Pregnancy Update - 25 Weeks

How far along (how big is baby): 25 Weeks!  It feels so good to be in the "viability" stage, but I sure hope she doesn't come early.  We are not ready!  Right now baby Mim is as big as an eggplant and weighs just under 2 pounds.  She has fingerprints, sweat glands and has developed that blink-startle reflex.  Her hearing is fully developed and she's working on getting her lungs She should already be favoring one hand over the other - will Ryan finally get his lefty?  

How I'm feeling:  Good!  I finally feel like some of my energy is back and my appetite is definitely improving.  I had a good weight gain at my last OB appointment and the bump is getting bigger by the day.  I'm finally to that honeymoon stage of pregnancy that I love where people are super nice to you and ask you questions about the baby (which I love).  Most people seem surprised that I still have 3+ months to go, which means I am probably bigger than I even realize. Although everytime I say something to Ryan about how big I am (or grunt while trying to get up off the couch), he laughs at me and makes some comment about how much bigger I'm going to get. Yes honey, I know...that doesn't mean I don't already feel giant, but knowing how much more growing is still coming is a little wild.  I also passed my glucose test the very first time (woo hoo!), which is huge.  I had to do the 3 hour test with Mac after failing the 1 hour test, which made me miserably sick for days.  I'm thrilled not to have to go through that again. My friend Liz just recently dealt with gestational diabetes, so I have a whole new respect for what that entails and the seriousness of it.  However, I did reward myself with a giant piece of lemon butter cake (recipe here) that was so good I nearly cried.  

Nursery Planning:  I'm starting to get really excited about her nursery. Ryan painted the room (a fresh coat of white) and I'm almost finished painting an old dresser of mine, which has been a labor of love.  I can't believe how much work it takes just to paint furniture.  I still need to add knobs to the drawers and a top coat of sealer, but we're getting close.  I've got the bookshelf assembled, but it still needs to be primed and painted as well.  I just put down the rug in the room and well...it's not quite the exact shade I wanted it to be.  I don't love it, but I am just going to have to live with it.  I'm not going through the hassle of shipping it back.  It'll work.  Still need to assemble the crib, order curtains and figure out the "glider situation."  I'm also working on a couple other projects for the room and slowly building up her wardrobe.  I'm gladly accepting hand-me-downs (thank you, Claire), so if anyone would like to contribute to Mim's closet, I'd be greatly appreciative (and will take you out to lunch/pedicures in exchange). Right now I have only have 2 hairbows and 1 headband, so I need to work on getting her some fun accessories.  I'd love to support small vendors, so if you have an Etsy favorite, let me know.  And speaking of accessories...moms of girls - how do you store/display/organize bows and headbands?  I've seen a couple ideas on Pinterest, but I don't really love anything that I've seen.  Anyone have an awesome way to deal with them? 

What I'm looking forward to:  I'm SO looking forward to all the photos that are coming our way soon!  The photographer that I've been using for the last year recently moved to Houston (sad), but was back in town for a couple days last weekend, so we had a quick family session (Mac's 2 year photos, really) at the Museum of Transportation (perfect for a train-obsessed toddler).  We've basically had this booked since November, but it still completely snuck up on me. I was scrambling for outfits and location ideas just days before the session.  Not my greatest hour. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my desperate plea for help picking out a top (I chose the white/navy striped one, in case you were curious) the night before the pictures.  Mac was adorable, as usual, so I hope they turn out well.  I also have an upcoming maternity "practice session" with my friend Jessica.  She's trying to build up her portfolio, so we are just going to play around with getting some bump shots that I can use for Mim's pregnancy book (way better than the ones I'm taking here with the tripod and remote).  Plus, I get to hang out with Jess for a while anc catch up, which will be awesome.  And I'm SUPER excited that I finally booked Mim's newborn photo shoot with the fabulous Kristie from L Photographie!!  I met Kristie at a Camera Love class she taught and developed a bit of a girl-crush on her.  Her photos are gorgeous (and you know I'm a photo snob) and she has a son just a bit older than Mac, so she'll know how to handle our wild child. We're going to do a lifestyle newborn shoot at our house, once Mim and I are home from the hospital and settled in, with the whole family.  I'm so excited!  

