Holidays 2010

I'm finally taking the time to go through all the pictures I took from Christmas eve and Christmas, so expect a very belated holiday update post soon! In the meantime, here is the portrait I managed to churn out this year:



<3 :)

Pink Christmas & Baby Reindeer

A few weeks ago I took some pictures of Corbin for our "Pink Christmas" themed photoshoot. I never posted the end product, so I thought I'd put up some pictures finally! This is going to be a post of pictures, so enjoy!

Here are some out-takes:











And after much Photoshopping, the final two pictures:





I love my beautiful girl. :) She was fun to photograph, but she did at one point get really upset with the whole thing.

And a few days ago, I got some pictures of her being my "baby reindeer." She was wearing these antlers that I've had in my trunk since Christmas 2006 (when I was in the Christmas parade with the CCRG) and Ryan pulled out recently.





So it's officially the last few days until Christmas and we're still trying to finalize our family and travel plans. From what I've heard, Corbin's going to have a great Christmas and I'm really excited for her. Not to mention I can't wait to dress her up in her adorable Christmas dress for this year! It definitely rivals the adorableness that was last year's dress!

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

Christmas Lights!

So I've been wanting to do one of these portraits, but it's taken me a while to get around to it! It was just as hard as I thought it was going to be! Hard to get the right light, hard to get my now mobile baby to be still, to quit drooling, to quit trying to eat the Christmas lights...sigh.

This is what I've managed:


[Looks best at full-size!]

I like it. But I'm not sure if it's THE portrait yet! I don't know, we'll see!

And I'm sooo behind on blogging. Corbin is now crawling and sitting up on her own! She almost refuses baby food, and wants to eat whatever we are eating, and will pitch a nice little fit if she doesn't get her way! She's also decided that she likes staying up late. :P But I wouldn't have it any other way. I love her too much!

Until next time!

Oh, PS. Some outtakes, lol.

\
Eating her tutu.


So done with this photoshoot!


Brooding.


Very interested in the pretend lollipop.


Trying to escape out the front door, Corbin-style.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, so obviously I'm late on the Halloween post, but I've been enjoying my weekend off to the fullest extent...which means that I slept until 1:30 this afternoon. I did get up and feed and take care of Corbin this morning for about an hour, but lucky for me, Ryan took over so I could get some much needed R and R. And I feel great!

So Corbin ended up having TWO Halloween outfits, and of course I did pictures of her in both of them! We really didn't do anything "special" for Halloween besides the dressing up...I was feeling very under the weather Friday so I didn't want to go try to fight with kids at the mall for the trick or treat thing when Corbin can't even eat candy yet! And I didn't carve a pumpkin, either. OH WELL. However, I got some very adorable pictures, and to me, that's all that matters at this point. :P

Her first outfit was just a Halloween-themed outfit. The onesie was a gift from a co-worker, the socks came out of the $1 bin at Target, the tutu was $4 at Claire's, and the hairbows were like $3 at Walmart. And it was ADORABLE!

Pictures!






That last one cracks me up because it looks like she's sticking her tongue out at the pumpkin! And it was hard to get her to want to look at the camera because I made the mistake of having the dogs outside while I was trying to take the pictures, and she is so fascinated with the dogs that she wouldn't take her eyes off of them! All of these smiles were strictly for daddy! (She totally lights up when she sees him.)

Speaking of Corbin and Daddy, have I mentioned how much of a daddy's girl she is?



Yeah, he's whipped. :P

Corbin's second Halloween outfit was a little angel costume that Grandma Lewis sent that I paired with some rainbow butterfly wings that I also found at Claire's. (I really do love that store.) She looked so pretty and delicate, and I think she had more fun with this photoshoot (maybe because I left the dogs inside this time?).

More pictures! :D






Doesn't she look so happy? :)

And then, there's my new favorite picture of Corbin, where she's totally showing her true colors:



I see a little bit of Daddy and a whole lot of Mama in that picture. :)

Anywho, that's all for now, but I'll write back soon about her crawling escapades! Let's just say that it'll be any day now, as she's getting very persistent!

Bet you're wondering what a C.O.X.C.U. is, aren't you?

I haven't written in a while, and I think it's because I get very frustrated when I get on my computer lately because we've been having internet issues. A technician actually came out yesterday but didn't do anything, and that was also frustrating. I just want to brag about my beautiful daughter; is that so wrong?!

Things, as always, are wonderful. My daughter, who really is America's Next Top Model, grows more and more beautiful everyday. I'm not kidding, she's gorgeous! And for those who were asking, her eyes are almost brown, with a hint of greenish-blue in the center. I think they will eventually turn brown completely, like Ryan's, and I'm totally fine with that. I'm resigned to just sharing my nose. And that's cool I guess. Except I HATE my nose. :P Well...I guess Corbin and I share more our of personalities than our looks. :)

For example, what do you do when you want daddy to pay attention to you and do something for you? Well, whining doesn't hurt!



(Okay, okay, I totally kid! Ryan is amazing, I hardly have to ask him to do anything. He's right there, being the best daddy and best husband ever. I'm so lucky.)

In other news, Corbin can almost sit up on her own! She can hold herself up pretty well, usually using her hands as a brace, and if she's on the bed, she'll hold onto the sheets to keep herself upright. I'm so proud! And today when she was laying on the floor on her blanket, I saw her push herself upright for a few seconds! Holy moly! She's seriously going to be sitting up and crawling before I know it! It scares me just a bit! I keep thinking about how Christmas is almost here, and she's going to be 8 months old on Christmas! EEEK! What kind of toys do you buy for an 8 month old?!

