Talya's First Birthday Collage

I am trying to figure out Photoshop C3. An amazing program, but totally useless if you don't know what you're doing (like me!) I have many more pictures to collage from Talya's party... and I will get to it... hopefully before she turns two. The Universe told me to cut myself some slack... so... that is precisely what I am doing! 

A different kind of sweet

With Christmas cookies and sugar plums dancing in my head, I thought it would be unfair to leave out my other favorite sweet... TALYA!

She melts my heart!

Cookies!

Matthew and I made cookies yesterday. We sprinkled some and frosted some. It was a blast. Matthew was so in the spirit of things that he rubbed flour all over the front of his shirt... for good measure, I suppose. Would you believe me if I told you that they cookies are gone? That's right... Santa might be SOL... if it weren't for a certain Mommy who knows that her son is a cookie monster and saved some ingredients for a batch to be made on xmas eve...

More snow!

MORE...

MORE...

AND MORE SNOW!!!

All this snow is absolutely bizarre! BIZARRE! We got totally dumped on. It's over two feet on flat ground and that's nothing to say about the drifts. I have never seen so much snow in my life. I am just hoping that we don't get anymore so that the fam can make it for Christmas. Since it hasn't snowed since about 5pm yesterday and it's already 30 degrees at 7:00am today, my hopes are high. Please everyone... pray that the roads are good enough from my mom, grandma, sister, and sister's boyfriend to come on Wednesday...

Tai Kwon-Do Tournament

Matthew went to his first Tai Kwon-Do Tournament on Saturday and finished wonderfully. He placed 1st in hand breaking, 4th in foot breaking, and 2nd in Movement and Body Position. I was so impressed with how comfortably he carried himself and how respectful he was of the process. His favorite medal was the 2nd place because it spun in the middle. Gotta love the kiddos. Somehow their priorities are always in the right place!

Once he attends his last class on Friday, Matthew will earn a red stripe on his belt. He is as proud of himself as I am of him.

Winter Storm 2008 Videos

Winter Storm 2008

Snow in December... in Portland!?! Yep, that's right. We got almost three inches on our property. It was so dry and cold we weren't able to make a snowman but we did build a snowpile to jump on and slide down. For added excitement, the wind blew down a 30 foot tree in our backyard. Scary... yes... but we made the best of it. The dog used it as a frisbee-catching obstacle course and we are using the wood for the fire. All's well that ends well.

Matthew and Talya watching the first flakes fall

Snowball fight!

I opted out of this part! Sometimes it pays to be behind the camera

Silly boy... and handsome too

Our fallen tree. I can't believe it snapped right at the base. Amazing too that it didn't crush that rickety shed.

Thanksgiving 2008

Matthew and Vinny playing go fish

Talya thought the ringing cell phone was the funniest thing - She mouthed my sisters phone so much that it took two days from her phone to work again! The joys of being an Aunt!

Remember when I said Talya loves dog and cat food... Well... my mom and I were wondering where Talya was and I found her in my sister's room, with the door closed, in the dark, shoving handfuls of cat food in her mouth. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her face when I found her. She was so proud of her self. If you look, you'll see the cat watching Talya from under the bed.

Each of us made a turkey place card. 

Carlos made Antipasto - an Italian Thanksgiving tradition

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year! My grandma, mom, sister, sister's boyfriend, Carlos, Matthew, Natalya, and I filled my mom's house with love and gratitude to share a great meal and great memories. It was pretty amazing that it never felt crowded. All the pieces of the family puzzle fit together nicely. Honestly, it was the best Thanksgiving I can remember.

Tai Kwon-Do

Matthew is just finishing his first tai kwon do classes. As part of the final class the students trained to break a board. I couldn't even believe that my boy broke a board... in THREE pieces. 

Once again, this video is horizontal. I figured out how to rotate it on my camera and it downloaded to the computer horizontal. Urg! Also, the sound is low because parents aren't allowed to get close to the students and distract them. 