Differences in the pregnancy: Can I still say that nearly everything has been the opposite?  The biggest was how sick I was this time around compared to how wonderful my first trimester with Mac was.  Now that I'm finally feeling better, the differences are less dramatic, but still there.  I'm carrying this baby much lower than I carried Mac.  He was super high and I felt like he lived in my ribcage, which caused a lot of rib bruising and heartburn.  Mim is really low, which is less painful, but I also feel like she just going to fall out sometimes.  I constantly find myself wrapping my arms around the bottom of my belly to "carry" her around.  So weird.  I also have way fewer cravings this time around.  All I really want is lemonade...lots and lots of lemonade.  Actually, lemon-flavored anything sounds good.  My Pinterest board is filled with recipes for lemon cake, lemon muffins, lemon sorbet, lemon pie, etc.  I can't get enough citrus.   With Mac, I was tired during the day and awake at night.  With Mim, I wake up feeling pretty good, but am exhausted by 3:00 each day.  Mac's heartbeat was fast, hers is slow.  Mac was active during the day, she's active in the evening.  With Mac I craved salty foods, with Mim I crave sweets.  My belly with Mac was rock hard and I could push around on him all I wanted.  With Mim, it's big, but still pretty squishy and very sensitive - any pressure (even from clothes) makes me nauseous.  All these differences in pregnancies make me so curious to see how different they actually are once she gets here.  Since Mac is so much like me, I'm really hoping Mim's just like her daddy.  I could really use a laid-back easy-going baby.  

Thoughts, worries, fears:  Now that I feel her moving all the time, I think I'm much less worried/stressed about her physical well-being.  I still get nervous occasionally when I look at Mac and think that he's so damn perfect it's scary and how can I get so lucky twice, but I'm starting to get over it.  No matter what happens or how she turns out, she's going to be so incredibly loved, it won't matter.  Worrying doesn't help, so I'm trying not to.  I scheduled my c-section at my last OB appointment, so I'm slightly nervous about that, but less so than I was the first time around.  I'm really hoping I feel better after birth this time, since I won't have to go through 17+ hours of labor before-hand, but otherwise, I know what to expect.  I think my biggest worry right now is about breastfeeding.  I so want it to work out this time.  I'm hoping she's a champion eater and it works out for us, but I also know that if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world.  I'm going to try to be much easier on myself this time around.  And the stupidest worry I have is that someone will "steal" our baby name.  Actually, we don't even have an official name or anything decided, but every new baby girl our friends have eliminates one more name we could have used (hypothetically).  Even if it was a name I knew I didn't want to use, I feel like the pool of names is dwindling dramatically every day.  Isn't that ridiculous?  I'm possessive of names that aren't even ours.  Does anyone else think about this or am I the only crazy one out there?  I have quite a few friends expecting in the next couple months and part of me wants to just pick a name and stake our claim to it publicly so no one else can have it.  Although, even if someone else did pick "our" name, I'd be fine with still using it. Believe it or not, there's more than one Sara out there.  Shocking, I know! Such a silly thing to worry about.

Baby action: She's moving around like crazy these days.  I feel kicks and punches all over the place from all different directions.  I have no idea which way she's facing, nor does it matter, I guess.  Ryan's felt a few kicks here and there, but she tends to get shy whenever he tries to feel her.  She responds mainly to music and to Mac's voice.  Anytime she hears him talk, she kicks. This makes me so excited because I know she is going to be his biggest, most adoring fan someday, whether he likes it or not.  Last night she woke me up with hiccups at 4:30 a.m.  Super cute, but I wish she'd keep those to daytime hours.  I'm starting to be able to see movement from the outside, as she dances away in there.  Occasionally I'll get hit with a wave of nausea and then all of a sudden I'll feel her do a big flip and I'll instantly feel better.  Pregnancy is so wild!

Big brother's reaction: Mac loves talking about the baby.  Whenever we mention her, he asks to "see" her (which involves me showing him my belly button).  Sometimes now he'll just randomly pull up my shirt to see the baby, which is fine so long as we're not in public.  He always asks if the baby is kicking or sleeping, which I guess is all she really does in there.  He gives her hugs and kisses, which melts my heart.  He loves going in her room and saying "seesta room...pink!"  Whenever I ask him what he wants to name the baby he says "Boo Boo" or "Doo Doo."  He'll be disappointed to learn that those suggestions did not make our list.  Anytime we ask him if he wants a baby, he says "nooooooo!"  But he is very curious about babies and likes to look at them and pat their heads.  I'm hoping to take him to a big brother class at the hospital and maybe even get him around a newborn a little bit so he isn't absolutely shocked when she gets here. 

