new Brody pics!

Doing some Brody catch up this week--with videos and now some newer photos. yay!

Even though Brody's FAVORITE "toys" are things like cell phones and electrical cords, water bottles, and thermoses, there are still a few actual toys that will hold his attention!

He totally digs his activity table. He's really grown into too--when he first got it, his standing stamina wasn't was it is now, and after a while I would hear a panicked whimper and look to see him with his legs so straddled that he couldn't stand.

He also loves this car/walker converter he's borrowing from a friend right now. He loves using it both as a car and a walker--though sometimes he pushes the walker faster than he can actually walk and does a faceplant.

Apparently pens are also a new favorite

Proof that he does indeed smile

And of course, one of the best toys EVER, the mirror!

Jose Villa photobook!

Jose Villa has a book out on wedding photography--I need it!!


He takes seriously LUSCIOUS film photos



LOVING my d40, but one day I really want to play around with film. I feel like I have to earn it though, since with film each picture costs money!

Speaking of my camera, my friend Abby, who is an AMAZING photographer, just gave me the best gift EVER--she gave me her old 50 mm 1.8 lens!! It doesn't autofocus with a d40, so I have to manually focus everything. It started to hurt my eyes after a while, but I feel like I'm really starting to get the hang of it! At least of things that don't move--like food....Brody crawling, though--that's a TOTALLY different story. ;)

Nathan and Julie

Congrats to my sister, Julie and her fiance Nathan! They just got engaged almost exactly a month ago, and the big day is May 20. We Littlejohn girls like our engagements quick, I guess! Anyway, they were nice enough to be guinea pigs for me and let me take some pics of them.






The next several pics were taken at a little walk-up espresso airstream called Retro Espresso. We thought it was kinda fun, but hopefully it doesn't look too trailer trashy!




What's romance without a little coffee?

The White Part of Christmas

The coolest thing happened in the South this Christmas:


It was so nice that even though we weren't able to go out to the Northwest this year, we still got a taste of the pretty part of winter weather! Although honestly we're getting plenty in Virginia this year too!

The day after Christmas church was cancelled, so we headed down to our friends the Pruetts' for food and singing and pretty snow.

Brody's First Snow Day

I know for everyone out West, you will think this doesn't count as a snow day. But in Va Beach, this was a BIG DEAL. Plus, I got these first thing in the morning, and then it actually snowed more later, but then I didn't want to go back out. You know me and cold. PLUS, you have no idea how many times I had to put his boots back on in just the 5-10 minutes we were outside. I generally don't ever bother putting shoes or socks on Brody, cause he just kicks them off--the only time I put them on him is when other people are going to see him, so they don't think I'm a bad mom or something. ;)

Check out his scratch. He loves to mutilate both me and himself at every opportunity. I have multiple red marks all over my face right now.

Oh, and I finally finished his new hat. He has mittens too, but he just takes them off.

Brody loves snow!

And...just to kill 2 birds with one stone, we'll call this DPP Day 13. :)

December Photo Project--the weekend

relaxing winter treats

DPP--December 8/9/10

Some days during finals I just don't have my computer, so I can't upload pics, but here are some pics from Brody's and my walk yesterday.




Brody got sick of being out in the cold and so he glared at me pitifully and accusingly until we went inside.

December Photo Project--Dec. 7

You may be picking up on the trend that all my photos so far have been interior photos. My friend Abby says she likes to avoid shooting inside if at all possible, so I know I should get outside. And I've been meaning to every day, but the truth is when I'm outside in the cold I can't concentrate on anything but getting from inside point A to inside point B. That's how much of a wimp I am. I'll work on it... :)

Dec 6--Baking Bread with Londyn

December Photo Project, 12/6: today Londyn and I made bread!

Shutterfly Christmas

The first year we were married, I didn't get around to thinking about Christmas cards until Christmas Eve or so, so I made about 50 Valentines to make up for it (which I still love to do!). But last year I put on my grown-up shoes and sent out Christmas cards. And this year I think we're gonna do it again, and I'm HOPING to step it up a notch and put in a Christmas letter, but we'll see... :)

Also, I'm super excited to be doing our cards through Shutterfly this year! Of all the companies out there I've seen doing Christmas cards, Shutterfly has by far the cutest and widest selection. I had fun making 15 different Christmas cards options on their website, and I'm sure I could make 15 more that I loved just as much! Another great perk is that they are offering 50 free Christmas cards to bloggers! Check it out here!

So of the 15 I made, here are my top 6. I'd love help deciding which one to send! Let me know which you like best!

Merry Eiferts

Regent Steps

Happy Pants

Merriest

Holly Peppermint

Most Wonderful Time

(the look of this one makes me think of A Christmas Story, hehe)

Shutterfly's products are a huge hit in my family--one of my mom's favorite pastimes is making photo books for the grandparents. She has made them for both my brother Brad's and my weddings, for hers and Dad's 25th anniversary trip, and just to document the events of the year for the grandparents. I've never made one, but I think it is a terrific tradition and am looking forward to (and putting off) making my first one this year.

Littlejohn Christmas mornings have been full of Shutterfly's photo products for years--in addition to the photo books, my mom has done mugs with wedding photo collages (and seriously, the photos don't ever fade) and calendars for the grandparents. They also make awesome prints--I love creating an album and then just shipping the prints directly to Brody's great-grandparents without having to go to the post office!

Go to their website and have fun playing around with your pics!

Photos in the cards taken by Vintage Button Photography--she does an amazing job! Thanks, Abby!

December 4 and 5

I totally missed yesterday....I took pics, but Ellis and I share my laptop, and during finals I pretty much don't see my laptop, so I just didn't have the opportunity to upload pics! But here are two, one for yesterday, and one for today!



Hopefully tomorrow I will play around outside with the camera. A friend gave me some good tips tonight too--basically not to try to play with all the settings at once until I know what I'm doing.

Now to watch some of our favorite show, Friday Night Lights!

December 3

Hopefully in 2 weeks I will look back on these pics and be embarrassed.

One of the things I'm super excited to do with my new camera is to actually take pictures of food and projects as I go along. So here is a yummy cupcake (which Ellis is eating right this very second) from a local bakery called La Chocolatier.


Also, as a runner up for today, this may not look very impressive, but you have no idea how hard it was for me to stand still enough to get this view of our cozy courtyard this clear. I was braced against the side of our building holding my breath.

December Photo Project

My friend Ali is participating in this awesome project called the December Photo Project. Basically, just post a photo a day for the first 25 days of December.

Normally I would think this was an awesome idea, but be scared to participate for fear of starting and doing about 5 days worth and then stopping and forgetting to finish up. BUT....the 1st of December happens to coincide with my first day with my new camera!

Here is me with my amazing new toy.



I pooled my birthday money to get a Nikon d40, which I've been wanting FOREVER. I love that it is only 1.5 pounds, as opposed to most DSLRs, which are like at least 4 pounds. That actually was the selling point for me. I haven't gotten an opportunity to play with the settings too much yet, but I'm reading the manual and then my friend Kara showed me a fun resource called the Digital Photography School which has a lot of great articles and tips!

So anyway, I figured the December Photo Project would be a perfect opportunity to motivate me to explore things with my new camera!

I'm a day late starting, but here is a pic of a screw hook I got for one of my pine cone crafts! Nothing glamorous, but I'm loving the general lack of grain that was ever-present in my Kodak EasyShare shots. :)