Matthew will be attending his first Tai Kwon-Do competition this Saturday to possibly earn a golden medal. Stay tuned...

Natalya's 1st Birthday

I can hardly believe that my baby girl is 1! This year has flown by, filled with joy beyond expectation or expression.  Natalya lights up the world in her path. I am so grateful to be her mommy.

My friend Meagan and I had her first birthday party on Saturday afternoon and it was a wonderful time. She was the belle of the ball and enjoyed every minute of it. I'll post more pictures from the party after my girlfriends email me what photos they took, seeing that my camera ran out of battery one third of the way through the party. For now.....

FIFTEEN FUN FACTS ABOUT NATALYA 

1. Natalya loves dog and cat food. 
2. Natalya adores babies - doll babies, actual babies, pictures of babies, the word "babies."
3. Natalya likes flipping the light switch to turn off the lights... 
4. And when she does, she claps for herself and says, "Yay!!!"
5. Natalya picks up everything so lovingly and puts it in her mouth with reverence.
6. Natalya loves watching her brother jump up and down...
7. Nothing makes her laugh harder.
8. Natalya has three teeth and two more just under the surface of her gums.
9. Natalya likes to comb her own hair.
10. Natalya has a sixth sense for knowing when the bathroom door is open...
11. And is dying for the chance to splash in the toilet.
12. Natalya gives the best open mouth kisses.
13. Natalya loves her Gramma Mo.
14. Natalya has an absolutely infectious laugh.
15. Natalya is loved, so completely and utterly, head-over-heels, loved by everyone who knows her.

Talya's 1st Ponytail

Check out Talya's first ponytail... TOO CUTE!!

Laughing Sissy

I have been creating and crafting my tushy off. In a good way, of course. See what I've been doing here. I hope you all enjoy this video. I was trying SOOOO hard not to laugh when I was recording, but I wasn't 100% successful. I couldn't help it. This little girl sure loves her brother. 

OK, I'm off to eat my Slow Cooker Chicken Paella. Mmmm... The gorgeous smell is wafting (yes, I did say wafting) down the stairs. It is a Weight Watchers recipe.

Oops - The video just finished processing and I realized that I needed to rotate it before uploading. Oh well, it didn't lose any hilarity. I have tears in my eyes right now from laughing so hard. Now you see what a charmed life I lead. I am so blessed!

BTW - I will post a link to the Paella recipe tomorrow. I want to get this post up before my mommy leaves work. Toodles...

Photographing Talya - Day 5

She loves being upside down and tickled simultaneously!

Photographing Talya - Day 4

Talya had so much fun during this naked photo shoot. I don't let her run around naked nearly enough! She sat for 15 minutes slapping her leg and enjoying the sound that it made. What a blast - now I'm having to think outside of my normal picture taking patterns. 

BTW- In the last picture you can see how long her hair is getting. I am obsessed with her thick, long, beautiful hair. :)

Love this View

This is what I saw looking out my living room window this morning. There is nothing better than fall leaves, bright yellow, set against the grumbling, gray Portland sky. Just ignore the basketball hoop and street light, please. It was a fleeting moment and I wanted to capture it while I could. ;-)

Photographing Talya - Day 3

So I missed a day... nobody's perfect. That's what I'm telling myself. I didn't stop taking pictures though. Here's what I came up with over the last two days.

I've been playing with ISO speed and like that these pictures blurred a little. It suits the mood of the photos nicely. Plus, it's one of two settings that I can manually change on my point and click, the other being OEV and I don't know what OEV is or does and haven't taken the time to look it up on the web. Instead I'm comparing Digital SLR's... 

This picture was captured while I was recording video on my camera and although it's dark, I like that the composition is different from what I normally do. 

Matthew took this picture of us. Considering he's four years old, I think he took a great picture. Also, I don't have many pictures of Talya and me because I'm usually the one behind the camera.