Jump...(sort of)...

Guess I better start practicing my action photography!  Hannah is definitely on the move!  Trying to practice her jumping here.  She can only get a couple inches off the ground...but I love watching her try.

How does your garden grow?

 Bob and I were getting ready to plant bedding plants the next day, so I thought Hannah would enjoy watering the flowers.  And she did...as long as the watering can was empty.  lol

Love that look of concentration!  She had a great time!

Sun-kissed fresh...

Shot for the challenge of "washing".  And no, I don't hang clothes out on the line anymore.  It's way too humid here.  But Jenny had left Abigail's little dress here to be washed before her dedication on Mother's Day.  Apparently, she drooled all over it at Easter.  :)  The clothesline we do have is out back, but I knew it would make a prettier picture to string something out front with all the trees.  The bunny was added just for fun.  And this all serves as further proof to the neighbors that I'm just a little bit "crackers".  :)

Vintage Gerbera...

Love love these daisies, so I treat myself to some from the grocery store occasionally.  And I really like this processing too...a little desaturation for a vintage feel.  Shot for the challenge "bottom half".

Ever open...

Bob and I planted a ton of bedding plants last weekend.  Nothing exciting...the same old stuff that we know can survive most of our beastly summer.  This one was new tho'....a new breed of daisy that stays open even at night.  Took this right after the rain.  :)

As the sun...

Shot for the challenge of "bright".  Ironically, that challenge came on a rainy day.  Wasn't sure what I would do until I saw this first of our Cosmos blooms.  Yay!  (BTW...these are perennial...love seeing them return every spring).

Osh Kosh B'gosh...

And in the midst of the chaos, there were cute moments like this.  Just love portraits from behind...and little boys in overalls!

Flirting in the shade...

Jenny invited me to Hannah's first Easter Egg hunt for their Sunday School class the day before Easter.  Unfortunately, I got there a little late and missed most of the hunting part...but I enjoyed watching the kids play.  Not too many pics of Hannah that day.   She and the other toddlers were out in the sun and the light was harsh, the backgrounds cluttered with people, etc.....You get the picture.   And it was HOT and HUMID too.  So I enjoyed sitting in the shade and visiting with Jenny's friends and this little guy.  8 mo. old and a little suspicious at first.

Definitely warming up....

And a total flirt in the end!

Just chillin'...

This one is usually "chill" when she's in someone's arms.  She does love to cuddle!  Noticing a little more of the Taeger ears with her than with Hannah.  lol...But definitely her daddy's eyes and nose.  And her hair is more wiry than Hannah's.  Love that they look like siblings, but each have their own "thing". 

Grammy Day is for G-Pa too...

So thankful Bob is off work every other Friday.  I love how my hard-working man, who is so task oriented, takes time on Grammy Day to come indoors, wash up, and play with the girls! BTW...he built this coloring table for Hannah...and he made it wide enough for both girls to sit on it together someday.  :)  Sweet!  And Hannah LOVES it. 

Thanking God for Grammy Day...

...and moments like this.  What a blessing!

And the outtakes...

My dad would have asked, "Who licked the red off her candy?"  lol

Love how quickly their mood changes.  These were just a few frames after yesterday's shot.  And moments later, she was happy again. 

3 mo. old...

...and cute as a button.    Love how she clasps her little hands all the time.  She doesn't look all that different than last mo., except to lose the vacant newborn stare.  lol.  She was totally watching her mommy.  We're seeing more personality every week.  Lots of "talking" (especially if Hannah is not around) and smiling and even some laughter.  So much fun!  BTW...late on this pic.  She turned 3 mo. on the 5th.

Round and round and round she goes...

 

Hold on tight!  She's fixin' to get up...

Better to just let her do her thing...Round and round makes a cute pic too!  And that's the end of the bluebonnet pics.  We took a lot because we were having so much fun.  Someday, I hope to go to the hill country for the bluebonnet festival, but for now (while we're dealing with nap schedules) this was still an adventure.

Hannah wants to get up now...