So, that's about it.  Sorry (not sorry) about all the ridiculously dorky bump photos, but I just can't help myself.  Loving the bump these days! Can I seriously just stay exactly this pregnant forever?  

April Showers Bring...Worms

Every night when I get home from work, I usually have about an hour of uninterrupted mama and Mac together-time before Ryan gets home.  Well, "uninterrupted" is probably not the best word for it, as it's always interrupted by stupid adult things like changing out of my work clothes, starting dinner, answering the phone, letting the dogs out and going to the bathroom -- any one of which will send my little toddler into a flying fit of fury and tears because he wants mama to go "OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW!"  Patience is not his strong suit...like I said, he's so my child. 

The other night when I got home it was cold and had just finished raining.  I definitely would have preferred to put on some sweats and play trains in the warm basement (or take a nap), but Mac insisted on going outside to play.  He's just like his dad in that sense...happiest when he's out and about and free to explore. 

Most days I leave my phone in the house and camera in the bag and just spend one-on-one time with my dude.  He's talking up a storm these days and I love to just give him my undivided attention and listen to what he has to say.  He makes the most amazing connections and is so observant.  We say hi to every birdie we see, pick up any trash, rearrange rocks, make piles of sticks, chase squirrels, pick flowers, wave to airplanes and talk to our shadows.

But this day, I decided to bring my camera along to catch Mac in action, doing...well, whatever it is that he does.  He's not really into the camera these days and basically refuses to look at me or smile at all when I'm holding it up, so I have a lot of photos of the back of his head and his profile.  Out of nearly 200 photos I took, I have exactly 2 where he's looking at me.  TWO.  And he's such a busy child that he doesn't stand still for very long, so I have to be quick. He moves from one activity to the next in a blink of an eye.  Although, his love for the lawnmower is still pretty strong.  He's now mowed through all four seasons, in sun, rain and snow. 

I was hoping to get a couple really cute puddle jumping photos so I'd have them for the April page of the calendar I make every year.  Unfortunately, the puddles by our house were pretty lackluster (I guess that means we have good drainage?), so there wasn't a lot of splashing.

But he still had a lot of fun stomping around and getting his boots wet.  I love these little yellow rain boots.  He loves them too, because he can put them on by himself, so he insists on wearing them often (around the house, to the store, for walks).  The only problem is that I bought them a size too big, so they tend to come off at random times while we're playing, only for me to discover him halfway down the street in wet socks and boots two blocks behind us.  But he's growing so fast I doubt we'll have this problem for very long.

Lately his absolute favorite thing to do is go outside and dig for worms.  Yep, worms.  Slimy, dirty, disgusting worms.  I wish I could blame his love of worms on my husband or my father, but it was actually me that taught him how to dig for worms and find them.

I bought him this little red shovel from Home Depot (which he calls the "heaby shobel"), despite the nasty comment and judgmental looks from the checkout lady, who had the nerve to tell me she'd never buy a 2 year old a shovel.  To which I replied that I bet he's really glad that I'm his mom and not her.  Ugh, people. 

Of course, worm digging is at it's absolute best when right after a rain when it's slightly muddy.  I know this from years of experience digging up worms with my dad to use to go fishing.  I guess it's the country girl in me, but I have no fear of the creepy and slimy and can bait my own hook like a pro.  Since he's two going on twenty, I figured it was high time Mac learned the ins and outs of worm handling.

Occasionally we'd get distracted by a car driving by or a plane flying overhead and he'd have to stop and wave.

And then we'd have to talk about what color the car was, who was diving it, where we thought the plane was going and incredibly important things like that.

Then we could get back to worm hunting.

Luckily it's pretty easy to find worms.  Even an almost-two year old can do it.  You don't have to dig very deep and they're not real fast about escaping.  After showing Mac how it was done and letting him touch one or two, the student became the master.  He's now a worm hunting machine.  (I will refrain from posting a bunch of photos of our worms...you're welcome.)

