Hey there!

Thanks for stopping by my blog- a place where I share a bit of my photography, a bit of my life, and a lot of me! I am in love with the life that God has provided me. I live with my wonderful husband in central Oklahoma, in the town of Edmond. I am a wife, sister, daughter, and friend. I enjoy my work as a nurse and photographer. I adore sweets, nature, and my pesky (but cute) boxer, Honey. I feel that I am blessed with a passion for photography, and pray that I am able to bless others through it.

Thank you for being here and sharing the experience with me!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Haircuts, Friends, and Grout

Sorry for the delay in blog posts, I've been working on a wedding that I will be sharing soon enough and after uploading these photos I realized just how few pictures I've taken this month! Here is a catch-up of the few that I have taken. 
I haven't shared with you guys yet, but after doing the weekly pictures of Isaiah for a year, I changed it to monthly pics, which I find appropriate for this age. I had a hard time deciding on how to document a kid who doesn't lay down anymore and without making it a big setup, but after a few months, settled on his IKEA chair and the wooden blocks to show his age. And to show my true laziness, I just keep him in whatever he's wearing for the day (which in the pic below was his pajama shirt with some comfy pants... keepin' it real at the Ofosus!). Anyways, the real reason I post this pic from last month was to show his ridiculous hair! It sometimes takes me awhile to get things done, esp. when it costs money, so Isaiah's hair just kept growing. I knew it was long, but it looks so much more crazy now that it's been cut!
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Here he is this month (a couple weeks after his haircut- still long and curly, but much less 'helmet-head' looking)1-26-8
2 weeks ago Isaiah and I discovered the story/play time at our city library. It was so much fun that we've been inviting our friends to join us! Last week Sydnie and Gavin were able to come, can't believe this little guy is almost a year now! (Note: Isaiah loves to hug his friends)
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Isaiah's latest favorite toy has been his Cozy Coupe from aunt Kacey. He enjoys getting in and out, turning the key and wheel, and of course being pushed around. He also has been enjoying his basketball goal and is really getting good with his shots! This kid loves balls, and loves to point them out anywhere he sees something round (balloons, lights.. they all are a 'ball!'). He even points to a blank TV and says ball- thanks to dad's love of sports TV
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He also loooves to help out, whether I am dusting, cleaning windows, cooking, etc. He has his first chore of feeding the dog, which he enjoys because he's actually allowed to carry the dog bowl around. Yesterday he helped us as we cleaned our tile grout (more on that below).
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It turned into a family affair with Dad setting a good example for Isaiah on how men can help! (Yes, my husband wears eye protection while scrubbing the floor, it's a man thing)
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Now I have been wanting to clean our grout for months (it only takes kids to realize just how dirty your house is, as I wheel him around in his cozy coupe, all I do is stare at the floor and the yucky grout!). I'm not quite sure what has gotten into me this past week, it's either early spring cleaning, an (almost) 2nd trimester energy boost, or a super early nesting syndrome going on, but I have been wanting the surfaces of my house clean! And not just clean, but vacuum the cushions, fans, and under the fridge clean (a few of those things which I've never done before, who knew you were supposed to vacuum under the fridge?). Add to the never-done-before list; grout cleaning. Ray wanted to hire someone to come and clean, but that cost money.. I had pinned a link on pintrest awhile back but and finally got around to testing it out this weekend. It was amazing! I honestly never realized my grout is as light as it is! We have quite a bit of tile in our house, so I knew this would be a big undertaking, but with this pregnancy cleaning surge, I went for it! My favorite part was that the cleaning compound was simply made of water, backing soda, vinegar (I had soaked mine in orange peel to give it a citrus smell), and lemon. All totally edible, so it wasn't a big deal if my dog or 1 year old got into it. Which turned out great since Isaiah woke up from his nap before we had finished and of course had to help out. Here is an example of the difference between the cleaned grout (below) and the grout as it was (above). I am having to take the house in sections since almost half of it is tile, but I have a goal of 2 weeks to finish before my family comes in town and the motivation of seeing clean grout (I love a task where I have visible progress).
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The recipe: "7 cups water, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/3 cup ammonia (or lemon juice) and 1/4 cup vinegar. Spray on grout, leave for about 1 hour, then scrub vigorously with a scrub brush."
I wiped mine down with a towel after scrubbing so the dirty water wouldn't just sit there. I also kept a bucket of water near by to rinse the scrub brush, it's amazing the amount of dirt that washes off!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

My "Create" Room!

