I’ve decided to expand my photography hobby into a possible career.
Pipe dream, right?
Possibly.
Trust me, simply declaring this on the blog is a huge leap of faith for me. I’m not one to flippantly take on a huge undertaking. I have pondered, experimented, studied, sought out criticism, doubted, soul-searched, and finally resolved to take on this adventure. Those of you who have known me most or all of my life know that I thrive on creativity. I’ve just always lacked ambition to take it to the next level. However, I’ve gotten enough practice these past six months to know where I stand as far as a capacity to learn and grow. I also have enough skill in post processing to skip that long and very arduous step. For the time being, I’m going to seek out people to practice on and try to find my niche, whether that be child, newborn, maternity, wedding, portrait or all of the above (Lord, help me). I don’t see myself becoming a successful business overnight; I want to take my time, learning as efficiently as I can all of the technical aspects of the craft as well as establishing my own style.
Because this is a whole other entity, I will not be posting my pictures on here except personal ones. I will, however, add my flickr page to the links section. That way, those who are interested in my journey can see all my latest work (At least the ones I have permission to post).
If you want to pray for this new endeavor, please pray that if it is the Lord’s will for this “pipe dream” to materialize, I will find wisdom to manage this responsibly, and not become discouraged (which I all too easily do) and also that He will give me opportunities to grow as a photographer.
My friend Matt sent out a facebook note asking people to send back 15 books that you’ve read that will “stick with you” - After replying to that, Bri urged me to post them on here because I’ve been neglectful of the ol’ Holloblog lately. So here they are…some old, some new, some tried, some true. Some probably included becuase of what they’ve brought me “to” either spiritually or intellectually, or where they’ve brought me from..and some just plain fun, with no great impact on either
I’m sure there are some forgotton, but one of the rules was ones you could think of or remember in 15 minutes! Feel free to reply with some of your favs even if you don’t have 15 to type.
Note: All the links above are affiliate linked to Amazon, so if you end up buying any, a % of the price will be given to us, which we’ll funnel along to Compassion International. So you can read and help at the same time!
Finally, a successful check-up! Every time we’ve gone it was a crying, pooping nightmare. I really don’t think his pediatrician has seen him not crying. This time I was determined to have a good trip. I scheduled Caleb’s naps to coincide directly with the appointment time and made sure he was fed, clean, well rested and in a good mood before we went. All my hard work paid off. He was a super star. The nurses just doted on all of his cuteness and smiles and in return, he flirted with all of them.
He’s still a tall and skinny guy. He weighed 16 pounds even and was 26.75 inches. That puts him at 22% for weight and 62% for height. I have to shamelessly brag that his doctor was really impressed that he could sit up so well. He said that once babies become more mobile, they’ll thin out a little so his early sitting kind of explains why he’s on the thinner side. The doc also gave the go-ahead to start him on a sippy cup and stage 2 baby food.
He did surprisingly well with his vaccinations. He smiled at the nurse all the way up until the second shot was given, then he lost it. He recovered in just enough time to give the nurse a smile on her way out; bless his pea-pickin’ heart. His next appointment is in September. So hopefully we wont be back there until then.
Our little boy is six months old! Wow, I completely agree with all those parents who told me kids grow up way too fast. His 6 month well-check will be on Tuesday so I’ll post again on how he’s grown and other fun surprises I’m sure will happen while we’re there.
Right now, Caleb can sit up unassisted for long stretches of time. He does have his occasional fall so we place him in the middle of a circle of pillows when he plays by himself. He can roll from his back to belly but has forgotten how to roll back to his back. This complicates things a bit because he will roll over while sleeping and wake up stuck in that position. He’s got both of his bottom teeth now and I have a growing suspicion that he’ll be getting his top ones soon. He’s rediscovered how to blow raspberries and does it anytime he’s in a spit and vinegar mood. He’s also making a new face that makes me laugh every time. Andy calls it his Popeye face. I was fortunate to catch him making it during his photo shoot. It’s the last picture in the slideshow below. He knows a few words and phrases. I let him turn off the lights when we leave a room; I’ll say “turn off the light” and he’ll lean over to press the switch. When he’s in his highchair, I’ll tell him “hands up” and he’ll raise his arms so I can attach the tray. He also knows Toby’s name and will look for him when I say it. I don’t think he knows his own name yet, or maybe he just has selective hearing like his Mama.
Speaking of Toby, they are BFFs now. When we come home, the first thing Caleb looks for is Toby and when he sees that dog, he’ll give him the biggest smile and lean over to pet him. I’m starting to wonder if he thinks he’s a puppy too. Toby enjoys the friendship just as much. I am always finding him licking Caleb’s face or dropping his toy in Caleb’s lap.
What a happy baby he’s turned into! It’s not hard to get a smile from him. He’s great with strangers and will give a bashful smile to people in the grocery store. He’s so curious about everything from light switches to the remote control and is eager to learn how they work. He starting to enjoy more physical games now like airplane and rocket baby. One of his favorite places in the house is right in front of the bookcase. He will either read his books which are on the bottom shelf or he will just stare up at the grown-up books.
I am constantly amazed by how fast he is discovering his world. In just 6 more short months, he’ll be diving into his first birthday cake. I am excited and sad at the same time to know that day is coming very soon. Because of that, I am relishing in each day of his infanthood for I know these days are far too fleeting and precious to take for granted.
We got Sims 3 a few days ago and like everyone else, the first thing I did was make our family. There are a few annoyances which I couldn’t work around; like how I’m the same height as Andy (which in reality, I’m about a foot shorter than him) and how Caleb looks like a two year old. Anyways, this is a family portrait of us in front of our newly renovated bungalow right across the street from the beach (sigh).
We’ve begun the introduction of fruits and veggies this weekend. Saturday and Sunday we gave him applesauce. At first, I mixed it in his cereal. I don’t think he noticed anything other than a sweeter taste. So last night, I made two bowls: in one was his usual oatmeal and in the other was plain applesauce. His reaction to the applesauce was simply hilarious. You would think I was giving him lemons or something. By the time I got the camera out, I had mixed in a little cereal to lessen the flavor intensity for his sake. Regardless, he still made faces from every single bite.
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