A Little Love

Heart Silhouette, originally uploaded by LaundryGirlPhotog.

I tried to have a photo shoot with Lily today...but this was what I got...I couldn't even get her to hold the heart for more than a few seconds. I think she's starting to think I'm crazy with the camera in my hand at all hours...though she's getting very good at saying cheeeez!

Currently the little one is busy in my belly. I think she may have turned herself head down finally so I've got some toes in my ribs, but it's honestly the best feeling I could imagine right now. I have so much love for my girls I can't even express it.

My life rocks!!! I'm imagining beautiful baby photos in about 9-11 weeks!!! I can hardly wait!!!

Incidentally, this photo was also done in part for the Shutter Sister's Love Thursday!

Lily's Letters

Lily's Letters, originally uploaded by LaundryGirlPhotog.

Lately everyday is a block letter day in our household. Lily has gotten very good at placing her letters in their corresponding spots on her letter puzzle...we're still working on getting her to recognize which letter is which...so far she has A, B, C and "whale" for W, she's so cute.

So far this week she has had several owies and she milks them for all they're worth. She had a couple of paper cuts on one of her hands, so she constantly held her hand close to her chest and would cry and show them to me at every possible opportunity...they are all healed now but she still looks at them every day. Today she fell and scratched up her knee though she didn't pay it much mind for the most part until her bath where she proceeded to cry throughout the entire scrub-a-dub time...the scratches are very minor. Lol!!!! I think we're in for it. She's showing a tendency to be as much a klutz as her momma was. I ALWAYS had scraped knees and elbows. I should have worn knee and elbow pads at all times!!!!

Photoshop and Scratchers Rock

Lily and Simonster, originally uploaded by LaundryGirlPhotog.

With the sun out in force this week, I am continuing to take as many pics of Lily as I can. Here she is with Simon lounging on the bed. Simon is deaf and declawed and super sweet, extremely accomodating of Lily and her antics. Sometimes he'll snap at her if she gets out of hand and she understands to back off.

I'm having such a great time with Flickr lately...I've enjoyed reading posts from some of the groups and have even found links to tutorials for Photoshop that rock...this photo was color corrected using one tutorial and then I applied a cross processing effect using another tutorial...I love the final effect!!!

In other news, Alex and I had a date night of sorts tonight that was a blast. I had heard that Starbucks would be closing down in the evening for one night but had failed to hear that tonight was the night, so, a little bummed that we were turned away we realized all was not lost and walked down the shopping center to Bel Air...they have Java City, which I like just as much as Starbucks anyway!! We decided to cash in a scratcher that had won us a bit of money and chose some more scratchers from the machine...all in all, we sat and scratched and giggled and had such a good time as we won here and there and had to continue to cash in our tickets and get more. I think we came out about $5 ahead in total...but to sit and laugh and just have a great time doing something simple made my night!!!

I See You!

I See You!, originally uploaded by LaundryGirlPhotog.

I can hardly believe she's getting so big!!! Yesterday I was searching through photos of her...she used to be so little!!! Anyhow, I realized that I had almost completely stopped taking them (photos of her that is). I suppose that could be due to crummy weather and a camera that's been acting unusually strange lately. But today we had to pull the camera out and play a bit. The sun is shining, this week promises to be beautiful and I think it'll be a perfect week for more of these!

Last Weekend's Photo Fun

Last weekend we had a rare day and night without the little one. She was with her grandpa, boompa and cousin for a pajama party...so, the hubs and I and a couple friends met up in Monterey...one of my all-time favorite places!!! I just wanted to share some photo fun, click on the photos for a larger view...

One of the very first things we did was eat...mmmm...then we went to the beach and collected our fair share of seaglass...


We then did some wandering to find one of our favorite beaches which tends to have some of the most beautiful waves as well as other sources of rare beauty...





A few parting sunset shots...



and the drive home the next day...more sheep than I've ever seen in one field before in my life...



i LOVE photo weekends!

Free Love

coffee and acrylic paint on watercolor paper

This is what my heart feels like at times now. The greatest thing is that I realize that I can allow...even force my heart to feel this way anytime I want. This week I have been down and out with a pretty bad cold...fever, chills, head and chest congestion...not so much fun. It's difficult to force your heart into this loving place when your head feels like it's about to melt into a pool on your chest and your chest feels like tendrils of fire are streaking through it with each cough. So, I just tried to keep my heart light and open for the sake of my daughter since papa is trying to save vacation time for the new baby's arrival. It did me good...my patience may have been a tad short at times but I felt that was to be expected. I'm so thankful that no one else has gotten sick.

I ventured out to the grocery store for the first time this week and I could tell that my mood was no good and it reflected in the events that unfolded around me in the grocery store. As I was ready to pull out of the parking lot to go home, I began to cry about my horrible experience and immediately recognized that I had brought it all on myself. I went into the store with an ugly attitude and ugly attitude was what seemed to come back to me. So, with this recognition I stopped crying and vowed not to rehash each little incident that had occured during that visit. I began to back out of my parking space, very aware of the other cars around me, but somehow I missed the girl who sped up behind me...thankfully I didn't hit her car, but she did startle me and I slammed the brakes and cursed...which was promptly repeated by my daughter...ooops (I can laugh now). I realized that this could fowl up my resolution and I vowed to forget about this incident too. So, now I can take a rational look and understand that these happenings were minor incidents and did not have to have any further affect on my day and while I can still recall some of them in my mind at this moment...I won't remember them tomorrow, so why let them affect me today?

I went on to have a super productive day and an amazing evening with my family.

So, when rotten things are happening, just remember that you can free your heart in any moment of funk and simply release the negative energy that is clouding your day, your moment, your life...

The Path

coffee and acrylic paint on watercolor paper

There are times when I need a path. Times, when I feel down, maybe even a little more than I'd like to admit. Inevitably I go searching for a path and like magic, it appears, which is what inspired this illo.

The path I'm on right now is making me the happiest I can EVER remember being...just doing what I love, making things easy on myself and just knowing that happiness is not hard to come by...I feel like I don't even have to work hard to find it...it just is.