Yea or nay?

Source: simplyseductive.blogspot.com via Beachbrights on Pinterest

I really want to put wainscoting in my foyer. Bad. But I want to paint it black. Should it be done? All my trim is a beige tan color, so I couldn't do white on top even though for my space—that only has light from one little window—that would really brighten things up. I realize that this image isn't wainscoting but rather the bottom half is painted black and split with a chair rail, which would probably be a cheaper option. I have textured walls. Would it have the same effect?

Little monster

As I type this, I'm one eye ready to go back to bed. And it's only 8:23 in the morning. You see, we're working with Vincent to sleep through the night in his crib. Remember how I told you I'd tell you more about my sleep deprivation woes. This is that post.

His bedtime routine is getting a bath and getting swaddled up. He's usually in his crib by 7 or 7:30. And he'll sleep through until about 10 or 11 and then require his pacifier put back in. After that, he pretty much wakes up every hour needing his pacifier. Usually at 1:30 or 2:30 I go in and nurse him. Hopefully he'll go back to sleep, but more often than not, I'm so tired at that point I bring him back to bed with me. Last night we weren't having it. So back to his room we went and I rocked him. It seems that's what he wanted. Not sure when we went from needing to nurse to sleep to needing to be rocked to sleep. Probably has something to do with Grandma Pat watching him. Spoiled baby.

In light of my baby being a little monster and not letting Mamma get any sleep, I dressed him accordingly. Too bad it doesn't say Little S#@t.

Start 'em young

Tummy time in our house doesn't happen often. We can't ever seem to find the time between eating (don't want to put him down too soon or he'll puke) and napping (cuz then he's just more pissy than he usually is when he's tired). We don't like tummy time. But yesterday Jonathan put V on his tummy in front of the computer in hopes it would distract him from the pose. So bad. But so very cute at the same time. Notice the drool?

Father's Day Before and After

One wiggly baby = not sure which mode to capture him in. Av? Tv? P? M? Almost all my pictures in Av were too blurry because of the constant waving hands and kicking feet. Tv was too dark. I'm close to figuring out how to manipulate the settings. Close. I did manage to get this picture. Although my action boosted it so it's a little over exposed (is that correct term?). I wish I had gone somewhere else to shoot. That door in the background is an eye sore, but hey, you take what you can get when you don't know when the fuss-o-meter is going to go off.

An after without the before

Go me. I saved over the original so unfortunately you can't see the difference in this one. Thought I'd share it anyways because is this kid cute or what? He came out looking like a little boy, not a baby.

Another Before and After

Maybe this will become a daily thing. I give you another Before and After.

Photography 101

One of the biggest items on my to-buy list when we had a kid was a DSLR camera. I've long hated my crappy Olympus point and shoot. Now I've entered the big kids realm of photography. Well, sort of. We purchased a Canon Rebel XS. The price was right, and for the photography I had in mind, it would work. I'm not a pro. In fact, far from it. Just getting behind the camera to take pictures of my loved ones let alone anyone else has always made feel self-conscious. Like I'm about to paint a brilliant masterpiece in the time it takes for the shutter to snap open and close.

I told my sister the other day how I'm full of ideas and ambition. I just can't find it in myself to finish projects. And I know why: I'm just not able to execute that brilliant picture that I have in my head. Any project. Any craft. Ending in a big fail, and I'm sure a few shakes of my sister's head. She's the Queen Project Finisher.

And that's how I feel about photography. When I snap a picture, it always feels unfinished and poorly composed. So then I want to hide my camera away for fear of not really know how to operate it, quit blogging (because who wants to read a blog with endless words—like this post), and go back to bed. Classic Project Unfinisher.

I was hoping my fancy little camera would get me out of my creative rut, but I've been too sleep deprived for that (more on that some other time). I even leave it in my office to stare and taunt me daily. It seems to have worked because last night, I broke out the manual and read up on my little friend. I don't really get things like composition, foreground, background, rule of thirds, aperture. They all want to make me scream (into a pillow so I don't wake the baby).

So I took a step back, and thought, maybe I don't need to take the perfect picture. I just need to fake it until I make it. Or practice, but I don't see that coming first. And I get design. I like to monkey around in Photoshop. So I read online how to create actions and make bad photos look good and good photos even better.

Here's my first stab. One pic of my cuter than bunny-snuggled-up-to-a-dog niece and my darling boy.





Maybe my blogging strike will officially end. Or else I won't hear the end of it from a certain someone.