Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Happy Birthday, Noah

Sweet Noah,

You're two years old today. There's almost nothing in the world you love more than things with wheels. Cars, trains and planes. The only movie you've ever sat through is Cars and you would watch every day if you could. Lightning McQueen (or Queen, as you call him) is your favorite. Grandpa is probably on the top of your favorite list as well. If the doorbell rings, you yell "Grandpa!" and ask to see him any time we get in the car.

One of the best parts of my day is going to your room in the morning. I lift you out of bed, carry you to change your diaper and clothes, then let you loose. You always run as fast as you can the second your feet hit the ground. "Off he goes," I whisper.

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You are talking more and more each day and I can't get enough of your sweet voice. You love letting me know what you want to eat and drink, what you hear, what you see.

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You ask, "please?" when you need help and I love when you put your finger on your ear and say "choo train!" when you hear one passing through town.

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Recently, you started asking me to watch you play. "Watch!" and I turn to see you standing on the couch ready to leap or holding an airplane as high as you can before letting it sail to the ground. But I'm watching so much more than that. I watch your eyebrows expressively lift and fall when you're playing and coloring.

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I watch how your little fingers grip as many cars as they can hold. I watch how you copy everything your sister does and says. I watch your face when you're smiling for a flash of your adorable dimple. I watch you rub the silky edges of your blanket when you're tired, and because I'm your mama, I watch you sleep.

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The past year has been the most precious I've ever had. You complete our family and I couldn't imagine a day without you. At night when we're having some quiet time reading books, I tell you that if I could pick any little boy on the earth to be my son, I'd pick you every time.

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Happy Birthday, baby boy.
I love you,
Mommy

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft

The first rain of the season fell early this morning. It seemed like an appropriate day to make an easy fall craft with the kids. They also needed some winding down after a fun morning of autumn initiation activities - puddle jumping and tree shaking.

{Pumpkin Plate Craft}
Paper Plate - Paint brush - Orange Paint - Construction Paper (green, brown, black) - Glue

I didn't have anything planned so I went with an old standby - paper plates. First, I read It's Pumpkin Day, Mouse, in which the mouse paints different faces on his pumpkins. Then I gave the kids a plate, brush and orange paint. While they worked at covering the entire plate orange, I asked them what face they wanted on their pumpkin (just like in the book) - happy, sad, surprised, silly or scary. They cut out the face, along with a stem and leaves. Then they glued the pieces onto their pumpkins. The leaves turned out to look more like unibrows, so you might want to try to glue crinkle paper on instead. 

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Scary, Silly, and Surprised faces.
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Noah loves all of Laura Numeroff's Mouse books.
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As I said, the morning was spent puddle jumping and enjoying the cool air and cloudy sky.

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My niece, Emma, is not afraid of getting dirty.
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Noah, new to puddles, decided puddle slapping was much more entertaining. Whatever works, kid.

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And there was tree shaking. The leaves aren't quite ready to fall. We only had a few takers, but a few was all we needed.

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Welcome, fall. We are so glad you've arrived.
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-Amanda

Thursday, April 12, 2012

{new life}

My best friend since the 4th grade had a baby Monday morning. Kim and Adam welcomed their second son, Andrew. He is perfect.


I'm all about newborns. Especially the ones who will grow up to call me Auntie. These babies fill my heart with so much joy.  


At nearly 9 pounds, Andrew is what Kim calls a "little fellah" compared to his big brother who was a pound heavier at birth.


There's nothing softer than newborn baby skin. It's the silkiest velvet that you've never felt. That totally makes sense.



I love every wiggle, yawn, squeak, and stretch.  Each is a reminder of how great our God is. How every person is a miracle, masterfully created. 


And I can't talk about proud daddy's without getting teary.





Andrew's first bath.






Andrew,
You have the coolest mom of all time. Her friendship has been one of the best things in my life. Because of her I've been able to laugh through every embarrassing moment and had a shoulder to cry on through every heartbreak. Her wit is unmatched and her love is unconditional. I know you are going to grow up to be an amazing man and I can't wait to see what God does in your life and what you do for His kingdom. 
I love you,
Auntie Amanda

Friday, December 30, 2011

Camera Lens "Elmo"

Now that Noelle is a super cool three and a half year old, she only wants to take pictures when she's in the mood for it. I saw a project with a great way to get kids to look at the camera floating around on Pinterest and I knew it would be an easy craft to do in a few minutes with supplies I already had on hand - besides the scrunchie.



Supplies:
Red Scrunchie
Hot glue gun
2 Black buttons
Stiffened felt sheets - one each of orange and white
Cut out an oval from the orange felt and two circles from the white felt. First hot glue the white circles to the scrunchie, then the orange nose in the center. Next, hot glue the buttons in the center of the eyes.



-Amanda

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Card Photo Shoot {Oh Snap Linky}

I've mentioned several times that my brother-in-law, Sean, is a talented photographer. Having a photographer in the family is a huge blessing. And he does amazing work so it's an extra bonus.

I wanted to get our Christmas cards out early to redeem myself from the Christmas card fiasco of last year. I ordered cards from Tiny Prints and they came about a week later with NO envelopes! I called their customer service and apparently this is a regular occurrence. They informed me that the envelopes would be shipped out asap. They lied. I got them two days before Christmas. 

So this year I got our outfits together and we took the pictures in November. The day of the photo shoot my best friend Megan and I were driving down a back road on our way to get some lunch and I spotted this little 6-row orchard in front of someone's house. We planned on taking pictures downtown but once I saw those golden leaves, I had to take pictures there. 

It was a quick 40 minute shoot and the pictures turned out wonderful. 
This one is going on the mantel.













Merry Christmas, friends.


(I made the Merry Christmas bunting with burlap, twine, purple paint and a 98 cent stencil from Walmart)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Oh Snap Wednesday {linky} - 9/14

{Oh Snap}

My sister-in-law, Anji, asked if I'd take a few pictures of her new little guy. I couldn't wait to get my hands on him again. He is so tiny and adorable. Isn't it strange that I don't remember Noah being that small but he was just 7 short months ago?

Conlan was such a great baby. He slept through the entire shoot and only peed on me once :)
Here are some of my favorite pictures:











I saw a photo like this one on Pinterest. It didn't come out as well as I planned in my head, but it's still cute. Both of my kids were able to hold their head up straight out of my womb so I wasn't used to handling a very sleepy and wobbly baby. If the pocket was a little bigger it would have been perfect.
Mr. G stood in for my brother-in-law, Lt. Todd Wild, who is serving overseas.

{Link up your photo post here}

Growing Up Gardner