Sophie Lu in her Christmas Dress

(licking the dew drops from the flowers off of her arm :)

Sophie Lu's Holiday Show (video)!!!

Here is Sophie Lu right before her very 1st performance in a school Holiday program!

Attempt #1 at a photo of Sophie and Ollie together...

......................................Attempt #2... lol

So here it is... the video of Sophie Lu & her class singing and dancing in their Holiday Show! My favorite part was in the very beginning... Sophie seemed to have a little stage-fright and was nervously scanning the audience looking for us... and when she finally spotted me, she screamed, "Mama!!!" right after they started the first song! (So cute!) Okay, that's when the tears started! Then in the last song (after some very interpretive & unique dance moves) she spotted her Daddy who was sitting in the back with Ollie, and she said, "Hi Daddy!" We both felt so special and so very very proud of our baby girl! Enjoy!

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,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Flowers for our star! :)

Christmas Baking!

Sophie Lu and I baked Christmas cookies yesterday! I always baked these cookies with my mom, so it's extra special for me to be able to bake them with my own daughter. The cookie above is Sophie Lu's very first masterpiece!

Here are some of the cookies I decorated (nothing fancy but very yummy) while Sophie worked on her masterpiece...

And as you can see, Sophie Lu's first cookie was the prettiest of them all!

Isn't this gorgeous? Sophie's China sister (soon to be pen pal) Kate and her Mommy Kim sent this to Sophie! Thank you so much again Kate and Kim- you are the sweetest!

And here Sophie is modeling her beautiful new apron before it got dirty in the kitchen!

And last week we baked gingerbread people! I think Sophie ate more sprinkles than she used to decorate with!

Here is the plate of gingerbread people Sophie made for her Daddy- he ate them all, too!

This isn't a photography blog, but...

I think I'm starting to figure things out thanks to ALL the wonderful, amazing help from everyone (thanks so much)! I've always loved photos with blurry backgrounds like above, and I was so happy when I figured out how to do it! (Not that it's the best photo, but I had to include Baby Pumpkin b/c he is just so cute.) This is what I've done:

1. Changed my ISO from auto to 200 (thanks for the tip)!
2. In these shots I used a 50mm prime AF Nikon Lens which I had to manually focus b/c it doesn't auto focus with the D40 but does with the D40X (Thanks, Eric)...
3. Based on my friend Kim & others' recommendations, I ordered a D40X a few days ago (Isn't that funny, Jenny V?) I didn't opt for the Canon b/c I already have other Nikon lenses & stuff... The D40X has 10.2 mp as opposed to only 6.1mp (D40). It is also better in a few other ways- but I don't know what. lol

So... since these are just a couple (unedited) of my very first photos, I should be getting some good ones soon. If I could just get my kids to cooperate like the flowers do... :)

Thanks again for all the help everyone! I really appreciate it- especially since the photos I saw on your blogs & websites were so amazing! xoxo

Truly camera-challenged (my new camera confusion)

I finally decided that my beloved Kodak Easy-Share point & click cameras were just too slow- so after reading reviews and consulting friends, I bought a Nikon D40 DSLR camera. I chose this camera because it seems to be the easiest, most basic DSLR out there; and the people I know who have it love it. I love it so far too- only because it is FAST- I can click click click without waiting for the photos to process- it feels great! But... I don't really see the image quality difference (am I supposed to?)! If anything, I think my old camera's photos were brighter- and more clear. As you can see in the last photo- when I cropped it, I lost the quality (it's so fuzzy). With my old camera, I cropped to my heart's content and never saw this fuzziness. I don't think it's the new camera's fault- I'm sure it's mine because I am seriously camera-challenged! I see photos on the internet shot with the D40 that are gorgeous- how do they do that? Anyone have any advice for me (keep in mind that I don't know anything about cameras/photography)... I just know what looks good- lol! I checked my camera settings... the image quality and size are at the highest level- and the camera is set to Automatic (not manual)... Thanks!!! :)

Sophie's Official Letter to Santa (dictated to Mommy)

Dear Santa,

I'm a good girl! I'm gonna give you a present because I love you so much. This heart is for you (she drew a heart).

I love a macamotower game (Whac-a-Mole tower game), a Baby Born, and a pretend kitty. I like dolls, a Rose Petal Cottage, and some Angelina Ballerina movies. Maybe an Angelina doll too.

I'm a good girl because I'm a big sister now. I'm a good girl at school. I'm a good cooker girl too. I help my Mommy.

I hope you are having fun at Santa's Workshop! But, Santa, your sleigh won't fly... only planes. And your sleigh isn't fast enough. So you can take a sled in the snow.

Please bring Ollie Baby some presents too. Ollie is a good boy. I think he likes baby dolls. And little planes and little horsies- toys not real ones. Oh, and maybe a little pretend flower so he can chew on it.

I like to see snow, Santa. I want to make snow angels! And snowmen and snowballs. I love snowballs!

Merry Christmas, Santa!

Love, Sophie Lu

You want WHAAAT for Christmas???

Sophie Lu sat down this morning to write her Christmas List for Santa! This was her first time writing to Santa, so of course I was emotional (like I am for all firsts), and my heart was so full of joy.... As she wrote each item, she mumbled it to herself... "I want a trumpet a Rose Petal Cottage, a blue casheder (cash register), a Baby Alive doll, an Angelina Ballerina movie, a Macamotower game, ..." I couldn't quite interpret that last one, so I asked her to repeat it... "A Macamotower game, Mama!!!" I still couldn't understand, but a little later in the morning, THIS commerical came on and she shrieked, "That's IT, Mama! The Macamotower game!!!" Okay, so not only does my 3 year old daughter want a freaky looking doll that goes poo poo, she wants a Whac-a-Mole Tower game where the objective is to pound an innocent little mole over the head with a hammer??? Kids really play this game? And Hasbro actually made this game? And parents like me are supposed to buy and approve of this game??? And now Sophie Lu keeps doing the mole dance and singing, "Go mole, go mole"!!! I rarely ever let Sophie watch anything with commercials, but with all the Christmas specials lately, it's been hard to avoid. Now I know why I've tried to avoid it so much- these commercials really work! And my daughter is the ultimate consumer! It's truly unbelievable. She really really wants this game- so I guess I have to get it for her? Omg- the "Whac-a-Mole Tower game"... who would have thought?

Poor little mole... lol. I guess this is just the beginning, right? Anyone else's kids want something crazy like this? :)

Ready for Thanksgiving

Here they are- my two little cuties ready for their first Thanksgiving together! We were lucky enough to be joined by my favorite step-son Mikie and my Dad, Elliot who had so much fun playing with the kids. I wasn't feeling well and was also busy cooking so I didn't get many photos besides the few I took after I got the kids dressed in the morning- but I did get a photo of the MOST important turkey of the day (above)! Sophie was so proud of this turkey she made at school; and of course, I loved it! It made a beautiful centerpiece for our Thanksgiving table!