a little bit of me.

{momma & me take 3}

i found this fabulous blog through my referrer list...

((please note the ADORABLE banner pic))

i saw this photo a few weeks ago, and made a mental note to completely COPY IT when we returned home from florida...

fast forward to today...  we're sitting inside at home while it's snowing outside... (missing the 80 degree temps in FL), and i decide to try my own version of the shot, as it could very well count as the third weekly installment of my momma & me pics :)

ONLY >>>>>>>>>> i don't have cool leopard print heels (which i adore and will totally BUY if i ever find them in my size)...  so i grab a couple of pairs of shoes that lean towards the 'hipper' end of my shoe wardrobe and decide to try a few options...  (pssst - these are my favorite flats of the year - & so comfy too!)

and then i put evan down on the wood floor opposite the stairs (where i set my rebel camera - bc i have a remote for it), and i stand next to ev...  & then toby wanders over - and remember: BONUS points if toby is included in my momma & me pic for the week - so i convince him to join in on the fun by promising tons of treats...

and of course evan is totally psyched that toby is within his little baby arms reach...

AND THEN WE GET >>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> GET READY FOR IT.........

THIS GEM.................................!  ((my apologies to toby))

i don't know if i've mentioned, but we're STRONGLY encouraging the whole concept of being "gentle" with evan...  and as you can see we still have a little work to do.... ;)

((sidenote: i really, really want to blow this pic up BIG for somewhere in the house...  is that bad???))

So at this point i realize that toby and ev HAVE TO BE SEPERATED!!!

and so they are, and then 'momma and me' photo #3 is captured (with the comfy kenneth cole reaction flats)...

toby is such, SUCH a good sport...  which is why he always earns extra treats...!

:)

so thank you beejo (...somehow i don't think that you're first name is beejo?!) for the fabulous inspiration!

{at 7 months...}

another month gone by...

another home-made onesie :)

can't believe we are closer to evan turning one, than we are to when he was born...

ev was born on 7.27.07 at 7:50 in the morning and weighed 7 pounds 9 oz...

& so i have since decided that seven must be his lucky #...

at 7 months, evan...

...is extremely tactile and wants to touch EVERYTHING ((like he feels the walls, counters, books, couch, your face, his hair, his blocks, toby's fur, the water bottle, the diet pepsi bottle, his bottle, and anything in between))

...is eating lots of veggies, and a few fruits, but i'd have to say that oatmeal, carrots, and sweet potatoes are still his favorites.  :)

...was not a fan of the gerber graduate puffs that we have offered him (2x now!).

...still thinks that toby is a riot.

...has more hair than ever... which is getting harder and harder to "style".

...has taken 3 round trips to florida :)

...goes to bed at 8pm, and sleeps in till 9am with me most weekdays.  :)  ((thank you little baby - your momma loves that you are a late sleeper like her!))

...plays favorites with his jumparoo, his shaped blocks, his new car toy, and his animal train.

...sits really well (altho I do still put the boppy in back of him for my own piece of mind).

...takes a regular nap (1-2 hrs) at noon everyday.

...is making lots of fun talking sounds - la, ba, ma, ga...

...kicks up a storm in the tub.

...is "getting" the sippy cup of water...

...flirts with everyone.

...is completely adorable...

...AND still has just those 2 teeth ((which i finally got a shot of!))

PS - we're back from FL as of last night...  lots of sunny-weather photos to post later on... :)

{the poodle turns 6}

Happy 6th birthday to our favorite little poodle...

Toby celebrated in style with the babies, party hats, and a burger from char hut...

((oh, and a vacation in florida, too...))

;)

{thru a little fishies eye}

so i've wanted this canon fisheye lens for quite awhile now...

however, i have really, really not wanted to pay the $550+ required to make it mine... ;)

and so, i just randomly happened to read about a little toy fisheye cam on elsie's blog...  which made me google fisheye cameras...  bc really, that is my preferred method of learning about anything and everything ;) ...  and then i found this:

LOMO FISHEYE #2

:)  and i *knew* that i needed had-to-have it...

so it arrived about a week ago and i've had a blast just playing with it and figuring it out - not that there's much to figure out, but whatever...

a few of my favorite shots with the first two rolls of FILM(!)...

((double-exposed with the pool rules sign))

((ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh))

((playing in the backyard in FL))

((the church down the street from our house in MN))

((i liked the icicles here...!  & converted to B&W myself))

((my sister Kristi))

((sunshine!!!!))

