Bathtime hints!

Okay, so I know that a lot of us mommies have had to deal with a not-so-fun aspect of infancy: cradle cap. That gross flaky skin can be a constant annoyance, and can even make us hesitate when it comes to determining a bath schedule for our babies in the fear of drying it out even further.

Now, Will (as perfect as he is, haha) has not been immune to cradle cap. I've tried many things, from expensive cradle cap lotions to plain 'ol baby oil, and nothing has seemed to work. I've even tried using adult dandruff shampoo once, which works, but I want to avoid using any harsh chemicals on my baby's sensitive skin.

I had a friend suggest using olive oil. So, the other night, I gave it a shot- and it WORKED! Plus, it's natural and obviously does not have any harsh additives, so I don't feel guilty about using it at all.

1.) Rub olive oil into the scalp.

2.) Add shampoo and rub that in, too.

3.) Then brush the scales away with a soft brush. Rinse (didn't take a photo of that- I needed two hands for that!). Voila! All done.

...and I just loved the look on his face in this photo- total outtake- but it made me laugh so hard!
RAWR!!

Exersaucer fun

This was our exersaucer, pre-babies:

This is our exersaucer after two kids, on its way to our third:

ANY QUESTIONS? ;)

This poor exersaucer has seen better days. Of the nine toys that originally surrounded the seat, only five remain. It's safe- completely safe- just a little less, um, interesting.

When I pulled the exersaucer out of the shed, I noticed that Grace and Dani's favorite toy, the dragon, had seen better days. It looks like it was attacked by some kind of small animal:

Needless to say, it's no longer attached. 'Nuff said.

After a lot of cleaning, and some dismembering of broken/mauled parts, the exersaucer was ready for Will. He LOVES IT!!

Who cares about a measly dragon anyway? ;)

Photography- my therapy!

Okay, I know that I don't post photos often on my Blog site; however, those of you who are friends with me on Facebook know how I'm, well, OBSESSED with photography. I love it. I love it so much that I think my husband gets jealous of it sometimes. Yes. That bad.

Last June, my sweet and wonderful friend, Kat, who is a professional photographer, got into a conversation about photography. I mentioned to her that my point-and-shoot just wansn't "doing it" for me anymore, and that I was looking at upgrading to a DSLR camera so I could get a faster shutter speed. In my novice research, I thought that the best cameras were those with the fastest shutters and best lenses. Well, my novice research was only partially correct, and I will talk about why later.

Anyways, I digress. Back to my story.

SO, Kat happened to tell me that she was looking at selling her "baby", a Nikon D70. I hadn't ever heard of that model (I was only familiar with the D40, D60, and D90...), so I looked it up. It's a hybrid pro/novice camera, so I talked with Brent about it a bit, and decided to buy it from her.

I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first laid hands on that camera. It was so complicated- the viewfinder had a bunch of weird numbers on it, and a graph (yes, a graph!) that showed you your area of focus. When I heard that I had to learn about weird terms like ISOs, F/Stops, Aperture and shutter speed, I had a moment where I thought I may have gotten in over my head.

Well, there is always Auto mode! hehe.

Here is one of my first photos I ever took with my Nikon, straight-out-of-camera (SOOC):

Um, yeah. I had a lot to learn.

Over the next few months, I spent a lot of time learning the "art" of photography. I learned what the terms meant, and I worked for MANY HOURS trying to make sure that I knew how to optimize those terms on my camera. I haven't ever taken a formal photography class, either. When do I have time for that?!

Honestly, it's a lot of work! But I love it.

This picture is the one that helped me go from being a mommy taking a photo with an expensive camera to actually learning the art of photography. I went from having to think that the subject (Dani) had to be centered, and the background had to be in focus...in this photo, the subject is Dani's smile, and the background accents her happiness. I was just learning about the rule of thirds and composition; and suddenly, in this photo, it all started to come together.

Photography isn't about editing. It's not about the programs you buy, the lenses you own, or even the camera you have. It's about capturing those moments that make your heart go pitter-patter. It's about somehow going outside of yourself when you are behind the lens to capture those moments, on film, that you will remember with your heart. The technical things are important; however, the emotional elements help you push to become better and better.

