Day 1 - What They Do

Today I decided to photograph my kids doing "what they do". During the morning hours and sometimes a little bit into the afternoon, Iyana is busy with school work. Since I'm no longer working outside of the home, we've been able to implement a new schedule which has so far been working out great. On most days, she's able to be done with everything (corrections included) by lunch time. It's been great having our afternoons open to do other things together.

Here she is working on her math for the day. Love it when I'm able to get a picture of my kids without them knowing I'm taking it. That's when we get some of the true expressions on their faces.

Whiteboards are the best when it comes to working on math.

Dayson has been his typical self when it comes to playing. The thing that he does best is always take all his toys out several times through out the day. He's getting much better at helping us put everything back, but it's only a matter of time before everything is back out on the floor. I'm dreading what his room is going to look like when he's older.

He loves building blocks.

See what I mean about his future room?

The "Joy of Love" Challenge

This is a blog challenge that I came across over a year ago and just never had time to do it. Now that I'm home more, I'm going to work on this as I think it'll be fun and also help me improve in my picture taking skills. It's called the "Joy of Love" because it's supposed to be done through out the month of February as this is the 'love' month. I'm going to take a relaxed approach to this and not worry that I'm not getting it all done within this month. Especially since we only have a couple more days left until March. If you want to join me in this challenge, here is the list of things to do each day. Because I'm taking the relaxed approach to this, I may not have a post everyday but may stretch it out to every couple of days.

28 Day "Joy of Love" Challenge
(Loved ones can be anyone or any pet, you don't have to photograph the same person for each assignment)

Day 1: What They Do - Anything your loved ones "do" (work, play, chores, etc...)
Day 2: How They Look - The true essence/expression/attitude/posture that captures your loved one.
Day 3: Then and Now - How long have you known your loved one, what has changed?
Day 4: What They Wear - Photograph what they wear, either on them or in the closet.
Day 5: Love To Hate - What is something that drives you nuts? If it's a non-physical thing, then just try to take a photo of something that embodies the idea..
Day 6: Who They Love - Besides you, who is the apple of their eye?
Day 7: Generations - Get your loved one with all the generations of family that are close by. If this is not possible, tuck this prompt away for when everyone is close together again.
Day 8: Gift From the Heart - What has your loved one given or promised to you (material or immaterial)? Try to capture this "gift" from their heart.
Day 9: Passions and Hobbies - Document your loved ones extracurricular activity.
Day 10: Space (where they are comfortable) - what is their "spot" in the house? This can be a chair, a manroom, a bedroom, a workshop, their office, the garage, the car, etc...They can either be in the frame or not.
Day 11: Dreams - What does your loved one dream of accomplishing or doing?
Day 12: The Eyes - Take a crisp photo of your loved ones eyes.
Day 13: Routines - The mundane, day to day routines are often the part of life that we forget first. Capture your loved one going through the motions of their day.
Day 14: Wedding band/jewelry - Capture that wedding band on his finger today.
Day 15: Kiss - Smooch your loved one! Or, snap them smooching the children, the dog, etc...
Day 16: Together (self portrait) Get your tripod out, learn where the self-timer mode is and get close to your loved one. Yes, you have to be in this photo.
Day 17: Staying In - What do you do when you are home together?
Day 18: Going Out - Get a sitter and go out on the town! Take a point and shoot and take some fun portraits of you together. Have fun!
Day 19: When They're Gone - What is the overall feeling in the home when your loved one is gone?
Day 20: When They're Home - What is the energy in the home when they're home? What makes it special having them home?
Day 21: Hands - You love those hands. What do those hands do that you love?
Day 22: Face (a portrait) - Your task today is to just capture your loved one's portrait. A head and shoulders shot with a simple background.
Day 23: Facebook - Pick your favorite facebook photo of your loved one.
Day 24: Where - Where did you first meet your loved one? Or where did you first fall in love?
Day 25: When You Love Them The Most - What really makes you tick about your loved one? What do they do to go out of their way to make sure you are happy and that you have a great day?
Day 26: The Bromance - Who do they spend their time with when they are not with you? Photograph them with their wing man.
Day 27: What They Say - What do they say to you? This can be a favorite phrase they use or it can be words that they use to encourage and motivate you.
Day 28: The Future - What do you see in your loved one's future? What will they be doing? What will you be doing with them?

