Sunday Snapshot: 9 months old

Gina's golf tournament was an amazing success!

Unfortunately, I was so "caught up" in playing and having fun that I hardly took a photo and none blog worthy.

Since I do want to talk about it, though, I will leave that for a separate post.

After the tournament was over, as well as our home study visit with our social worker,

my sister asked me to take some 9 month old photos of my nephew, Joshua.

So I obliged.

He was a little bit big for this teacup prop.

But oh well.

Still cute as can be.

I love how he's grabbing his leg in this shot.

He really paid no attention to me or my sister, Deb.

He was more interested in the guy mowing his lawn and his sister and cousins.

And if he wasn't looking around at them...

well, he was trying to eat the grass.

This next photo makes me laugh.

I've titled it,"Who wants to eat grass and not look at the camera? Ooo, ooo....me!!!"

Just last month when I last saw Joshua, he wasn't crawling.

Now, we have to chase him down.

This little guy is such a blessing. He's such an easygoing baby. 

Truly, he is.

We love you, Josh!

These were shot with my Nikon D700, 85mm 1.4 around 6:30pm.
Settings f/1.6, ISO 400, shutter speed 1/3200- 1/6400.

For more Sunday Snapshots, stop on by Stefanie's blog.

Favorite Photo Friday: His new smile

As promised, I'm sharing a few photos I took of Caleb shortly after he lost his first tooth.

See?

It's been a long time coming.

Caleb turned 7 in January and, just last week, lost his first tooth.

As we anxiously awaited the day in which he would lose his first tooth, 

I have often thought about his early years.

You know, when he was a precious little infant,

still waiting in the orphanage for his mama and baba.

In all likelihood, he didn't get much comfort when he was teething.

And that idea just breaks my heart.

Now that he's added a gap to his smile,

he just looks so much older!

And still as handsome as can be!
Well, this weekend will prove to be a busy one for all of us.Madeline and I will head over to Orlando today, as Gina's big golf tournament has an 8:30am shotgun Saturday morning.Patrick and Caleb have a baseball game in the morning and will then head over to Orlandobecause we will be meeting our social worker at my sister's place for our second home study visit!
I know I should probably be focusing on my golf game during the tournament.  However, the photographer in me can't help myself.So I will be toting my camera around, too.I just have to ensure that I protect my gear. Hmm.
Have a great weekend, everyone!

On the mend

The little princess has been under the weather for a little while.

Last week, she had to miss dance and therapy.

Although she's not 100%, she's definitely better.

And that's a good thing because she has swim lessons next week.

This year, she'll be doing a week or two of refresher lessons.

She's already doing all the skills she needs to.  So I don't think she'll need many lessons.

I'm impressed with how much she remembers; she's quite comfortable in the water, too.

Yesterday at dance, the girls tried on their costumes and did a run through for their ballet number.

Oh my!  They were so stinkin' cute!

It seems I'll have to let Madeline wear her costume a bit, so it won't be such a distraction during the recital. lol.  

Just over a month away.  We're so excited.

Sunday Snapshot: Never the same again

You may be wondering what I mean by today's title. 

I would be referring to Caleb's precious smile.

You see, last night this precious boy finally lost his first tooth!

Yes, at 7 years of age.  Finally.

If you look closely, you can see how loose that tooth is.

And the photos in this series are some of his last photos with all those precious, little baby teeth.

As you will see, the kids indulged me the other day and let me snap away.

Just a brother and sister,

hanging out and having fun.

Showing some love

Being cute

Watching the planes

Looking sweet

And often full of the giggles

Some time next year, God willing, this sibling group of two will become a group of three.

Yesterday we met with our social worker, Shay, for our first home study visit..  

She was really sweet, and the kids loved her and her spinning tops!

They were so cute answering her questions.

She hopes to have our home study finished by mid May.

These photos were taken with my Nikon D700, 85mm 1.4
Settings: f 1.6, ISO 200-400, shutter speed 1/8000.

Anyway, I think next up on my agenda is 

to capture some fun photos of my precious boy and his new smile!

