Foto Friday: Pet

This week's prompt over at Foto Friday is pets--fortunately I have a very fuzzy model at my disposal for just such an occasion:

"It's my turn to be on the blog today?"

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!"

Be sure to check out the other photos by clicking below; have a great weekend everyone!

Momma in Focus: Orange

I really dropped the ball on this week's Momma in Focus; I had all of these grand plans of setting up a shot of Sammy and me on my bike, but the weather has been so oppressively hot this week that we didn't get a chance to go for a ride until late yesterday afternoon.  Also it's hard enough keeping the bike balanced with Sammy on the back without worrying about setting up the camera, tripod and remote to make it all happen.  Maybe I'll be able to get that shot when Captain Husband is home in two weeks...but I digress.  Speaking of CH, Sammy and I had just wrapped up Skyping with him when I decided to take this impromptu Photobooth shot of the two of us.  Pajama party, anyone?

I promise to do a better job next week!  Be sure to check out the other lovely photos this week by clicking below--and don't forget to show Casey some love.

It's raining, it's pouring

Sammy and I were hiding out from the heat yesterday afternoon when a huge thunderstorm blew in; Sammy quickly made his way over to one of the windows so he could watch the rain hammer against the pane.  He was so mesmerized by it all that I couldn't help but take a few photos of him--after all, it's not that often that he's actually standing still for any given length of time and I need all of the practice I can get with my new camera:

Wordless{ish} Wednesday: flashback to the Fourth

{My friends, Tim and Julianne, and their daughter, Lillian, were here last week for the Fourth of July. I took a bunch of photos on my D3000 but I completely forgot to download them until yesterday, so here they are. Better late than never, right? The kiddos were dressed in their patriotic finery so I tried to take a shot of the two of them together. Have you ever attempted to make two toddlers sit still at the same time? Yeah. I'd probably have an easier time herding cats.}

{Eh, good enough!}

Ta-da!

So I got a little impatient last night and decided to go ahead and launch my blog redesign only slightly ahead of schedule (okay, more like nearly two weeks), but I just couldn't help myself; I spent pretty much all weekend staying up way past my bedtime working on the blog, so when it was finished, I just couldn't wait to share it with everyone.  I was totally inspired by the way that Sammy's birthday party turned out and decided to try and do something similar for my blog; plus, I was starting to feel as though things around here were getting a bit cluttered.  I really like how everything came together and hope that you do, too!

Of course, I couldn't have done this completely by myself--fabulous tutorials and free digital downloads made much of this possible.  Here are the people who inspired me to tackle this blog redesign on my own:


If you even have the slightest interest in web design, you really need to check out Katrina over at the Pugly Pixel--her tutorials are just amazing and she provides the best free goodies. I never would have had the guts to try and make an image-based navigation bar without her easy-to-follow tutorial on the topic (be sure to click around as I've updated my pages, too). Maybe*mej is another great resource for free digital downloads and design inspiration--be sure to give her blog a visit. And let's not forget Jess from IROCKSOWHAT--her Vloggin'Vednesday tutorial on how to widen your blog is what started this whole redesign ball rolling.  Be sure to visit these three lovely ladies when you get the chance; I guarantee you'll be inspired.

Mama's got a brand new [camera in her] bag

 I became the proud owner of a new-to-me Nikon D90 over the weekend!  My photographer friend posted a notice on her facebook page and after a flurry of messages back and forth (interspersed with some creative negotiations with Captain Husband), it was a done deal.  It's quite the step up from my D3000--I'm still wading through the rather thick user's manual--but I'm super excited to play around with it.

My friend, Erin, and her son, Ayden, came over for a pool play-date, which gave me an opportunity to fiddle with my new camera's various settings; this was also Sammy's first time at the pool since he's started walking, so I was hopeful that the wading pool would be a little more enjoyable for him this time around.  As you can see, I had nothing to worry about:

Foto Friday: Favorite

As some of you may know, Foto Friday is now being hosted by Lori of La-La's Home Daycare; for her inaugural link-up, Lori has suggested the theme of "favorite."  Here's my most recent favorite photo of Sammy:

I took this photo last week while Sammy was eating dinner; our dining room gets the best natural light in the whole house so it's hard not to take advantage of it, even when Sammy's covered in peanut butter and jelly.

Be sure to check out the other photos by clicking below; have a great weekend everyone!