Big is the New Little

This little man is not so little.  At Brig's 2 month appointment he weighed in at a scale tipping 14 lbs 7.5 oz.  That is off the charts folks.  Off the charts.  He is also in the 95% for height.  He's already in 6 month clothes and is starting to get too long for those as well.  I hardly know what to do seeing as Eden is still wearing some 12 month clothes and she's 20 months old.  Here's to loving the big/little man!

  He normally nurses, but lets face it, he's pretty much a champ at eating anything and everything.

First Photoshop Experience

Here are two shots of my kiddos that I touched up today.  This was my first time using photoshop, so give me a little slack if they aren't great to you.  I think they look amazing.  Or maybe it's just that the kids are so cute I couldn't go wrong.

                 I faded them out because I'm going to be putting them in some antique frames.

IKEA and photography.

I love IKEA.  Let me say it again.  I love IKEA.  Those of you who know me well, know that I am obsessed with organizing and decorating (although my budget may not allow you to see my awesome ideas in action).  Thus, walking through IKEA for a whole day makes me as giddy as a little girl riding a pony.  But as much as I loved it, I think the wee one loved it even more- at least the children's portion.  We were there for at least an hour playing in all of the different rooms and I had to drag her away while she cried when we had to leave.  I always hoped she would be my partner in crime in the shopping department.  I'm thrilled about it I tell you, my life just got so much better.

Also, I'm taking an online photography course right now so there are a few pictures that I wanted to post to keep myself accountable for my work.  I haven't touched these ones up yet...that could take awhile.  I was focusing on different perspectives in this shoot, not so much touching them up yet-so please enjoy them as such.

The entrance into the kid's rooms.  This alone occupied at least 20 minutes.  What little girl wouldn't love a tunnel with streamers? Framing Shot.  Would've been much better had I straightened the shot up so that the arch was perfectly centered in my lense.  It would've been a more powerful shot.  I'll have to see if I can fix that in Photoshop.

When this girl finds a stuffed animal, you better watch out.  And when it's a stuffed animal dog...you may as well set up camp and whip out the s'mores...you'll be there awhile. Higher Perspective. Here I'm trying to give the viewer a sense that they are looking down into a little girls' dream land. 

Hiding perspective.  Trying to convey the feeling that you are peeking in on a moment in a child's day without the child seeing you. 

Another hidden perspective shot.  I love this one.  Yes, she really is as sweet as she appears on camera.  I wish I had been a little more "hidden" to give the feeling that she couldn't see me.

Brigham was a champ and slept the whole time.  Here is a shot using both the hidden perspective as well as "framing".  I'm shooting through the bars of the shopping cart.  Yes the blurry lines on either side of his face were on purpose:) However, if I could've centered him between the bars, it would've been more powerful.  Although, may have looked more like he was in jail.  We'll never know because I didn't do it;)

When I told her it was time to go.  'Nuff said. "Higher Perspective" This shot is great because as a parent this is exactly how I view my child when she's crying.  If I had done an eye level perspective it may have communicated how tragic she was feeling at the time.

Eden's dream chair.  A seat just her size that also doubles as a peek-a-boo chair.  What more could you want? (Eye level perspective)

 Eden found this table and spent quite a while setting and unsetting (new word) the table. I will be blurring the background in this picture so that there is more focus on her, but I wanted to get a wide perspective so that you could see the whole table. 

Stacking cups.  Lower perspective shot-depicting how grown up she felt at the moment.

Having a pretend drink.  Higher perspective shot.

Parenting Lesson #1

Parenting Lesson #1: If you walk into your 1 1/2 year old's room after her nap and see something that looks very much like pieces of chocolate covered raisins all over her bed, don't be fooled.  It's not chocolate.

Once upon a time, I was single and newly married and the parent to a brand new baby, and I KNEW that somehow I could stop my child from doing gross things.  Then I had a toddler.  Part of the joy of motherhood is learning to take a deep breath when something like this happens and try REALLY hard not to think about how unhygienic and TOTALLY gross this is.  Sometimes there is nothing you can do about a situation that your child has been in.  You have to clean up and move on.  Getting upset doesn't help anyone.  Also, you learn to grab the camera first to capture the memory and to keep lots of air fresheners for moments like these.

Picture Explosion

 In the past month and a half... Nathan was hired as a full time seminary teacher.  Here he is on one of his last days as a student teacher.

 Nathan graduated from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Public Relations Communications.  He tore his meniscus just a few days before graduation, so he did the whole thing on his crutches.

 Here we are looking hilarious.  I'm about to have the baby and Nate is on crutches.  Both Nathan's and my parents came up to support him in his graduation.  Here we are with my parents.

 

             Nate cruisin' on his crutches after getting his diploma. I had a better picture, but Eden erased it...so here we are with a blurry picture.

 Eden discovered that she LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She would sit on our couch with her little elbows on the arm of the couch to watch.

