Hello, my name is Abigail, but you may call me Yoda...

Jenny wanted some new family pics, so we played around on Memorial Day.  Can I just say that it is CHALLENGING to get a pic of 4 with everyone at least semi engaged, especially with a baby and a toddler.  This is the first one I processed.  There may be better ones in the lot, but I haven't had much time to look yet.  This one caught my eye because Miss Abigail is totally stealing the show!!!!!  She'll be 5 months old on the 5th and really can't sit up by herself yet, but it sure looks like it here.  She's looking very much like a happy little Yoda.  And get a load of those long narrow feet!! ...completely different than Hannah's.  Love these 4 and love watching our family grow.  God is so good!

BTW....today is Bob's and my 37th anniversary.  Never would have imagined how blessed we would be at this stage of life!  Very thankful!

Mmwwaaaaa!

Comin' in for a kiss!

Love to watch these two together!  So much love!

Games Abigail plays...

 We had a brainstorm the other day and thought to put our little Baylor jingle bell on Abigail's arm!  She LOVED it....waved her arms around like crazy and it kept her happy for quite a while!

She has an unusual way of sucking her thumb...lol.  She does it ALL the time!

Hug-a-bear...

Baylor fans must love their bears!

The small philosopher...

Wonder what she's thinking about?  (shot for the challenge "using your head")

I just love thoughtful pictures of kids...their sweet little faces.

Future Baylor girl?

Sic 'em Bears!

One, two, three...

LICK!!!!!!!!

Not the best quality photos, but TOO TOO funny!!  Isn't Hannah a sweet big sister?

Solar eclipse 2012...

I've been WAY too busy the last couple of weeks, packing for our upcoming remodel.  (2 rooms almost packed...only 4 to go.  Arg!) I hadn't even taken my camera out of its case in a week....first time that's happened in over a year.  But we had a great opportunity Sunday night when Kara and I got to see the partial solar eclipse, a.k.a. "the ring of fire".  It really was cool!  We tried about 30 min. before this shot, but the cloud haze was too thick. I'm glad we went back to our hill for a second try.  We ALMOST missed it, so I didn't have time for a tripod or to mess with settings much.  I did discover that purposely underexposing seemed to make the ring of fire more evident. 

I love this silhouette of Kara shooting as it sank below the horizon.  I upped the exposure a little on this to capture a few more colors.  Do you have a favorite?  I like them both, but for very different reasons.

When the light catches her eyes...

I am so loving the light in this.  Just wish I'd focused on the closer eye instead of the other.  Oh well!  She's always on the move, so I have to grab my moments when I can!  lol

Child at work...

Hannah LOVES learning about letters!  She knows almost all of them and can tell you a word that starts with each letter.  My favorite is "X is for X".  lol.  Guess that's a hard one!  She doesn't know how to write any of them yet but, judging from how intently she's watching Jenny, it won't be long.  I wish we could all stay this eager to learn!!

Put 'er right there!

Both arms full and lovin' those kisses from Hannah!

Sweet little family...

After the dedication, we headed to Jenny and Nathan's for lunch so the girls could nap.  I was glad to get one shot of the 4 of them on Abigail's special day.  The girls are such a blessing and we're extra thankful!

Abigail's Dedication...

Abigail was dedicated in church on Mother's Day and we were thankful to be there.  Hannah doesn't come into big church very often, so it was fun to see her watch everything.  Miss Pennie, the preschool director, was so great to take time to show Hannah the instruments on the stage and the baptismal pool.  Then she sat with Hannah until the service started.  It was so cute when Hannah turned around to say "We looked at the water Grammy!"
 

Abigail was such a good girl...no crying or fussing.  She was quite content to lick and and suck on her fingers and dress.  lol.  Hannah was very quiet too, but SQUIRMY!!!... She's watching herself on the big screen in this shot.

Couldn't resist one shot during the prayer for Abigail.

Mmmmmm....drool!

Again, very low light so this photo is really too noisy.  She's getting stronger all the time, but she turns over almost immediately when you put her on her tummy.  If I'm lucky I get one shot in before she flops over.  lol.  Love the drool.  Her dress was SOAKING wet this day.  We had to take it off for her nap, cause it was a soggy mess.  :)

BTW, I keep trying to get more pics of Abigail, because I take so many of Hannah.  I think, because I'm the baby of my family, I'm extra sensitive about little sisters not getting equal time.  lol.  It's tough now tho', because Abigail just isn't awake very long.  When she drops one nap, we'll have more time together.  :)

Half cat...

