No flash photography allowed!

We are taking a lot of pictures indoors now so it was time to upgrade to a better flash. The built-in flash does a pretty good job but it was a little harsh and causes shiny skin. We bought this Nikon SB-400 that you can see on top of the camera from Amazon. You can read a review here. It pairs up perfectly with the D40. It's nice and small and can do bounce flash. This is where you bounce the flash off the ceiling so it doesn't create such a harsh flash.


Here you can see Lauren with a bounce flash. The ceiling is a little too high so we'll have to experiment with adding a bounce card.


Here you can see Lauren with the built-in flash on the camera. You can see her shiny cheeks in this photo.

I'm 2 months old now!

Here you can see me hanging with my peeps.

Tired of waiting

I'm ready to have my diaper changed before my nap.

Orange Lion

What? Really? There are orange lions in the house?


That's not an orange lion!

Happiness

I'm a.....

Ha ha! Get it? I'm a Mini Pooper :) You thought it said Mini Cooper. Thanks Uncle Chaz for the great onesie. Although Mom and Dad have been calling me Mini Pooper all day. It's getting really old.

Pink treads

I've fallen and can't get up

Dad, this chair is for 3 month olds and up. I'm only 7 weeks. Now help me up.

On a side note, the snake was still in our pool but in our skimmer basket. He decided to try out our neighbor's pool with the help of our leaf skimmer pole. :)

I scream for .....

Stop the burping. Did you hear that? It's the ice cream truck!



Unfortunately this ice cream truck looks more like a van. There's just something special about hearing the ice cream truck and running after it. We might have to move back east just so Lauren can experience a real ice cream truck. :)

Snakes in a Pool

Lizards, birds, scorpions, and now snakes. Here you can see the snake swimming in our pool. Who can blame him? It's supposed to hit 116 degrees today.

After another hard day's work

How did I live without my papasan swing all these weeks?

Dining at Le Bistro

Finally after 4 years we are hoping to get some sound sleep. Our cats without fail wake us up at 4am everyday so we can feed them. They scratch on the door and will even throw their body into the door to wake us up. So in order to only be woken up once in the night by Lauren, we bought these automatic pet feeders to feed them at 4am. I'm really hoping this solves our problem.....

New Treads

We just got new tires for the Saab. Michelin Pilots from Costco with the $60 off coupon. There's something about new tires that makes you think you can drive harder. I think this is the same phenomenom with new sneakers and being able to run faster. In another life besides being a professional runner, swimmer, singer, or cook, I'd be a designer for tires or cookware. There's just something about tire design and cookware that fascinates me.

Poor Design of Experiment

Here you can see Lauren in her new baby papasan swing that we bought from Amazon. The swing can rock back and forth as well as side to side. The swing does a pretty good job of soothing her but it's probably secondary to the other thing we introduced. I spy a .....

Little Houdini

We still don't know how she managed to get one of her arms out of this swaddle blanket that uses velcro. It's essentially a straightjacket for babies.

Nature versus Nurture

I have a feeling, Lauren will like shoes. She can't even walk, let alone crawl, and yet she has more shoes that I do. :) I'm sure I missed a pair or two as well.

After a hard day's work

Things parents make their kids do....

Do I really have to put my left arm out so I look like the teddy bear?

Wall Art

My enemies will never find me on this wall. Oh wait, my head.

I'm 4 (weeks) now!

Hmm....that is interesting. This is the first blue outfit I've worn.

For Kids Only

I can't wait to be able to go and play on these....um I mean Lauren can't wait. :) The playgrounds are covered here because it gets so hot from the sun.


Some foliage near the playground.

Doll or Cat?

Mom, how embarrassing! I'm not a doll! I'm a cat. Can't you see that?

Sport Sedan to Minivan?

Our car is slowly turning into a family car. First the car seat, then a baby mirror so we can see Lauren from our rear view mirror. Hopefully it won't become one of those cars that has toys thrown all over the place, half eaten food on the floor, etc. And definitely no minivan no matter how convenient they may be.

Things to come...

It wasn't me.


They fall for it everytime. Heh, heh, heh....

Different levels of hunger

I'm hungry.


I'm hungry now so you better wake up!

Winner!

Won again.

BINGO!

It's that time again. The Saab needed a oil change so I always schedule them for Fridays when they play bingo. I won a calculator this round.

I'm ready to be swaddled now

Invasion of the Lizards

There seems to be two lizards living in our backyard. We've spotted them a dozen or so times already. Sometimes they are even doing pushups.


We aren't the only ones who have spotted them as well.

Easiest way to exercise

Lauren's first walk around the neighborhood although she didn't really do any walking.


Lauren's second walk. Not a bad way to travel.


Saguaro Cactus in bloom.




Lauren relaxing after her exhausting walk this morning.

What's all the crying about?

Hopefully Chester and Riley don't decide to make this their new Cat bed.

Pink bug

If only I were a two week old, I'd be able to reach that.

Baby Girl

After 40 weeks, Lauren was born on Saturday, May 19th at 10:05 am exactly on her due date. Her stats are 6 lbs 7 ounces and 19.5 inches long. They also measure her head and chest but that's a little too private to post. :)

We are still adjusting to our new little gift. We've been tracking her bowel movements and feedings and I'm in the process of setting up control charts. Just kidding.


Here's Lauren in Christy's arms.


Here's Lauren posing for her hospital pictures.


We weren't the only ones waiting anxiously for the baby. Picture courtesy of Grandma Pennie.


We would have stayed a little longer in the hospital but we didn't want to get hit with a late checkout charge. :) