Project 52...ish

Hi.  My name is Laura, and I have a problem:  I am an arts addict.

This leads to far too many hobbies.  Clearly one hobby is crochet and another sewing.  My other dominating hobby right now is photography.  I am soaking in as much instruction as possible so I can better capture moments of my sweet girls to treasure forever.  

So I decided to do a project 52 this year...  ish, hehe.  I figure it will help me to be better about capturing moments in time,  it will help slow me down to grow in appreciation of the blessings all around me, and it will force me to continue to practice and grow in photography.

Since times are busy with two littles, a startup entrepreneurial husband, and my own little business, I decided to make a more relaxed project 52 for myself.  My goal is to take at least one photo a week (approximately) and upload/post them once a month (approximately).  Clearly this is a relaxed goal as my first picture was not quite within the week and I am just now posting January's pictures in February, but it gives me something for which to shoot.

Since I am sincerely trying to grow in photography, I do welcome constructive criticism by comment or email.  In other words, please don't just tell me a picture is terrible, tell me how I could have done it better.  And please no criticism on the actual subjects themselves as most of the time it will be one or both of my children or other family and friends.  Other than that, I'm happy to be critiqued and learn new things.

So without further ado, here are January's pictures!

WEEK 1...ish: Baby Toes!

WEEK 2: Texas Snow

WEEK 3: First Solid Food Experience (in order, hehe - love pic #3!)

WEEK 4: First Little-Made PB&J and Wooded Amphitheatre

The Stocking Story

As a young married person with a toddler, I love all the opportunity to create family traditions and holiday heirlooms.  One thing I knew I wanted to do as soon as I learned how to sew was to create a stocking for my kiddos one day.

When I was younger, my mom and her friend handmade ornate personalized Christmas stockings for each member of our family.  While they are 2d for decor purposes and not so functional (they don't actually open), they are absolutely beautiful and special!  I wanted to create something much more simple and functional for my daughter this year.  I told my husband that I wanted to make our daughter a Christmas stocking, and his immediate response was, "It should have owls on it."  I. love. this. man!  <3  {I *may* have succumbed to a bit of an owl obsession this past year and my husband thought it was only fitting that the stocking should commemorate that.}

One day while I was supposed to just be picking up yarn in Hobby Lobby, I saw Christmas owl fabric and knew I had to have it!  I put the bolt in my cart to get cut but then talked myself out of it since I didn't know how to make a stocking yet or how much fabric I needed for the project.  I would get home and forget to figure it out.  I did this on at least three (probably way more than that) separate trips to the store.  By the time I found the perfect Christmas stocking pattern, looked up the exact fabric amount I needed, and went to Hobby Lobby with no other purpose than buying the fabric, it was gone <tear>!  My awesome mom searched a few stores by her, but she couldn't find it either.

I posted a call for help in a facebook group, and my amazing WAHM friends came to the rescue!  Crafty WAHM friends from all over the nation offered to search their Hobby Lobbys for me.  I posted a written description of the fabric but could not find a picture.  But the amazing Christina of Livin' Sew Green found a picture of the fabric online based on my description so everyone knew what it actually looked like.  As soon as the picture was posted, a ton of the other WAHMs fell in love with the fabric and requested some, too.  Ha ha!  Then, the fabulous Shanna of Little Britches Bows found the actual fabric and bought a bunch for all of us.

So now I have a homemade special Christmas stocking for my little girl that will always have memories of the year of my crazy owl obsession, proof of her daddy's sweet support and understanding of mama, and memories of the kindness of the WAHM network to go with it.  I hope one day it will be as special to her as it is to me.  It's simple and made by mama with love!

Nursing Rememberance

I feel so incredibly blessed that I was able to nurse my sweet little girl for just over a year.  I know it's a special gift, and I will forever treasure all those sweet moments.  I knew I would be sad when she was ready to wean, but I didn't expect myself to cry.  I just finished nursing this little one for (what is planned to be) the last time, and cry I did...  So in gratitude and remembrance, I will share some of the little moments I loved in nursing with you (don't worry - no graphic pics):

Milk Drunk Baby:

How can you not adore a milk drunk baby???

Sweet Sleepy Can Hardly Or Can't At All Stay Awake To Nurse Baby

Oh how I loved watching her be so comfy and contented that she would start drifting off to sleep!

Playful Nursing Milk Drool Baby:

Nursing is where we first played peekaboo, learned to 'boop' noses, learned many new words - especially parts of the face, giggled heartily, etc.

Adorable (And Sometimes Very Active) Footed Baby:

Nursing was such a wonderful opportunity to admire, dote on, tickle, and all out adore baby feet!  And. I. Am. Addicted. To. Baby. Feet.  Sometimes they were quite active and kicked many things off the nightstand, but oh how sweet are little feet!

 

And finally...

Well-Fed Baby:

For those of you nursing, it can be incredibly challenging, painful, and difficult at times, but enjoy every second of it!  Once it's over, you will likely miss such a sweet and intimate time with your little one.  I hope you enjoyed my little nursing remembrance in pictures.  Do you have a favorite part/memory of nursing?  Please share!