You know what they say...

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." ....Apparently, you CAN suck your friend's thumb! :)

Conquering fear...

We thought the monkey fear might be a fluke, but Jenny tried for days to hold her near him and she freaked out every time. Jenny was persistent tho', comforting and reassuring. By day 4, Hannah progressed from screaming to whimpering. On day 5, Jenny played with monkey while the "observer" watched. :) By day 6, Hannah was playing with monkey again herself. That was SO weird! ....but not as weird as Jenny's sudden fear of flowers as a toddler (yes...flowers)...I can still remember her crying and chanting "fwower....fwower". :)

Kudos to Jenny for helping Hannah conquer her fear! (You'll be relieved to know that Jenny's no longer afraid of flowers either.)These were our top two 9 mo. pics. Do you have a favorite?

Scary monkey!

Thought I'd post the outtake first this time. We had an interesting experience trying to get Hannah's monkey pic this month. After all this time, she developed a sudden fear of him... took one look at him and screamed. Poor baby!

Balloon glow...

They divided the balloons into two groups...half flew and the other half set up for balloon glow. Too bad you can't hear the cool sound of all the jets being fired up at once.
Kim or Lisa, see the circle of light in the middle of the red and white balloon? I've noticed "flaws" like this in pics I've taken of candle light too, where an upside down flame appears in the image. I worried that my lens has a flaw, but I don't see it in any other kinds of images. And I've never noticed anything like that with my zoom lens. What's that about?

Waiting...

Shot these waiting for the balloon glow.
It was dusk, but sure doesn't look like it. Had just switched to my portrait lens...so great for low light and love how the crowd disappears with that shallow DOF! :)

Up, up and away!

Can't resist posting some of our favorite balloons. Guess you can tell I like the brighter colors. And yeah, I'm totally singing along with the Fifth Dimension in my head....dating myself too! :)

Houston, we have lift off...

Plano Balloon Festival...

This was our first time to go. Fun and colorful! It was hot and crowded and we had to wait a while for the launch, but we were fascinated watching the crews set up. I love that there are refs on the field....didn't notice that 'till I downloaded pics. :) These were all taken from across the street on a hill.

Pensive...

Little scooter...

Not crawling yet, but she definitely qualifies as a scooter...backwards, that is! She's speedy too! The Observer is beginning to get more interested in moving around! Bob has decided that Jenny should place a pool "noodle" under her hips and a toy just out of her reach to encourage her to crawl. Sounds like and engineer to me! We'll let you know how that works out. :)

Can you hear me now?

Horizontal or vertical?

How old did we say she is? Looks like a pre-teen to me!

Grammy, what big toes you have!

I got tickled with her fascination over my less-than-fresh pedicure (hence the camera shake).

A quick taste (a.k.a. bite)...

"Why'd you squeal, Grammy?"

Decisions, decisions...

Righty?

...or lefty?

At this point, the hand that is lucky enough to snag the food!

More please...

She recently started finger foods...chunks of bread, cheese, blueberries, etc. Love that Jenny's using a little sign language with her. Shallow DOF here, but Jenny is signing "more" in the foreground. At the end, she signs "all gone". Hannah doesn't pay attention to that yet, but she will soon.

Tiger Swallowtail...

My favorite! Isn't it amazing what God has created? And this thing was BIG...his wing span was almost the size of my hand.

Butterfly...

I know Kim's gonna laugh, but I had to learn its name. :) It's a Gulf Fritillary. I think it should be a Flitterary instead, considering how little time it spent in one place! Couldn't get as close as I wanted and had to crop so these aren't too sharp. Still love the colors tho'.

Abstract...

Sadly, Crepe Myrtle Alley was not in full bloom, but I loved how the fallen blossoms looked in this trickling fountain...love the movement and energy of all those curved lines too...and that one random leaf.

The big picture...

Kara and I visited the Arboretum again last week...HOT day...high noon. What were we thinking? We didn't last long....just a quick walk through and a few pics. I decided to break away from my norm and shoot some wide angles.

Never too soon...

...to encourage her to read!

A girl and her hat...

Still loving the portrait lens...and who wouldn't love that face?

Action!

Instead of posting a still pic today, I decided to share a video. Kim was nice enough to give us this pool float before Hannah was even born. Hannah didn't care for it at the beginning of summer, but we tried again last week and she LOVED it. When she rides in her duck boat, she's her usual passive self....very laid back. We got a kick out of how animated she was in the new float. She had a ball!!! Of course, she also took a "header" right after this, inhaled a bunch of water and cried. :( We had a blast watching her kick and bounce and explore! So much fun! Thanks Kim!!!!!


I'm disappointed with the little lines running through the video. Haven't had that problem with any others, but think it was a fluke from light reflecting off a highlight on the float. Can I just say that I LOVE having a camera I can carry into the pool? (If you receive this via e-mail and the video doesn't show up, just click on the "Action" title on this post and it will take you to the blog where you can view it).

Final outtake...

You knew this had to happen sooner or later! Wonder how long we'll be able to keep her in bows...

Outtakes, pt. 2

This was the first time she really paid attention to the monkey, which cracked us up! She spent a few minutes picking off his fur. Notice it in her fingers in the bottom shot. FUNNY!

Outtakes, pt. 1...

I decided not to waste time editing these so, in addition to Hannah's shenanigans, you'll see all my weaknesses as a photographer. If the DVD producers can do it, so can I, right? :) Just know that laughing contributes to camera shake! :)

Little exhibitionist...

Monkey attack!

She's can't crawl yet, but she'd like to! Just think how much more fun this will be when she really CAN get away! :)

8 months old!

I make myself post in order so, by now, it's almost time for her 9 mo. pic! She's growing up so quickly! Pics were hard this month, so she's "talking" in this shot. At some point, we just know Hannah's done and we have to go with "good enough". That's what you call "reality photography"! Over the next few days , I'll post some outtakes....pretty funny stuff.
I do like that she and the monkey look like they're doing the same pose here...random accident! :)

Mother's hands...

Memories...

For as long as I can remember, this is how I have seen my mom in the morning. What a great example she is to me!
BTW, I knew I wanted to try for some great shots of Mom while she was here and had it in my mind that I wanted them all black and white. But, when I converted them, I just wasn't wild about them. What's that about? Is it the white hair? Not enough contrast? Or is it that I missed her beautiful complexion?

Mom and me...

Mom wanted a pic of us together before she left, but sadly there was no one around to take it. Set up my tripod, but I'm afraid I failed to get the focus right. I'm posting anyway, just so Mom can have it.