((ev with his carseat elephant toy that goes everywhere!))

so.much.fun.  i love that the shots are grainy and imperfect and spur of the moment and you never really know what you are going to get.

love it.  :)

{out-takes}

Thought i'd share a few pics from earlier in the week that made me laugh as I just now looked back though them...

first - cousins paige & evan meet again...  they are full of baby-cuteness & look so adorable sitting next to each other in the florida sunshine and green (imagine that!) grass...  and then >>>>>>>>>> evan officially tells me he's had enough...  this is what i like to refer to as his "i'm done with photos, i know you have enough good shots momma, please pick me up" face...  love it.  :)

and theeeeeeeeeen there's baby paige.  who decided my swarovski crystal necklace would be an awesome teether-toy...  loving these 2 shots as well (taken by my sister Kristi, also known as paige's momma!)...  my reaction is totally what's cracking me up here.  haaaaaaaa.

:)

{postcards from florida}

dear dadda and toby...

wish you were here...

its 80 degrees and i'm taking a nap by the pool...

really, how can you beat this?!

momma and i would like to stay in sunny south florida until may...

ok?!

love you lots... & give toby some gentle pets from me...  baby evan

;)

{happy heart day...}

this was the valentine that baby evan sent out to his family and friends...

(he's so crafty!)

hope everyone has a great day filled with lots of love and most importantly, chocolate.  ;)

ETA: The heart rug is from IKEA - it's a bathroom rug!!  :)

{momma & me #1}

so i want to do a weekly dual-self-portrait pic of evan and i...

((what's the correct terminology for this?!  since i dont know -- i'm officially calling it "momma & me"))

...maybe up until he turns one?!

and here are the rules that i'm imposing on myself:

*i (or evan) must take the pic ;) *combed and/or brushed hair not required *makeup not required and actually not preferred ;) *the photo being in focus is not even remotely necessary *pajamas (our clothing of choice most weekdays) are cool *And...  bonus points will be awarded (by me!) if toby manages to sneak into our pic.

That's it.

so wishing i would have started this from the beginning - would have made an awesome series of photos.  but whatever.  next baby.  from 6 months on is good for now!!

:)

and here is #1...  taken in our bathroom mirror today, on our 3rd outfit of the day...  we seem to be going through almost 5 outfits everyday.  dont ask.  it can get gross.  which brings me back to my pajamas are cool rule.  ;)

and on another note...  watched the premier of Big Brother tonite.

one word = freakin-fabulous.  okay maybe that's 2, but i hyphenated so i'm counting it as one.

LOVED it.

did you watch?  who's your early fave?

totally excited for tomorrow's show.  and thankful for dvr as i think it may go up against american idol?!

{sometimes blurry...}

...makes me happy.

really happy.

like this little self-portrait shot taken with my Powershot cam during our very lazy saturday...  ((and i should mention that the ENTIRE weekend was spent in the house (well, except fri night) due to our fabulously frigid temps that hovered around -10, and then were brought to insane lows of like -35 with windchills factored in...  lovely.))

or this blurry pic that perfectly shows off evan's absolute elation, midjump, while jumping like crazy in his beloved-jumparoo...

and you may be wondering what's up with the sunhat indoors during our freeeeeezing weekend-o-cold?!  while i was rounding up warm(er) weather clothes for evan and my trip south next week, i had thrown the hat downstairs for eric to try on evan, in hopes that it still fit (which it clearly doesnt), and evan somehow ended up wearing it for the rest of the day.  which i love.  because its cute and fun and who cares?!

more of the too small hat + evan's first puzzle.... & i'm pretty sure that he decided the sheep piece was his favorite:)

{2 teeth + a frog hat}

so i just wanted to mention that evan's one tooth from last week must have gotten a little lonely, so much so that the tooth next to it decided to join in on the fun in his baby mouth early on this week...

so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.  (when it's not majorly hurting ev's little baby gums!)

andddddddddddddddd...  when my friend JJ was over with her daughter, Alla, about a week or so ago, little Alla re-discovered this adorable little froggie hat in evan's nursery...

i had bought the hat while i was pregnant last spring - after i knew that i was having a boy - and was saving it for when evan was sitting, bc really the ear-hanging flappy thingies are the best part of the hat and are only fully shown off while sitting, right?!

so back to the story...  Alla finds the hat, brings it downstairs to us, and i say "OHHHH that is the hat that i'm saving for some cute pics...."  and then JJ goes to put it on evan's head, and is like "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yeah, you might want to hurry up with those pics."

greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

buttttt...  SEE jj...  totally told you that i would SOMEHOW be getting it on his little BIG head for some shots!  (yay)

:)