Last night I got a chance to shoot Anna in an actual photo studio with my own camera equipment (as opposed to the 3 weeks I worked at Picture People…everything feels way too “cookie cutter” there to really truly feel like a photo studio).  There were lights that we were able to use and it was fun figuring them out.  I have a couple of lights but not the high quality box lights that sync with the camera like they had.  It was really a lot of fun.

I had big plans for the shoot…a couple of outfits for Anna, several different backdrops, and some different props.  Well, that didn’t quite work out.  Anna is a photographer’s nightmare on a GOOD day and last night was no exception.  She really wanted nothing to do with having her picture taking and bribary didn’t even seem to work real well.  I was able to still get a bunch of good shots (at least I think so) but only in one outfit and on a white backdrop.

Anyway, here is a link to the full album of photos: http://theboghs.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=36.

Here are a bunch of my favorites.  This first group is before we figured out the lighting.  You can tell that they’re kinda dark and a bunch have ugly shadows in them.  A few look a little too “yellow” and I need to go back and edit them a bit more.

Yes, that last one is a look of pure exasperation.

This last group was when we had figured out the lighting.  Isn’t it amazing what a difference good lighting makes?  Everything just looks so much sharper and crisp.  I’m really really happy with the way these came out.  Especially the ones at the end with the picture frame.

I’m definitely going to be making some prints of a few in the last group to hang on the wall.  I’m so happy with they way they turned out….but gosh…3 year olds are hard to work with!  :P

We got to wear jackets today…and long pants!  I thought for sure I’d be leaving Houston still wearing shorts.  It was absolutely gorgeous today.  I don’t think it got out of the 60s…maybe low 70s, but it was awesome!  It was only mid-50s when I left the house this morning.  I had to actually search for a jacket for Anna to wear.  I just love it!  I can’t wait to start wearing pants and sweaters and cold weather stuff.  I’m so over the hotness of Houston.  Over it.

There is nothing better, after being away from Anna for an entire week (the longest I’ve EVER been away from her), than walking through the door and having her run at me and practically leap into my arms.  That was the best.

I’ve started working with Anna on letter sounds and we’ve been doing the letter “B” for the last few days.  Today, while she was eating lunch I was trying to describe a few things that start with “B” and would let her guess what I was describing.  We did BALL (“it’s round like a circle and you can throw or bounce it”) which she got right away and then I moved on to BOY.  I said “You’re a girl and Daddy is a…..” expecting her to say BOY….well I guess he’s taught her well because she shouted out “MAN!”  LOL…I had to mention on of her little boy friends to get my point across.

I’ve uploaded a bunch of pics to my photo gallery lately.  Be sure to check them out!

Anna’s loving her new scooter.  She picked it up pretty quickly and can scoot around quite fast now.  She rides it all over the house mostly, but I did take her to the park the day after her birthday so she could try it out outside.

I found a really cool park about a half hour away from us that we went to check out on Dan’s day off only to find that it was mostly closed due to damage from the hurricane.  We did find a playground that seemed to be in working order so Anna did get to play a little bit.

And then we decided to go to another park (actually the same park that we went scootering at) and go for a bike ride.  Well, Dan and Anna rode bikes and I walked.  Anna did great.  She’s had her bike for several months now but really hasn’t done much riding outside other than around the neighborhood a bit.  It has just been too hot here.  But now it’s FINALLY starting to cool off.  She loves riding her bike around.  Afterwards we let her play in the water spouts since it was still warm enough for that.

So we’ve been out and about doing stuff which has been nice.  I’m leaving tomorrow to head back to Chattanooga, without Anna this time.  I have an interview on Wednesday for a job I really hope I get.  I’ll be there until Friday most likely and then will head home.  Wish me luck!  :)

My baby girl is 3 years old today. I can’t believe she’s already 3!! Time flies when you’ve got a kid, that’s for sure.

Three years ago today I went in for my doctor appointment at 40 weeks 2 days pregnant and MISERABLE. I jokingly told the doctor to induce me and put me out of my misery. Unexpectedly he told me he could call and see if there was a bed available in L&D. I had expected him to just tell me I only had a few days left. I was already 4cm dilated though which is probably why he was ok with it. So we ended up going right to the hospital and my induction started around 11am. After a pretty rough birth, Anna entered the world at 9:25pm.

It’s been an amazing journey watching her grow and learn new things on a daily basis. She so smart and surprises me all the time with the things she says and does. She recognizes all of her uppercase letters and close to half of the lowercase letters. She can write about 1/3 of the letters and can write her name (if I spell it). She knows just about all the common nursery rhymes and kid songs (Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc..). She can count to 20, though she still likes to skip 14 and 15 sometimes. She can count up to 30 if you help push her past 21. She’s pretty much mastered up to 25 piece puzzles…the interconnecting pieces, not board puzzles. She’s just amazing.

However, I guess turning three brings on a whole new attitude though. We more or less skipped the “terrible twos” thankfully, but she’s making up for it now. Just in the last month she’s started whining a lot more and making herself cry on demand for attention…oh where did my sweet sweet girl go?? So for all of you who have a two year old, or younger…just wait for the 3′s. ;)

Wow, I’m just really a bad blogger I think.  I keep thinking about writing but then find something better to do.  I’m just not a writer so the thought of sitting down and making a big update post just doesn’t always seem all that appealing.

Anyway…  Anna and I are leaving Chattanooga tomorrow.  We’ve been here almost a month.  We still have yet to see any of the damage from Hurricane Ike, but I’m sure there’s still plenty left to see when we get back Thursday.  Dan was here for a little over a week until the power came back on in TX so that he could get back to work, but then he had to leave.  Anna definitely misses her daddy so it’ll be good to get back.

We’ve had a really good time here on the farm though.  Anna LOVES running around and swinging on her big swing that we put up for her.  We’ve gone to the local Children’s Museum a couple of times, Ruby Falls, lots of parks and other fun things.  We’ve been busy pretty much every day.  It’ll be sad leaving but we’ll be back at Christmas.  I’m hoping that we’ll be able to move here at some point but I don’t know when that’ll happen.  It would be a perfect place.  We’d have our own house and everything.  We’ll see how things pan out I guess.

I’ve taken so many pictures while we’ve been here so be sure to check out the photo galleries.  I completely re-did my photo site and I think it looks a lot better.  I really like the new software I’m using better than the old one…though it doesn’t link into this blog like the old software did, unfortunately.  But I like it enough that it’s worth it.

So that’s that.  We’ll leave in the morning and head to Arkansas where we’ll stay with a friend overnight and then head the rest of the way to Houston on Thursday.  I’ll try my best to be better at this blogging stuff…but we all know how I am.  :)