Getting Pictures

It's been too long since I've had a family portrait taken. I know I need to schedule one, but it's such a big production that no one seems to enjoy, not to mention the expense.

In the meantime, I have gotten several great shots of the kids from Ian Cole and his photo booth at NorthPark Mall called Faces. I've mentioned this before but I thought it'd be helpful to have the details. 

Ian's photo booth "Faces" is set up outside La Duni on the weekends: Sat. 11am-9pm and Sun. 11am-6pm. The best part is Ian will take a ton a shots, as many as you want, and even more to ensure you'll get something good. On his computer you scroll through the shots and pick the ones you want (if you only want one that's all you get, but I usually end up with 3 or 4.) Each shot is only $10 and he emails them to you right on the spot. I have them on my phone before I leave the mall, it's awesome. There is no retouching, so sometimes I do that myself if the kids have a scratch on their face or something. Here are a few examples of what we've gotten.

Sept. 2012

Sept. 2012

We usually grab dinner and have photos of the kids taken before or after we eat. We've even gone with the entire family and Ian has been so sweet as to step outside to fit us all in the shot.

Dec. 2012

Connor, Lola, & Chloe Dec. 2012

Sweet Family: Jamie, Lola, & Brian

Love this happy shot of Wendy & Mario!

We went back this February and got the latest shots of the twins. Love these!

Just wanted to share since it's such a great deal, the shots are awesome, and it's so much easier than scheduling a photo shoot.

Conversations With Connor

Both of the kids like to chat. Sometimes Connor gets going on a tangent. The other night we headed out for pizza. On the drive Connor and I were discussing the lunch I packed for him and why he didn't eat his slider hamburger. 

I didn't get the first part of the conversation on video, but he was making me laugh so much I filmed the second part. Here he's trying to tell me something but I can't understand exactly what he's saying and he gets a bit frustrated with me.

Cass something??



Since this video taken, I've learned there is a younger boy in Connor's class named Cash. He has curly blonde hair too.

Bonus video. Family are probably the only ones who will find this funny. On the same car ride Connor told me he knew my name but he didn't know Daddy's name. To be fair, we all call him Daddy, so how would Connor know his other name?

Baby's Got Lash

A few years ago I was in a meeting with a colleague and noticed her eyelashes. They looked great and long. I asked her about them and she said she'd had extensions.

I filed it away in my head and I've been thinking about trying eyelash extensions myself. The first visit takes about an hour where they apply extensions to individual lashes. The treatment is a bit expensive to get the first set and you have to have maintenance since they fall out with your natural eyelash.

The benefit is no mascara at all. This is great for me since I have pretty thick lashes, but blonde ones that are practically invisible without makeup.

So last week I took the plunge and visited Lash Studio in the West Village. I requested conservative lashes. Below are my before and after shots:

Before

After

After

I'm still not sure. I think they look good, but I'm not used to having dark lashes all the time. Also, since my bottom lashes are blonde too, I think it looks a little strange without mascara on the bottom lashes. You can get lashes applied to the bottom too, but that may be excessive (if getting lash extensions in the first place isn't). I've had my lashed tinted before, but this looks even better. I think I'll compromise and get the bottom lashes tinted with extensions on the top.

So, still not sure this is right for me. It might be good for summer and swimming. I'm going to give it a couple of months and see how I feel.

But check out these beautiful eyelashes. This must be from Daddy!

Chewing

We love having dogs in our life. When we lost Maxwell a few years ago I knew I'd never be able to replace him, but I did want to get another dog.

Last year we introduced you to Piper, the dog we adopted from Take Me Home Pet Rescue. We are not sure of her breed, but think it's a mix of Chihuahua and Terrier. My only experience had been with Pugs, so I expected what we've had with Max and Leo.

Piper in her "please rub my belly" pose

Piper is a little bit smaller, around 10 pounds, and has a bit more energy and is a super sweet snuggler. The one thing we were not prepared for is her chewing.

She has a ton of chew toys but it doesn't matter, she loves to chew on everything. I've replaced all the trash cans with ones with lids, we keep all the doors to the bedrooms shut, and even the twins know if they leave a toy out, Piper will chew on it.












But it's not just toys....

I think this one had the added benefit of tasting good

The house itself

The furniture

Since we've gotten Piper we've really learned to de-cluttered the house, minimizing anything on the floor that she could chew, but honestly the chewing is a bit frustrating. 

Good thing she's so super cute and lovable. Leo loves her too, even when she chews on his ear and wears him out.

Here Piper has strategically placed herself in front of the part of the couch she chewed on.

Easter Snapshot

We had a lovely Easter weekend. The kids had a blast, especially since they had egg hunts three days in a row. The first egg hunt was Friday at school. I didn't get any pictures of that but the twins did come home hopped up on sugar and begging for more candy.

We had our super fun neighborhood egg hunt Saturday morning that included a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Our sweet neighbor friend, Ashley

On Sunday, Mom hosted at her new home later in the afternoon. 

It's so hard to get a good family shot. I'm going to have to break down and schedule a family photo shoot (Carl's gonna love it!)

Cousins

The twins had Easter outfits on for about 20 minutes. I had to change Chloe since she was crawling around being a crocodile and wanted to go outside. 

Connor was running around like a crazy maniac, suddenly stopped in front of me and threw up. It was mainly on his shirt and the hardwoods. (So sorry Mom) He seems just fine afterwards.

We also celebrated my brother's birthday and Chloe was happy to indulge in cake in addition to all the Easter candy.

Enjoying cake with Daddy