Leaf-bathing in January!

Only a pound less than the cat...

At 4.5 months old, Baby Sasha weighs one pound less than our kitty Baby Pumpkin- lol. I'll take a better photo when they weigh the same. :)

Sophie's Version 2 & answers to questions...

Typing w/ 1 hand again (baby in the other), but here are some answers to recent questions (please remind me if I forgot one)...

* Still shooting w/ my Nikon D300 with all natural light... but I really would love to learn more about lighting since the winter doesn't provide much sunlight in our house...'

* For those who want advice/tips on shooting in manual... I pretty much always shoot in Aperture Mode since I don't have the time for manual right now & can't risk messing up many shots. Sasha has limited patience, Sophie Lu can only be bribed for so many minutes, and Ollie- well I think I need to find an invisible camera to photograph him these days.. :)

* Regarding my post dates... I do back date them (under "Post Options") because I am really that behind on blogging. I'm still trying to catch up & will probably be able to this week if I post a lot!

My Precious Girl

Smiles

My happy happy girl!!!

I have so many Sasha photos to catch up on... I'm going to try to post once a day this week to catch up... :)

Sophie's version #1

I was so excited about the recent photo of Jordyn, that Sophie Lu actually asked me to take a photo of her like that! "I can do that, too, Mama!!!" It's a miracle considering I how I usually have to bribe her to model for me-lol. Anyway,there are 3 versions (one taken that same day), and this is #1... :)

Pail Princess

I love her...

Jordyn & Sasha

Sasha's big cousin Jordyn was soooo sweet with her, and Sasha just adored Jordyn too! We had such a sweet visit... we love you beautiful Jordyn!

My Sweetie Girl

Dear Sasha,

My precious little baby- you are already 4 1/2 months old. Time is passing much too quickly. But with each day, you grow more beautiful; and every time I look at you, I see something new and amazing.

You smile all the time now- you smile and you laugh and giggle! No matter what is happening in my life or the world, your laughter warms my heart and renews my perspective. And your giggles are justso sweet!

You are getting so big! You weigh 14 1/2 pounds now- only one pound less than Baby Pumpkin Kitty (whom you've grown very fond of). You like to play with toys now, too! Your favorites are a little purple butterfly that makes a crunchy sound when you touch it and a Baby Einstein toy that lights up and plays classical music for you. You also love the sweet little pink bunny rattle that Sophie loved when she was a baby...

You've been trying real hard to get your thumb in your mouth- I think you're going to be a thumb-sucker (like Mommy was)! And sometimes you are able to get ahold of your foot... you look so proud when you do.

You are still my little Kitten, but now I have lots of nick-names for you. Mostly, I find myself calling you Sugarbear Blue or Kitty Cat Blue (probably because of your blue eyes). And what blue eyes they are! They are the darkest blue- like the deep blue ocean.

I love you so much, my tiny princess. Every moment with you is a gift. You are our little blessing.

Life with you is so magical...

Love, Mommy

New Cousins...

Love at first sight... Click on photo to see black & white version-

Sophie & Jordyn Play Dress-up!

Sophie Lu's cousin Jordyn came for an overnight visit, and the girls had so much fun together! Here they are telling secrets or making some kind of plans I think... (they wouldn't tell me)!


and planning their getaway...


I wonder where they think they're going? They were so funny!


Miss Jordyn is a seasoned pro... she's acted, modeled, the whole bit... Here she is "striking a pose"... She had LOTS of them for me!



Well, Sophie saw how much I was enjoying Jordyn's poses and decided to strike her own pose... This cracks me up!!!

Sasha's 1st Pettiskirt!

Click photo above to see color version (it's in the comments). :)







I was a little disappointed that these didn't look all that great in color- but I'll try again next time...

For those who've asked, I've been using my new lens- the Nikkor 17-55mm 2.8 (Michael suprised me at Christmas). It's amazing! But I also still love my 50mm 1.4! :)

Still loving that knee dimple...

Her little foot cracks me up... I feel like she should be balancing a ball on it- lol! Baby Sasha in all her glory at 4 1/2 months old... :)


Three things Sasha doesn't like... tummy time, baths, and the carseat. All things most babies like, right? My girl just has to be different, I suppose... I did just order this cool new baby WashPod which will hopefully make bathtime more enjoyable for her.


Sasha's skin in so soft, and she is so very cuddly. We've been having very very warm weather lately, so I've been taking advantage of it & getting some sweet little shots like these...


My precious love...

Thank you all so much & answers to photography questions

Click to see black & white version... not sure which I like best...

First of all, I want to thank everyone who responded to my previous post... Thank you so very very much from the bottom of my heart. This community always amazes me- everyone is so generous and wise.... Your advice is sound, and your words are so inspiring. I am just in awe of your heartfelt comments. I know I will come back and read them again and again... Thank you!!!

Next I want to answer some frequent questions regarding photography...

