I had looked out the window multiple times and noticed the crisp, pure texture of the admittedly long, fresh green grass at the back of the house. I rolled the idea of a shoot with Little Dee around for awhile and then one afternoon, while Lil G was napping, I grabbed a few accessories and my lil baby girl and went out and did it.

Obviously, she wasn’t too impressed with the whole thing.

But once she found her hands to nom on things were much better.

Yes, she is as sweet as she looks.

But these shots are sadly lacking in the abundance of pink she now has. I wanted to take some pictures of Lil G and Little Dee all dressed up for Easter, but then we were invited away for Easter dinner and were gone all afternoon after church and it didn’t happen. And the idea of dressing them up again on Monday just to take picture- are you crazay?!

Thankfully, there’s enough other pink around that I could do this week’s challenge without too much trouble. You know, without stretching myself too much. The whole point of the challenge. Oh dear.

Of course, Lil G didn’t want to left out. I’m pretty sure she’s afraid for her pretty little head here.

Hi G. Notice, there’s still pink in the background. And yes, his nose is kind of crusty, I confess. Oh dear.

And then an impromptu photo shoot with nothing but pink skin and a pink{ish} blanket. When I get the money, I’m going to get one of these printed as a canvas.

She looks just like one of my sisters in this one.

And I still can’t figure out the linky thing, so here’s a boring link to this week’s You Capture: http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/2011/04/you-capture-pink.html

And while I wish my comeback to You Capture was more spectacular, it’s what I got, mostly because I didn’t want to go any further than my walk to the mailbox or even step off the back porch for my shots.

So this is what the past week of “spring” has looked like in my corner of North Dakota:

Yes, that’s snow and it was still coming down. The white stuff had been pretty much gone at the beginning of last week. In fact, last Monday included sunshine and temps in the 60s. Obviously that didn’t last too long.

As you can see, I’ve been playing around with textures. Not sure how I’m doing, but I’m playing around and learning at least.

Trying to be creative while not putting on my boots and actually leaving the back porch.

But, then this morning when I got up, the sun was shining and I had to grab this shot yet. Also from the back porch. In my socks.

I am hopeful that the sunshine and the predicted 40s in the forecast will melt most of the snow. And then we’ll have mud. Oh yay. Supposedly there’s more snow in the forecast. Double yay.

And since my link thing isn’t working, here’s the URL for this week’s You Capture: http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/2011/04/you-capture-spring-2.html

A few newborn{ish} photos…

A glimpse of her pretty eyes…

I’m feeling awesome physically. Had the utmost amazing birth experience- at least I thought it was pretty cool. I had a pretty fast and easy recovery with G, but this has been even faster and easier.

Getting into the groove of having a 26-month-old and a little baby has not been nearly as easy. Dee is pretty easy as far as babies go, but she takes her time eating and then wants to eat what feels to be right away again, usually within 2 hours of finishing her last feeding. I’m hoping to have a bit more of a sense of normalcy and routine established by the time summer and warm weather  get here. Like, you know, getting laundry done on a regular basis, keeping things halfways picked up and tidy, not having a constant stack of dishes next the sink, stuff like that. For now, while the nights are still somewhat topsy-turvy and my baby is tiny, I’m trying to get done what I can but mostly, relax and enjoy. *Trying* being the key word. It’s hard for me to relax when toys, blankets, and whatever G drug out are strewn all over the floor. But that’s the way it goes.

And that’s what’s been happening. I sometimes feel guilty for not working harder at my “business,” but, much as I want to have my own photography business (and I really, really want it), it’s not at the absolute top of my priority list. Sorry, but that’s just the plain truth of it.

I feel like, compared to other women who pregnant approximately as much as I am, I’m carrying super high. Supposedly that means we’re having a girl (no, we haven’t found out). I have no idea about that. All I know is that there’s a little noggin lodged in my ribs. And it’s making things like, say, breathing, a little more difficult. Especially when you add in any kind of physical exertion. Huff, puff. And when you add in pelvic pain, round ligament pain, big, clompin’ boots and twoish feet of snow, you get a pregnant momma who stays inside and looks out wistfully at sparkling snow, wishing she didn’t feel so tired at the thought of putting on her outside gear and take pictures. Yeah, she, I mean, I should just go and do it, weariness notwithstanding.