Little D

This picture just cracks me up. Dayson has been such a ham lately. Grammy Sheba gave him these glasses awhile ago but he's just now getting interested in them. Every time he puts them on, we hear this high pitched giggle and lots of laughter.

Future movie star maybe?? One can only wonder...though as his mommy, I think I would prefer something a little more different for his life. ☺

My Kiddos

Just some pictures today.

Sleeping away after a rough night.

My little dancer.

Showing off her new outfit.

Watching Veggie Tales...his favorite.

Love this! While working in the kitchen, I turned around and saw these two holding hands. Love the expression on Iyana's face.

17 Months

Is it possible Dayson for you to be 17 months old already! My little baby boy is no longer little but a growing toddler. One who is just over half my height and half of his sisters weight. Dayson, you are such a joy to us even when you are a bit like "Dennis the Menace". Not in a bad way, just very curious and always getting into things. I love being able to look back at some of the things you've been doing and laugh. Of course, when it was in the moment, we weren't laughing, but definitely afterwards. Here's some of the latest updates from this past month.

Dayson, you now weigh 26 1/2 pounds and are 32 1/2 inches. It's the month for half's. In clothing you can still fit into a couple things that are 18 month size, but most things now are 24 month to 2T. Such a growing boy you are. I'm actually surprised that you've gone up in weight since we're finally starting to see you back off in what you eat. You are actually starting to get a little picky (never thought I would see this day). Some foods that you've decided that you really don't like are spaghetti, most noodles unless it involves mac n cheese, lettuce and sometimes chicken and hamburger. It really depends on your mood though. I do wonder if some of your pickiness has come from the fact that three of your eye teeth decided to come through. Two on the same day and the other a very short time later. Maybe by next month, you'll be back to eating everything in site.

One of the stories that I can laugh at now, happened just a couple of days ago. You've been going through another long episode of not sleeping through the night. On Monday, I was pretty exhausted and thought I would try to close my eyes for a couple of minutes. Before doing that, I made sure and put your favorite Veggie Tales in knowing that you would probably not wander far from your beloved show (mistake #1). Because thinking this would keep you distracted for a couple of minutes, I decided not to bother Iyana who was reading in her room to help watch you (mistake #2). Once everything was set up, I laid down on the mat right next to you thinking that if you did anything or moved somewhere else, I would hear you (mistake #3). I ended up between that state when you're partly awake but not really functioning when all of a sudden I hear Iyana say, "Dayson James!!". I really didn't want to open my eyes knowing that you had gotten into something. Oh the site that greeted my eyes upon opening. You had found a bottle of Aveeno lotion that I thought was up high enough (and of course, the new one that was full) and figured out how to unscrew the cap. Needless to say, there was lotion all over the floor, all over you and to top it all off, you were having a blast waving the pump handle around spreading the love. I really wanted to go back to bed after seeing that. Just looking at it made me exhausted all over again. In the future though, I will not be closing my eyes for a few minutes unless someone else is in the room watching you.

Last month you were really starting to say words. This month, you have become stubbornly silent. You know probably 90% of what we say or ask you to do. But, as soon as we ask you to say something or use your words, you seal up your mouth and go silent or grunt at us. It's very frustrating at times. I know this is just another phase that we are going through but I was really coming to love hearing your little voice. Some day soon I will probably be wondering why I was saying that since you probably won't stop talking if you're anything like your sister.

And last but not least, I wanted to include a short video of you doing your 'happy dance' as we like to call it. When ever you get excited about something, you start doing a little jig. Sometimes we can just say happy dance and you'll run off and start dancing.