 Nathan had his knee surgery to repair both his meniscus and his ACL (which he tore the year before but didn't know).  This is him right after waking up for surgery.  He was pretty hilarious.  As you can see he had absolutely no expression and was serious as can be while telling crazy jokes.

 He INSISTED that I take a picture of him holding his "blood cup".  They had to leave the wound open for a day to let it drain so it didn't swell too big and he thought it was pretty impressive.

 Nate got me this for mother's day.  SO PRETTY.  There is nothing I love more than beautiful flowers outside my house.  Unfortunately, Brigham was born soon after and while we were at the hospital, the flowers died from not being watered.

 This is Eden doing her laps.  He would run down the ramp and then come back up the stairs.  She would do this for about 1/2 hour at a time.  This came in handy as I worked in the office because it would keep her entertained for so long and I could watch her at the same time.  She misses this dearly.

 Brigham Roger Doutre came into the world about a week and a half ahead of schedule.  He came so fast that we didn't have time to get our camera, so this is it for the labor pictures.  **NOTE TO SELF: Don't leave camera in the car thinking Nate can run back out after we check in.  We'll just say that Brigham came the moment the doctor arrived and that's only because they made me wait.  Let's also say that no drugs at all were used because there wasn't time.  They didn't even have me hooked up to an IV or have my hospital wrist band on.  Lickity Split I tell you. Lickity Split.

 Eden and Brigham on the day after we got home from the hospital.  We moved a week later so you can see the boxes leaning up in the hallway behind Nathan.

 My cute little sweet heart the day after Brigs came.  She has been so sweet with him and it has really helped me to handle the changes well. 

 Eden's first time holding the Brigster.  He was a little bit unsure even though she loved to be near him from the get go.

 The morning of the move Eden and I ate cheerios on the floor next to Brigham while Nate was doing all of the work with the moving company.  Isn't this just adorable!?

 While we waited the weekend for our things to be delivered to our new apartment, we were able to stay with my parents.  This was SUCH a blessing as we had a week and a half old baby.  Eden loved it and was so excited to be able to play all day.  At my parent's there is a never ending supply of people who will take her outside.  A little girl's heaven.

 Eden swimming for the first time this summer.  My cousins have a pool so we're able to go every week and we've been having a ball.  It's so nice to be able to get out and play in the sun each week with the adorable thing.  Brigham is the perfect age because he sleeps in his car seat the whole time.  This means that I actually get to swim!  Woot Woot!

 Nathan's sister, Cami, left on her mission to Brazil.  She came to visit us the day before she went into the MTC.  I'm SO glad she was able to meet Brigham before she left.  She is seriously the absolute best.

 Eden found some awesome grease on a car in our parking lot and was COVERED when we came inside after sending Cami off with Dani and Nic.

 Eden LOVES our patio.  Almost everyday I fill up a little bucket with water and toys and let her play to her heart's content while I make dinner or feed Brigham.  She is always overjoyed when someone joins her.  Nathan is able to go into work earlier in the summers and get home earlier which means he gets to be home to play with her in the afternoons.  This has been SO WONDERFUL!

                        Dripping wet and outside.  The two keys to happiness for this little one.

                                     Nate watching Eden while she plays out on the patio.

 Brigs and dad.  This little man really looks like a little man and I'm so in love with him.  He started out scaring me to death with his heart and not eating, but he's changed his ways and is quite the awesome child.

 Eden making my heart melt.  Funny how I thought my heart was full with love for just one child.  Another comes along, and somehow my heart just expanded to fit him in there too.  These two are my absolute joy. 

 No words needed on those pictures, you can see why he melts my heart just from looking.

 My whole family was able to be here for Brigham's blessing.  It's not very often we're all able to be together, so it was SO fun to have everyone here.  Levi had just come home and Blake doesn't leave for another month.  McKay and Katie and Clark had been down for a reunion, so they were able to make it as well. 

 I feel so lucky that my children get to know both sets of greats on my side.  My sweet grandma and Grandpa Peterson are on the left and my sweet Grandma and Grandpa Williams are on the left.  My kids are so lucky for the heritage they have on both sides of our family.  We have so many wonderful examples of faith and goodness to look up to.

                                                          My parents and the Brigster.

 Eden thought that everyone came to see her and she had all eyes turned to her every minute she could. 

My sweet baby boy on his blessing day.  It took so much faith for me to have another baby right now and I thank my Heavenly Father every day that he knows better than I do.  I have truly been blessed to be a mother to these two sweet angels.  They allow me to learn a little bit everyday about Father's love for us and what the Plan of Happiness really means.  What a privilege it is to be able to raise these two and teach them about our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  I am so excited to talk to them about the Holy Ghost and to teach them to follow his promptings, for that is the key to all joy. 

Our life has sure changed a lot in a very short amount of time, and we feel so blessed to be a part of all the changes.  Life is so good to us.  We love our new home here in Utah and feel so grateful to have our job and our family close (Nathan's family is moving here in about a month!!!!!)