More practice with cute kids [Caution: 85+ pics]

Just know that I'm trying to figure out how to control all of the features on my camera. Right now I'm working on shutter speed and aperture. (Baby steps.) There are just shy of one million pictures in this post, so if you are bored or annoyed or don't have time, you should probably stop here.
Jackson wanted to take some pictures... no lights on in the house yet, both kids playing on our bed with us... normal morning routine... today began at about 6:45am.
Tired little girl... just waking up
happy Jackson
This face is a little scary!
This is a picture Jackson took of his puppy. Pretty good considering he doesn't understand that you have to look through the viewfinder ("window") to see your subject.
practicing with the camera today. hopefully, I'll get good enough to take my own "professional" pictures of my kids. It's much cheaper that way and you can make as many copies as you want!
baby blues! so pretty!

Cute, pretty, beautiful, adorable, what more can I say? I'm running out of new descriptive words.





Happy girl

So brave! Standing up 2 feet above the ground!

pretty baby! (crazy hair, pre-bow)
[no flash... uhhh!]



I'm a little frustrated that I forgot the flash on these, but the shadow/profile is starting to grow on me a little, so maybe I won't delete them from my hard drive... we'll see. I'm mostly irritated that I didn't capture their little facial expressions on the ones above.

Being silly... the norm around our house!
Jackson was actually tickling Kate and she moved her head as I took the picture because it was tickly.
These two are a perfect pair! They have their moments like any siblings, but for the most part they do a great job playing together and keeping each other company.
I asked him to stand on the cedar chest and put his hands on his hips... these are the pictures I got as a result... poser?


(side note: Parker and I needed a book on tape for our drive home from Utah, so we randomly stopped at this D.I. in Brigham City that we happened to pass by in the hopes of finding a church bookstore. We did find a book on tape and I found this perfect gymboree shirt for $3, size 4T, which means it's a teensy bit big right now and will easily fit through the winter season! Sweet steal!)


Just Jackson

These two are some of my favorites of him because this is what he looks like most of the time. Jackson is such a sweet boy (a little nutty and crazy at times, but overall sweet).
My handsome little boy!

piggies!!!

It sort of looks like Jackson is getting ready to hit Kate here, but he's not. The angle is funny, but she kept trying to put her pacifier in his mouth (teasing), so he was knocking the paci out of her hand. Such fun games these two come up with!
J: "I love you, Tate." K: "Ahhhhhh, uhhhhh, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma!"
I just love little kids and their bazillions of silly facial expressions. They don't hold back anything like we do for fear that someone might pass judgment on us. They are HILARIOUS!

Jackson discovered that the cars don't go down the track quite as well when it's on its side like this.
So big and independent! I LOVE that she is walking all over the place.
Playing with cars, etc together


a day in the life...
cars, tractors, planes, trains = heaven for Jackson & Kate



Reading books... I am trying to teach Kate that her books are on the bottom shelf and to leave the rest alone! She is getting better!
Jackson chose a short chapter book about "shoop" aka basketball (combination of shoot & hoop)

playing the piano
Jackson is usually very gentle

Kate is still learning to be gentle
She is such a cute girl though!

Looking at how far down those pedals really are
I can't even remember why she was screaming at me, but I was so glad to get this on camera to show her someday. She strains her whole body, arms straight out and yells. It doesn't happen very often, luckily. Kate is usually pretty easy going (like her dad), but if she's hungry and you don't feed her or if you have food and don't share, this is what she looks like. The girl is serious about keeping up her figure!

He has to check the "under carriage" on everything to see if it needs to be "sixed" or not. Jackson is moving into that stage where he wants to do everything that Daddy does.
Okay, also discovered that he likes talking on the phone and moving into the make believe stage. This is him using cars, trucks, etc as a telephone. The conversation usually goes like this: huh-whoa? [pause] o-tay. dood-bye.

what a goof!

I spent the day just following the kids around and taking pictures of whatever they were doing.



Yay for bows in Kate's hair. It rarely happens. If and when I remember to find one and get it in, it doesn't usually last long because she promptly takes it right back out. Then I run the risk of losing it (though I'm not sure why I would be concerned with that since I hardly use them). Anyway, she always looks so much more feminine when I take the time to "do" her hair.


She is SUCH a pretty baby!!! I just can't get over it (obviously)
We are going to lock Kate in her room until she is 21, then we're going to do an extensive background check on any boy who dares to talk to her. I fear for myself when the boys her age begin to take notice!


what a stud muffin! Such a cute little boy... 2-1/2 years old.



Kate "reading". She is a genius! She can even read upside down!
Jackson looks serious/mad here, but he was trying to be silly and get me to laugh. The picture above and the one below were taken within 30 seconds of each other.