Daniela is visiting

Still enjoying the new camera!

You've been getting mostly pictures, without much text lately because I'm still in awe of my new acquisition! I'm having so much fun taking pictures of the kids! I'm trying, though, to be mindful that NOT all the pictures that I take are great, and therefore not all of them should stay on the hard-drive after the download. So, I've been intentional about just keeping the ones that I really like and hitting that "delete" button on the rest of the pics. For your enjoyment, here are some more pictures that have been recently taken of the kiddos.

These were taken today. Joshua is our little giggle monster...all I have to do, sometimes is just look at him and he smiles or giggles...

Really wish you could get the audio that goes with this visual!! So CUTE, so CUTE!

Is that an angel face or what!!??

Here is "Lali" hearing grandma's voice over the phone--she was so happy remembering "hand bone hand bone...."

and here is "Lali" with her "do" after naptime when mommy teases her hair up! Fun times!!

I took the kids to the mall the other afternoon and got some shots of Kateli playing. I love this one!

Here is another shot of Kateli at the mall play area. She loves to just sit in that little tunnel!

Here is Joshua a couple of weeks ago doing tummy time!

Watch out!! incoming sneeze!! "Lali" still has not learned to cover her mouth when she coughs or sneeze--but we will get there!

And here is "Lali" looking like a big girl. This was today after she indulged in a couple of Cheetoh's

More pictures

Here is a practice shot at capturing shallow Depth of Field

Our big boy in his All Star outfit

Another shot of this little guy

Our beautiful kids

Cute or what?

Another shot of our kids

Kiddos

These are a few shots that I took of the kids this morning. "depth of field" plays a part in the first two shots... :)

Behind the camera

So, I've attended my second photo class tonight. Tonight's class was mostly centered around looking at people's pictures that were taken for assignment one. So, you can imagine that it took about the entire class time to go through them, but there were some really good shots taken. It was all about getting the exposure right--exposure is most obvious when you have sky in the frame...

This week's assignment is on Depth of Field. I'll post some shots when I figure out a clever way of depicting that. For now, see who's behind the camera!!

Hm...do they look alike?

Hm, do you think our kids resemble each other? Here are pics of Joshua and Kateli at bath time.Joshua is near 5 mos, Kateli was 3 mos old.

Pics

I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

First Photo assignment

Photography class started last Thursday. I've done a lot of reading since getting the camera to learn about exposure--aperture, shutterspeed and ISO sensitivity. I've read my manual at least once from cover to cover, so I'm somewhat familiar with the buttons on the camera--that is not to say that I can find what I'm looking for at the drop of a hat. I need to get to that point, though, I think. So, photo class last week was a reinforcement on the stuff that I've been reading up on--which was great. This week's assignment was to take pics in Manual mode--learning how to meter the camera for correct exposure. Here are some that I took in manual (I also took a few in auto mode, just to see the difference)....

Manual Mode
ISO 100
1/125
F14 at 34mm

Auto Mode

Manual Mode
ISO 100
1/125
F16 at 34mm
This one could have benefited from a little fill light

Manual Mode
ISO 100
1/125
F9 at 34mm

Auto Mode

Auto Mode

Manual Mode

ISO 100
1/125
F11 at 34mm

Joshua is almost 5 months old!

WOW!! Joshua is now three days shy of 5 months old!! This little guy continues to be a joy in our home. Kateli continues to love on her little brother, and sometimes forgets that she's bigger than he is. Tonight she went to give him a kiss and hug, while he was in his car seat, and she basically just laid on top of him!! The little guy was not too happy about that, granted he's got his big sister on top of him, but add to that that he got 4 shots this morning at the doctor's. I took him in for his 4 month well baby checkup--yes, I know he's closer to 5 months now, but we had to wait on the shots. We originally had his 4 month well baby check up scheduled before christmas, but couldn't do it then because our little guy came down with RSV. He was sick through Christmas and coming out of it for New Year's. Now that he has recovered and is feeling all better, I took him in for his checkup. The little guy, who is not so LITTLE anymore, is now weighing 17 lbs 12 ozs, and measuring 25 3/4 inches; he is in the 75%ile for weigh and 50%ile for height. I'm not sure which explains his dropping into the 75%ile for weight (he was at the 90-95%ile at 2 months)--could be that he was sick for 2 weeks, or that he's just evening out and slowing down on his weight gain--who knows!! Nevertheless, the doctor said it's not to worry, he's growing fine, taking into account that when he was born at 6lbs 60zs, he was in the 5th %ile!!

Joshua is a giggle monster, he loves to smile, laugh and to tell stories!! He's not too fond of tummy time, but will last a good few minutes as long as there are lots of toys to entice him or if his sister is around to make him smile! He is grabbing at things and taking them to his mouth; but he prefers to kick at things rather than bat at them. He can also be content just sitting still playing with and watching his chubby hands! Here are some pics that I took of the kids today.

Eyes

Potty Trained?

Hm....that's a good question to be pondered in our home right now. We have a two year old, who for the FIRST time pottied in the toilet over our New Year's vacation!!! WooHoo!! I'd say, if it had happened more than once, but what the heck, once is better than none at all. Kateli saved the first poop in the toilet for abuela to witness--yep, neither mommy or daddy were there to cheer her on, but she got tons of cheering from her loving abuela who was ecstatic (I know, I know--the things that make us excited for our kids at the tender age of 2! ). Anyway, it happened Dec 30th. Kateli went up with abuela for her bath and night-time. She said "Kateli poopoo" and abuela obliged, as we often do at home, by sitting her on the toilet and waiting to see if she will actually go...this time?? SUCCESS!! She sat there, and a couple of minutes later.... "plop" ...Ah, music to the ears!! My mom said Kateli heard the "plop" and immediately looked up at her with a grin but a surprise look on her face as if wondering "what was that?" My mom the cheerleader did a great job in encouraging her!!

Kateli has resorted to pooping in her diaper again, but we still run to the potty when she says "Kateli poopoo"....we'll see!!!

Our New Years Pics

We are back home now after traveling to H-town to visit my family! It was so much fun to see my parents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, and finally meeting our niece--who is just 2 wks 2 days younger than our little guy!! The kids did awesome on the drive, both there and back. Hubby changed the seat arrangements in the back, and Kateli enjoyed much more being able to see out of the front window, rather than the boring view of the back of daddy's seat. We didn't do a whole lot, but relaxed tons. The grandparents, I think, really enjoyed their time with all the grandkids together. My dad got lots of good shots of the kids, and I practiced using my new SLR. I have a lot to learn, but I got quite a few tips from my dad while we were home. He uses the D200, which is very similar to mine (except mine is a step or two down from his :) ).

Our New Year's day celebration consisted of a get together that my brother had planned for us and a few friends. He grilled out and we had fun visiting with some people that we had not seen in a while--however, with all the talking and catching up, we didn't get the camera out for many pics....I'll have to post some of the great shots that my dad got at midnight, New Year's :).

Here are some of the pics that we got while on our vacation at home....