Embrace the camera

10/14/13

This week I ran across a blog whose author was doing a 5 day project called “embrace the camera” challenge. This involves including yourselves in the pictures with your kids/loved ones. Mostly for posterity's sake because let's face it, us mamas have thousands of pictures of our kids (in my case, my kid) but barely a handful of us in the picture with our kids. 

I decided to join in on the fun. I should mention, the blog's author referenced to 

this lady's blog

 who passed away shortly after she encouraged everybody else out there to do a similar project. 

 

So each day has a theme. 

Day 1: Smiles

 LOL! I love my son! 

This is all the smile he could muster. We took this while waiting for

 PJ and GM to get a horse up to be ridden. You see, Wiggly had a date to ride with cousin S. Man he was super duper excited to get on with the ride!

  So we tried a second one... LOL! 

Suffice it to say, he loved the horse ride albeit a short ride. 

 

I decided to modify on the project a little bit by taking a family picture each day also. Well, I already had planned on taking a family picture this past Monday to send to Bebe Boder but I thought it might be fun to have a family photo op every day for 5 days. 

 I also thought to include a picture of Wiggly and his Daddy every day. This is SOOC. I love the lighting on this one. I wish I would have stuck with this setting for our family pic but I fell victim to my own need to keep changing settings.

Day 2: Making memories 

(a picture with you and your child doing what your child loves to do the most)

  My son is enamored with playing with blocks these days. It is absolutely fun to watch and listen to him create machinery with his blocks.

  Our home made combine.

  Daddy decided to join in on the fun

  How convenient!

A quick family picture followed!  

 

Day 3: Every day moment

 (routine part of your day)

 Breakfast for two is pretty much a staple in our house every morning.

  Our oatmeal and raisin smiles!

Then comes dishes.

 Hopefully this can be a Mommy and son daily routine. For now, 

it's pretty much mine. 

  Wiggly does help rinse about once every other day.

Can't beat that.

 I didn't have to drag Wiggly's Daddy into this picture... thank goodness. I was on the highest step of a stool outside, wind blowing, me sneezing and coughing like crazy. 

 Cooking is on Daddy's daily routine.

 Usn's all set for AWANA. 

A family Wednesday night routine. 

 

 Him holding a scraper for a family op, not such a routine!

Day 4: Creative

Creative isn't in my vocabulary. But here goes.

Our smiling faces melded into one using the multiple exposure feature in my camera.

  Multiple exposures, 3 pictures. I debated over the tree vs the sky as the third layer. 

I should have done the sky. 

The other option would have been to take a picture of the tree first, then him on my back, then the kiss.

  For posterity.

  I was glad I took my camera when we took a walk to the creek in the afternoon. The creek is our number one outdoor all season entertainment. 

 It's only fitting that we get a picture of us together at the creek.

 

  Our shadows together that is. 

Daddy and son moment.

 

Silhouette was the only creative thing I could think of for our family. This was probably the quickest

photo op we did of us... Daddy had food on the grill the same time we were doing this. 

Thank goodness

for self timers with the capability of up to 9 (yes, nine!) series of pictures in one set up. I set this up for a series of 4 in hopes of getting 2-3 good ones.

 I did not however plan for this one... my favorite out of the four.

Day 5: Faces

  As you can see, I took it literally :)

 Wiggly and his Daddy and what's left of T's face.

I had to go in to work the last day of the project.

This was the quickest way I could think of to do a family

portrait.

I put UD to work.

  I love his sleeping face.

 I couldn't help but take one more for the final day.

 

Had great fun doing this project!

 I need to do this more often!

AC

3rd referral-versary

10/6/13

Today marks three years since we first saw our son's face through email. 

10/5/10 we got a one sentence email from our branch SW about a little guy with such and such condition on the waiting child program. UD asked me that night if I was interested. My answer, “I don't know.” It didn't even dawn on me to go and check the waiting child program list. See, at that time, I wasn't stalking the waiting child list. I was “waiting for God to pick one for us.” Well, uh, duh, apparently the email was God knocking on our door! 

10/6/10, on our lunch break, I talked to one of the staff from the WCP, still very noncommittal. Found out an even more concerning information about this little guy. But by the end of the conversation, I was excited and no longer noncommittal. We ended the conversation with the staff telling me she'd send the boy's file that same afternoon. Really? Yes, really! I couldn't believe it! UD and I talked it over through lunch – the cons about the concerning issue. We then went back to work – him to our house, me to the clinic. I can't remember now if I'd told my two trusted co-workers about the possibility of a referral right then and there but they sure found out a couple hours later. 

UD called to tell me the boy's file was “here” and that he'd seen the pictures. 

My response, “you opened it without me?”

As soon as my co-workers heard me, work and the thought of waiting to look at the file after work went through the window! I believe that email started my email stalking days. 

Fast forward, 3 years later... that little guy is now 3 ½ years old and has been forever ours for almost 2 ½ years. We just LOVE this boy to pieces. I cannot imagine what life would be now without him. I am so glad we said yes … 

we may have barely heard the knocking on our door at first but man it just kept getting louder and louder and louder. What a blessing he's been!

This guy who loves everything vroom, vroom, big vroom vroom.

 This guy who constantly hums and sings to himself when playing with blocks.

This guy who runs to my arms after a day's work. This guy who said "I'll miss you Daddy" when Daddy had to go to work out of town.

 Simply the best thing ...








that's happened to us in almost 10 years of marriage!

AC

Wiggly did it

  This is the price slacker parents pay. We sleep in, he hangs out quietly but

  busy on our bed.

Never mind the intermittent “thonk” on the head, Wiggly's way of asking us to read him the book he just “thonked” us with or the tractor he leaves behind for us to painfully lay on later in the day.

  My dish washing assistant's handiwork. My assistant who asks, “Mommy, can I help you do ditches, pfwueee?” How can one refuse?

 

His way of helping me hang clothes.

The shirt says it all.

  And then I came across this one day... he calls it a cross.

Caught red handed....

 

  A certain puppy wasn't so in favor of the act.

  Wiggly found a better place to hang a fly swatter. 

 

  Left boot, Left foot!

 Way to go Wiggly!

  His tractor shed.

   Line up ....

  or I will make you line up!

 There is a pattern going on here...

  Our shoes all lined up and “put away.

  This is still one of my favorites .

   Behold: our new Bible holder and cup holder.

Perfect fit!

  Purple one bites the dust.

  I normally don't take pictures of this kind of disobedience/lack of self control, but I couldn't let this one go. It is after all purple.

Not in pictures: shoes in my cooler bag I used to carry his milk in; tractor inside my apron pocket.

Our son keeps things so interesting day after day. I wish I have all his antics on record. I simply don't.

AC