Capturing Benjamin

One of my best friends and her family were in town last week and stayed with us. Michael was gone on a trip, and while I wished he'd been here to spend time with them, I was very glad for the company while he was traveling after some of the things that have happened while he's been out of town. My friend and I both got our DSLR cameras at the same time and have enjoyed talking about photography stuff as we have been learning. She recommended a book to me "Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parent's Guide to Photographing Your Baby's First Year".  I've really loved it. It goes through various "recipes" for shots to document a baby's first year. One of the photos for this month was a mom and baby picture and so I asked her to get that shot for me. (Rather than having Michael try, although I'm sure he would have tried his best! :) ). And then she ended up taking a ton of pictures. There were so many great ones of Benjamin that I loved- it was hard to narrow down from all the ones I have to just post some of them.

I cried when we were looking through the pictures (sleep deprivation...its a doozie. And I'm a sap anyway). I loved that the photos captured his sweet, happy spirit. And I was happy to have some pictures of the two of us together, as I take most of the pictures and don't have many with him. The book also talks about how to capture mom post partum in a flattering way- which was helpful! I hope when he sees them some day he sees the love I have for him.

And after watching the editing process I've added Lightroom 5 to my photography wishlist. Which as it turns out, is not a cheap hobby! Haha! But as my brother said recently, hiring photographers is not cheap, and you are taking your own memories. Can you really put a price on that? Um, yes you can. :) So for now, I will just keep learning, practicing, and enjoying the journey.

A random Tuesday catch up via pics from my phone

 Friday, we kicked off the weekend fun with a trip to cuppies and joe for a cupcake/cookies and milk date. It was a little surreal, being there with my daughter and her sitting up at a big table by herself. I'm still taken back sometime by this journey I am on of being a mama to a little girl. I'm excited about the adventures we will have.

 Saturday night sunset

 Playing at the Lake on Sunday night

 Isabella and Michael 

 Monday, Michelle and I had our "goals accountability meeting" over cupcakes. We have been meeting once a month to review how we did the previous month with things we want to accomplish and discuss what we want to accomplish in the coming month. If we don't finish in time we have to cancel on the other one. I didn't think this would really work for me, but last month I had to stay up late and work all through Isabella's naps the weekend before our meeting to get everything done, and it actually motivated me.

 Tuesday: For the parts of motherhood that are hard and stressful, equally, and even more so, there are times that I feel so overwhelmed with love and joy by the blessing that is my baby girl. And not to sugar coat things because it is NOT always easy, but overall, I feel happier these days than I have ever been. I can't say how much of that is the joy I've found in motherhood, or becoming more content with life as it is now, but either way...I'll take it.

 Dinner was: baked tilapia, sweet potatoes, and kale chips.

 Isabella was a fan of the kale chips.

My current reads: Jesus Calling (a daily devotional. Love, love, love.), Loving the little years (Just finished this one. A quick read, some of it didn't fit for me, but there was also some really great practical advice and reminders about these fleeting early years of mothering little ones.), Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (this month's book club pick, just got and haven't started yet), the Christian Atheist (Our ladies bible class is doing this book at church. I read the first 44 pages today...it is SO good!), and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (still slowly making my way through the HP series).

Book and Restaurant reviews

Books I read in May:

Perks of being a wallflower - We read this book for book club. I thought it was very similar to Catcher in the Rye. I didn't love it, but I also kept reading to see what would happen. It was a quick read. I felt very differently about the main character after everything that is revealed by the end of the book.

The Skinny: How to fit in your little black dress forever- My sister was reading this on vacation and loaned it to me. I really liked it! It was a super fast read full of realistic ways to be healthy, while still enjoying food. The main take away I got was to plan what you will eat based on what you have already eaten that day or what you know you are going to eat. For example, if you know you have a big dinner out, have a healthy breakfast and vegetables and salad for lunch. If you have a brunch to go to, plan to eat light healthy things the rest of the day. Not rocket science, but being mindful and purposeful of the choices you make.

A thousand gifts: I read Ann Voskamp's blog and had been wanting to read her book for a while. It is beautifully written and inspiring. That said, I did struggle with the writing style some, and got lost in the wording at times. Overall though, I enjoy reading her blog and her book that inspires me to grow as a Christian, wife, and mother.

Hunger Games: I've heard on and on the legend of this series and so vacation was a great chance to give it a try. This young adult book is dramatically written, with a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter. Almost to a ridiculous point. But I loved it! :) Finished it in less than 24 hours and can't wait to read the second book in the series.


I finished up my "10 new restaurants" with these two:

Kamps 1910 Cafe: I have been there twice now, and tried two different sandwiches, a salad, and two different desserts. Everything was great! I would definitely go back!

Nhinja sushi and wok: We tried this place on our last date night. I am not huge into sushi, but Michael really likes it. We had California rolls, a spider roll, and a dragon roll. It was all really good, and I would actually like going again.



Even though I completed my 10 new restaurants, I plan to continue trying new places. It keeps life interesting!

And just for fun:

A blurry pic of my sweet girl in what we call "her big girl jammies". :)