Not Bad?

Here's one of my first attempts at trying the "manual mode" on my camera - meaning I told the camera what to do - what aperture to set it at, shutter speed, ISO. We had a great Enrichment the other night on photography. A few lovely ladies in our ward taught the class and each know a lot more than I do about photography and shared some of their skills. They have blogs if you want to check them out: http://www.wishfulthinkingphotography.blogspot.com/ http://www.apieceofyourpuzzle.blogspot.com/ and http://www.hollyapreciophotography.blogspot.com/

I took this picture of Tyler yesterday morning. It's a little on the grainy side, but I did get the "catch lights" in his eyes! Also wishing I would've thought to close the pantry doors in the background...kind of a distraction to see all that food in the background. I do know quite a few basics about photography just from a few classes I took in high school, but it's fun for me to learn more. I really enjoy it.

And as a little update on what we've been up to: went to Lake Roosevelt last weekend with the fam for one last hurrah before school starts. It was a good time, but pretty hot, and I am definitely done with camping trips this summer. We've had a pretty good summer, done a lot of fun things, but this last week seems like I am hanging on my last nerve. The kids too. They are ready and excited to go back to school, but we are waiting each day to hear whether or not our teachers are going to strike. Last word was they have reached a tentative agreement with their contract and are voting today....first day of school has been pushed back to next Wednesday. I guess we will know more details by the end of the day today.

I am now taking two iron pills a day, and if pregnancy in and of itself isn't enough to make you tired, having this anemia on top of it, I am exhausted (and thus not a very patient mommy) most days. I am hiring somebody to come clean my house next week...just cannot stay on top of it all. It will be well worth the $85. I hate to spend the money on something I feel like we should do ourselves, but my emotional well-being is worth more than money. I had a cleaning service for awhile when we lived in Rochester when I had 3 babies in 3 years, and it was worth every penny. I am getting excited to have this baby and also really looking forward to getting back in the gym and losing the baby weight. :)