The trauma of parenting

I know at some point out little babies grow up but I wasn't expecting it to hit all at once! My sweet 'lil H went from taking 2-4 steps here and there (with absolutely no consistency and only when it was on her terms) over the week straight to full fledged Frankenstein walking overnight!

And if that's not bad enough I finally came to terms with whatever my anxiety was about getting her hair cut. And there was no going back no matter what - I'd already done that a couple months ago and while her hair looks super cute in pigtails it was a total uneven mess otherwise. So I bite the bullet and we took her.

I should have just bought my point and shoot for this but I didn't realize what a traumatic experience this was going to be for everyone so the pictures are sub-par but hopefully when I finally have time to wrap my head around PS I can fix them up a bit!

My sweet girl before the "chop" (*tear)

During: (I didn't think anyone could have been more upset than I was but she sure was!) Don't worry my sweet 'lil H you won't have to get another haircut for a looooong long time! Mommy promises.

After: So I asked for a "bob" that was chin length thinking it was going to be at least as long as the point of her chin. Hell even just below her lips I could have dealt better with. In the hairdressers defense H was tremoring - lip quivers and hands shaking all at the same time. And she did ask me if I wanted it angled which I agreed to but what is the deal that all hairdressers now just give the Victoria Beckham style?! This hair style has far exceeded the staying power that Jennifer Aniston "do" of the 90's had. Damn it VB - first you steal my kids name and now you've taken over the hair styling industry! The one nice thing - all the hairs will grow in even now, another reason the hairdresser probably just took it up to her cheek bones - so that we don't have to come back for a long time after all that drama! And 2 days post-haircut it's growing on me, I just can't go back and look at all the pictures I have of H with her flowing locks just yet. It still hurts a little, all that whispy baby hair is gone... But she's still so stinkin' cute, a stupid haircut couldn't change that!

I've had few haircuts that I've loved right out of the salon chair. It always seems it's cut shorter than I ask. And it usually takes me a few weeks (this last hair cut it took me a few months) to finally like it. And all I could think after this traumatic day was that now I have to deal with this 3-fold. Dear lord, I'm going to have to stock up on the hair dye b/c I can feel the grey hairs coming in as I type that! If only we'd all look good bald.

V had a much better experience. The simple pleasure of there being a TV on for her to watch was all she needed. (They don't get such pleasures at home just yet - beside from football, basketball and baseball they don't know there is anything better to see.) And a horn on the car that makes all different noises - gosh, what more could a kid need?! So she loved every min of it. Except for the blow drying - the only thing to my knowledge thus far that the kid fears.

After: Not as traumatic for me b/c she just got the beginnings of a mullet taken off and a little trim of her side sweep. That I can deal with!

** I know how shallow and ridiculous this all is - trust me I am VERY grateful that thus far the most traumatic experience I've had is getting H's hair cut! But to any other mommies out there that had no idea how attached they were to their babies locks - I get it!

A Fantastic Saturday!

Our weekends are our two precious days of the week. The only two days we get to spend more than 1 hour together as a family since our schedules aren't in sync just yet. And since weekends are also the only two days we get to catch up on "chores" as well as run any errands that are easier to do without two toddlers they usually pass at lightening speed and our family time isn't always full of quality.

But this weekend to my pleasant surprise Dave suggested we take the girls to the boardwalk for a walk at the beach. So we put all chores aside and just enjoyed a morning at the beach.

V just loved walking the pier all by herself, out and back! While trying not to get blown away.

Pointing at the sea gulls

Then for dinner we decided to go out to eat! The first time we've been out to dinner in almost a year! The second time we've taken the twins with us out to dinner; the first time we took them they were still only drinking breast milk and sleeping 18 hours a day! We were a little nervous not knowing how it was going to go but to our pleasant surprise it went quite smoothly. Just one minor break down from H for no apparent reason which was easily averted. The biggest issue was they were so interested in observing everyone else eating and all the hustle and bustle around us that they ate even slower than usual. But that being my biggest complaint we're very lucky!

Practice Makes Perfect

Just a few short weeks ago I got a Canon T2i DSLR. And to be honest I did purchase it for myself with my Etsy earnings!! I figured admitting that can't jinx anything since it's kinda been quiet in my Etsy shop lately anyhow. I've had a couple orders, just nothing like it was around Christmas! I also had a small table at a local consignment sale the other weekend and I did very well there! And an added perk to that - I was sent an invitation to sign up for a table at an event being put on by Macaroni Kid in June! Gotta get busier crafting!

But this post is not about my Etsy shop...

This is about how I now have a DSLR camera that I've wanted for a long time and I'm determined to learn all of it's functions inside and out so I can totally ditch those automatic settings and live in alphabet land! I took a class last week and have been reading everything I can online when I have the time and I've been practicing!!!

The dogs are great models b/c unlike the girls they don't move!

Instead of going for a run today I decided to practice some more...

And clearly I need it!

While taking the first half of my pictures (and quickly looking and thinking they were coming out amazing) I got a whole lot of photos that looked like this:

 LOL!  Guess I do need a hood for my LCD for viewing photos outside after all!  I'm not really sure what it was that distorted what I was seeing on the screen!

 Still more washed out than I care for...

 

 V gives the same look of death as me and my sister!

Still have a long way to go with figuring out all these settings to make the "perfect" picture.  Which is obviously objective since everyone has their own photography style.  I was actually shocked to find out my Uncle shoots all his photos raw!  It's no wonder we only see a quarter of the pictures he takes!