Project 365: Week 9

While I could write about my mixed feelings about living with a two-year-old, I've decided to go in a different, more positive, direction.
I've spent my periodic free moments lately playing around with Adobe Lightroom, another piece of software dedicated to managing and "developing" digital photos. And I'm having fun and really liking it, though I'm sure it will take me some time to completely figure out all the possibilities. These are the "before," straight-out-of-camera photos, and I'll be back to post the "afters" after I have more time to mess with them.

Monday, February 22
It is inevitable that this will happen on days when Zach refuses to nap. I think this was like 6 or 6:30. Frank takes him up to bed, and I call it a well-deserved break before his typical 8pm bedtime.


Tuesday, February 23
It's hard to photograph a bright computer screen (ooh, I just realized that next time I should try dimming the screen first), but this was my big excitement for the day...sitting down with my computer and a glass of wine. Frank's big excitement for the day was submitting his final paper for his masters. Yay!! He is officially done with classes and has his degree. I am so proud of him.


Wednesday, February 24
Just random photo-taking. I have some other cute shots, but I like the funny look on Gabe's face :) And his really big eyes.


Thursday, February 25
When I look at this photo, I see a still-chubby boy. It's not until I look at, say, one of these photos, that he looks like such a grown-up boy in this one.


Friday, February 26
It was rainy pretty much the whole week.


Saturday, February 27
A birthday gift from Jen. I like this mug so much that I've hand-washed it and used it every single morning since I received it (like a week and a half at this point).


Sunday, February 28
I was surprised how much attention Zach paid to "Night at the Museum." It's probably the most he's watched a movie so far. He liked the parts with the jungle animals, especially--you guessed it--the monkey.

Project 365: Week 8

The only thing I can remember about last week: it is when I started to become sleep-deprived again. For weeks, things had been going so well with Gabe sleeping for longer chunks at night. But then for some reason we went back to him waking every two hours. Feeling so drained spilled over into photography for the week, so coming up with a theme was probably the only thing that got me through. The idea came Monday when I put on some new running shoes (and actually went for a walk). And then I put Gabe in some new slippers (thanks, Sharon!) and Zach first wore his transformer shoes that Grandpa sent. The shoes laid out on the table were not just for the sake of taking a photo, but for awhile I'd been meaning to get them all in one spot. Gabe is already too big for some of them...

Monday, February 15-Sunday, February 21

Project 365: Week 7

Monday, February 8
I got this photo out of the way early--12:45 am to be exact. We stayed up to watch the Superbowl live.


Tuesday, February 9
Goofing around (shot by Peggy).


Wednesday, February 10
I'm so glad that both cars fit in our garage. It seems like it's constantly snowing lately.


Thursday, February 11
A growing choo choo obsession.


Friday, February 12
Gabriel is 4 months old, 17 lbs, and 26 inches. And most of the time very happy.


Saturday, February 13
Believe it or not, I only took 4 photos today, and they were all of Zach eating his chicken nuggets.


Sunday, February 14
My funny Valentines, snuggled up together.

Keep 'em coming

Family keeps rolling into town, and we are so happy to have the company. Shaun and Peggy recently stayed with us, and we had a blast just hanging out and playing with the kids. Shaun staying out late with Frank at his (computer) game night and us staying up to watch the Superbowl messed up our internal schedules a bit, but we did make it downtown to see the sights of Brussels. We had planned to do some more sightseeing on their last day here, but the weather turned cold and windy, so we spent the afternoon at IKEA. Thanks for the birthday dinner, thanks for distracting Zach for us, thanks for carrying Gabe around until he fell asleep, thanks for a great visit!

I just can't believe it

We've got a sweet new ride...

Most of you know that from Frank thinking "I'd kinda like to get a Volvo" to it being parked in our garage literally took years.
I'm so happy that it all worked out.

Project 365: Week 6

Seven more highlights of our ordinary life.

Monday, February 1
I'm sure Monkey has appeared in numerous photos up to this point, but if you haven't met him, this is Monkey, Zach's beloved companion. He's always cuddled him at naptime and bedtime, but now he is accompanying him just about everywhere. We're considering picking up one or two more Monkeys on Amazon.


Tuesday, February 2
Did I mention how none of us are getting enough sleep?


Wednesday, February 3
I watched the season 6 premiere of LOST. Except for Gabe's birth, this was my most anticipated event since the end of season 5 last May. I am very excited to see the rest of this final season.

Thursday, February 4

We welcomed Shaun and Peggy to Brussels and had a wonderful dinner at "our" restaurant (pretty much the only one we ever go to for dinner).

Friday, February 5

It's been nice for Frank to have a gaming buddy...who is older than 2 years old, that is.

Saturday, February 6

Exploring the Grand Place and surroundings led us to some places we'd not seen before.

Sunday, February 7

After-bath, cute chubby baby photo op. Who can resist?

Project 365: Week 5

The boys were sick (runny noses persist...) and no one has gotten enough sleep lately. I was lucky to have time or energy to take photos at all!

Monday, January 25
The baby's got all manner of fun seating options: papasan, bumbo, boppy pillow, exersaucer, swing...I guess Zach decided to take matters into his own hands. He really cracks me up sometimes.


Tuesday, January 26
This was the first day I was like "Oh, no, it's 10:30, I'm brushing my teeth, and I haven't taken one photo today!" So I ran back downstairs and got the camera. This pile of clothes was staring at me, and was an obvious choice, considering I wanted to go to bed soon. Usually, dumping the laundry on the bed is to encourage me to put it away that day, but that night it went right back in the basket...


Wednesday, January 27
Zach is 26 months old. He and Gabe are starting to interact more and more every day.


Thursday, January 28
The past few days had been a little draining...I spent all my free time this day catching up on the newest season of "The Bachelor."


Friday, January 29
Gabe rolled from his stomach to his back for the first time.

Saturday, January 30

Our big exciting outing was to shop at the new commissary. Much larger than the old one, though not knowing where everything is yet made for a chaotic and crabby trip. Still, Frank was thrilled to see that they carry a particular Hungry Man meal that the old store didn't have.

Sunday, January 31

One month down, 11 to go.