This is as close to doing it as I ever get- stepping out on the back stoop with my phone. Yes, I could just about cry with all the wonderful winter shots I’m missing out on. I feel like photography is somehow not important enough to conquer my lack of energy for. I know I shouldn’t have ended that sentence with “for”, so shoot me. But *yawn* I’m so tired. I can’t say it enough. And with a 2-year-old working on 2-year-old molars and being extremely clingy, well, I’ll just stay inside for now. But come springtime? I’m breakin’ out! Uhuh. I say that now. Then I’ll have a 2-year-old AND a newborn and will probably be even more sleep-deprived. But I hope, I so hope. I usually love winter, but I’m definitely getting cabin/spring fever this year. Booooo. I liked having winter as my favorite season!

Not much of anything to post in the actual photography department. I did a family picture for our pastor’s family, but it was just that-  a let’s-get-just-one-good-shot session. Nothing too exciting to show off. And over the next three Sundays, I’ll be doing photo sessions for the church’s photo directory, but I really don’t think you want to see that. Trust me- it’s a dark backdrop, a folding chair or two, maybe a couple of bar stools, a few lights, and that’s it. Nothing at all fancy, but it’ll work fine for the directory. I guess. I’ve always gone to churches where they got Olan Mills or some other studio to come in and do it all fancy like, so I think I have a slightly different standard for photo directory photos than most of the church people do. They don’t care if I just do the line-’em-up-and-shoot-’em thing. But if I do a half decent job, maybe it’ll get my name out there a little more. Word of mouth is the best source of advertising and I’ll get in on that, no matter how menial the job. Besides, this job doesn’t involve tramping around in the snow, so yeah, sounds like I can manage.

I *may* have a job or two lined up for this spring, but you’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, I’m going to go wash diapers and take a nap. Night, night.

Hmmm, looking at this picture is reminding me that I need to take more advantage of the decent light in my kitchen…

Love this little girl mucho, mucho.

And her momma too- one of my best friends.

Sqeeeeeeeeeeee- those cheeks are so unbelievably kissable.

Haha, but lest you think she’s all little lady and girly girl- think again.

Oh, and maybe the fact that we couldn’t get her to keep her headband on.

But I’m finally back to do a real post on the shoot I got to do with my friends Dom and Beth and their sweet baby girl.

Yes, I’m well aware that this shoot was done, literally, months ago, and I know how bad it is that I’m just blogging about it, but yeah. Let’s just blame it on pregnancy, beautiful fall weather, housework, house guests, and just life.

There’s my excuses. Now, moving on.

I learned a lot from this shoot. Well, not from the shoot so much as going through the photos afterwards and seeing all the things I wish I’d done differently and will change next time.

But there were some shots that were just perfect.

All in all, it was a very educational shoot. I learned some new things about light and how to use it to your best advantage. Of course, I learned most of this stuff after the fact, but still, I did learn something.

Thanks Dom & Beth for being a few more guinea pigs for me.

This is another shoot I did while I was gone this summer. Yes, something like 2 months ago. *gulp* I’m almost done editing this session and just totally forgot about posting some teasers.

I love this family. They’re just so stinkin’ cute together.

More to come soon!

But enough talk.

This. is. me. No, generally I don’t go sit on the front porch floor first thing in the morning- probably because it’s very dewy at that time of day. As evidenced by the wet knee on my jeans. We seriously need to get some chairs to put out there.

But ANYWAYS! Yeah.

That’s my second favorite hoodie (my favorite one is in the wash) bunched up above my fat.

Ok, you know what? The whole point of Facing Myself is not to pick your photo apart and look at all the stuff you hate. There’s a plethora of little things in this image that I don’t particularly care for. But I’m not going to nit-pick through them. Because this is me. And for the most part I’m not ashamed of who I am.

This is me headed out for my early morning walk. This is me at least five times a week, going out to get my heart pounding and my chest pumping, trying to avoid the 70 lbs. of weight I gained with my last pregnancy.

This is me, totally in love with the “Golden Hour” of morning.

This is me, the person who would totally be a morning person because it’s such a lovely time of day if it didn’t mean getting up so early.

Those are my favorite pair of sneakers ever. Those are my baggy jeans- I bought a size 24 because the 22s felt too tight, only to get home and realize that they were stretch jeans.

This is me. Not totally comfortable in my own skin, but dealing with it.