Pin tackle: Home made teething biscuits

I found this recipe for Homemade teething biscuits on Pinterest and just had to try them for Sofi! Here's how I made them:

1 cup of dry infant cereal (I used rice)

1 cup of flour

Stir together with 2 tsp cinnamon

Add 1/3 cup mashed bananas or other food (I used a jar of banana baby food)

Add 2 tbsp oil and 3 tbsp water and mix into a non-sticky dough 

Roll out, cut into desired shape and bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before giving to child.

Sand box fun!

Sofi has a new-found love for sandboxes and loves to play in the one at our neighborhood park.

I love how you can see the sand falling out of her hand in this one!

See her pants? She likes to scoop up sand and dump it on her legs.

This is when she stuck a rock in her mouth (Don't worry, we got it out and she was fine)

Messy baby!

Photo editing tutorial with Photo Pos Pro

I downloaded a free photo editor called Photo Pos Pro and it is fantastic! It doesn't have quite as many tools as photo shop or some other more advanced editor but it is really great for touching up a basic photo. Anyways, I am just going to post a little tutorial on how to edit with photo pos pro. (and I'm sure some of these tricks apply to photo shop, too)

Here is the original picture that I started with:

Good picture, but kinda grainy

1. I used Noise Reduction twice on the picture to despeckle and make it look smoother and less grainy.
2. Increased Brightness and contrast to desired amounts. (10 brightness and 5 contrast if you're curious)
3. go to RGB and change color levels (R -2, G 5, B 5)
4. Go to HSL and change Saturation and Luminosity ( S 5, L 3)
5. Crop, if desired. 
6. Use clone brush to cover up any unwanted places.

And here is the image with basic edits applied:

But I decided I liked it better without the under-eyes smoothed over, so I undid that:

Much Cuter, I think.

Now, I decided I wanted to make it look a little vintage-y so here's what I did:

1. Go to Brightness/ contrast and turn the contrast up pretty high (I did 28)
2. Then go to Effects - Colors - Fade to Gray
3. Turn saturation down (-33)
4. Go to Effects- Colors- Sepia - Advanced
5. Adjust Tint, Level, and contrast until desired look is achieved (T 21, L 40, C 21)
6. Lower Opacity until Desired amount of color shows through (I did about half)

Here is the picture with these edits applied:

Which do you like better?

Trip to the park

Yesterday, We took Sofi on a walk to the park. We do this a lot, but we usually go in the afternoon when the sun is blazing down and this time, we went around eight at night. The lighting was so beautiful in the park, that I took a few pictures.

Must-haves for news moms

Having an eight month old daughter, I have become very familiar with baby products over the past year and a half. Here's a list I composed of some of the best and most useful baby products I've come across.

1. Bumbo infant seat.
My daughter started using this when she was about 4 months old and starting to sit up with support. The chair provides full support for your baby's back so as long as they can support their head and neck on their own, this is a great way for them to practice sitting up and to feel like they are grown-up! And I know that there has been some controversy on the safety of these seats but if you WATCH your baby (like you're supposed to unless they are safely contained in a crib or playpen) then nothing bad will happen. Don't put it on raised surfaces, don't leave them alone, take them out when they get fussy, be a parent and it is fine to use this chair.

2. Boppy nursing pillow.
Not just for nursing! My daughter napped on this, practiced sitting up in it, and had tummy time in it. Not to mention, it is a GREAT nursing pillow! There are all different sorts of covers available for these and we have used ours countless times.

3. Graco infant travel system.
 We have been using this travel system since Sofi was born. It comes with a stroller, car seat, and car seat base. The car seat easily fits into the stroller when the baby is newborn so that your baby faces you and can be comfortably reclined. Sofi just recently out-grew the car seat but the stroller is going to last a really long time! Oh, also the straps in the stroller separate so, if your baby falls asleep on your walk you don't have to bother them slipping their arms through the straps. You just unbuckle and grab them out of there!

4. Halo Sleep Sack
Sofi loved this as a newborn! She wasn't so much a fan of the swaddles but the sleep sack provided the snuggness of a swaddle while allowing her to wiggle around inside of it. And her arms were free, which she really enjoyed. The only thing is, you can't use them in strollers. But we never had much of a problem with that.

5. Raz-berry infant teeth
Sofi is a pacifier using baby so this teether is really great for her. It is shaped like a pacifier but has teething bumps on it and is more durable to stand up to chewing. You can also stick it in the fridge or freezer to  make it cold to help soothe the baby's gums. The sides and handle of this teether are also chewable and she plays with it and chews it. It is really nice to have a hands-free teether so that she can still play with other toys while soothing her gums. I read some reviews on-line of parents with babies who did not use pacifiers but their babies still loved these!

I will post some more products later because trust me, I have more!

Sofi's Photo Shoot

Sofi had a small photo shoot with me the other day. Just for practice with lighting and everything. I wish I had a nice, smooth backdrop but oh well. Here are my favorites.

I threw in the last one because her face is so silly!

New Camera!

Last week, I got my Olympus SZ-12 in the mail! It's fantastic! So much better than my 8 year old Kodak easy share!
Here are some of my favorite photographs so far.

Tied Baby Quilt

Finished this quilt last Friday for Sofi! I used three fat quarters and a partial fat quarter.

 

Here's the backing. I used this cute elephant flannel that I picked up at the fabric store!

Sofi loves it!

Sewing projects, as of lately.

Here's some completed (and not so completed) sewing projects that I have been working on lately. Mostly for my senior project, but also just for fun.

A couple of patches of a quilt that I am working on for Sofi, made from her old onezies.

A bag that I made out of an old skirt and head scarf. I need to either reinforce the straps or create a stronger shoulder strap because right now, it can't carry much weight.

A stuffed elephant that I made for my older sister, Michelle. He's supposed to be the first doctor from Doctor Who. But he still needs his tailcoat!
You can find the pattern for this cute little elephant here:
http://www.heatherbaileystore.com/product-p/mp004-eo.htm

Happy New Year!

My New Year's Resolution was to start a blog. And since it's already the 8th, I figured that I might as well start. This blog will just be a documentation of my life and photography skills. Here are some pictures of my daughter that I've taken this year so far. (Expect a lot of pictures of her, she's a great subject!"