7/365

Not much going on today. I did manage to get most of my Christmas decorations down...hopefully I can get it finished tomorrow. I'm also working on cleaning out closets and boxing up all of Ana Kate's old clothes and toys. I'm probably about halfway done....I'm hoping for some time alone in her room this weekend so I can get it over with. It seems like when I take her up there with me I end up with a bigger mess than I started with!

I tried to take pictures in the morning versus the afternoon and pretty much had the same result...so basically the real issue is that Ana Kate is 2 years old and doesn't want to be still for the camera. Imagine that!! Whitney's school was cancelled today due to the icy roads...so she came home to do some laundry and hang out. I took a few pictures of her, but I was having a really hard time because Ana Kate was throwing a fit. So limited practice with my new lens, but so far I really like it!

I had to add a picture of our dog Riley....she doesn't mind sitting still for a picture. : ) She is such a sweet dog and puts up with quite a lot from Ana Kate.

6/365

So first off I want to say how excited I am to have a brand new niece today!! Yay!! Little Elizabeth Kathryn was born last night at 9:30 and weighed in at 7lbs 15oz. Congratulations Matt and Kathy!! Can't wait to see pictures of little Elizabeth!

We actually got out of the house today! Ana Kate and I were both up around 6:00 this morning, so after our normal morning routine, we got ready and went shopping. Everytime I ask her where she wants to go she almost always says Target. So...that was our first stop. We browsed for a while and found some good deals and I let her play in the toy aisle for at least 10 minutes...so she was happy. We had to head back home for nap, but then we hit a few more stores.

One of the things I bought today was a one year Bible and I am really excited about it! One of my goals for this year is to make more time for Bible study and prayer, so I'm hoping this book will help. I've never attempted to read the Bible in a year, but just looking at this plan it looks very doable. I will keep everyone updated on my progress. I also picked up a veggie tales cd for Ana Kate and she LOVES it! She didn't want to get out of the car at our next stop because she was listening to her songs. : ) So sweet!

After a few more stores we came home and I attempted to take my pictures for today....and once again, it was quite difficult! I'm wondering if maybe I'm picking the wrong time of the day for photos?? I might try tomorrow in the morning and see how that goes. I am actually pretty excited about taking photos tomorrow because I just got a new lens for my camera! Yay!! I can't wait to try it out!

After our attempt at pictures we went out for dinner and had a good time. Baby girl actually ate some of her food and sat still and behaved, so we were very proud of her! A fun day!

5/365

Not much to say tonight. Another day with snow on the ground and it is SUPER cold outside! Plus it's supposed to snow again tomorrow! I've decided that we are definitely getting out of the house tomorrow...we are SO tired of being cooped up in the house.


I had to work hard to get my pictures today. Ana Kate was a wild woman and was having lots of fun running from Mommy. I am hoping I'll eventually wear her down and she will start posing. : )

4/365

Well...another lazy day today. We still had snow on the ground and the roads were still bad, so we stayed home again. But...we DID see the sun!! I took advantage of the bright sun shining in the front door and windows for my pictures today. Some of them are a little bright, but I couldn't resist because they feel so warm!

I love this one...I noticed after I took the picture she had put her ponytail holder on her wrist just like I do.

Here is the first picture in black & white...I think I'm partial to the color version since it shows her brown eyes...but I really like this one too.

3/365

Today was one of the laziest Sunday's we've ever had. It snowed last night, and the roads were pretty bad, so we stayed home all day and did a lot of nothing! It was nice and very relaxing! I got out my Nikon and tried to get some pictures of Ana Kate, but again got very little cooperation. She is getting very good at hiding from the camera.

I thought since we didn't do much today I would share a few of Ana Kate's favorite phrases lately:

1) 'But, Mom....I need to ask you a question.' (This is almost always said after I've asked her to do something and is used as a stall tactic.)
2) 'It's a guaranteed failure!' (Still haven't figured out where she got this, but she says it a lot...)
3) 'Are you kidding me?' (This one is always used in context and really makes us laugh...occassionally she will also say 'That's crazy' shortly after.)

She talks ALL the time and is usually saying something funny. I'm sure I could think of some more, but those are the ones we currently hear the most. I don't have much more to add tonight...we were pretty boring today. Hope everyone has enjoyed their New Year's weekend!

Only clouds in the sky today...and lots of snow on the ground.




I took a few more pictures of Ana Kate outside on the front porch. I forgot to adjust my shutter for the first picture and it's the only one she really posed for....so it's quite overexposed...but she's looking at me. : ) I'm just getting back into photography and actually trying to take decent manual pictures...so hopefully the pictures will improve as this project moves forward.

2/365

Day 2 of the 365 project...so far, so good! I took all the pictures today with my old camera again because it is just so easy to carry in my purse and we were out and about for most of the day.

Ana Kate and I stayed in our PJs most of the morning and played while Doug went to Fayetteville to have Whitney cut his hair. Doug got home around lunch time and then after lunch we went for a walk at the park. We didn't last very long though because it was SO cold outside! We walked about 3 miles yesterday, and even though it was cold the sun was shining, so it didn't feel too bad. That was not the case today....very cloudy. Hopefully it will warm up soon!

After our walk we went to the mall and I returned some things and did some shopping. I took most of the pics from today in the car. Ana Kate has decided to hide from the camera lately and was playing games with me....but I still was able to trick her and get few when she didn't expect it! : )

After shopping at our local mall we decided to go to Fayetteville to a couple of stores there. I was thinking about going to see Whitney on our way home and about 2 seconds later she called me and asked where we were. She was just leaving school, so she met us at Sam's and then we went to McAlister's for dinner. We were so happy to see her and Ana Kate loved having her big sister around. We haven't seen her much since she moved out, so it was nice to spend some time together today.

Ana Kate & Whitney at dinner. I love my girls SO much!

1/365 - Happy New Year!!

I've been thinking a lot about what 2010 will hold for us and am hoping for a great year. I'm not much on New Year's resolutions, but I do have a few things I'd like to work on this year:

1. Exercise daily
2. Eat healthier
3. Have more patience
4. Read my Bible everyday
5. Get organized
6. Simplify
7. Spend more time outdoors

I could add many more to that list, but those are the things I have been thinking about lately.

I also am thinking about doing more with this blog....updating more frequently and maybe doing a 365 photo project (hence the title of this post). My focus would be to take a picture everyday all year and post it on the blog. It's an abitious thing to post to the blog every day for a year. I tried to post everyday while we were in Vietnam and that was tough. So, I'm thinking I will give the 365 thing a try...some days I may have a lot to say and some days it may just be a picture...but we'll see how far I can go! Wish me luck!

So I will go ahead and post the only picture I took today which is of Ana Kate sleeping! It's a terrible picture, taken with my old camera, but it was taken today!

So let the 365 project begin!