Now, I'm not trying to toot my own horn. I still have A TON to learn. But, what I have learned over this year is that, yes, a nice camera is a bonus, but it's not a necessity. It's really about knowing how to use the terms and skills and (MOST IMPORTANTLY!) feelings and putting them all together. I can set up my camera to get the technically perfect photo; however, if the kids aren't feeling it, we won't end up with any good photos.

I want to capture the kids' childhoods in a photographically beautiful sense. I would love it if they could look at these photos I'm taking and remembering the emotions they felt as I was taking them.

So, the next time someone asks me what kind of camera I have, I will smile and tell them (a Nikon D70), and when they ask what editing program I use, I will tell them Photoshop Lightroom. But I will know, in my heart of hearts, that it's not about the camera or program, it's about the person (in my case, Mommy!) behind the camera.

Memorial Day, 2010

If there has ever been a year where Memorial Day has meaned more, it's this year.

Yesterday, my brother, Patrick, left Vegas from his R&R from Iraq. Patrick is in the US Army, and he's been in Iraq for 6 months now, and he has another 6 months to go. He's amazing- so positive about everything. We were lucky enough to see him for almost half of his trip back here to The States: we went back to Vegas to have Will baptized (Patrick is Will's Godfather) in the same chapel where Patrick was baptized almost 25 years ago. He then came back to LA with us to spend a couple of fun days here at the beach and visiting my other sister, Liz. We were so lucky to see him.

When I asked my mom how she felt about sending Patrick off yesterday, she told me that it was harder than she had anticipated, b/c she's not sure when she and my dad will see him again. Traveling is hard on anyone, and poor Pat has crossed the world many times over to come and see us. Sending your son back to a warzone isn't exactly easy, too. :(

I also have some good friends whose husbands are either currently in Iraq, or will be going to the Middle East soon. My brother-in-law, Andy, is also in that group- this will be his second deployment in a year and a half, leaving my sister with her two young boys. In fact, all of my friends whose husbands are gone or leaving have young children and/or babies. Anyone who has ever had to contend with children and babies who do not understand why their daddy/mommy is not there understands how hard this can be. It takes an amazingly special person to be a military spouse. I can honestly say that the sacrifices military families make are only surpassed by few- it's a lifestyle that you have to constantly recommit yourself to, and one you always have to keep an "eyes on the prize" approach about. It's HARD, and we are lucky as a country to have so many families that choose to support our military on the homefront.

Lately, I've been so appreciative about those American families who lived through all of our respective wars. I think about my Grandmother and Grandfather, who both served in the US Navy during World War II, and how their service made our lives what they are today. I think about how, when I was younger, my grandmother brought out her scrapbook full of her war memoriabilia, and how she had page after page of newspaper clippings of friends and family who paid the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom. She still gets teary-eyed about it. When she tells her stories about how, when she was serving in the Navy's WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), they had to literally turn out the lights in Miami to avoid being hit my submarine fire, it almost sounds mythological. We just don't even THINK about that in today's age. But it happened, and not that long ago. We have such short-term memories. If it weren't for people like my grandparents, we would not have the sense of security that we have today.

As I look at my babies, I hope that their lives are as comfortable and as easy as mine has been. I realize that the short-term pain of having their daddy being gone is worth the long-term gain of their security and safety. It's often hard to explain that to a THREE-YEAR-OLD, and even harder for a two-year-old (our newborn is obviously clueless), but it's something that we talk about often. Daddy puts on a uniform every day, and while his travels may not have brought him back to the Middle East lately (he's been there before, though), he's still away from us and making our country a better and easier place to live.

So, on this Memorial Day, please take a moment to think about how many people you know who are putting on a uniform and lacing up their boots every day to make sure that we sleep peacefully at night. Think about, also, all of those who lost their lives in order to keep the stripes and stars on our flag the bright and strong colors that they are. Every single name on a tombstone represent someone's son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister, aunt or uncle...everyone was loved, and they loved enough to sacrifice for others.

God bless America and all of those who serve.

Week 5

I totally forgot to post last week about this. Oh well. But here goes:
Weight: 151 (ish). Depends on the scale today.
B: 37
W: 31
H: 39

My measurements haven't changed, but my weight is dropping. Ah, the joys of weight loss...you never know where the weight will fall from, depending on what you are focusing on when working out. These last few weeks, I ran. A LOT. So, I'm noticing it in my rear, quads and legs in general. My arms are now getting more toned, and I'm starting to look a lot better in my yoga pants ;)