My growing girl...

This past week I have just been overwhelmed by how quickly Ingrid is growing up.  I keep looking at her thinking "What happened?"  She surprises me daily with new things she has learned.  It is so fun to be her mom.  The past couple of days I was shocked to hear her spit out the names of all of these colors when we practice her flash cards!

One thing Ingrid has been loving lately is sitting on the bathroom counter and putting "pwetty" in her hair (aka, berets).  She dotes on herself!  It is so cute.  Naturally as the woman who created her, I dote on her too!

Photo's etc.

Oh my goodness.  I haven't developed pictures since December....2009!  This past week developing pictures was on my "to-do" list, and I am proud to say after a year of putting it off, I have finally developed some pictures! It feels good to be able to see in print how much Ingrid has grown over the past year.  The total number of pictures developed: 400!!  So I tallied it up.....400 pictures per year over 18 years equals 7200 pictures!!  And that is just for ONE child.  Then I realized......I have only sorted through half the pictures in my computer organizing system.  That's right, i probably have another 200+ photo's to "send to the presses".  Yikes.  My goal was to have my pictures organized and printed by the time I get busy with my photography this sping and summer.  I have some work to do......

Currently I am a picnik premium package user.  It has worked great for me and I still like it, but I don't like to do a lot of editing (anymore).  I mainly just touch up exposure/contrast, sharpness, and make a few little tweeks here and there, but I really love what my new software has to offer.  That's why we bought lightroom 3.  I am super excited to get started!  We have to upgrade our computer as well, and as soon as we do I will have lots of learning to do!  I have spent the past couple of months researching and learning, so hopefully I will have a head start once it gets installed.  I can't wait...and hopefully with the organization tools Lightroom offers I won't be waiting another year to develop photos!

Wordless Wednesday: Overalls, Pig Tails, and Morning Cartoons

Days like these......

Sometimes you have days like these....

and other times you have days like these....

....when the entire day is spent smiling and giggling....

when you are doing dishes in the kitchen, and you glance in the living room and see this....

when she just HAS to eat lunch with her baby, and takes turns feeding herself and then her baby, and you think....wait-isn't SHE the baby??

when she finds a new way to "do her puzzle", and you both think it's hilarious...

when she takes out all the pots and pans and sits in them, because it's funny....

when her toy camera says "SAY CHEESE", and she does this....

and when you look into those BIG brownish, greenish, blueish eyes and think, Wow, I co-created that.  She's amazing, and I'm pretty sure that if I loved her anymore my heart would break into a million pieces....

Creamy Potato Soup

I made this for dinner last night, and for how quick it was I would say it turned out pretty good.  I forgot to take a photo......but here is the recipe!

Ingredients

*1-2 T butter

*1 small onion, chopped

* 1 clove of garlic

*2 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and chopped

*2 14oz cans of chicken broth

*1 cup of buttermilk

* 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

*S &P to taste

*bacon, cooked and chopped

Directions

1.  Over medium heat, cook onion & garlic in butter until soft.

2.  To your pot, add chicken broth and potatoes and simmer, partially covered, until tender.

3.  Once potatoes are tender, carefully spoon mixture in to a food processor.  Add the rest of your ingredients and puree.  Season to taste.  

4.  We topped the soup with extra bacon and cheese...because that's how we do.  

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Ingrid Faces

Springtime: Part II

I feel like such a Minnesotan talking about our recent warm weather.  But when you are a stay at home mom trapped inside for the long winter months, spring time is a big deal!  I can't wait to go to the park this year and watch Ingrid run around and play with the other kids.  Yesterday, after lunch, we headed outside to walk around and explore....

Ingrid is usually an adrenalin junky, but she was very skeptical of the cars....which makes her mama happy!

I just can't get over her cuteness....she walked around with her hands up like a little princess who couldn't bare the thought of getting dirty....

I am so blessed!