Where is the Time Going? Where Have I Been?

Where is the time going?  I wish I could tell you.  Where have I been?  That's a good one, too.

I can't believe our little Thomas is a week away from becoming four months old.  Four months!!!  Time flies by way too quickly when you have a little baby, and I know all the moms out there know it.  He's already reached 17 pounds at three months -- the size Nathan was at six months -- which makes it seem like his babyhood is going even faster than it really is.  I have to remind myself that he'll still be a baby long after he reaches 12 months old.  The magic won't be over yet, but it's certainly a different kind of magic.

I just love this age.

Here's a sampling of what we've been up to:

Looking rather like a kewpie doll

Making funny faces (while I try to admire/photograph his new haircut)

Babywearing

Snuggling

More funny faces

Plenty of arts and crafts

A tiny amount of sewing

I went back to my freelance writing career early this month, and boy is it hard to get your brain to think the way it used to after four months of doing nothing but caring for young children and maintaining a home.  What little free time I had during my maternity leave is now practically extinct. 

So I guess this isn't a great time for me to be thinking about rebranding and relaunching my Etsy shop as a way to earn extra money, but it is what it is.  When I get an idea I have to go for it now, and I love striking while the iron's hot.  Stay tuned for my "big" announcement -- air quotes on the big because it's not, really.  A name change, a few new products... it doesn't take much to get me excited.

I'm so glad to be back in this space, friends!

Photo-a-Day Challenge!

I'm joining in with Barca Designs' Photo-a-Day Challenge for the month of August.  You know, because I don't have enough on my plate during the busiest month of summer for our family and less than 7 weeks before a new baby is due.  But who's counting?

The challenge is akin to a photo-based scavenger hunt... you simply take a photo and share it!  The challenge dictates each day's subject matter.  I'm sharing some of my photos on the Creating a Family Home Facebook page and all of them on Instagram -- my handle is kellypatla.

Here are the first seven photos I've shared so far:

Day 1: Where I work. (The kitchen. Well, that's just one of the places now, isn't it?)

Day 2: Color: Blue (Knitting for a baby boy who will be here before I know it.)

Day 3: Hands

  Day 4: Lazy (Self-explanatory, no?)

Day 5: Self-portrait (Babybelly)

Day 6: Food (Biggest challah loaf ever. Well, leftovers, anyway. Can we say French toast for dinner tonight?)

Day 7: Handwriting (My packing list for, where else, the beach!)

It's not too late to join in!  If you do, let me know so I can find and follow you.  It's fun to see how others interpret the challenge and share snippets of their lives via photographs.

A Boy and His First Honey Stick

Happy Friday!

Fall Sunset & Fun with Instagram

I love fall sunsets, even if they're not as spectacularly colorful as summer ones.  The low angle of the sun is fun to be in -- I feel like the sun is shining just on and for us.  (Although I hate driving when the sun is so low and always shining in my eyes -- that's quite a different feeling!)  I love the fall sunset's orangey hue and the yellowish glow it casts on the fading grass and trees around us.  It just makes me feel good!

(unedited)

It turns out that my iPhone takes pretty good pictures.  They're not as good as the photos my old point-and-shoot Canon takes, but in a pinch, taking photos on my iPhone a good, easy solution.  And it's really fun to use Instagram, a photo sharing application for iPhone. 

I'm not really into apps -- I just use my phone to look things up, go on Facebook and *gasp* make phone calls (shocking, I know) -- but I'm really enamored with this one.  It lets you take square photos and then quickly apply filters to transform the look and feel of the photos.  (You can also crop and use photos you've already taken on your iPhone.)  And then the photos show up in your Instagram feed and you can tweet them, share them on Facebook or send them to people via e-mail.  Really convenient and really fun.

Here's what I did with the photos I took at sunset on Friday night.  I posted the original photo below each one I edited in Instagram.  (Pro tip: You can also choose not to apply a filter to a photo on Instagram and share it as-is.)

This one's my favorite.

I love the old-school feel of this photo.

Old school, again, and it really makes me think about fall compared with the original photo below, which is greener.

Awesome colors and border. This is one of my favorite effects, but it doesn't work well with every photo.

I'm sure you can imagine what happened directly after this photo was taken...

Was that fun, or what?  (I'm sorry if you answered or what.  I thought it was!)

If you're on Instagram, my username is kellypatla, in case you'd like to follow along.  If not, you can still see my pictures -- I tweet some of them on Twitter (KellyPatla).

The Great Outdoors ~ In the Garden

~ If you took photos outdoors that you love this week, join in and post a link in the comments!  I'm replacing {this moment} with The Great Outdoors while the weather is warm and we’re spending so much time outside. ~

In between lots of rain, we spent the afternoon in the garden.  I love how the color of Nathan's New York City taxi cab shirt matches my Black-Eyed Susans.  I hadn't realized that they were taxi-cab yellow!

He sniffed a flower and was well-behaved for a time...

Until he started ripping pieces off a squash leaf...

And tried to rip out a flower.

See that guilty face?  He knew it was wrong, but didn't seem to care all that much at the time.

I thought it was cute when he sniffed a squash leaf.

Then we sang while he filled his trike up with toys.

And checked for bugs in his bug-holding container.  (There were none.)

We admired that day's varvest, a few plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a zucchini, which we had for dinner tonight.

After trying two cherry tomatoes and not liking them, he tried to stuff one into my mouth.  I gladly accepted, but only after getting this shot.  I give him credit for trying tomatoes twice -- I think he wants to like them.

As soon as we came inside, Dada whisked him back out for a walk and to talk business while I made dinner in peace and quiet.

That look totally asks, "Aren't you coming with us?"  He is so attached.  "No, Boo Boo, I'm going to stay home and make dinner now."  And he was fine with that.  And I enjoyed a few minutes alone that afternoon.

Do you like how there's purple loosestrife growing through a warped board in our porch?  I thought so.  Good thing, 'cause this is how we roll.