afternoon, but he was such the busy bee... this is about the only one that turned out. He had his head in my lap. So cute!

I think he is going to break some hearts...

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Maybe I'm biased, but I just think he is so handsome. This picture isn't the typical super smiley pic, but I just love it. Those eyes just get me every time.

A video from Santa!

Wesley got a video from jolly old Santa himself. To watch it click here.

The Christmas Card

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May your holidays be merry and bright!

34th Street

Just about everyone has heard about the movie 'Miracle on 34th Street' but not everyone celebrates quite like the residents of 34th Street in good ol' Bawlmer, aka Baltimore, Maryland. Watch the video above and you'll see, this neighborhood goes all out!

We thought Wesley might enjoy seeing the lights and sharing in this Christmas tradition, so we bundled him up and over to Hampden we went.

Where else can you see a hubcap tree?

Or a sculpture of a giant crab "Santa" made of wrenches being pulled by eight tiny crab "reindeer"?

Every home had something to offer, and of course there was a traditional manger scene as well.

And I'll send all my loving to you

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They're off! The christmas cards are in the mail, as are all the brown paper packages tied up with string. Oh wait, I didn't use any string... Regardless, all our stuff to be mailed is now in the hands of the USPS.

Scenes from an Italian restaurant

These are a few pictures from Wesley's last three meals, dinner last night, breakfast this morning and today's lunch. As you can see, mealtime is getting messier every day. His latest favorite thing to do is rub food in his hair. Needless to say, he got a bath last night and I washed his hair after breakfast. Fortunately, he used a fork for lunch, so the hair didn't get too messy with lunch.

Also, the cats are finally enjoying having a baby in the house. Every now and again they find a tasty treat under the high chair. I swear they are dogs trapped in cat bodies!

Wesley loves the tree

Wesley has been having a lot of fun with the Christmas tree. He must think toys grow on trees! He'll go over to it, pluck an ornament off of it, play with it for a while and then go pull another one down. Our tree looks pretty bare because all the breakable/sentimental ones are out of reach (we hope!) It is just so funny to watch how he just grabs and pulls on the ornaments.

Waiting... patiently waiting...

The fabulous photographer Jen Snyder came over yesterday and did a session for us. I met her on a mom's photography board and I asked her to come over to try to get some family pics for us. A sneak peek from our photo shoot is posted on her blog http://www.blog.jensnyder.net/and I can't wait for her to post more from our session. When I get access to the gallery, I'll email the link to the interested parties. I heart the pics and can't wait to see more. In the meantime I am stalking her on our moms board and on her blog... sorry Jen! Take your time with them, I want you to work your magic in an unrushed environment, but I wanted to share my excitement. May all your clients be this stoked about their pics!


and

Milk and cookies

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Two weeks and Wesley is already getting ready for Santa!

Ten on Ten

Ten On Ten is a photo blog founded with the mission of capturing a day in your life with photography. It is supposed to be ten pictures in ten consecutive hours on the tenth day of a month. I tried to remain true to the assignment, but I had a busy work day, so I continued on in the spirit of a picture representing 10 different hours of this day. So sit back and enjoy a few snapshots of my day today. I also need to add, all of these are SOOC (straight out of the camera - no photoshop) and shot in manual mode. (Just tooting my horn, sorry!)

I thought about added captions, but at the moment, I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. I'm asking people to click on the comment button at the bottom of this post and let me know, should I add in the comments? Are you curious about any of the pictures? Did you like this little glimpse into my life?