Instagram download

My mom doesn't have Instagram (or a smart phone) so I am mostly posting these photos for her.  I like the app because I can't capture a lot of these shots with my big camera, which is too bulky for many of the tight shots (like Clara in my arms) or just because I don't carry it around with me all the time. 

Like this first photo I took with Instagram which was when Clara woke up from a nap crying and I pulled her from the crib to rock her.  She had this big ol' tear snaking down her cheeks which were pink from sleep.  Her beautiful brown eyes are looking up at me (instead of the camera for once) in such a pure way that I know that I am her whole world in that moment.  Well, and her dad too, but you know what I mean.

We go to the local park almost every day.  It is not quite a mile away so it is good exercise to get out and walk there.  Clara likes walking around this rock installation.

My vanity gets the better of me all too often.  I had to include this self-portrait I took where I was experimenting with some of the filters and developing tools on Instagram.  Paul made fun of this photo because he said I have a weird look on my face, which is kind of true but I was trying to take a picture of me being serious rather than smiling.  This is the best I can do.  Besides, I like it because I am "smizing" which doesn't come easy for me, and Tyra would be proud.

When Paul is working on house projects, he absolutely cannot be bothered with fashion.  Hence, the long socks with cruddy old crocs and a shirt that does not go with his shorts.  I think he does this on purpose to torment me.  We installed a new door on the side of the kitchen and have been loving it since the new door has a half window and lets in much more light to the room.

Skype is so awesome.  And my mom and sister are so cute.  I need to take a photo of my other sister and my nieces.  The other day my sister put me on speaker phone so my niece could hear my, but we weren't skyping like normal so my niece said "where she at?!" as in, I can hear her but I can't see her this time.  It was hilarious.

For some reason I feel inclined to photograph the foods I eat.  Like cinnamon spice Quaker instant oatmeal with frozen blueberries.

This mama duck and her ducklings wandered into our yard.  I helped a neighbor catch them and he took the little duck family back to the creek.

Caprese salad sandwich.  So, so, so yummy. 

Cute girl eating her lunch.

Another breakfast photo - this time it was whole wheat toast with nutella, strawberries and bananas.

I bought new shoes for Clara at the Stride Rite store now that she is walking all over the place.  They are size 5 and she likes to undo the velcro straps.

She is getting too big for her carseat.  Time to start looking for a new one.

I took this photo of her asleep in the stroller at church when we were visiting our friends in Auburn.  I used a filter to blur everything except for her and I love this picture.

Paul's brother came out and helped us with the kitchen remodel.  Clara slept all through demolition (amazing, right?!) and I would haul stuff out to the side or back yard while Dave was hammering everything apart.

I bought Clara a lemon push-pop at 7-11 while she and I were on a walk.  Really, it was for me, but after she had a taste she kind of went ballistic when I took it away from her.  I figured it was not the worst thing in the world for her to have.  She ate most of it and the rest of it melted and dripped all over her stroller, which took me forever to clean up when we got home. 

One afternoon while Paul's brother was doing some particularly loud work on the house, Clara was having a rough time napping so I brought her into our bedroom and laid down beside her.  When the noise got too loud from hammering, I would cover her ears with my hands and she would calm down.  She ended up snoozing next to me like this for an hour and a half.

Our garage is currently filled with new cabinets (in the boxes), new appliances, and all of our kitchen stuff.  We have been kitchenless for a full week now and probably won't have a functioning kitchen for at least 3-4 more weeks, at best.  Even at that, we may just have cabinets installed but no appliances until the floors and finished (which Paul is doing on his own).  It isn't too, too bad though.  We have a bunch of little appliances like a rice cooker, slow cooker, griddle, electric skillet, waffle maker, and grill that we can use to make meals and we have actually had a couple of dinner invitations from friends, so we aren't starving. 

Clara and I drove Paul to work last Friday so that his brother could have the truck during the day and after dropping Paul off I took Clara to Hobbee's for breakfast.  We had whole wheat blueberry pancakes with scrambled cheesy eggs and sausage.  Although Clara is a good eater typically, she has pretty much started putting her teeny foot down when it comes to oatmeal.  Eggs and fruit seem to be her preference for morning fare.

And finally, at church on Sunday there was a big basket of oranges that someone had brought from their yard for people to take and a bowl of orange slices was to the side for people to taste.  I stuck a slice in my mouth and closed my lips over it before Clara noticed, then grinned an orangey grin at her, which delighted that little girl so much.  I was so sad when she got all those teeth at once because I knew I would miss her gummy smiles, but looking at this picture with her brilliant toothy smile just makes me so happy.

So that is it for my Instagram adventures so far.  Paul has some good photos too, which I will pull and add to this post later today if I think about it when he gets home.