A Baby Shower for Dana

On Saturday, we got to shower Dana with love and have a baby shower for "Numero Dos." It was a great time to celebrate her and the baby! A few shots...

I don't love this picture of me, but I love these two girls!

A special family coffee cake for the special event

Gifts for "Numero Dos"

Work that tuxedo bib, girl!

We can't wait to meet him - congrats Dana & Jorge!

On a walk in our neighborhood yesterday, I was very thankful for...
A gorgeous fall evening. No humidity. Amazing husband and baby. Wonderful family and friends that feel like family. Job that I love. Fall colors and holidays around the corner.

It seems like it took us a while to get to Houston, but it feels so great to be here. God is good. :)

October Fun

Ryan's mom was in town for a visit last week, and we got to go with her to the pumpkin patch for Wyatt's first experience. It was a fun time and we had a blast playing in the pumpkins with our friends the Kuykendalls!

Pumpkins galore at the United Methodist Church!

Practicing his cowboy skills... his name is Wyatt afterall...

Sharing a laugh with his grandma!

"Which one should I pick?"

This one looks good...

"Hey Samuel, what are these things?"

Silly Ryan strikes a pose

BFF's

Beautiful Rachel picks out a pumpkin - it was a hard decision!

Sweet Samuel

I love this girl!

We were blessed with great weather while Ryan's mom was visiting (the humidity didn't scare her off thankfully!) and loved getting to show her our house and around Houston. :)

Wyatt had silly hair today...

(He loves to hold his spoon when he's done eating and chew on it...
and he gets mad when you try and take it away)

On a photography note: I think I need to accept the fact that even though my living room/dining room have some great windows that let in a lot of light, the light is still not great lighting for indoor photography if I want to shoot with a low f/stop. As one photographer put it, the camera is not seeing what my eye sees. The above pictures were taken in M mode, with a f/2.2 and I had to bump up the ISO to 800 (which I rarely take off of Auto mode, but thank you Kara for the suggestion - it really helped the exposure improve!). Unfortunately they look a little blurry, but I'm not sure if that's from the ISO or the fact that blogger is not nice to picture quality.

These pictures were taken a couple days ago in the evening with a higher ISO... I just enjoy his sweet face!

Photography has become a recent hobby of mine, and I've been having a great time practicing various techniques on my camera. Since I have started really playing with my camera though, I have been avoiding Manual mode. When it comes to shooting in "M" mode, I have had hard time getting the right exposure, especially when attempting to get shots of a fast-moving Wyatt. I figured that I would practice with some still-life this afternoon and see what I can capture and if I can get the exposure right.

Some lovely flowers I picked up today...



Even with full light coming in through the window, these shot seem a little dark... hmmm

Splish, Splash

A couple Sundays ago, Wyatt went into the swimming pool for the first time! While he loves the bath (and the nice warm water), he was unsure what to think about the really big tub that was a lot cooler. So armed with a swim diaper and spf 55 (he is Ryan's son afterall... gotta protect that sensitive skin), Wyatt went with Daddy for a dip in the pool...

A literal dip...

Lori is worried for her cousin!

I survived Daddy!

Happy swimming with cousin Lo

Hugs from Mommy to finish the day!

Here Kitty, Kitty!

Wyatt has been increasingly interested in Hobbes and gets excited when Hobbes decides to slink by (always being sure to keep a safe distance). Today I sat Wyatt near where the cat was resting and he had a good time watching him. Hobbes seemed to think it was a little too close for comfort and up and left...

... and he's gone...

Where'd he go?

I guess I'll just have to amuse myself with this scratch post...