Our little monkey

It's hard to believe our little monkey Jessica will be 2 on March 4th.  We are having a party this weekend--kid-friendly food, a bounce house, and cupcakes (the works, for a 2 year old;).  I will have much to report & many, many (ok--how about 3 many (s) ) pics to share, you all know by now I'm a little camera crazy. I'm even going to make a special point to try in get in some of the pics!  Today is my final day of blogging for this week...this begins my "blog-cation", so don't be worried if you don't hear from me, I've got a house full of guests to prepare for & a party to get together (plus there's still 2 little ones that need lots of care & a loving husband who needs to eat, too).  The weekend will no doubt be busy, but I think a lot of fun.  Hope you all enjoy the remainder of your week & check back next week for blog posts relating to our Jessie's 2nd birthday.  In the meantime, I leave you with some images of her eating a clementine at lunchtime--see I told you she's a monkey!

She thought it was so funny that I thought this was funny

Look mom--I fit it all in my mouth

Haha...yeah, I better take it out

Can't I have another??

****Bonus photos: B/c I just couldn't help myself: Ella has figured out how to open & get into the drawer under my oven--there is no broiler here, just in case you were wondering, but it is where I keep cookie sheets****

Bathing beauty

This week I have much to do & I will be taking a "blog-cation" starting on Wednesday, but I had to show you these little candid pics of Ella from bath time the other day.  I really wanted her to wear this little bonnet in the nude, but little ms. was not having it.  She is in that phase of hating hats right now & we are starting to see a bit of a will exert itself in her.  Such a silly little one.  Here's what happened before she got in her bath the other day.

She's like--ok mama...what's this supposed to be

No bonnet for me

Let's try one more time....not gonna happen today!

Ok, ok give her Sophie--all happy again

Sophie makes everything better

Eventhough she still looks kind of like a "pudge" she's thinning out quite a bit

Fun with fur

This fur rug that I got at Walmart to use mainly to take pics of Ella has turned into one of Jessie's favorite things.  She always asks for the Nunu blee-blee, which in Jessie language means the Kitty Lulu (her fur realz kitty is also furry white like this rug and the kitty's name is lulu, but she can't say that so nunu is what kitty is called) and blee-blee is for blanket.  She loves to lay on this rug and pretend she's going "night-night" on it.  Very silly little girl, here's a few pics of her rolling around on said rug.  Happy Friday & have a great weekend ;)

She's still got a crusty little nose, but the eyes are pretty here

Very cute in my opinion

Crusty little face, but silly little girl

Love the pout, it's very diva, like her

This was from another day when I was doing Ella's pics, I've found I always have to dress Jessie up too, as she will not tolerate being left out....the purple looks really good on her

The Cupcake dress

For whatever reason, this dress was originally deemed the cupcake dress by Auntie Wendy.  Cousin Hannah wore this dress for some special occasions, but then, as girls do---outgrew it much to soon.  She then passed this dress to Jessica who wore it numerous times during the Spring last year & then said dress was passed to the littlest girl in the family--Ms. Ella.  As of right now the weather in Pittsburgh may not be great for wearing this adorable little dress to church without a heavy winter coat, but it is just perfect for a "photoshoot" with a mommy who is really wishing for Spring.  Enjoy some pics of our little one in the cupcake dress!

The expression is adorable, but her foot/leg is a little awkward, she was sitting on this little tray & it made a funny angle---by the way this was the 1st pic of the day, they are often the best as far as expressions go, that's something a real photographer won't tell you, but it's true

Wish she would have left the flower on, but no such luck

I should have turned the lamb upright, he's a little awkward in this one, but her face is pretty

Just love her positioning here..if anyone ever tells you they know how to get kids to do this, I'd be skeptical, it was a total accident that I captured this

Silly little one

This expression cracks me up--she was trying to blow bubbles with her lips here

Teething like crazy

Just pretty, wish there was a smile, but I'll settle for no fussing

2 year pics...take one!

Well, I've put them off as long as I could stand it.  I attempted some pics of Jessica for her 2nd Birthday the other day when we had a lovely sunny afternoon, although cold, no more than 45 degrees, it was gorgeous.  I had been thinking about these for a while & I must admit I was kind of nervous....I grant you I'm kind of a spazz anyway, but I had gotten myself kind of worked up over these.  I was really questioning should I just bite the bullet & get a professional to do them.  That really wasn't a workable idea b/c A) If I took her to one of the studios--Sears, Target, Walmart, or Picture People, it would be an all white background & seriously doubted if she would sit still for them anyway.  B)  My poor husband will tell you I have a love of high-end photography---he's paid for 2 high-end newborn sessions in 2 years...I would have loved to have the pro that did those do Jessie's 2nd birthday pics, but she's booked like a year in advance & to be honest really, really, really expensive.  My idea for doing her pics was to let Jessie pick out her outfit of choice & backlight her with sunset.  A few days ago I let her go into her closet & dresser to pic out her clothing.  She loves the color red so she chose a red sweater first (I'm thinking great, the hardest color to photograph), her favorite pair of star pants, a little purple t-shirt, pink sparkle shoes & when I questioned her on socks, she went right for the frilly purple socks that have been waiting for her all winter--can't wait until it's warmer & she can wear these with a matching dress.  I tried to tempt her with a handmade hair pretty that I made for her, but she wasn't having it, but she did go right for Ella's tutu.  I thought well, there it is, colors that don't match--she's gonna look like a hot mess.  I was originally going to get her balloons also for the pics, but that's just too many steps these days, so we just went for it.  I grabbed her little red rocker that she is crazy about these days & we went outside for a few pics.  I know these are not professional by any means and they may not be technically very good, but the result captured her perfectly in her little mismatched outfit.  MoMo even made a special appearance in these, which is so cute to me.  I'm sure one day she'll ask me why was she wearing such a crazy outfit, but I think it's adorable that she picked this out.  It's a special memory for me anyway.  Here's a sneak peak at what I've edited so far.  Hope you all have a wonderful day, gotta get a few prints for her party on March 3rd, so I better get editing!

