Do you miss them being babies & my July sponsor giveaway!

When Alivia was born, I asked my sister who has two children (one was 15 at the time and other was 13) if she missed them being babies.  She answered without hesitance “no”.  In disbelief I asked “really”?  I was both surprised and enlightened by her answer!  After briefly explaining the things she was enjoying about my niece and nephew’s current ages, she went on to say that she thought of childhood as a temporary place for the child to become their true selves, the adult person they always had been just hadn’t grown into yet.  I had to think about it for a few minutes to really grasp the concept, but I was intrigued by the idea.  Could it possibly be true? 

Vacationing in Cape Cod, MA

It’s nice to be home from vacation but only for dependable and fast internet access so I am able to do what I love: BLOG.  Otherwise, I rather be basking in the sun under a clear blue sky with nothing to worry about other than sun protection.  Alivia and I had such a wonderful 3 day vacation in West Yarmouth.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather.  And unlike previous years, the ocean was exceptionally warm and inviting.  Even better than warm ocean water and sunshine was Alivia accomplishing some HUGE milestones!  After struggling with her for 2 Summers, I finally got her to walk on the sand!  It took some serious persistence and a thick skin when she began to melt down, but I stayed strong and was relieved to have it pay off!  Of course, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get her to do it  with bare feet so I came prepared with water shoes.  And when her shoes filled up with sand, I was pleasantly surprised it only took a little distraction and some mild coaxing to keep her from obsessing over it.  In no time at all my baby was playing in the sand comfortably!  She even, for the first time, played in the ocean water (something else I had been struggling with getting her to do)!  It was amazing watching her enjoy activities that once had her running for dry land, a shower, or my arms.  And if that’s not enough, on the very last day of our vacation, my sister handed her a water bottle and she drank out of it like a PRO!   What?!  It was as if the milestones kept being thrown at my baby but she continued to hit them right out of the park!  I was so proud of her!

The Missing Link – Week 14

Have you ever felt like something was missing from your life? Well, it could just be one of the links below. Hence my post title! You may ask yourself "Is she serious?" Well the answer is "No, I'm definitely NOT serious." I'm just feeling silly. Seriously though, I thought I'd share some of my favorite links with you in an effort to spread the love. What's better is that I thought I'd make this post a weekly thang! No that isn't a typo. I told you I was feeling silly. So the links below may not complete your life, but I'm hoping they, in some way, add to it. I separated them into categories for easy navigation. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Do you want to be button buddies?

I think this is such a great idea and was wondering if you’d like to swap buttons with me?  You know, I’ll post your button in my sidebar and you do the same for me!  A little like scratching each others back I guess!  If you are interested, feel free to email me and we can discuss.  You an find my email button in my sidebar at the top of my page.  My buttons are readily available on my buttons page in a variety of sizes so I’m sure you will find a size that works best for your bloggy site.  If, however, you need a different size just let me know so that I can customize to your request.  Just be sure to contact me first so that I can grab your button as well!  Okay, so there is my request.  Out there for all to see.  I guess I’ll just sit back and remain hopeful that someone will want to be button buddies with me!

Melasma anyone?

Apparently at some point during pregnancy my body responded with a “hell yes” to this question!   Wondering what Melasma is?  Does the term “pregnancy mask” spark any type of recognition?  I read a little about this while I was pregnant but never looked into it.  I guess I really should have.  Two years later, after giving birth to Alivia, I have been battling with what I thought were age or sun spots when all this time it was Melasma! 

New Pics (Week 4) Cape Cod

Long time, no write.  I know.  I've been on vacation with my family in Cape Cod!  We lucked out and had great weather every day for the week of July 4th!  Of course I got some great pics.  I had to process the hell out of some as they didn't come out as expected.  I borrowed a zoom lens from my sister and switched my camera settings from TV to AV mode per my sister's recommendation depending on where I was taking the picture.  She is a fantastic photographer so I know that my camera settings were set appropriately for some great shots!  When I downloaded all 388 pictures, I was surprised to see them looking a bit hazy, over exposed (lacking contrast), and mostly blurry.  I reviewed the camera settings of various pictures and they seemed to have been fine so I can only assume that the lens was the reason for my less than satisfactory images.  I wanted to talk to my sister about it in hopes to trouble shoot but haven't had the chance yet.  I cleaned the lens with a dry cloth as I noticed it seemed to have been foggy.  Out of respect for my sister I did not use a lens liquid cleaner on it as I would have liked to and felt it so desperately needed.  In her experiences with them they have left a residue/film behind.  With a little, okay a lot of, time, effort, and dedication I was able to salvage my favorites.  I'm excited to share them!  You know, as I'm reading this post back to check it for spelling and grammatical errors, I realized that the culprit for the foggy lens just may have been caused by the humidity.  I wonder if I had wiped my lens in between each picture if they would have come out sharper?