Trendy Tree House: Sports

I promise this will be my last entry for the day and possibly the week. I thought I didn't have a sport picture but then I remembered this funny picture of Nicolas and Leo. Leo was supposed to be teaching Nicolas how to swing a bat but instead he was teasing him and I was able to catch Leo in the act of being a meanie.

Too see more great sport pictures...click below

Paper Mama Photo Challenge: Favorite

Nicolas has the most beautiful eyes and the craziest hair. And these are my favorite things of all time. Last week he woke up extra early and I was able to see him before I headed out to work. When I got him out of his crib, I noticed his rooster hair. It was awesome! I had to get a picture. (Please pardon the look of these shots, there was no natural light)I swear no gel was used.

And this one is of his crazy unruly hair and his beautiful dark brown eyes. It was 90+ degrees and he was sweating so bad. His hair was soaking wet and his eyes were trying to tell me "mom, please stop taking pics, I'm hot"

To see more great "Favorite" shots head on over to

In A Yellow House Challenge: Urban

Downtown Durham was a great location for "urban" shots. This was my first time venturing out to take city/urban/architecture pictures. I usually stick to people (a.k.a Nicolas), bugs or flowers but I loved it. Durham was raw yet beautiful, old yet modern, folksy yet trendy; it was a great backdrop. Here are my picks:

The paint was peeling away and the colors were washed but it was beautiful.

To see more great entries click below

Macro Monday 07/26

On Saturday I particpated in Scott Kelby's Third Annual Photo Walk and was able to capture some great macro shots. I don't have a macro lens but my telephoto does a pretty good job at capturing macros. Here are my favorites:

Butterfly #1:

I followed this butterfly around until it settled on this beautiful purple flower. And as you can see it decided to pose for me.

Butterfly #2

I thought this was the same butterfly but as I took a closer look, this butterfly had even more beautiful colors. I waited until it spread out it wings. The colors on the flowers and the butterfly were amazing.

Moth:

As we strolled along the photo walk, another photographer noticed this huge moth hanging out on the lamp post. I did not have my telephoto lens but was able to get close enough to focus on its beautiful cream colored body.

To see more beautiful macro shots head on over to Macro Monday

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 7/25

I waited until the last minute to get all the pictures for the scavenger hunt. I had a bunch of photography events that allowed me to get all the pictures in time.

Food:These were taken at the Durham Farmer's Market right before the photo walk began. Local and fresh food, yummo!

Portrait:

Ashley and I went together to the photo walk and I told her to please pose. The picture was blown out but I was able to salvage it by converting it to B&W. Woohoo!

Chair:

This chair/bench was calling my name after about 1.5 hours of walking downtown Durham in 100+ degrees.

Game:Nicolas thought this would be a fun "game"; to climb in and out of the shopping cart. I was able to capture the picture right before he fell right on his face. (he was not harmed, just a little startled)

Miniature:

After much thought I pulled out one of Nicolas' smallest onsies. Nic was (and still is) a pretty small baby so when we brought him home none of his 0-3 month cloth fit. This little "miniature" onsie was the only thing that fit. Looking at it now, it is amazing how much he has grown in just 18 months. And in the background is the glider in which I spent many hours nursing and rocking him to sleep. Sweet memories.

To see more scavenger hunt entries click below

I hope you had a wonderful weekend
N@

Fix it Friday Challenge

I usually don't participate in fix-it Friday b/c I don't have a "cool" editing software and have been exclusively using Picasa. But this week I thought I could contribute.

Before:
After:


Here are my steps:
Basic Fixes Tab
Cropped it.
I used fill light slider until it was a little brighter 5-10% to the right.
Tuning Tab
Higlight slider up about 10% to the right
Shadows up about 5%
Nuetral Color picker and picked the white dress
Effect Tab
Tint- picked the white tint overlay and moved the slider to right until about 90% and it brought back some color.
Glow- decreased intensity (to the left) until about 10% to the right
Saturation-a little over 50%.

And those were my steps. I love Picasa for its ease and that it is free.

Click below to see more great entries



Have a great weekend!
N@

Trendy Treehouse Challenge: Faces

My favorite face is Nicolas'. He has the most expressive eyes and while I wanted a blue eyed baby, I think Nic's eyes are just as stunning. (this is coming from a biased mommy). The only time I ever get eye contact is when I strap him down to eat. These are the latest pics of him eating. Please excuse the messy face.

