Quality Investment

I think it's fairly accurate that every person/couple has one fun thing or hobby that they blow money on invest in.

For us, it's currently photography equipment. Well, for Grant. Sometimes I think he's nuts when he turns to me and tells me the next thing he wants to get. But then I see the pictures and it was just SO totally worth it because these pictures are forever. For. Ev. ER.

He's been obsessed with photography since he was an undergrad, but he's got a job now so he can actually do something with his obsession.

The results? See for yourself.

I love the face she's making in the last one, like she knows something we don't. :)

He also got me to sit down for a couple of shots:

We literally took these when I walked in the door from switching out the laundry from the washer to the dryer, it was over 90 degrees out and I was melting. My face was all sweaty, my hair is a mess, I'm wearing something out of the workout clothes drawer and I'm not even posing properly or bothering to sit with decent posture. The baby is only in there because she was getting into the set-up and messing things up so I pulled her up onto my lap.

But these look awesome! He did some photo editing with that last one to really make it pop, but I was blown away when I saw these.

Oh. My. Wow.

This is totally worth every last penny and trip to different stores to collect the stuff we used. Totally.

The expenses of child-rearing

Adding it all up...

 Canon DSLR 50D camera: $700

Canon Speedlite 580EX II external flash: $250

Canon Speedlite 430EX II external flash:  $200

Yes, in addition to the 530.

Stand for 430EXII:  $39

Flash umbrella to attach to stand: $15

Perfectly awesome family pictures:  PRICELESS.

She might still be learning that closed mouth kisses are preferred.

Eat your heart out, Indiana Jones...

Grant has a fedora around here and someone else may have discovered it...

Someone who may be a little obsessed with giving a little cheese and ham to the camera...

She was being so dang cute so we popped her onto the piano bench to take some more pictures.

I know, this post is a little long, I mean how many pictures can we post of a baby wearing a fedora?  I just loved every single face she made so I had to keep pretty much every single picture.  For all time.

 She started to take it off, so I put it on myself and played a little game with her to attract her interest in it again.

 It worked.

Yeay, videos!

Okay, for Kendra's adoring fans who don't get to see her very often...

She rules.  Not that I'm biased.  We have some real fun playing together.

She's also pretty smart.  She loves books, whether or not we read them to her.  This happens a lot around our house.  Though she often "reads" them aloud...the stinker wouldn't for the camera, though.

And she loves music and anything musical.  We do our best to encourage that any way we can.

She sure is a lot of fun, this little girl of ours.

The Museum of Science and Industry

We're trying to hit everything we'd like to about Chicago before we move--and those passes at the library are helping us do it for free.  We still ended up paying for parking again, but hey.

The Museum of Science and Industry was a pretty interesting place for us but there were two spots that held the attention of the littlest member of our troop.

First, the baby chick hatchery.  We had to circle the dang floor it was on several times before we finally found it but when we did, it was totally worth it.  There was one side that had a bunch of eggs and very freshly hatched or still hatching chicks but the other side housed a couple dozen very fluffy, very mobile, very cute baby chicks.

About once a minute, something very cool would happen.  A chick (a different one each time, I think) would run up to the glass and see Kendra.  She'd get a little surprised by it, but then the chick would stare her down and they'd have a little moment.  It was so cute!

In the bottom floor of the museum is an area called The Idea Factory.  It's basically a pretty awesome indoor playground sectioned off by age groups.  She had some fun there, too.

We had us some fun!  We love this stage--it's awesome to do stuff with her!

Playing in the park

We have a lot of fun taking Kendra outside to the park across the street from our house.

She has officially discovered dandelions.

Also, sticks.  Very interesting.  Maybe even delicious.  She performs many experiments to test that hypothesis.

Even in the midst of all the nature, she also likes checking out the camera, too.  I'm pretty sure this picture can turn any frown upside down...

Yep, she's pretty fun stuff!

We're not dead!

Shew!  Time flies when you're having fun, dudn't?  And we sure have been having us some fun.

First, a pretty funny behavior that Kendra has displayed a few times.  She puts some food in her mouth and then before swallowing...she puts some more in...then some more...and shortly she looks like this:

It's hilarious.  But I worry that it's a choking hazard, so I keep a pretty sharp eye on her when she does this.

She's a pretty expressive little girl.  Here are some shots I took one morning when she woke up before I was finished working out.

We think it's awesome that she knows just what to do when we pull out the camera.  :)  That second face is one we see quite a bit...we're not sure what she means by it, but it cracks us up.

For the past couple of months I've taken up a part-time endeavor.  I've been buying small collection of DVDs on Craig's List and reselling them online.  It doesn't make much money, but it's fun.  And we get to watch some of the movies before we sell them, or even keep them occasionally.  Last week we picked up the largest selection yet.

How many DVDs is that, you ask?  Approximately 2.5 buttloads.  We've sold over 100 of them in the first week and turned a pretty decent sales slip.  Naaaice. 

And last, my favorites.  They speak for themselves.

Yeah.  We have some fun around here.