I think we've worm hunted every single day for the last two weeks and have found no less than 6,000 worms.  We're considering starting our very own neighborhood worm farm for some extra income.  Because college ain't paying for itself.  

Suspicious Silence

They say silence is golden...unless you have a toddler.  

I guess this is what happens when your kid "accidentally" eats three pieces of cake at a birthday party right before naptime.

And somehow he got a hold of a tube of diaper cream.

When I walked in to get him, he looked so proud of himself and said "Mama, paint with lotion!"

Yep, you sure did buddy.

I should have known it was a little too quiet in there.

But good luck being mad at this face.

Photography for Moms - Aperture Priority

I'm so excited to bring you another installment in the "Photography for Moms" series.  Today's guest poster is the amazing Meredith, from La Buena Vida.  Meredith is another blogger I've been following for years and it's been so much fun watching her become a mom to two adorable little ladies.  Her post today covers a topic that is near and dear to my heart...shooting in Aperture Priority mode.  You guys, I confess right here and now that I'm an Av mode junkie.  I know I should be shooting in full manual (and sometimes I try), but Av mode is so easy and I love the results.  It's my jam!  It's quick and easy and comfortable, like a really expensive pair of yoga pants - fancier than normal, but still not full-on getting dressed and perfect to wear around the house.  That probably makes no sense.  

Anyway, Av mode is perfect for beginners that want to get out of auto, but aren't ready for full manual.  It's a great way to begin to understand the three elements in the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed and ISO), without getting overwhelmed.  When you're in Av mode, you only worry about (adjust) the aperture and your camera figures out everything else for you.  It's kinda genius, you guys.  And once you realize how changing the aperture changes your photos, everything else start to click (pardon the pun).  I'm so glad Meredith is tackling this subject today because I know you will love shooting in Aperture Priority and playing around with the results.  So, without further ado...

Hi guys! My name is Meredith. I'm a lot of things--a wife, a mom, a *total* book nerd, a wanna-be quilter, and a sometimes photographer. I occasionally blog over at La Buena Vida, but mostly can be found on Instagram as @labuenavidamere.

But back to photography, because that's why you're here! My junior year in high school, I was taking a pretty intense classload. After I registered for everything that I needed to take, my only available electives were metal shop and photography. I was zero percent interested in either of those choices, but I had no other options to round out my day, so I was stuck. Metal shop was a giant disaster. I made a toolbox. A marshmallow roaster. They were terrible. I was not happy to be there, and I don't think the teacher was any happier to have me.

I didn't expect photography to be any better...but it was. There was just something about winding my own film, taking a photo (with a COMPLETELY manual camera), developing the film while crossing my fingers that I didn't muck it up, and then finally developing the photos. While many of my classmates were trying to find ways to sneakily make out in the dark room, I was that girl who was captivated by how simply exposing a piece of paper to some light and then dunking it into a chemical bath could create something out of nothing. From then on, I was the TA for every available photography class through high school or college. One year, my parents got me all the parts necessary to set up a darkroom in my bathroom.

Needless to say, the love runs deep.

Now, I'm usually found taking pictures of my own kids, but I also do a small amount of photography on the side, mostly newborns (because they're what I love most). I still tend to love black and white more than anything else--back to my roots, I suppose! Anyway, I hesitate to call myself a "pro"--it's a hobby, and a love for me more than anything else.

{This last one is almost a year ago! How did that happen?! *Sobs*}

When Sara pitched the idea of the Photography for Moms series, I knew immediately that I wanted to talk to you all about Av mode (I'm a Canon user--for you Nikon users, I think you'll see "A" mode instead). See, when it comes to advice given to people just starting out in photography, the phrase that I most often hear is: "get out of auto and into manual mode".

I agree with the "get out of auto" wholeheartedly, and I absolutely agree that learning to shoot in manual mode (and thus learning about aperture, exposure, ISO, shutter speed, etc) will only help your photography. But can I tell you a secret? When I'm just hanging at home, shooting photos of my girls...I most often shoot in Av mode.