To join in the Sunday Snapshot fun, head over to Stefanie's blog.

Favorite Photo Friday: The boys of summer

We live in Florida, and as such, we have the opportunity to watch our boys of summer play in the spring.

We try to attend at least one game each Spring Training.

Living on the East Coast with your favorite team (The Yankees) on the West Coast means a road trip.

We had decided last Christmas that we would purchase tickets to this year's game against the Minnesota Twins for our extended family, so we could all join in the fun.

These photos are a few weeks late, so please bare with me.

My nephew Joshua is such an easygoing baby.  He did awesome the entire game!

He was probably one of the youngest Twins fans in attendance.

Leah had a fun time playing with her cousins.

She watched the game, 

but I think her favorite part of the day was her tub of popcorn. lol.

Each year, Caleb watches more and more of the game,

as he learns more during his own play.

Unfortunately for the Twins fans of the family, the Yankees mounted a comeback.  

Down 4-1 in the 7th, they came back to win it 6-4.  

What happens after a Yankee win?

They play Mr. Blue Eyes singing New York, New York.

Apparently it was a bit loud.

Since Caleb had outgrown any Yankee gear he owned, Patrick picked him up some PJs

while the rest of us hung out.

Caleb and Leah thought a tickle fight was a good way to pass the time.

Since the game was on a Friday, we hung around the west coast and made a weekend of it.

It seems when we got back to the hotel that

Madeline wanted to get a better idea of the area.

As I said in a previous post, we spent the rest of the weekend at Busch Gardens and Clearwater Beach.
We had such a wonderful time.
Unfortunately, my in-laws (Patrick's family) live so far away.
So we can't get together as much as we'd like.
However, I'm grateful that my sister's in-laws live nearby, so we can enjoy each other's company more often.

On the adoption front, our social worker will be coming tomorrow to begin our home study.
We're super excited about that.

Next weekend, I will be joining my brother-in-law, Andy, and his father, Phil in a round of golf to benefit my sister's friend, Gina.  While I LOVE the game of golf, I am NOT looking forward to playing....simply for the reason the tournament is happening in the first place.  Gina is not doing well, friends.  It makes my head and stomach hurt.  Please pray for her and her family in the coming weeks.

For more favorite photos this Friday, check out Lisa's blog.

Sunday Snapshot: Just black and white

The other day we had to bring Patrick's car in to get it serviced, 

which meant he had to take my minivan to work.

That resulted in an empty garage.

What did the kids do?

Play in it.

Yep.  I sent them out to play and told them I would be out in a second.  Only when I headed outside,

I found them still in the garage.

It's not often the kids can play in the garage.

Here in Florida, it gets too hot.  But the weather was lovely, cool, and breezy.

I thought I'd snap a few photos.

It seems Madeline didn't get the memo.

She kept darting from the front of the garage to the back, which kept me on my toes.

Lighting in the back of the garage is way different, leaving me to constantly recheck my settings.

I guess you could say I was up for the challenge.

Madeline basically just wanted to play with her cat stuffed animal.

She loves to be the mommy and shower it with lots of kisses.

All the while, Caleb was busy on his scooter or playing basketball (the hoop is just off the garage.)

Then Madeline decided she wanted to play with the chalk.

That's when she finally decided to flash me her pretty little smile, hair in her face and all.

I thought I would go ahead and share what I shot with and my settings.  My camera is a Nikon D700, lens 85mm 1.4.Shot at f/1.6, ISO 400 (a few at 640), shutter speed between 1/320 and 1/2000.
I converted them all to black and white so that the "blahness" of my garage wouldn't detract from the images.
Before Stefanie changed up the rules for Sunday Snapshot, I had decided to improve my photography skills.  
Some things I've been working on: 1. Improving composition.2.Improving full sun shots. 
Now, the new rules have given me that extra motivation.  So, thanks, Stefanie!
I still have more photos to share, as well as how life is going.  I just thought I'd save that for another post.
Please stop by Stefanie's blog to learn more about the "new" Sunday Snapshot and see some incredible photos.