Currently, I am using a Nikon D300 SLR camera, and I love it! I have several lenses, but the new one I've been using lately is a Nikkor 17-55mm 2.8. Michael surprised me at Christmas with it, and it's amazing. Still though, I highly recommend the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 (especially for lower light indoor photos). Also, the 50mm 1.8 is great (and cheap). I have more info on my Flickr profile and always update when I add new equipment, etc. Click on the photo above to get to my Flickr page. (I highly recommend Flickr to anyone interested in photography- I've learned so much there). I'm actually considering starting a Flickr group where we aspiring amateur photographers in adoption/parenting blogger land can share photos (for corrective criticism, advice, etc...), discuss, and learn from each other. Would anyone be interested? I think we could help each other a lot! :)

Baby Sasha- 4 months old!

My sweet baby girl is already 4 months old! And I think this is my favorite photo of her yet! I love the way her hair is sticking up behind her headband...:)


A closeup of a similar shot- but I think I like the above black & white better...


And here it is... Sasha's bunny rattle... so sweet!



How I love my smiley kitten...

Please be careful with her... she's sensitive, and I'd like her to stay that way*

I've been wanting to write about this for some time now... but I've been avoiding it. It's just so hard for me to write about, talk about, or even think about Sophie Lu feeling sad. Sadness is just something that I never want my children to feel, but of course I know that life does have it's sad moments. Still, I've managed to shelter her from so much... I skip the sad parts when reading stories, and I censor what she watches and listens to. I've been especially careful to avoid certain movies- particularly Bambi, The Lion King, and any other movie involving the loss of a parent. Perhaps I'm over sensitive to those story lines because of what Sophie has endured in her short life, but it's my prerogative as her mother; and personally, I can't even watch those movies without crying. I know she'll see them some day, but I've wanted to put that day off as long as I possibly could...

So after Thanksgiving, I bought the entire set of Christmas classics- you know those clamation movies... Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and, of course, Frosty the Snowman. I guess I was too preoccupied with wondering about the scary parts, and I forgot about the part in Frosty where he melts. And honestly, I haven't seen it since I quit teaching five years ago, so I had forgotten how sad it is when Frosty melts and his little friend Karen kneels crying by the puddle of melted snow. Well, Sophie loved Frosty up until that point. But when Frosty melted, Sophie's lip started quivering, and her eyes welled up with tears. I could tell she was trying so suppress it, but soon she was sobbing heavily. I held her and tried to explain that Frosty was coming back, but it was no use. What happened to Frosty affected her so deeply that she cried until the movie as over. And she cried every time she watched the movie from then on. I put the movie away, but she kept requesting it. And I explained that maybe she shouldn't watch it because it made her so sad... But she kept requesting it- each time telling me that she wasn't going to cry because it had a happy ending. But sure enough, she cried every time. Poor baby.... and it completely broke my heart every time too.

Thinking about it, I'm not sure that it was what happened to Frosty that upset her so much. I think it was the sight of the little girl crying at the lost of her beloved friend. Sophie is so empathetic that way... she really is always concerned about others' feelings. Even Sophie's teachers tell me that she is always sweet and considerate with her classmates- and that she gets upset when kids are mean to each other. I just wish all kids were that way... particularly three little girls at a Christmas party we went to last month. This is what happened... When we arrived at the party, there were lots of kids running around playing (most of them were a little older than Sophie and the boys were playing sort of rough). Sophie was so excited to see all the kids (none of whom she knew), that she put her arms up and ran out into the crowd of kids happily screaming, "Let's play everyone!" But none of the kids paid any attention to her. So I looked around and found a little girl sitting alone with her parents. I approached her and asked her if she'd like to make a new friend. The girl's mother asked the girl to please take Sophie's hand and take her out to play. The little girl reluctantly did so and led Sophie into the crowd of kids. Watching closely from afar, I saw the little girl check back to see that her mom had stopped watching. The girl dropped Sophie's hand and joined two other little girls who pointed to Sophie, laughed at her, and then left her alone in the crowd. Sophie (who is not a baby by any means and rarely cries) ran into my arms and cried, "Mommy, they laughed at me. The girls don't want to be my friend... They laughed at me..." I was SO upset. Sophie is so innocent and vulnerable... I can't even tell you how broken hearted and MAD I was feeling. How dare they treat my sweet Sophie that way.... So I calmly walked over to the girl who who was asked to play with Sophie and politely asked her if anyone had laughed at Sophie. Her reply was, "Yes, she was bugging us." And the girl walked away. The little girls saw Sophie crying, too. They didn't care. I can't believe that they didn't care. Seeing Sophie so hurt was so painful to me. I'm frightened that this is all starting already... time has gone by so quickly. Too quickly. And I know that this is minor compared to what she will undoubtedly endure in the next years to come. How will my heart withstand her pain? I guess all I can do is pray and be there for her. I will comfort her and love her through these times, but how will I help her to stay sweet- to never ever be the girl who starts clicks, excludes others, and thinks it's okay to be mean?

Sophie is sensitive. When someone looks sad, she wonders why. She still asks about Alex and mourns the fact that she cannot visit him in "Kitty Heaven"... And sweetest of all, she cries when Baby Sasha cries... Sophie is sensitive (with her own and others' feelings), but how will I make sure that she stays that way? I just want her to stay that way...

*lyrics in post title by Jewel