I am a mother to a toddler. I've got stories.

Like from today, for instance. Today Judah decided he would forego his nap in favour of smashing a light bulb all over his floor and playing with the shards. The light bulb, of course, came from a lamp I was certain he could not reach. Upon investigating the strange tinkling sound I heard coming from his room, Judah guiltily looked up from his handiwork and said, "Uh-oh, broken!"

Then there's the one where Judah left the sanctuary of the church and came back in carrying a piece of cake he had snagged from the potluck table. 

Once Joey caught two preteen boys feeding Judah juice (you know, the powdered sugar kind) and snickering to themselves as he chugged back the glorified syrup like his life depended on it. This was also at the aforementioned potluck.

Oh, and before I forget, how about that other day when I decided I would treat Judah and let him make cookies with me? That was a good day... except for the T-A-N-T-R-U-M-S every time I had to put the cookies in the oven.

I feel like I'm a new mom all over again... except without the afterpains, sleep deprivation, and smooshy newborn to cuddle. This kid is keeping me on my toes, let me tell you.

this was HOW long ago?!

Here's some vintage The Cuteness to make your day. :)

outdoor friends

And for these wonderful photos, my husband gets the credit!

wordless wednesday

{edible ball bearings!}

I might be a tad obsessed...

...with this new lens.

a new lens

Joey and I bought our Christmas present today. If you have a fairly nice DSLR and the stock lens it came with, you're probably mostly satisfied with the quality of your camera. If, however, you want to be thoroughly satisfied with the sharp focus/blurry backgrounds that are all the rage right now, if you would like to take clear pictures of your squirmy babies in low-ish lighting without using the flash, and if you don't have loads of money to throw into a fandancy new zoom lens...

THEN.

You need to get yourself a nice 50mm f/1.8G lens. It is probably the most affordable lens out there, and it produces STUNNING photos. We have owned ours for about eight hours. I am already in love with it. The above photo was taken at 7:00 PM - a time with lighting that made it nearly impossible to get a good photograph with our stock lens.

But just look at that! And I don't even know what I'm doing yet!  

Hoooo boy. This is going to be fun. :)

these days are numbered

Dear world,

I am neglecting my weekly church bulletin duties to bring you an important announcement:

Benjamin (you know, the newborn? the not-even-four-months-old one?) is no longer immobile. Although I am still in warm squishy baby bliss, I am now painfully aware that these days are numbered. This morning, Ben was not even interested in getting off of his back. He did not at all enjoy tummy time. I helped him to get his legs twisted so he could figure out rotating the rest of his body onto his tummy, but he didn’t really seem to understand what was going on. Imagine my surprise when, not four hours later, I found him on his tummy after I had laid him down on his playmat so I could take a mo to do my hair.

Ummm…

If you see my little, bald, dependent, immobile baby, please to be letting me know.

 

Sincerely,

Andrea