Day/Picture 3 - Neon Bug

Ok, so I think this 30 day challenge is going to turn into a 30 picture challenge. It was getting too stressful to try and take "good" pictures every day. If I don't go anywhere exciting during the day, getting pics is hard. And this project is supposed to be fun, so even though it's not as challenging when the 30 pictures aren't on consecutive days, it's more fun for me this way (less pressure).  So here is my third picture. It's not great, a bit fuzzy, but I love the colors! I shot this pic of a bug on Elijah's slide when Elijah was playing in the backyard. I was trying to get pics of him, but he was obsessed with the ugly chain-link gate to the front yard, which did not make a good spot to take pictures. Silly baby.

"Neon Bug"

Day 2 - A Boy's Promise

Here is my picture for day 2. Elijah and I went to a local splash pad with a good friend and her daughter. I took this picture there, as a rainbow appeared in the mist. Beautiful! Elijah loved the water! We will definitely have to go here again!

"A Boy's Promise"

Day 1 - Little Turtle, Big World

Here is the first picture of my 30 day challenge! In reviewing these pictures I discovered that Dennis and I have very differing opinions as to what is a good photo. But we both really liked this one.  Elijah and I went to Little Turtle Park so he could run around, this is a picture I took there.

"Little Turtle, Big World"

30 Day Photo Challenge

So I don't blog enough and I love taking pictures, so I thought I would do this so that I do more of both. I've really enjoyed photography in the past few years. It has just been a hobby, but I'd love to learn more about it! And I figure it's an easy thing to do with Elijah along. I'm not a great photographer by any means, but hey, maybe this will help me improve a little.

I have an old-ish point-and-shoot camera, but as far as point-and-shoots go, it has a lot of settings and is one of the nicest point-and-shoots that you could get when I bought it (2 years ago). I would love to have a digital SLR, but it's just not in the budget, so I'll work with what I have! One of my main goals with this challenge is to learn more about my camera and its different settings (e.g. ISO speed, shutter speed, f-numbers, aperture size, exposure, etc.). I really don't know much about these things. I also want to take this chance to really look at and think about picture composition, lighting, and how to look at the world in a different way to create exciting and interesting pictures :).

My goals is to try and take at least a few pictures every day and then pick out the best and/or favorite picture which I will post to my blog. I don't think I'll have the time to post every day, so you may see pictures in clumps :)! But I'll do my best to get 1 picture for each of the next 30 days. So here I go! Maybe I'll get my first picture up later tonight!

Blessings!

I can't believe how time flies! Elijah is already almost a year old! He'll be 1 in less than 2 weeks, yikes! I love staying home with him and being a stay at home mom, it's the best job ever. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Sure, there are challenging days, and tiring days, but it's all worth it to be able to raise my amazing, adorable son!  He is changing so fast too. He now starting to stand on his own, and he is still crawling all over getting into literally everything. It's only a matter of time until he starts walking. Now that is SCARY.  I don't know if I'm ready to have a toddler already. But I know that God will give me the abilities and patience I need to teach (and disicpline) my almost-toddler that way He would have me to.   And I'm glad God has given me so many other mom's and people who I can go to for advice. And the fact the Elijah has an amazing Dad (and I an amazing husband), is even better! I'm continually amazed at all of the blessings God has given me. I thank God for every new day He gives me with my family!

Elijah's Poem (he said this to me at lunch today)

Peas are good for squishing
And putting in my hair
Beans are good for throwing
Or hiding in my chair
"Eat all your yummy veggies"
Mommy likes to say
But I would so much rather
Play away the day

Tedium

Nothing much going on here. It certainly can be hard being a stay-at-home mom at times. For me it's the loneliness that gets to me. Since Elijah doesn't do much talking, I often find my mind wandering. And I starting thinking negative things (jealousy, lonliness, etc.) and this goes downhill quickly, becoming a trap. I've been trying to think about God and listen to Christian music when this happens. Doing this definitely helps! God is my help in these tough times. And it's hard for me too because I know there are so many people that would love to be a stay at home mom, but for some reason cannot be (or are not yet).  And I may start to wonder if I'm not grateful enough for what I have. Yet another downward spiraling train of thought. We are reading a book in a Bible study at church called "Having a Mary Spirit". The last chapter talked about keeping your negative thoughts away and instead having the mind of Christ. Doing this like I mentioned before with praying and listening to music definitely gets my thoughts in the right place. God is good! And it also helps to have great family/friends and awesome church family! I  think it will also help me to be a bit more bold on inviting people over to get to know them better and stop worrying so much about myself.

On another note, time goes by way too fast!! Elijah is crawling all over, getting into everything, and sometimes I wonder how he went from a helpless infant to a near-toddler so quickly! He didn't nap well today so when I gave him his last bottle he fell asleep in my arms. I knew I probably shouldn't let him sleep so close to bedtime, but I did anyways because I know that these days will not last forever (And I hardly ever hold him when he's sleeping anymore). Sometimes I wish he could always stay so cute and little!! But what would be the fun in that :)? I'm excited to see him grow up!

The Aftermath...

So the blizzard was just as bad as they said it would be. It basically shut down the city Chicago yesterday, and today the roads are still a mess. I only went out because I had to go the doctor, and I really got to see how much snow there was (crazy!!). Today it's bitterly cold, but the sun is out and skies are blue! I did get to go to the book study at church on Tuedsay before the blizzard hit, so that was good. The library event was canceled, but that's to be expected. Maybe I'll sign up for another in the next few weeks.

Elijah has a cold, and has lots of green/yellow stuff basically leaking out of his nose, poor kid. But like always, he's still happy when he's sick. So that's not fun, and if he's not better by Sunday I'll miss church again (I was sick last Sunday). How do mom's with more than 1 kid ever make it to church during the flu/cold season? And that's a bummer, because I love going to church! But what do you do? Also, Elijah cut his 4 upper teeth this past week (all at once), and kept waking up at night, but he didn't last night, so I'm hoping he'll keep sleeping through the night. And he's getting better and better at crawling and standing up, and now is almost cruising along furniture. My little boy is growing up way too fast! Sometimes I wish time would slow down. And I really wish we lived closer to family so they could see him more often. Maybe one day we'll move closer!

Monday again!

So it's another week! I always thought as a stay-at-home mom of an infant that there wouldn't be much difference between the weekday and the weekend. But the weekend is so much easier and much more fun with Dennis around! It has become a somewhat of a challenge to keep myself and Elijah occupied during the week, especially since it's winter. And it's even more challenging with Dennis's new job, since he gets home 2 hours later now. So, I'm trying a bit harder to keep busy this week.... tomorrow I hope to go to a Bible Study at church and I signed up for a children's event thingy at the local library on Wednesday.  But of course there is supposed to be a crazy blizzard on Tuesday and Wednesday, so we'll see, Elijah and I might be trapped in the house for a few days. Hopefully it won't be too bad to drive just locally.