Our last Grammy Day was super cloudy and rainy, so no pics outside...which meant VERY low light.  I should have just used my flash....oh well.  I barely managed to get this shot of the two girls.  Jenny says Abigail has become "half cat", because her tongue is always out LICKING something!  Seriously...she will turn her head to lick the shoulder of whatever clothing she's wearing.  lol.  You can see here that she's on her way down to lick her arm or the bedspread.  Silly girl! 

Peek-a-boo!

I asked Hannah to play hide and seek behind the tree and she was happy to oblige, but she kept popping out of the opposite side i was expecting her to.  lol.  I was lucky to catch this at all!  :)

The watcher in the woods...

I'm behind on my processing, so this is out of order.  I don't know why, but I just have to experiment with these intentionally blurry shots occasionally.  I guess it's my love of impressionism.  I love the light in this.  It's Robin's path in her garden, of course.  We will be living there for 2 months this summer during our remodel.  I'm envisioning photo ops.  lol

Happy Mother's Day!

"I regard no man as poor who has a godly mother."  (Abraham Lincoln

Hannah was not too interested in sitting with her mommy for a picture this day.  But, no worries.  I like candids anyway!  Jenny sang her a little song:

I'm bringing home a baby bumbebee

Won't my mommy be so proud of me

I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee

Ouch, he stung me!

And there was my shot!  :)

I spy with my little eye...

This little guy seems very attached to Bob. He comes out whenever Bob is working in the pool area.  Bob comes to get me for a photo op and the moment I walk outside, he hides again.  lol.  Bob finally caught him and put him in a jar so I could get a closer look.  Isn't he handsome?  I love that iridescent color around his eyes.  And no worries....we released him after just a few minutes.  He was gone like a streak!

And then they play...

Wheeeeeeeee!

Helping with work...

 Yep, that watering can is still empty.  :)  She walked around saying "Are you hungry?" to the flowers.  I guess she remembered me saying they were thirsty a couple weeks ago.  lol

Who knew grandparenting would be so much fun??

Because Grammy Days are for G-Pa too...

 

I've been too busy to keep up with all the challenges recently.  :(  But last week the theme was "story in a picture" and it was Grammy Day...so I did what I could to capture Hannah with her G-Pa.  I love these pics...more tomorrow.

Perpetual motion...

Shot for the challenge of "parallel lines".  Kara was practicing for her concert that night and was too busy to stop and pose...so I just wandered around shooting from different angles while she played.  This was my fave.  It's a little unconventional and I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but it grew on me.  I really do like the motion blur and shallow dof.

Because outtakes are just plain FUNNY!

OK...this was a total accident.  I think Jenny was just trying to get her situated for a pic and trying to pull her dress down that got bunched up.  I was shooting on continuous shutter release and didn't see this until I downloaded to the computer.  Abigail's expression cracked me up so I couldn't resist cropping and captioning.  Trust me, no babies were harmed in the making of this photo.  lol.  In fact, 2 frames later was the pic from a few days ago titled "C is for Contentment".  It cracks me up how quickly their expressions change!

Is it time for a monkey pic already?

Yep, she turned 4 months old yesterday!  And she's moving around just enough to make it more difficult to get a good picture.  Not quite old enough to sit up, so she was either falling over or putting her skirt in her mouth, or her fingers in her mouth, or monkey fur in her mouth.  You get the picture right?  And it was super cloudy and dark, so I had to use flash.  Boo.  Not sure if I like this high key effect, but just ready to cut my losses for this month's monkey pic.  lol.  Hannah said she wanted to get in the pic, and climbed up there and posed so sweetly.  That doesn't always happen.  Guess it has to be HER idea, right?  :)  Love our 2 little monkeys!

Chunky monkey...

She's really not so chunky.  Actually, she's still long and lanky.  But those cheeks were begging for a cutesy title! 

Hear the wind blow...

I love watching Hannah discover her world!  Robin's path through her garden is one of my favorite photo spots, but it took a little coaxing to get Hannah to sit there!  lol ...I got some cute smiley pics of her too, but when the wind blew and she lifted her eyes to the moving trees (catching the light)...that did it for me!  Love her!

C is for Contentment...

Abigail is getting more animated and developing more personality every time I see her.  But here, her expression just says peace and contentment to me.  Looking a little like a small Yoda here.  Can you feel the wisdom comin' at ya from those eyes?  lol

A thousand words...

We all know a picture says a thousand words, and this one says it all for me.  ♥

Do you like my new dress?

Jenny finds the cutest clothes at Once Upon a Time (resale shop).  Hannah was very proud of her dress that day!  What a cutie!