*GASP*

I kind of feel like I'm going to be kicked out of the club for telling you this, because I know that a good portion of the photography world thinks you should only shoot full manual, all the time. But I disagree, and here's why--with my two girls, we're up, we're down, we're inside, we're outside, the girls are hugging for .25 seconds flat, and if I were shooting in manual all the time, I'd miss a lot of good stuff. I just would. In that photography class I mentioned, the *only* option was shooting in full manual mode. So, I know how to do that just fine, and I can adjust in manual pretty quickly, but the truth is that I would *still* miss things that I'm just not willing to miss if I shot in full manual 100% of the time.

Indeed, I have a couple of real-life friends who are faithfully trying to learn to shoot in manual all the time...and while I think it's awesome that they're learning more about their camera, I can also tell you that I see them just *not* take a lot of photos because their settings aren't right. I hear them say, "Will you send me a picture of him blowing out the candles? My settings aren't right." I see them be disappointed in the photos that they do take because they aren't able to change settings quickly enough. And I think that's a shame. Because yes...there is value in learning how to shoot photos in full manual, but if doing so is so overwhelming that you don't take any pictures at all, then you're no better off than you were before (and I'd even argue you're worse off).

So, if you don't want to shoot in auto, but shooting in full manual is causing you to be frustrated by how much you miss or what you end up with, I would love to encourage you to give Av mode a try--it's one small, easy to learn thing that makes a BIG difference.

Now, if you're currently shooting in auto, I'll bet that a good portion of your photos come out looking something like this:

It's in focus, yes. But no different than what you'd get with a standard point and shoot camera, and probably not what you were hoping for with a dslr, right?

But this is a better snapshot. The focus is on Lizzy, and not all that stuff in the background. And you know what? You can do this too. SO EASILY, when you shoot in Av mode.  

When you shoot in Av mode, you are basically telling the camera "I'll set the aperture to where I want it, and then you can set everything else." In most cases, you'll set the aperture by spinning a little wheel or dial on your camera You can also set the ISO if you choose, but if you're just starting out, leave it on auto for now, and just focus on the aperture. There's tons of great information out there about aperture, but it can sometimes be more than you may want or need, so I'll just tell you this: 

Smaller Number = Lets in more light and has a blurrier background

Bigger Number = Lets in less light and has a crisper background 

This is obviously a gross over simplification of aperture, and if you're interested in photography, I absolutely encourage you to read more. But, if you just want to learn a few tricks for taking better photos of your kids, this may be all you need to know right now. Either way is okay :)

That said, one mistake that I see a lot of beginners make is to always set their aperture at the smallest number they can, assuming that they'll always prefer the more blurry background. But the truth is that there's a time and a place for every aperture under the sun. If you're shooting portraits, it's pretty common for your aperture to be set somewhere between 1.4 and 3. You want the person in focus, but you don't care so much about the background. On the other hand, when you're shooting landscapes, your aperture is set at a much higher number because you want EVERYTHING to be in focus. 

I lied. I have one more thing to tell you about aperture:

Start by setting your aperture at the number of people in the photo.

In all of the photos in my post, I was shooting with a 50mm 1.8 lens, so I could set my aperture as low as 1.8. And when I'm shooting indoors in the winter and need as much light as I can get, sometimes I do choose to set it that low. But as a general rule (and as you'll see below), I find that around 2.5 is the sweet spot for me, especially since I have 2 girls. But if you have four people in the photo (especially four quick moving kids), you'll probably want to start by setting your aperture at around 4 to make sure that everyone is in focus.

I know, this post has been looonnnngggg already, but I just wanted to end by walking you through what the same photo looks like with a variety of different apertures, because I think it's helpful to see! I took a series of photos of my daughter Lizzy, shooting in AV mode.  To give some context, it was about 2:30pm, and I set Lizzy on a blanket in the shade, near our garden bed. I sat on the ground a few feet away from her. Here's a pull-back shot (me standing up, and back a few feet):

And then the "real" shots. As you scroll through, notice how the photo stays consistently exposed, but only the blurriness of the background changes. Pay particular attention to the flowers in the background, and how they move from blurry (at the lower apertures) to crisp (at the higher apertures). 

I would encourage/challenge all of you to try shooting exclusively in Av mode for at least a week. If you're shooting in auto right now, I think you'll be surprised at what a big difference this little thing makes. And then, once you're comfortable there, learn the other modes. Then learn how to shoot in manual. And THEN, learn how to work your camera to the best of its ability, taking advantage of modes like Av mode when it is most convenient, while also knowing how to make changes to those settings (in manual) if you need to.

