WRONG!
How I ever thought I'd be able to keep an active and defiant little toddler in place long enough to pose an unposable baby is beyond me. Elijah is NEVER in the same space as Abigail unless it's to give her a kiss (or a bite, depending on his mood,) to whack her with something like a Rock Band drumstick, or to flail around wildly on the couch, and kick in her general direction. I should really just quit trying to get them nicely in the same frame while my sanity is still intact.
At the very least, though, the end result of my attempts is an amusing set of photos that I'm pretty sure I'll cherish 5, 10, 20 years down the road!
[caption id="attachment_1363" align="aligncenter" width="226" caption="First I gave Elijah his soother and a cookie (because who misbehaves when they have a cookie?!)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1364" align="aligncenter" width="209" caption="Then I positioned Abby in an upright position."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1369" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="Then I tried putting Elijah on the couch and realized that he would only stay put if I gave him fruit snacks (the cookie having long since lost its appeal)"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1365" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="But far too quickly for my liking, Elijah was done his fruit snacks and away he went..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1371" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="...leaving Abigail to fend for herself on the big, mean old couch!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="238" caption="In attempt number two, it was Abby who prevented nice photos. I bribed Elijah with a candy cane, which kept him pretty happy for a good long spell, but Abigail decided she'd rather eat her dress..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1368" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="...until her dress started eating her..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1370" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="...at which point it became necessary to rescue Abigail from herself, and keep the peace."]
[/caption]Sometimes taking photos of my kids is so frustrating that I go through spurts where I have absolutely NO desire to pick up the camera, because each time I do, I'm met with disappointment, and things never turn out how I want them to. It's disheartening, having a toddler who downright refuses to look at the camera save for quick glances (as in, glances that are so quick that if I DO have the presence of mind to snap a photo, it turns out blurry from him looking away so fast) or who has to be so close to the camera that it can't focus. As a result, I'm coming out with more photos of Abigail than Elijah these days, because she doesn't have much of a say in how mobile she is. And so, I have these two photos of her from the last week that I absolutely love:
[caption id="attachment_1372" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Proof that she didn't mind my attempt at a photo shoot TOO much..."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_1366" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Completely natural lighting, with the exposure turned up to +1 1/3. I'm just learning where to focus the spot focus these days, and wish I had have focused on her eyes rather than her nose, even if her eyes ARE closed. I didn't think it'd make such a difference with her eyelashed blurry, but oh well. Now I know."]
[/caption]Anyway, I know not too many people are interested in my photography attempts of my two kids, and that I just might actually BE that annoying person who shows off her kids to all who will listen. I hope that's not the case entirely, but (as is my usual fallback...) this is my blog, and I treat it like my journal. I want to document these photos and my life with these two little ones, so I document it. I generally only password-protect posts that are too personal for me to air out before all and sundry (because I really don't want the feelings talked about in those posts to be open for debate or discussion...) but otherwise, I post it publicly (and I am horrified that I just spelled publicly with a 'ck' instead of just a 'c'. What was I thinking?!)
Anyway, not too much is new around here. I'm trying to arrange for all the young moms in my ward to get together a couple times a month so that we can see each other outside of church, and let our kids play together, but I'm kind of nervous about it. I'd love to just join a local mom's group but I don't know how to go about finding one, and so I'm kind of starting one myself, but I don't particularly like the idea of being the one to run it all. I feel uncomfortable when people look to me for decisions and direction, because I'm a rather indecisive person, and in times past, when I need to make a decision on the spot, I often make the wrong one (having not thought through it well enough,) and need to change my decision and then I inconvenience people just because I need to correct it all. It's annoying! It's why I'm so bad with confrontations...I just have a hard time thinking straight when I'm put on the spot.
The other I discovered this blog, and I am in love. Andie's story is so inspiring, especially lately as I've been struggling with body image and losing weight, and her recipes look so yummy! I can't recommend reading her inspirational story enough. I'll be honest, I'm still trying to figure out how she eats all the food in her recipe section and manages to stay at 135 lb's. I think it must have to do with portion control, and I'm trying to keep that in mind as I eat throughout the day. For example, I realized too late that I had served myself up a rather large amount of lentil soup for lunch, so I decided to pass on the toast to go with it. Go me!
Aaaaaand that's pretty much it these days. Christmas is upon us, and I'm feeling a little stressed about gifts. I'm done shopping for Matthew, Elijah, and my niece Terrah, and I have Mom's birthday gift too, but I still have another seven or so gifts to make/buy. I'm sure it'll come together just fine, but I want to be really behind a Christmas gift, to feel like it's a great gift and not just something I pulled out of my hat. You know the feeling, I'm sure. It's how I feel when I think about Elijah's train table. I just KNOW he'll love it.
Anyway, I'm going to finish this up. I promised to make brownies for dessert today (for Matt's family...I wouldn't make it for just the two of us these days! I'm glad for a reason to make them, though, and that I won't have to worry about bringing home leftovers, which I would eat single-handedly.
So off to baking I go!
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