Pushing My Limits

So far in my photography journey I've played it pretty safe. Nice inside natural light, or outside in the shade... There's just that one piece of advice that I feel like I heard over and over from pro photographers ~ avoid full sun. And honestly it makes sense, it's a lot harder to control your shots. But the other night Abriella was actually being happy and cooperative and the sun looked so pretty... so we went out so I could practice. And you know what... I loved the results :)Here are a few (or a little more than a few, sorry)



this is a little bit different of a black and white for me. I *think* I like it.






and of course, no photo shoot is complete without a game of peek-a-boo

Some More Firsts

I went into get Abriella up in the other morning and found her like this...
my first thought was oh no next time she'll be naked and we'll be in big trouble!!

sure enough just a few days later Eric went into to get her from her nap and she was diaperless (no photos of this first)... luckily that was all she did and we managed to avoid a true disaster

we also had the first big boo boo...
she took the fall like a champ though, but her knuckles didn't fare so well :(

it was also the first time I saw my true mini me...



should I be proud or worried?

100 Reasons Why Abriella Drives Me Crazy

ok, so there aren't quite 100 reasons. But there are a few, and in celebration of my 100th post I thought I would share some of those reasons with you :)

she throws entire plates full of food on the floor...

she gets in trouble for climbing on the couch (repeatedly ~ she is very stubborn)

she chews on puzzle pieces...

and bites her toenails...

she takes her treats and gives them to Monica... and tries to eat Monica's treats...

she goes through my purse. takes everything out. to find my change purse...

and then takes everything out of it...

busted...

she drives the neighbor's dogs crazy (repeatedly)...

and she makes huge messes of herself and everything around her everytime she eats...


and don't even get me started on the giant coffee stain, the flinging of the cat food, the picking up of the cats, and the general opposition to direction taking...

but for each thing she does that drives me crazy there are about 100 reasons why I love her...

she loves reading...


and getting belly tickles...



she used to look like this...


now she looks like this... and even though everyone says she looks just like her daddy, there are times when I look at her and see me. It is one of the most amazing feelings... I don't so much me in looks but there is just something there that sparks that feeling that she is a part of me. and it is good.


her smile lights up my heart...


she's now 17 months old and getting bigger and more independent everyday...

stay tuned for a possible take 2 of family photos, lol

Swimming Lessons

I'm so proud of my little girl. I think she is going to be a mighty good swimmer. She's been going to swimming lessons with her daddy all summer and I was able to go see her at her last class and she is doing so well. Eric kept telling me all the things she could do and I really wasn't sure if I believed him (and if I did, I wasn't sure if I should be proud or scared). He was telling me she could swim all around with just a floaty belt on, jump in, and blow bubbles... lol

I guess I have to believe it all now...








I love how my little girl is floating peacefully with her daddy, while the little boy from her class has a death grip around the instructors throat...

she kept swimming back and forth from the big toy basket to bring her daddy toys...

notice she's the only one who can't touch... lol


And just in case that didn't convince you... here's a quick video of my little fish
(the first part is terrible quality because I'm a dunce and recorded video in portrait mode, I had to convert it and it doesn't look good ~ also the password is abriella)

Swimming Lessons from Christina Wan on Vimeo.