Who's The Fairest Of Them All?

 I was looking outside yesterday and the sun was absolutely amazing.  I knew I had to grab my camera and go outside to take some pictures.  Better yet, my little girl was playing dress up with her Disney princess costumes, so I decided to make it a themed shoot.  Like many little girls, Rachel absolutely loves the Disney princesses (even though she hasn't even seen Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin or even Little Mermaid!)  Still, she knows all of their names and dresses through our many Disney books and of course, the Disney Jr. channel.  I love that she's getting to the age that she actually likes to be photographed.  Her favorite thing about taking pictures is that she gets to look at the picture right after its taken.  "Let me see, mama!"  Anyway, here are a few of my favorites from our mini shoot.

The Happiest Place On Earth!

We had the BEST time at Disney last week!  So much fun that a 3-day vacation easily turned into a 5-day vacation. My hubby caught Disney fever and decided we should stay an extra couple of days. LOL  I have to say that I was a bit nervous before our trip because although I've been to Disney many, many, times I've never been there as a mother to a 2 and 1 year old!  As teens, my hubby and I used to make remarks about what a hassle Disney must be as a family with small children- between stroller parking, frequent bathroom trips, stopping to snack, and cranky kids that need to nap.  We thought we were so cool because we didn't have to deal with any of that at the time.  But now, there's no better feeling in the world than to experience Disney through the eyes of your children.

I'm the type of mommy that likes to be organized and have a plan in order to keep everything running smoothly.  But on the flip side of that, I know that although plans are a great idea in theory, kids can easily throw them off!  Here are some tips that helped us get the most out of our amazing trip.

• Get to the parks early!  The later it gets, the more packed it gets and the longer the lines get.  Not ideal for toddlers and babies!
• If you're going with little ones, head to Fantasy land first.  This area has the most attractions that you're kids will love.  It's also the area that gets the most packed, especially with the new Fantasy land that just opened. 
• Use a FASTPASS!  You can only get 1 FASTPASS every 2 hours, so be choosy and decide which ones will get the most packed.  I will tell you that the new Little Mermaid ride, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh get extremely busy.  We got our FASTPASS, stood in line for a different ride, snacked a bit, and by the time we finished we were able to use our FASTPASS for that particular ride as well as obtain new ones.  This seriously minimized the amount of time we stood in line and maximized the amount of attractions we experienced.
• Florida weather(especially during the spring and summer) is rainy- especially in the late afternoons.  Bring your own ponchos!  I bought a 2-pack of ponchos for $1 at the dollar store.  If you don't come prepared, you will be shelling out $10 per poncho!

• Snacks and drinks- bring a bunch!  We stopped at Costco and bought a 24-pack of waters for $4.  At the parks, they are 2.50 a bottle and you will be drinking A LOT!  We even froze our waters first and about 2 hours into the park, they were already melted and cold.  

• Nap time- If you are staying on property or even close to Disney, I suggest you go back at around nap time to let your kids (and you) recharge for the night festivities.  I admit, we learned this the hard way when we went to Epcot.  Both of our kids fell asleep in their strollers and hubby and I finally got some quiet time in our favorite park.  So, we figured we didn't have to go back to the hotel to let the kids recharge.  WRONG!  About a half hour later, both girls woke up hysterical and never really became chipper after that.  We ended up forfeiting the fireworks that night in order to get our cranky girls back to the hotel.

 

Being the momarazzi- I literally took 759 photos of our trip but I was able to narrow it down to down of my favorites.  Enjoy!  

 

 

 

OK, just a few more!

Anna's First Birthday!

 

 My littlest girl turned one today.  I remember the day she was born and how I couldn't believe that I was being blessed with another healthy, beautiful baby girl.  I couldn't believe how quiet she was those first few days!  She hardly made a peep, contrary to her sister who the nurses said was the smallest and loudest on our entire floor! This year, I have loved watching her develop her little personality and seeing her go through her milestones.  It's really interesting when you have a second child and realize just how different your children can be. 

Here are some things I want to remember about her first year:

• She is now roughly 17 lbs and in the 15% percentile for height.  Tiny girl!
• She sleeps from 8:30 to 6 and then cuddles with me in bed until big sister Rachel comes in and wakes her up!
• Adores doing ANYTHING with Rachel, even being roughhoused! (that word looks weird to me LOL)
• Loves ALL fruits, pancakes, yogurt, Nilla wafers, quesadillas and tolerates peas and corn. 
• She started walking at 9 months and hasn't stopped RUNNING since!
• She can say mama and dada, but mostly communicates through SCREAMING at the top of her lungs!  It's really fun to hear, especially in a store or a crowded restaurant!
• Her favorite game is peek-a-boo and I think it's the cutest thing when she tries to put her hands over her eyes (but only puts them on her head) and makes a squealing noise.
• I really enjoy watching her rush to her daddy to give him a hug when he gets home from work.

She's the sweetest little girl with the most infectious smile and we will be celebrating more when we go to Disney in a couple of weeks!  I love you my little Anna Banana!

A Different Perpective

We are now in Week 4 of the PTM Let's Do 52 Project.  This week's prompt has been the most challenging yet (well, at least for me!): A Different Perspective.  Changing the angle (or perspective) of a photo can change the whole feel of the scene.  I admit, sometimes I catch myself shooting the same boring angles over and over.  It's actually a personal goal of mine to start finding new, creative ways to shoot so this week's challenge was perfect for me.  This image of my daughter's beautiful blue eyes is the photo I submitted this week.  The goal for this particular photo was to fill the entire frame rather than take the usual full body shot.

  

This photo got my creative juices flowing, so I packed up the girls and went to the park to experiment a little more with some new angles, and to play with my little ones, of course.  Here are a couple of pictures from the park.


I took this one while crouching down on the other side of the bench rather than the usual straight-on shot.


This image was taken while I was laying flat on my belly.  Needless to say, some of the people at the park were looking at me like I was a crazy person!


Feel free to follow my progress on Flickr!

Time To Play Catch Up

So I haven't blogged in a loooong while, but I have decided that I want to be more committed to this.  It's actually one of my resolutions for the new year.  Not only do I want to chronicle my life and all of the craziness that goes along with it, but I also want to showcase more of my photography.

Another decision I made with the upcoming year was to challenge myself more creatively when it comes to my photography.  One of the things I love most about it is that no matter how great a photographer you are, there is ALWAYS more to learn.  This blog will be the perfect way to watch myself develop and grow as the year progresses.

This brings me to my new venture!  I have taken on a new challenge: A 52-week photo project featuring what else but my favorite thing to photograph: my life!  It's called Paint the Moon: This is Our Life.  You can read about it and even join in on the fun here   http://paintthemoon.net/blog/2013/01/life-lifestyle-52-week-photo-project-week-wrap-paint-moon-actions/
Each week has a different theme.  For example, last week's theme was "This Makes Me Wish I Could Freeze Time."  I chose an image of my daughter's pigtails.  My 2 1/2 year old is becoming more and more independent by the day and I cherish the times when she sits still and lets me braid her hair.  I'm not sure how much longer she'll actually let me do her hair, let alone, braided pigtails.  Aaaand guess what?!  My image was featured on the Paint the Moon blog this week!  How exciting!  Below are some of the photos I have already submitted and I will TRY MY BEST to blog my new image/theme every week.  So stay tuned for more and more blog posts in the future  :)