Mother's Day Photoshoot

Check out these sweet images we took while we were enjoying the great outdoors in the beautiful weather on Mother's Day. (this was around 10:30am, after we'd been up since about 7:30!)

Mothers Day via iPhone

Waffles for Breakfast! Only the best!

Fresh picked Roses from the bush outside! (from Scarlett)

Fresh picked Iris from outside! (from Alex)

Little bit of fuss.. excuse my face please! :)

Homemade stromboli for lunch!

Some champagne with a splash of Peach Mango V8 splash! Yum!

I have some more pictures to share from our actual camera in our little backyard photo shoot which i'll put into another post!

My first official Mother's Day was very nice. Very relaxing! Alex made homemade waffles for breakfast, I snuggled a lot with Scarlett and held her most times she napped (other than her morning nap), we laid outside under a tree for a while, Alex made stromboli for lunch which was delicious!, we popped some bubbly, I made risotto for dinner and Alex added in some collards for good measure, we relaxed indoors and played with Scarlett all day.

Scarlett has been teething, or whatever the beginning stages of teething are so she wasn't happy all the time. We wanted to go take a walk somewhere but the logistics were difficult to plan around Scarlett's cat nap schedule, or non-schedule really. So relaxing at home was the best idea and we took full advantage.

I hope everyone who is a mother or a mother to be had a fantastic day filled with love!

10 Things + 1 :: Volume 5

11. The Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop starts this week. I am so excited to see what we get! We got half of a veggie share and a fruit share. Yum yum yum, organic and fresh and healthy. Perfect for making baby food, am i right? Speaking of baby food.. we got some asparagus seconds from the farm yesterday and I'm definitely going to use some of it to make baby food to freeze now, since asparagus won't be in season when Scarlett will start eating it. I have a feeling she's going to love it!

10. I'm currently obsessed with a new salad that Britt introduced me to almost a month ago now. It's called an Oriental Chicken Salad (i think?) and it is delish. I've since took it a couple of places to share and it got great reviews. I'll post the recipe soon!

9. Super excited for some upcoming trips! First to Richmond to see family and watch some volleyball and soccer. Scarlett is super pumped to meet her aunts, uncles and cousins! And then to Rehoboth Beach with friends where Scarlett will put her feet (and probably hands) in the sand for the first time. I hope none of it ends up in her mouth but who am i kidding? I'm sure it will.

8. Honestly, I'm regretting not getting the iPhone 4S.. just for the camera. The camera on the 4 is fine but I take so many pictures with my phone that the 4S would've been worth it. Oh well, next upgrade is in December, looks like i'm either getting the 4S or waiting a little bit longer for a potential iPhone 5!

7. Hoping for good weather for both of those trips above!! The weather this year so far has been interesting to say the least. No snow or really any super cold weather, which has been nice. I hope it gets warm and stays warm soon. The flip flopping and not knowing whether to wear a coat in the morning is getting a little old.

6. Scarlett will turn 4 months on the 20th and I'll do a whole post on it but one big thing she did a couple weeks ago was she rolled over! First huge milestone accomplished! We also hope that at her 4 month dr appointment we'll be able to start some kind of solids. Maybe then she'll consistently sleep longer at night!? :)

5. Alex got a charcoal grill for his birthday and let me just say, food cooked on a charcoal grill really does taste better. It's kinda crazy but so so yummy. Alex is looking for any and every opportunity to use it. I see lots of backyard cookouts in our future for this summer!

4. Post baby bod update. The weight is coming off.. slowly but surely. I'm trying not to rush it but the last couple of weeks I've been trying to eat healthier and that killer salad in #10 has been helping! I try to take walks on my days off with Scarlett and starting this week I'm going to try to get a pilates sesh in everyday. My core is definitely in need of some toning.

3. Speaking of post baby bod.. I'm gonna need some new swim suits for this year. More mom-appropriate but also stylish. I think I might have to search pinterest for this. These days I search pinterest for everything!

2. Mothers day is this coming weekend! My first official, baby outside the womb mothers day, since last mothers day I was pregnant but didn't know it. We're excited to spend the day together doing lots of fun things! A yummy breakfast, maybe a picnic lunch.. fun!

1. This blog design still needs a lot of work and I'm working on it when I get a chance. I need to look into the coding of some other blogs I follow to see how they get things arranged so nicely because I don't really like the spacing on the right between the different pages. I should really just hire someone for a new design.. I'll be pondering that now.

Life after Baby :: Working

I've been back to work now for 8 weeks at the end of this week. What?

My baby will be 16 weeks old on Friday. Double what?

Time is moving so fast now that I'm back at work. I have so much to do at work that the days fly by and before I know it, I'm home again, settling down for the evening.

It's staying lighter later which is great for some things and bad for others. After returning home from work we have about 3 good hours until we lay the little one down and unwind for the night ourselves. Three hours isn't really enough but somehow, it is.

I love my half hour lunch breaks where I have just enough time to eat and write a blog post, or read some blogs, or catch up on perezhilton (less and less these days). I try to get these things done while Scarlett is napping at home, but her naps never last long enough for me to get anything done and our home computer is getting slower and slower. Not to mention, computer time falls behind cleaning time and laundry time.

But before I know it, she will be 6 months old and then she'll be crawling and then walking and then talking and then I'll wonder how she was ever so tiny. Tiny enough to fit neatly inside my body. I both dread and look forward to those days. It's a delicate balance I guess.

I'm thankful that I can work part time currently and spend a couple days a week caring for sweet Scarlett. I wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. When she smiles at me (and she does so quite often), it melts my heart in a giant puddle of love.

So I guess since I can't slow time down.. I'll continue filling it with all the moments I hope to remember forever.

iPhone Photo Adventures v3

Left to Right and Top to Bottom

A birthday gift Alex recieved from his buddy Dan, love the BLL!

Tayden! Steph sent me this picture of the outfit we got her. She is the cutest strawberry ever!

Baby blue eyes staring me down.

Sitting on Daddy's lap when he got home from work.

Happy Birthday to Alex!

Peaceful sleeping baby.

A half smile for me.

Just chillin with our hood up, laying on our tummy.

Asleep after some hardcore activity mat time.

Tiny lips pursed while on the changing table.

Half death stare. Tired of the pictures I'm sure!

Samsung smart tv. More of a want. Saw it at Sears and snapped a pic to remember it.

I take all my photos with my iPhone and edit them using Instagram. Follow me! mbru15!

(Tid bit I just learned. To edit but not post to instagram, work in Airplane mode!)

Stay tuned for the upcoming iPhone Video Adventures!

That time I became a photo editor

Working with photoshop at work has given me lots of experience in editing.
So much so that I took on a challenge from my sister in law, Laurel, to edit some of her wedding photos. 

Below are the before and afters. Can you spot the differences?? :)

(The before's are on the right)

And I decided to throw in one that I did for work.

I really like working in Photoshop (and Photoshop Elements).
These sorts of projects present a challenge to me and it's fun to take them on and see what I can do!

I'm sharing this because I've added myself to The Usic and I will be offering these services on there soon!
Thought it would be a fun way to share a hobby with others!

Baby Praying Mantis

The other day, Alex found a Praying Mantis nest in the yard and took some pictures of the babies. He had to zoom in really close. It's crazy how small they start out!