Which brings me to my last point--you do not need to invest in a lot of gear and lenses in order to take great pictures of your kids. Up until last year, the *only* gear that I had was a Canon Rebel XS, my kit lens, and a Nifty Fifty (50 mm 1.8). That's entry-level stuff across the board.

You'll hear people say that the "kit lens is crap". For the most part, I disagree. Go look at the Flickr pool called "Kit Lens Losers". You will see some amazing photos. Often taken with the same equipment that YOU already have. Truly,  I am a firm believer that you should NOT invest a ton of money in lenses and camera bodies until you really understand your camera/lenses and have pushed them to all they are capable of.

If you have kids and want to take portraits of them, I would absolutely recommend a 50mm lens (1.8 or 1.4), though there is a bit of a learning curve that goes along with them. But beyond that, my advice is to learn your camera before you buy another lens, flash, or body. I am so glad that I waited to buy another lens to replace my kit lens--I'm just feeling ready to do that now, and compared to five years ago, I have a much better idea of my style when it comes to portraits (back in the days of black and white film, I mostly did landscapes), and also a much better idea of exactly what the body and lenses that I currently have can do, and thus a much better idea of what *I* need to shoot the way that I want to. Basically, there's a value to upgrading bodies and lenses, but that value won't be realized to its full potential until you have learned about what goes on behind the camera as well!

Okay, I promise I'll wrap it up now--thanks so much for having me Sara! If you have any questions about Av mode, please feel free to ask away in the comments!

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Photography for Moms:
Part 1 - Finding the Light
Part 2 - Step Off and Step In
Part 3 - For the Love of Photos

Goat Love

This past weekend, Mac spent a few days at "The Farm" with my dad and stepmom, while Ryan and I had a couple glorious kid-free days to do WHATEVER we wanted.  Ryan played golf, went fishing, dined out, watched movies, entertained friends, painted the nursery, ran errands, etc.  I slept.  And slept and slept.  I got close to 15 hours of sleep one night and 12 the next.  I took naps both days and spent a great deal of time on the couch with the remote.  When I wasn't sleeping, I ate an entire key lime pie (I blame baby Mim for all of it).  It was possibly the greatest weekend of my life.  

Mac, however, was busy busy busy as usual at the Farm.  He swept my dad's garage countless times, watered all the plants at the farm, chased geese off the pond, took golf cart rides, went to the Farmer's Market, held baby chicks and harassed the cat and dogs.  Also, my dad's neighbor raises goats and it's spring...so, 'tis the season for baby animals!  He had a chance to go over to the neighboring farm and hang out with all the baby goats.  Apparently there was a lot of kissing and fondling that happened - Mac is a stud, so I can't say I blame the goats.  I guess if he comes down with some strange goat fever, we know where he got it.  As Kelly was showing me the photos of Mac's make-out sessions, I realized I had a bunch of photos somewhere of Mac feeding baby goats from last summer at Grant's Farm that I never blogged about.  

 I guess you could say that Mac's love of goats began at a very early age...

I think he was about 14 months here.

It did take him a little while to warm up to them initially.

These baby goats can be pretty aggressive when you're holding their breakfast (the bottle, not Mac).

Although they did try to eat him too. 

 They chew on your shorts, pull your shirt and try to eat your shoes right off your feet.

 And the fierceness and determination they have when they go after these bottle makes me pity all the poor mama goats out there. 

 Once our bottles were empty (about 3 seconds later), we took some time to do a little goat snuggling.

Yes yes, I know...they're filthy dirty animals...

...but so are some of our best friends and we don't hold that against them.  

 Plus, how do you tell a toddler that he can't hug a goat?  

You don't.  We encourage all types of love in our family.

Even goat love.

 Which may be one of the reasons that Mac is convinced the baby in my belly is a baby goat.

He's going to be very disappointed when Mim comes home looking like a human baby with no horns or tail.

 Well, at least I'm hoping for no horns or tail...those didn't show up on the ultrasound, but I guess you never know. 

 Either way, we'll keep her.  Our love of baby goats runs deep.