To my friends that enjoy photography--backlighting, my opinion, is tough--these were some of the hardest to get color correct on that I've taken.  I probably should have just stuck with lighting situations that I know well, like protected shade, but being the ambitious girl I am couldn't resist the urge to at least try.  I think for someone who has only owned a dslr for around 4 months they're not bad, but I'm going to read more on how to get this effect even better. 

Of the 117 I took this afternoon, this is my fav...I got about 29 or so that are decent

MoMo had moved up into the tree to get her attention....doesn't this outfit just scream childhood

Love, love the light in this one, even got a lens flare--my Jessie girl is so beautiful...just adore her!

9 month checkup

I didn't actually take these pics on the day of her 9 month checkup, but I thought they were so cute that I had to share them.  Ella's appointment went great yesterday & truly I'm so thankful.  Her ear infection had completely cleared up & lungs sounded great.....whew, guess I can relax a little.  I was so worried about her getting pneumonia after the incident, that I haven't been sleeping that great.  In my mind, a good checkup is just another reminder that she has suffered no ill-effects from our little scare.  Here's the stats from yesterday's appointment for Ella:
Height: 29 inches, 90th percentile
Weight: 20.5 lbs, 75th percentile--although I'm sure my dr.'s office is credible, I think she's more on the high range of weight compared to other little girls her age
Head Circumference: 17.9 inches, 90th percentile
She had a great amount of stranger anxiety yesterday, which is unusual for her, but she hasn't slept through the night in about 5 nights now so that could be why.  She also had to get the 2nd flu vaccine.  I debated on even worrying about this, but since flu season runs until late April here I thought I should probably go ahead and do it.  She really is not that bothered by vaccinations, so why not.  On a slightly different note, Jessica was awesome at the doctors office.  She sat nicely in the twin stroller almost the whole time, until she really wanted out.  I thought, I've probably made a huge mistake with this, but to my surprise she went over to sit on Dr. Rowland's lap & to look at his computer.  He even quizzed her on her colors, which she loved.  He said it made his day,  which, usually Jessica is the crying toddler that has to be carried out of the office, so I was very pleased also.  We made a stop by the grocery store to get some treats since she was so good.  Nothing better than watermelon, cheese curls, & sugar free pudding, right??  I know you're thinking she's a kid let her have the full sugar pudding, well, she truly loves the banana pie flavor & it only comes sugar free so that is where this all started.  That's all to report from this checkup, next up Ms. Jessica's 2 year checkup in 2 weeks.  Have a wonderful day!

The shoes are so cute, but they won't stay on long

Think she might be teething??  Look at the drool

Crossing her legs like a lady

Love this one

Mama--this shoe is delicious

A little blurred, but I had to show the expression

Cutie :)

Look at the little teeth

Climbing up to get me

That's it mama....I'm tired of modeling

A personality split??

Jessica has 2 entirely different personalities...one & our favorite is the little clown that she can be.  So funny, so sweet & clever--I tell you this child comes up with some stuff that you wouldn't believe.  Then the other personality is the whiny (ok, to be honest, kind of braty little girl) Jessica.  She doesn't like the baby & doesn't like to behave even more.  This little lady usually rears her head when little ms. is sick or teething.  The funny thing to me is that this personality switch can come on all of a sudden & then disappear just as suddenly.  Here's some photographic evidence of this phenomenon.  Truly these were taken over a matter of just a few minutes.  Wonder where she gets these extremes in mood....hmmmm, couldn't be from her mother now could it??  I guess I've got to take some credit on this trait as I tend to be a little more up & down than Michael does.  It's funny when you see your behaviors in your children, isn't it??  Yeah it's fun to see physical traits, but it's wild to see them act like you or your spouse.  Anyway, enjoy some pics of our mercurial little girl.  Have a great Monday ;)

Yeah...I'm all good mom, no worries

Are you watching?? I'm about to get mad

This begins the sniveling...& whining, about what--I never determined

Full on fuss

Ok, guess her veggie tales distracted her b/c now she's fine

yeah, totally fine now

Yeah, mom, you still looking because I could change at any moment...look at that sly little look, she knows that I know!