Someone needs a Camera Upgrade...

I mentioned earlier that most of the pictures that I take are on my IPhone. It's convenient since most of the time my phone is attached to my hip. I *heart* my IPhone!

Unfortunately, quality is an issue with those pictures and since we are no longer going every 3 months for professional pictures(Thank you, Letson's!) I would love to take better quality photos of my family at home. I am currently using this bad boy, although it is NOT pink... a Sony Cybershot that I purchased before I became pregnant with Caroline. Aside from the fact that technology changes so rapidly, this camera auto focuses which is a major pain when attempting to take pictures of a busy 18 month old. She does something cute, I click to take the picture, and two seconds later Caroline is already running off to do something new... adorable shot missed! A Sad Mommy made:-( And, I'm left with about 20 shots of Caroline's back! haha... It is an adorable back, though;-)

I'm doing some research and given that we just celebrated our 4th anniversary, I think that would be a lovely, useful gift to give to ourselves. Come to think of it, I probably should have run this by Chris first, haha! I'll let you know what I get and hopefully I'll take lots of pictures and share them soon. We play outside every day, sometimes several times a day so I'm looking forward to some sweet shots in our neighborhood.

To Blog or not to Blog?

So per the usual, I am feeling guilty about not continuing to blog when our family and friends really enjoy hearing about our lives and request continued posting. Guilt: the greatest motivation in the world!:-) I send out daily(maybe almost daily...) emails to our friends and family with cute IPhone pics and stories from our daily lives. It is easy to do from my phone and it allows me to share the cute every day moments of life with my favorites.

True to form, I have decided to create a list of pros and cons as to whether I should continue blogging. I do know that the majority of my concerns could be eliminated by going private... which I initially intended to do. Then I realized that I would be cutting out some of the people that enjoy reading about us the most and that didn't feel right either. So here goes nothing...

Pros:

1. Sharing with family, friends, etc. about our daily lives. Makes them happy, makes me happy!
2. Scrapbooking without the paper mess;-)
3. Reflection: Goodness knows I never ponder my life... I'm busy dealing with it. ha!
4. Sharing our experiences, imparting our wisdom: Those that know better, do better!
5. I enjoy keeping a journal. It reminds me of how fortunate I am in many ways. Grateful Girl.=)

Cons:

1. It is strange when people that you barely know, know so much about your everyday life! I experienced this first hand before Caroline was born.
2. Security reasons: we live in a gated community, but there are crazies out there! I have to protect my lovies.
3. Regarding personal information, how much is too much? I'm an open book for the most part but it can be awkward when people overshare! I would tell close family things that I wouldn't tell say, people from Caroline's play class.
4. Opening yourself up to criticism: Unfortunately, everyone doesn't always have the purest of intentions... why would I want to deal with that??

Are you laughing with me yet?!? So as you can see, the Pros win! However, I will say that the Cons are far more emotionally loaded... something I didn't realize until this moment.

I guess I'll just hope that those that find us interesting a) aren't crazy and b) aren't hateful. That would solve all of my Cons!!!

And I'm Back!!!

Lakers Game!

L.A. Tour

Christmas 2009

While last year was technically Caroline's first Christmas, she had absolutely NO CLUE what was going on. She was not yet 2 months old and just a sweet cooing blob. This year was a different story. She understood very little about Santa but she did understand that she was spending lots of time with her quite large family. She also loved the presents she received, but I don't want that to become the focus of Christmas for her. I made a big deal about our Christmas tree and lights around the house and in the neighborhood. We drove her around the neighborhood at night a few times and she would "OOOooo" (which sounds more like a Moooo, like "ewwww") when she would see the lights.

The Wednesday night before Christmas we went to Florence to visit with the Fam. We watched 4 Christmases, which was cute, and talk, talk, talked for hours. On Christmas Eve the festivities began. Christmas with small children is so much fun! Caroline went absolutely wild over her Christmas presents from Nana and my dad(grandfather name TBD) Lots of ohhs and ahhs! I was gifted clothes(my favorite!) and Chris was given lots of Alabama goodies.

Christmas Eve night we always go to my Aunt Linda's house and I look forward to visiting with everyone all year long. Unfortunately, Caroline hit a new milestone and got her first antibiotic for Christmas... Sad! This is her first true sickness. She is such a trooper and you would never know that she was even slightly under the weather by her behavior. She did, however, sleep the entire time we were at our Christmas Eve dinner. We have tons of kids in the family that wanted to play with "the baby", bless their hearts! After dinner it was time to get on the road and head home for Santa's visit!

We have begun a new Carter Family Tradition. We will be hosting the Christmas Morning celebration at our house and everyone is invited! Both sides of the family, everyone that can be in Birmingham and that want to join us. It's important to me that Caroline wake up in her own bed on Christmas morning. Christmas Eve Night my family trudged down to Birmingham so that we could be together.

On Christmas Morning we took it easy. I noticed that Santa Clause came to visit after we slept in. I couldn't sleep the night before, wonder why?? ;-) We did take advantage of the fact that Caroline was fairly clueless and let her watch some Disney while I worked on breakfast and got her ready for the big reveal. We opened presents as a family and Caroline loved opening all of her goodies. I do think that she was a bit overwhelmed by all of the books and musical toys. But overall, she really enjoyed the tradition and playing with her uncle and Nana. I am really looking forward to next year when she is more aware of the magic of Christmas.

What Santa left:

She loved it!!!

My living room, the war zone!

Little Wild Thing!

Hi Again!!!

I realize that I have only blogged twice in the past year... but I may still pop up in some of your Readers. In that case, hi again! Long time, no see! How's the Family?? Just teasing! ;-)

So, I need to pass some pictures of Christmas and Holiday adventures on to some friends and family and decided this would be the easiest, most effective course of action at this time. At this point in life, everything is about efficiency!

I wish, wish, wish that I was able to keep this blog up. I purchased an IPhone in June and have been emailing pictures and updates to family and friends through that medium. Caroline is a wonderful little girl, but she certainly keeps me busy. Free time is a thing of my past. I gladly give it up! I'm quite proud of our sweet little life.

My favorite thing about blogs is that they capture a moment in time... Honestly, I still go back and read the blogs I wrote before Caroline arrived every few months. Life is so different now, in virtually every way. I hope Caroline loves reading that snapshot of our life one day, as well.

So here goes nothing. Another try! For the family, for my daughter, for me.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and best of luck in the New Year!!! I will leave you with a picture of my little girl... not much of a baby anymore!