 I don't know why I thought portraits would get easier when Hannah got older.  Seriously?   She has an opinion now and she's a lot faster.  Still...every once in a while we catch a gem.  Wish I could take 2 pics at once...one of Hannah and Abigail and another of Jenny or Nathan jumping up and down to get Hannah's attention.  lol  I think we need a behind-the-scenes photographer to capture it all.

 

 Sweet baby girls!  We have a pic of Jenny when she was just a little older than this, squishing Kara's face too.  :) 

"Hannah wants to get up now."...and if we asked for one more pic, the answer was "no"...in a very sweet voice, but still..."no".  lol

Big girl in the boo-bonnets...

 Thanks to my friend Judy, we were able to find a great bluebonnet field not far from Jenny's house.  Abigail still doesn't have very long stretches of awake time, so we needed to stay close.  This was really just an empty lot with a bike trail behind a shopping strip in Plano.  I love how these pics can fool you into believing it's a huge field tho'.  It was fun to watch Hannah explore.  She didn't want to wander far (no surprise), so for the wide angle shots I had to walk her to a spot then RUN LIKE CRAZY to get far enough away for a shot.  lol. 

 Love the tongue!

She was saying "These boo-bonnets are high!"

You're such a fake!

Shot this for a challenge of "white background".  Always tricky to get the exposure right on those.  I purposely overexposed and thought I had a true white, but when I processed it still seemed  a little grey....so I fixed it in software.  Sadly, when I did that, I lost the subtle reflection I had (it was shot on clear plexiglass over white foam board).  So...I did a little research and learned how to make a fake reflection.  I think it turned out pretty well.   And it made me laugh when all my flickr friends were complimenting me on the cool reflection....cause I didn't tell them it was fake. Mum's the word!  :)  BTW...this is columbine, my favorite perennial from our garden.  Robin gave us a bunch of this about 8 years ago and most of it has gradually died off.  I've tried several times to photograph it and found it really difficult.  Each blossom has a lot of depth to it and requires a pretty small aperture for detail.  Plus, it is really small and delicate, so the slightest breeze sets it in motion, messing up my focus.  I never can get a fast enough shutter speed for a clear pic.  Don't know why I never thought to pinch a blossom and bring it indoors.  Duh!

Do I have to?????

Still not loving tummy time, as you can see here.  This is what we got when Jenny first put her down.

Thankfully, she's pretty easy going and this is what we got 2 frames later.  Of course, 2 frames after that, she was in a total face plant....complaining.  Jenny makes her do it, but I guess she can't make her like it!  lol  (Eyes looking more blue in this shot with the light on her face).

Inquiring minds want to know...

We're still unsure what color Abigail's eyes will be.  At times they seem quite blue, then other times they seem more grey.  Sometimes, we see small flecks of brown near the pupil too.   Since her daddy's eyes are brown, I guess they could go that way.  They seem to be getting lighter tho' and I think I remember Hannah's eyes being sort of murky and gradually becoming blue.  I don't think Abigail's will be as blue blue as Hannah's tho'.  Stay tuned.  Maybe you mothers of dark eyed babies can tell me how this works.  Both my girls had light eyes although Kara's blue eyes turned hazel at about 4 years old.  STRANGE!!!  Do brown eyes turn sooner???? Either way, this little girl definitely has her daddy's eye shape!!!  No question about it!

Games Grammies play...

We took these at Jenny and Nathan's the night we celebrated Nathan's birthday.  I set the camera up and Kara does a great job snapping away.  I'm trying hard to capture pictures of Hannah with all the people she loves, even me (ugh), because I know that someday that will be important to her.  I actually love these, because they look so natural.  Hannah and I have a game we play together.  I lock her in my arms and tell her she's my prisoner.  Once in a while I let her escape, but she always comes back for more!  Jenny said she's even started referring to herself in the third person as "prisoner".  ("Prisoner is taking a bath now", etc.  HA HA!!!)

