My New Favorite Way to Take Pictures of T

So awhile back in my WTE Mom's Group, some women were posting collage style pictures of their little ones ... and I simply had to give it a go ... because what captures baby's personality better than a photo collage?

My first effort involved just over 20 pictures that I took over the course of less than 5 minutes, resulting in the following "Hurrah! I'm 8 Months Old..!" collage.  I think it is absolutely perfect .. for practical as well as sentimental reasons, seeing as he chose to begin crawling just days after this "mini photo shoot" ... the black and white makes it a bit timeless .. and does a magnificent job of camouflaging the "pile of stuff" in the background pile that still has yet to be delivered to the Good Will.  You can also pick-and-choose which pictures you'd like to use, which eliminates those crummy pictures you capture where baby moves suddenly and you are left with nothing but fuzz from these "amazing digital cameras."

I used Photobucket.com to create my collage ... uploading my pictures to my super-private profile ... and then "editing" them into a collage.  You have the option of organizing the photos in any number of ways, using between 2 and 16+ pictures.  Additionally, you can add captions to the pictures, as well as edit the coloring .. which is how I managed to find the black and white above ... and this "color rotate" effect, below.  The options really are endless!  You can also preview everything before you "save" the collage ... (ps. I eliminated the borders in my collage, maximizing the picture space. You can slide the pictures around in their little boxes by "grabbing" them, too)

T Attacks the Camera - Watch out!

One challenging aspect, however, is "sharing" the pictures .. because you are given those complex alpha-numeric "codes" to type in ... don't be fooled as I was the first and second time ... even tho it doesn't acknowledge that you have accurately "guessed" the code, your image has been sent off.  I have chosen to simply right click each image I create and save them to the appropriate folder on my computer.  Works just as well!

6 Months is a (long/short) time!

Our first family photo <3

Today little T is 6 months old! I can't believe it!  The last 6 months truly have flown by ... as I'm sure many mommies can relate ... it's almost as if having a baby jams the 'fast-forward' button into place.

At this time (6:20 p.m.) 6 months ago ... my parents were just arriving at the hospital! I was so glad to have Margaret in town when I went into labour, and it was equally as refreshing and empowering to have my parents there, as well. (of course in addition to DH who was my steadfast boulder to care for me while in the hospital)

Here's a tiny glimpse into what we've accomplished as a new little family over the last 6 months -

• At about 10:30 p.m. we found out we would be having a c-section ... my first major surgery.
• T was born at 11:07 p.m.!! Welcome to the world, little baby!
• I began breastfeeding
• I enjoyed an extended stay at the hospital .. lol luxury? Maybe not.
• We slept for the first time as a family in our little home ... on the futon downstairs because I was way too scared to venture upstairs (and back down?) after my surgery!
• DH and I figured out (and adapted many times ... lol) the best way to change diapers ... and eventually began cloth diapering our little one!
• We had the most company in the shortest period of time ever - spending the 5-6 of T's first 8 weekends with family.
• We have perfected the process of bringing our little one to the South Bend Farmers' Market and have gone almost every Saturday we are in town - T has a fan club among the famers' and vendors ;-)
• We know the ins and outs of breastmilk pumping, storage, freezing, reheating ... 
• We've struggled through and been successful in meeting our *FIRST* Breastfeeding Goal of nursing for 6 months! On to the next goal! 9 Months!
• We've tag teamed sleepless nights quite effectively
• We've become an amazing 3-person team and family ... loving one another more than we knew we could.
• Thomas has learned how to - grab, pinch, roll, drink from a bottle, suck a nuk (independently .. lol) and get it into his mouth, stand, pull-to-sitting with a steady strong head, sit with minimal support, and many other milestones ... I've only cried for two of them ... hahah
• We have learned to do a number of things one handed with a baby in the other arm ...
• We've traveled to and from Minnesota twice - 3 trips by car, 1 by plane - another baby first.
• We've taken more pictures than ever before ... even surpassing our wedding day pictures, and there were TWO photographers snapping then!!
• We've mastered tag-team eating .. you eat while I juggle the baby .. ok switch!
• I've made my own baby food <3
• We've talked about when the next little one will come along ;-) 

Ohh man I could go on forever ... It truly is amazing how having a little one changes EVERYTHING. Our little gift =)  He is incredible.

..........

Another feat I've accomplished for the first time is how on earth to do a mail merge .. I printed a heap of addresses onto envelopes today to mail or Christmas cards.  It occurred to me that we are PACKING tomorrow to LEAVE TOWN for 10 days in just TWO DAYS! Eek! I can't wait..!  So to minimize craziness it dawned on me that I should probably mail out these gorgeous Christmas cards we purchased courtesy of JCPenny and Groupon ... We should also figure out what we're going to do with all of these pictures ;-) Oh wait, we already have some ideas!

Little T is up from his nap .. I love listening to Ryan chat with him over the baby monitor - that thing is almost always on!  Lately T has been just catching a glimpse of Ry and doing his little "Ahh heeee" laugh, grinning ear to ear. We can't figure out what it is that invokes these little laughs ... maybe it's Ryan's goofy face? ;-) hahah

c'mon mom .. i just woke up!

Happy 6 Months, Baby T!