This is his "back up, this is my food" face....

This is his sweet face

Where is your nose? and he showed me...

Lastly, this is his "fake cry" face.

Have a great rest of the week.
To see more "FACES" go to

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

This is my first time participating even though I try every week.

Black and White:

I really wanted to convert a picture to black and white but since I do all my editing using Picasa, my B&W conversions are always crappy. So, instead I searched through my closet and found my favorite shoes. They are pretty, classic and always make me feel confident.

Happy:

I tried finding a "happy" photo from all the pics I took this week but none of them did it for me. So I dug around and found this one. This is vintage Nicolas at 11 weeks. His hair was (and still is) wild and his expression just screams out happy. It was taken w/ my old p&s and will always be my favorite of Nicolas.

Wet:It rained a bunch around my house on Saturday so I took advantage and went out to my "jungle." I always seem to find cool bugs lurking around and hoped to find a bug and water all in one shot. Just as I was going to give up, I saw this black bug hanging on a plant with rain drops all around it. Success!!

Knob: Nicolas loves to play in the kitchen and he is always hopeful that he can pry open the doors even with the safety thing around the knobs. This exemplifies what our knobs look like after baby proofing.

Made of woodThese coasters have two uses: keeping our tables free of water rings and a toy for Nic.

click here to see more scavenger hunt entries

Have a great week!
N@

Photo Challenge: Skywatch

1st off, this is my 50th post! WOOHOO!

Next this picture is one of my favorites of the sky. Nicolas and I went were walking along the beach (Myrtle Beach) and I noticed it was getting pretty dark. I thought it was going to rain so we ran back to the room. I watched the clouds roll in and it was beautiful. So here it is...the beach just as the storm clouds rolled in.to see more entries go to skywatch

Happy Clickin
N@

Nicolas' many looks

In the past week Nic has been sick but is finally feeling better. I loaded some pics from the last two weeks and noticed that he has many expressions. Here are just a few....

The cranky look (please excuse the dirty nose)

The "whatyoutalkin about" look
The "in awe" look...The thinking lookAnd lastly the mischievous little boy look (and stance)

Later!
N@

Paper Mama Challenge: Make Me Laugh

Pebbles and Nic are a funny pair to watch. He was tired of her trying to get his cracker and tried putting her in her place. If he only knew that she is 3 times bigger than him. They make me laugh everyday.

Thanks for the heads up Ashley...

To see more great entries go to:

Texas in Pictures part 2

So here are a few more pics from Texas...
We went sight seeing and it was sooo hot!! Texas was prepared for the heat and at the parks are fully equipped with sprinkler parks. Nicolas was weary at the first park. But the next day he was loving it!

He was weary at first wondering if he could touch the water...

Then he put his hand in it...

Then right on top of a sprinkler and the water was squirting up his short.

And here you can see the sprinkler park and all the kids enjoying the water in 100+ degree day.

I had a blast watching Nicolas have fun and I wish I would have been ready to get in the sprinkler park with him.

I hope you are enjoying the summer...

N@

Low productivity

This was a really slow photography weekend for me. I took a total of 11 pictures! Nicolas was sick for 2 out of the 3 days of the long weekend. Today was the worst, he puked on Leo and me and was inconsolable for a latter part of the evening. Poor little guy.

This was the best picture of the weekend. It is a self portrait taken on the way to a 4th of July Party.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend.

N@

Texas in pictures part 1...

This past weekend we (Leo, Nicolas and I) went to visit my sister in Texas! My BFF and her hubby came along too. We had a great time hanging out, eating, and sight seeing Houston, TX. One morning we went to this great eclectic restaurant, The Bake Shoppe and Cafe, for a breakfast buffet. The pancakes were amazing, large, fluffy, and chocolate chip...yummo. The buffet was also awesome; bacon, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, grits, etc.

Here are some pics of the restaurant.

My restaurant was full of funky decorations. Every wall was full of unique art pieces. This owl was my favorite. And when I looked closer I saw what his eyes were framed with...Corona bottle caps! One of my go to beers on a hot summer day.

I also got drawn to this old mailbox. Nothing too interesting at first glance. But this old mailbox was used as art and recycled as a menu stand. I call it recycled art and I think that was the theme of the restuarant.

Delicious food, great service, great conversation, and great friends/family. I can not ask for more.

(not the best picture but it will do. sometimes it is not the quality but about the memories).

I have a few more Texas pics to share so more post to come.

N@