It's something that spans back to our time of house searching (can't believe that was over 4 years ago!). While touring some homes, they would have an office space or dining area toward the front of the the house that they converted to a playroom. There were toys and colors all over the place. It was never very attractive (esp to someone without kids), and I told my-self that I never wanted to have that. Fast forward a few years and a 16 month old son later. I've always used our office as a place for the computer and camera gear, my sort-of 'business office', which worked great baiscally until Isaiah started walking. Then I couldn't even go in there without him pulling CD's off the shelves (of course after I had just reoginized them all!). I tried to give him toys to play with, but I never really could spend any time in there without him tearing everything up. I then saw some rooms of pintrest and got the crazy idea to put a bed in the room (since we haven't had a guest room since Isaiah's been here). I thought of a murphy bed, two storage bentched that could be pulled together, a beautiful but super expensive day bed. Basically it was all out of our budget (of next-to-nothing). One day in Hobby Lobby I was looking at some wood letters, when the word "create" came to me. I thought what a perfect idea for the office! (*Note: this is me justifying myself that I don't have a 'playroom' at the front of my house ;c) Instead I had a "Creative" room where Isaiah and I can both use the right side of our brains. I flipped my IKEA shelf on it's side (removing the center section for CD's). Finally filled the empty frame that's been at the back of the office with my inspiration (I purchased the letters, then decorated them with things I had around the house). Pulled the rug from my closet (I had found it on sale at Walmart for $20 one day and couldn't pass it up, not realizing how perfect it would be for this space!). Purchased an awesome antique glider, thanks to my cousin Lindsey, at a consignment shop in Kansas over Thanksgiving (I originally had one of my green chairs there, but it took up too much space and I loooove the floral pattern on this chair, plus it was $25 bucks and only needed a good scrubbing with oxyclean! The green chairs are now in my bedroom). As you can see below, Isaiah enjoys the space :c)
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This is the collage of hand-made goodness I put together. The picture on the left is from photo-friend Mike, the wreath my SIL Judy made, the drawing on the right is my grandma's, the IKEA frames were ones that I had in the garage, which will get filled with photos and drawings (Isaiah's first drawing is on the bottom left), and the cork boards are actually IKEA hot pads that I thought would be great to pin up different art projects on!
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My office part didn't change much. I need to organize it better, but it's functional.
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A close up of the rockin' (har-har) chair!
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Aaaand,  the back wall, which I actually painted to be a chalkboard wall! Ray was nervous that this would teach Isaiah to draw on any wall, but he's actually done really well and hasn't drawn anywhere but there. It was a Martha Stewart trick of just adding non-sanded tile group to pain and turning anything into a chalkboard surface. I liked the idea that I could use some left over paint from the room and not have to have it standout too much (It seems to have worked, but i didn't see a real big difference after testing a mark on the other walls). This honestly has been Isaiah's favorite part, he loves to cheer for himself after he draws :c)
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Not to say it's a totally clean activity, but whats a creative room without a bit of chalk dust?!
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The thing I spent the most money on were the baskets for the toys. I didn't think how difficult it would be to find the dimensions for baskets to fit when the shelf was on it's side. It's a very narrow, tall area, and although I wish the baskets would have gone all the way to the top, these were the only ones I could find to fit (and they were on the pricer side too $60 for 4) but I've learned that baskets are just a pricey thing because you are usually buying multiples.
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These two give the room a thumbs up, so I guess that's all that counts!
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I spent some time trying to find a before pic of the office since I forgot to take one (I"m kinda terrible at that) but can tell that we didn't do much 'living' in this space because I couldn't find any since the day we moved in (and it was a terrible salmon color and not at all what it's been for the past few years). So sorry, I failed there.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Day in the Life of a 16 Month Old

I saw on pintrest where someone photographed all the mundane parts of their child's day, just to document the day. They of course had nice, sharp pictures all put together with the exact time on each pic. I took the pics and am getting them blogged, and call that good for me! I chose to document Isaiah's first day of 2013. I missed the naptime and when we took aunt Lisa to the airport, but I think it will be fun to look back on his day (even though this wasn't the most typical day). 

8:12-We woke up after sleeping the last hour on the couch together1-1-3
He hits the day running
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And asks for the music to be turned on
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Then we boggie
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At 9:13 we stop for breakfast, an omlet and oranges
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Food makes this kid happy
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Next up is a diaper change
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Acting like this is an easy task..
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Shortly after 10 he goes to give daddy good morning hugs
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At 10:50 the two buds head outside together
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Never mind the freezing temps, this kid loves the outdoors
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After mom got too cold, it's back inside for a water break
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And some hoops
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Next the dog needs pestered
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Around 6:30 pm Isaiah masters getting onto mom and dad's bed
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And plays with a ball, naked, while delaying a bath
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6:50 and he's finally in the bath
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Then Isaiah's favorite part, brushing his teeth!
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Finally it's story time, then mom rocks her sweet boy to sleep :c)
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