Now, here's where you can help me.  I'm very on the fence about the processing on these.  I usually convert portraits to b/w if there is some kind of color clash/distraction in the original or if I can't get the skin tones right because the white balance or exposure is off.  Hannah and I happened to be matching that night, so no problems there.  I have to say I really like the b/w tho'.  It's timeless and it seems to bring the focus to the faces...especially in the bottom pic.  I'd love to hear YOUR opinion tho'. 

 

Finally...

Hannah finally agreed to a pic with Aunt Kara!  :)  Love this one.  Nathan was jumping up and down behind me (literally) to get that smile.

Peter Rabbit...

Well, I was a poor Grammy this year and did not make Hannah's Easter dress.  :(  It was my plan to do this every year, but I was afraid I would run out of time this spring.  I was VERY happy to find a sweet lady on the Etsy site who does absolutely beautiful work.  I wanted Hannah's dress to coordinate with the dress Abigail will wear for her dedication (same one I made Hannah) and this lady was kind enough to do a custom order for me.  And she finished it in less than 4 weeks....all for a very reasonable price.  I was so relieved and Hannah loves her Peter Rabbits.

Mama's girl...

Abigail is engaging with us more and more, but NO one gets smiles quite as much as her mommy  She knows who's got the goods!  lol

Creek view...

 Really should have closed down my aperture a little here...and I should have used flash too. Will I ever learn??? Thankfully, I was able to do a decent fix in post with layers.

Hold on tight, or she'll run right out of the frame!  lol

Come and see, look on this mystery
The Lord of the Universe, nailed to a tree
Christ our God, spilling His Holy blood
Bowing in anguish, His sacred head

Sing to Jesus, Lord of our shame
Lord of our sinful hearts.
He is our great Redeemer.
Sing to Jesus, Honor His name.
Sing of His faithfulness, pouring His life out unto death

Come you weary and He will give you rest
Come you who mourn, lay on His breast
Christ who died, risen in Paradise
Giver of mercy, Giver of Life

Sing to Jesus His is the throne
Now and forever,
He is the King of Heaven.
Sing to Jesus, we are His own.
Now and forever sing for the love our God has shown.

Wagon for two...

 We took both girls on a fun wagon ride a couple weeks ago.  Hannah was very patient to let us put Abigail's car seat over her legs.  Wagon's a lot heavier with two!  lol

"Why are you walking back there, Grammy?"

Not a pickle...

Hannah LOVES her Veggie Tales toys that Bob got her. She has Bob the tomato and this guy....Larry.  She can tell you that Larry is not a pickle...he's a cucumber!  I like this purple and green color combo!

Red robin, red robin...

I just LOVE bird shots, but have only gotten one that I would call really good.  I think I'm not patient enough and it would probably help to have a 300mm lens...but I'm not going to invest in that.  I especially love robins...think they are SO cute.  On this day, we had seriously high winds....I mean CRAZY windy!  For some reason, I saw a LOT more birds that day.  Weird. Not sure what that was about.  At any rate, this guy kept teasing me...coming close to our yard, then flitting back to Robin's house across the street.  I had tried several times to capture him with no luck and finally gave up and came inside.  Of course, he picked that moment to fly into our tree.  He was only there for a second or two, so I was lucky to catch him at all...with my macro through the window.  Not the greatest clarity, but better than most of my bird attempts.  And bonus...I didn't blow out the sky!  :)

Bluebonnet...

This was taken in mid March.  I had been on the lookout for bluebonnets and it was a little too early.  This is one of the first ones I'd seen...located in Jenny's neighbor's grass amongst the weeds.  Yep...the macro works magic....even the weeds look good!  This has to be one of the prettiest little flowers ever!  I really hope to get some pics of Abigail and Hannah in the bluebonnets this spring, but it may not happen. It's so much harder trying to work around a baby's sleep schedule.  lol.  Still, fingers crossed!

In the neighbor's garden...

Jenny's neighbor grows TONS of irises.  I had no idea there were so many different varieties.  Her yard is beautiful when they're in bloom but pretty messy at other times of the year.  She's very gracious tho' and lets us wander through any time just to look or take pics.  Very sweet lady!

I think last time I took pics of her flowers I was doing it with my 50mm.  Ten times easier with the macro! Love the vivid colors!