I already know one thing I'm definitely getting her: A Brobee pillow! I love Brobee, he's totally my favorite. I think she'll like it. I'm going to order it when I get paid later this week in case Hot Topic decides they want to quit carrying all this nifty Yo Gabba Gabba gear before Christmas!

And speaking of holidays...what is Corbin going to be for Halloween?! I just don't know! I see a lot of cute baby costumes, but the cuter ones are for bigger babies! GRR! I wanted her to be Snow White. Maybe next year? I don't know, I guess we'll just have to see, but time is running out! AAAH!

Well, I'm going to end this with a few pictures from our latest tutu photoshoot from Saturday. :D Corbi-lou is so darling in pink. <3



This is my favorite picture, so it has officially been added to my portraits portfolio, lol. But here is a great outtake:



MMM! Tutu looks like cotton candy, tastes like tulle!

And finally, a C.O.X.C.U. (not really, lol):



<3

Tu + Tu = Tutu!

I have an obsession with tulle. I'm not exactly sure why, but at least I can admit it. A few months ago, I bought several yards of tulle and ribbon and fashioned my own homemade tutu. It is fantastic. I have wanted to make one for Corbin for a while, but I've been putting it off because of how painstaking it was to make mine (granted, mine will be MUCH larger than hers, but still...I can be so lazy sometimes!). Cutting tulle is nothing short of torture, just know that.

My tutu is dark pink + light pink and very full and flowy. So much fun! But I don't really have many opportunities to wear it, so it just kind of sits in a corner in my bedroom. Bummer. :(



Well, last Saturday I went to the Mall of Georgia with Emma (again!) and we went to Claire's and found the most fun, fun, fun tutu EVER! Already made! With a big pink bow on it! For only $7.50! A bargain! Especially considering the one I wanted to get her from Gymboree was $26! And this one is cuter! And will fit her for much longer! Yaaaaaaay!

So I'm kind of saving the mommy+baby tutu photoshoot for another time since we just had fun with matching socks, but I did manage to snag a few shots of her modeling her latest frilly accessory. :D



[That was photoshopped in a hurry, as I wasn't really trying to go for portrait. I'm saving that for another time!]

Is it horrible that I spoil my child so? Am I living vicariously through Corbi-lou? :P

At-Home Portraits

Over the past few months, I've really gotten into photography, and really have had a lot of fun playing around in Photoshop. It's especially exciting now that I have a baby because I can finally take pictures of her! It's so fun to get some amazing photographs, and not even have to pay a professional! So far, these are my favorites:



This first one I did when Corbin was about two months old. We were just hanging out in bed one day while Ryan was at work and I decided to break out the camera. I sat it on the windowsill, and this is all natural sunlight. I hate to use the flash because it ruins pictures and makes weird shadows. My favorite thing about it is the highlights in her eyes. She's staring so intently at the camera. :)



This one I did very recently. She was hanging out in her baby bed, post-bath, and I decided to sit her up and see what I could get. The look on her face here cracks me up SO MUCH, because she looks JUST LIKE RYAN! I had to photoshop out the cord behind her head from the baby monitor and I changed up the colors a bit, but it's fun!



This last one I managed today! I went to the mall because our Hot Topic store is going out of business, and I got these stripey knee-high socks for $3! Pretty much the reason I bought them was so I could do a picture like this, because Corbin has these amazing leg-warmers from my awesomely awesome friend Summer that she hasn't been able to fit into yet. Lucky for me, today was the day they fit! :) And Corbin made a perfect face just in time for a picture. She is more adorable than words can say!

I'm so proud of myself! I did all of these pictures with a Canon Powershot SD500 7.1 megapixel digital camera, nothing fancy at all! And I LOVE doing these pictures, so if you ever want some baby photography, let me know! It would be lots of fun! :D

Daddy's Girl

Corbin is such a daddy's girl, and I think I always knew it was going to be this way. She came out looking just like him! I can't complain though, because he made her very beautiful. I really love seeing them together, because she is always just so content when she's in his company. This morning she was in her crib being a little cranky (she was awake and wanted some attention), so I brought her over to the bed where she spent a few minutes with her daddy.





O HAI MOMMY! :D





I'm pretty sure she was preparing to eat his finger here! lol





I think she's ready for her bath now! She was starting to smell (I think it was the poopy diaper)!

After her bath, we got all dried off in the crib and got on a clean diaper. While mommy was trying to decide what to dress Corbi-lou in, she snapped this picture of Corbin staring at her Hello Kitty mobile. She LOVES it. (Thanks Anna!) Every time she sees it, it's like the first time, and she gets all excited and starts kicking her legs and smiling. She talks to it sometimes, too. She's so silly.



Finally we decided on an outfit, one she hasn't worn before! It was hanging in the closet and it just looked perfect! Mommy loves those ruffly-butt outfits. :D I think Corbin liked it, too!



Then mommy got REALLY camera happy, but I think Corbin was just DONE smiling for the day! Now she's just going to look at me like I'm crazy!



Well. I had fun, and I'm sure she did, too. But the day has yet to really get started! See how much fun we can have in just an hour or two in the morning?

After a little playing around in Photoshop, mommy has a new portrait of Corbi-lou!



I hope you all enjoyed the better quality pictures today, 'cause I had fun taking them!