New Pictures

I am going to brag on myself for a minute, because I took some very good pictures of the kids today(If I do say so myself!). Check em out...

You can also click on my flickr ad to the right and see more.

Lucy in the Swaddle with Diamonds

Last night I decided that Lucy had been swaddled long enough and it was time for her to learn to sleep without being hogtied by her blanket. For the uninitiated, swaddling is recommended for newborns up to three months old in order to simulate life in the womb and to harness the baby's startle reflex. Somewhere around three months, supposedly children get too strong for the swaddle and then they are unwrapped and run the risk of suffocation due to having blankets in the crib. Lucy has not been able to escape from my professional swaddling job, but I am sick of having to do it. Also, it means that we really can't go out at night because nobody else knows how to do it. So off with the Swaddle last night.

She didn't do too badly. But it did stink because I had to get up about a million times in the middle of the night to give her the pacifier, to feed her (which I haven't done in months) and to just say, "night night." I have been so used to getting at least 10 hours without her waking that this was a bit of a shocker. I know that this is going to happen for the next few nights until she gets used to it. But, uggh...I was paying for it today. Which is why there aren't many posts up today. So sorry.

The benefit has been that she was pretty tired today. When I took her to the Y this morning, the ladies just picked her up the first time she fussed and she was out like a light!

We'll just see how things go tonight. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend she will be back to sleeping like a champ!

Day 3-You Decide!

Which picture ought to be my Day 3 entry? You decide!

Project 365 Kids

I just joined a new Flikr group called Poject 365 Kids. The idea is to take at least one picture every single day of the same subject but in different locations. So my muse is Lucy. Asher has decided that he hates getting his picture taken and I don't feel like pulling teeth every day. So Lucy it is!

I am sure that the most difficult part of this is going to be simply the pure discipline of setting up shots and actually taking the picture-every single day for a whole year. But I love the idea of capturing Lucy as she changes in real time. She will be so different in one year and I hope to come up with a really nice series of how much changes during the first year of life. Another challenge is to capture her in all of her moods and not just smiling. I am really excited because I think that this is going to help me become a much better photographer. I enjoy taking pictures, but I think that this is going to take me to a whole other level!

Here are my first two entries:

Day 1

Day 2

Where else in Asheville should I try to take her picture? Margarita--any ideas???