Project 52, Week 25- 2 years!!

So I am a few weeks behind, but I have a whole year to do the 2 year update, right??

I can't believe you are 2!! You are such a big boy (literally), with your stats as:

Weight: 30 pounds, 3 oz (74th percentile)

Height: 36.5 inches (93rd percentile)

While this time can be very trying with you, it's also a lot of fun. You have started talking so much more and say the funniest things. You are a mimic, so we have to watch everything we say. When we leave the house, you say "Bye Billy, be good. See ya later, bye." You've heard us say this to our dog, and now it's your saying. 

You love to go for walks, but we have to call them stroller rides. Otherwise you won't get in the stroller. You also love your tricycle, but long walks with it can be challenging. You have figured out how to steer, and end up in circles, or running into Mama. 

You must be in a growth spurt (like you really need that!), because you want to eat ALL THE TIME!! I wasn't ready for the grocery bill to feed a growing boy. I thought I had a couple more years for that!

You love to "walk around," especially at the nature center where I took your 2 year pictures. When you look at a picture from this session, you say "Carter, walk around!" 

You also love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which is how I got the rest of your pictures. You are watching your cartoon while I snap away.

You love to learn and are such a sponge. You know all of your "ABCD's" (as you call them) and love to point out letters on shirts and signs. 

You can also spell Carter, which is pretty cute to listen to. You can sing Row Row Row Your Boat; it's your favorite song to sing these days.

You got a new KC Royals hat this weekend, and you call it "Carter's Go Royals hat," which is just about the cutest thing ever.

You love to be tickled and request it by saying "tickle." If I stop too soon, you let me know by saying "tickle" louder. You get the giggles and can't stop. I don't even have to tickle you. If I get close, you start laughing.

We are so blessed to have you in our lives Carter. We love you very much and look forward to watching you learn and grow!!

 

Project 52, Week 24

WARNING: Long story ahead and some photography jargon. So if you're not interested, just scroll down to the first picture (the last 2 are not good!)!!

We celebrated Trevor's 30th (gasp) birthday last week. We had a wonderful time with family celebrating this momentous occasion. And drumroll please.....his gift was an iPad!! He has been wanting one for a while, and I decided to get him one (along with my parents and his parents) for his birthday. I wanted it to be a surprise and thought I was doing well. But of course, the UPS man (who has never ever come before 2 pm) came to deliver the iPad on a Tuesday morning (Trev's only weekday morning at home). And I had to sign for it. I told him it was his birthday present but he never saw the box. He didn't bring it up again all morning until calling me when he was almost to work. And his opening line of the convo was "So did you get me a white one or black one?" I could have hurt him. Trev always guesses surprises and I was working so hard to make this one a surprise. I also have a slight problem actually waiting until the day to give him his gift. We are notorious for Christmas gifts exchanged December 15 or so :). Anyway, I digress. I tried to convince him it wasn't an iPad, but instead some small gift (like the weeder he asked for). I worried about the surprise all week, trying to decide how to throw him off the trail.

So long story short, here's how it went down. I planted a seed that maybe my parents were getting him an iPad. I did this because I didn't think I could keep the secret anymore. This was a way for me to get excited too! Mom wrapped her gift ($$) and weighted it down. Present #1 opened and no iPad. His parents got him candy and a shirt, saying they would be him more on our lake trip later this summer. Presents #2 &3. He got wonderful gifts from his sisters, but he wasn't expecting iPads from them :). Then he gets to mine. I wrapped the first present (the weeder) in the iPad shipping box. And can I say he was quite happy to have the weeder. Finally we get to the last present. He opens the large box (weighted with bricks) and finds towels and a smaller package. Buy now he is starting to wonder but isn't really sure. He opens the second package and proceeds to dance around the room!! So it turns out he really had no idea that he was getting an iPad. And all of my worrying and fretting was for nothing. Oh well, at least he was surprised.

Well, Carter also loves the iPad, hence the picture of the week.

This picture was taken with my external flash. Note the wonderful even warm lighting, no harsh skin tones. And this is even SOOC (straight out of the camera).

Now this was taken a few seconds later, but with the pop up flash on the camera

Note the whited out skin tones with the background totally dark. Yuck!!

And the final was taken without flash at all. I bumped my ISO up to 800 (pretty high for a Canon rebel), had my shutter speed way down to 1/60 and aperture opened way up at 1.8. And it's still dark.

Here's a side by side comparison of the 2 flash pictures:

I was worried when I bought the flash that I wouldn't use it. That was a useless worry. I use it quite frequently, but still have lots to learn! Sorry to bore you with a long story and photography jargon. Hopefully you just skipped to the first picture if that's what your here for!

Have a wonderful week!!

 

Project 52, Weeks 22 and 23

So yes I have fallen behind. Between 2 parties to celebrate Carter's 2nd birthday and Trevor's 30th birthday celebration, I haven't had time to do many updates. In the future I have plans to post on the birthdays and Carter's 2 year pictures. You would think since I quit my job as a NICU nurse (and am LOVING staying at home with my toddler!) I would have lots of time to blog. But no, it has been a crazy few weeks. Hopefully things will calm down now. In the mean time, here are my shots from weeks 20 and 21. I am not using his official 2 year photos or party photos. I want to save them for different posts, but they are coming sometime in the future!

Week 22: We got Carter a tricycle for his birthday, and he is in love with it. He already has an obsession with bicycles, so this is just amazing for him. This bike is pretty cool. It has a handle for us to push and steer him (although he can also steer which is interesting at times). Plus he can be buckled in so he can't just bail at any time. Here he is on the inaugural spin around the block.

 And here is week 23. After many months of struggling, Carter is finally starting to feed himself!!!! During lunch one day he decided to feed himself spaghettios. I usually help him with the super messy ones, but he wanted to do it. Who am I to stand in the way of his independence? Notice the mess all over the face (including the forehead), plus the o's around the outside of the bowl!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!