DIY Photoshoot

I won a photo shoot back in June of 2010 & I told the photographer we'd like to wait a few months, because hopefully we'd be adopting soon. We scheduled a session at the Arboretum for October 24th. At that point, we had no baby ... but we thought we'd at least get some nice pictures of the 2 of us, maybe to use in our adoption profile.

We were rained out. We rescheduled for December 19th. It was below freezing, but no snow on the ground, so the landscape just looked bleak and miserable. So we said we'd reconnoiter in the spring.

In the spring, I had the delight of emailing the photographer and telling her we had a beautiful baby girl to add to the photoshoot. We scheduled for May 15th. It was rainy all weekend & we both had colds, so we postponed ... again! ... for today.

The weather forecast was dicey, but at 1:30, it was looking pretty good for our 3 pm rendezvous. The photographer emailed us to tell us that the weather looked awful & she was cancelling. I looked out my window -- dark gray clouds intermixed with beams of sunshine. I was willing to take the gamble ... but didn't want to presume upon her kind offer, so we 3 just went to the pre-planned spot & set up the tripod.

It was ridiculously hard to get a good shot of the 3 of us (no remote for the camera, just a 10 second delay to race into the shot), but here's the best we managed:



We did get some nice pictures of each other, though -- here I am with Alexandra:



And here's Alexandra and Daddy:



I am glad we went. And the photographer said she'd plan on doing a studio shoot on a weekday soon. Maybe that red holiday dress I swapped for last week will show up & we can get some pictures suitable for Christmas card use. I have no idea if that's considered appropriate -- photos taken in October for a holiday card mailed at the beginning of December? Seems reasonable!

...no, BLUE eyes

See? Today she has blue eyes. I really don't know the rhyme or reason why. Good thing we've got almost 12,000 photos to document this phenomenon. Happy to be obsessive on the photography thing, John! Totally worth obsessing over!

Sucked into digital cardmaking!

I've been sitting in front of the computer far too long ... but once I started tinkering with Alexandra's photos, tinting them to sepia, well, nothing would do except to make a card to send to my dad. Pretty nifty options these days. I digitally manipulate the photos, plop them into one of a billion customizable templates, and voila! A card is all ready to be shipped off to Grandpa! I like this even better than digital scrapbooking -- and there's instant gratification! And it costs less than most of the cards I'd buy at Hallmark! Sweet.

5x7 Folded Card

View the entire collection of cards.

10,000+ photos

It's no surprise that Alexandra's familiar with the click of a camera shutter. By our estimate (and some rough math after sending some pictures to family members & realizing the later photos have a lower number than the earlier photos), we've taken more than 10,000 photos since she was born. Sure a few of them were taken when she wasn't present, but still. TEN THOUSAND. I am now a little more clear on (a) why it's taking me so long to get "the best of the best" photos sorted & uploaded for posterity and (b) why my computer is running slower!

Grey eyes

Alexandra's eyes are so intent. Today they are a thoughtful grey. Sometimes they shift to a light blue. My eyes shift color, too. Sometimes grey, sometimes blue, sometimes a muddy hazel green. I think some of it has to do with what colors are around me -- maybe certain colors reflect and others do not? But some of it, too, has to do with my mood. I wonder what Alexandra's eye color shifts mean.

Some music with my breakfast, please.

Alexandra and I have developed a routine for breakfast time - which is good, because I'm "on deck" for 6 breakfasts a week.

I get up & get her changed & dressed, and we go downstairs. I put on some music (Yello and Jeff Lynne for the past 2 days), and get her breakfast started. After she's had her fruit & some cereal, then it's my turn. She plays with her links while I eat my breakfast. She watches me intently & often is delighted to lick the outside of my water glass. No idea why, but she does.

It's a fun time for us both & she's always so happy & curious!