Friday, October 30, 2009
For Sale!!
A friend of mine owns a store in town and asked me if I wanted to consign some of my work in her store. The store is called The Kodiak Company (on Marine Way just past the Brewery for those in town!) and has all kinds of Kodiak-related items as well as nautical things and a mish-mash of other stuff.
I currently have 12 pictures down there (unless some have sold... I should check on that), and I'm really hoping this might be the start of something. I don't claim to be the world's best photographer, or even really that good, but I think I've managed to capture some neat shots and I'm ready to learn more about both my camera and some processing techniques.
All the pictures I have down there are 8x10s, but I'm planning to come up with a price list for everything from 4x6s all the way up to poster size so I can do special orders, too. Unfortunately, we're going to be out of town for the BIG bazaar here this fall, otherwise I would've gotten a table and tried my luck there, too.
Anyway, here are the pictures I'm selling. They're cropped a little differently in the 8x10 size, but I think they turned out really well. Oh, and they're mounted on a matte board, which gives them a little heft, but no border. I was REALLY happy with how that worked!
Here they are!
Monday, October 19, 2009
As promised!
In this one, you'll note that Jason is sort of laughing. She grabbed onto Fr. Paul's finger and wouldn't let go. This wouldn't have been a problem, but he was trying to reach for the chrism. She eventually let go (after he shook her hand off!) and was sealed with the oil.
Shortly after the actual Baptism part of the service, she fell asleep. This does not look comfortable to me, but she seemed quite happy to stay that way for a while. She looks like she's a lot more sideways than she is, but that's a lot of dress around her!
Finally awake, we tried to get a few more pictures. Isn't her dress gorgeous? She looked so pretty... too bad it made her sweat like crazy! I'm looking forward to doing a portrait session and getting some good pictures of her in this gown, as well as the one I wore at my Baptism. We might even be able to keep the hat on her for more than 2 seconds to get some pictures of that, too!
Things are going well here in general. Michaela is definitely getting to the age where she's so much fun. She interacts a little (blowing raspberries back at us when we do it), smiles a ton, and she's started to giggle a little, too. She keeps us laughing and amazed at how much she's learning and changing every day! SO much fun! We can't wait to make our trip to the east coast next month so everyone can meet her!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Quick update... more to come tomorrow
Time got away from me today, and I'm in the process of uploading a bunch of pictures to Shutterfly, so the computer is running a little slower than normal, and I don't want to try to upload pictures here as well. I'll get some pictures and recent video up tomorrow. I promise.
In the meantime, in recent Michaela news....
She had her second round of shots last Monday, which resulted in a VERY cranky night. Fortunately for him, Jason had duty. Unfortunately for me, Jason had duty. It was a long night, followed by a late start the next morning. Thank goodness I'm my own boss and could go in a little late on Tuesday - both of us needed the sleep. I'm NOT looking forward to going through the same thing every month for the next few months. We're following the Dr. Sears vaccination schedule (basically, no more than 2 at once, and some are delayed a few years), so rather than getting shots every two months, she gets 2 every month. I now know the trick of giving Tylenol prior to the visit and again 4 hours later, so hopefully that will help manage the crankiness a little better next time.
Michaela is no longer a newborn... at 3 months old on Friday, she's officially an infant now! I just can not believe that she's already three months old!!! In some ways it feels like she's been here forever since we just can't imagine life without her now. But then it seems like just yesterday that made her way into the world. At her appointment on Monday, I popped her on the scale really quick to see how much she's weighing these days and she was up to 12lbs, 9oz. In three months, she's gained 3lbs, 11oz! She still seems so skinny to me, but she's definitely a loooong baby. I didn't get to measure her at the appointment, so we'll have to wait til her 4 month well-baby in November. But she's outgrowing all her 3 month clothes and is moving into the 3-6 month range!
Finally, in other big news, Michaela was Baptized today! I'll share pictures and give the details tomorrow, but I can tell you that it was a very joyous day, and I just found myself being amazed by how much love I have in my heart for my little girl, and how happy I was to watch her be "marked as Christ's own forever." I got to help pick the hymns for the service today, and I found myself too emotional to sing during at least two of them... I didn't want to "waste" the chance to sing the songs I love so much, but it was hard to keep the happy tears at bay.
I'll tell ya, no one can explain the frustrations, fears and exhaustion of being a new parent. But no one can explain the joys and LOVE either. I'm constantly amazed by this transformation from person to parent.... and it's something you have to live to understand.
That's it for tonight. I promise to have Baptism pictures up by tomorrow night, along with at least one recent video. My pictures are all uploaded to Shutterfly now, but it's after 10pm and I need to get to bed, so it'll have to wait!
Monday, October 5, 2009
What I learned on my weekend in Anchorage
On Sunday, we had the opportunity to go to church at St. Mary's. Why would we go to church on a weekend getaway? Well, I'd like to say it's because we're good Episcopalians like that. But really, it's because Ted, who used to be the curate at the church we went to in Massachusetts, recently took over as the Associate Rector at St. Mary's! So, we got the chance to visit with him for a few minutes before and after the service. It was GREAT to see him!! The visit to St. Mary's brings us to lesson #10... when visiting a new church (or pretty much any other gathering place), be sure to scope out a good nursing location in advance of the actual need to feed a soon-to-explode-with-hunger-crankiness baby! I found a nice quiet spot, but we almost had an emergency situation there!
And, finally, we get to the last lesson of the weekend... Lesson #11... even though it's a completely different experience now, we wouldn't trade it for the world, because this little girl has filled a part in our lives that we didn't know was empty. I mean, seriously, what's not to like about this?
So, we had to learn a lot of things the hard way, but we're armed with this information for our next trip off the Rock in November, which will involve a LOT longer travel day, and a whirlwind week+ of meeting friends and family. Of course, by then, she'll change all the rules on us again, but some of it might carry over!
And, finally, because I told Mom I'd get this up, here's a short video of Michaela showing off her new skill... she has figured out that she can make a different noise when she breathes in from what she makes when she breathes out. She's been practicing for a few days now.... and I can't get enough of it!
I hope our lessons can serve to help others as they adjust to new life after the arrival of a baby. And it's ok to laugh at us... we're laughing at ourselves!!!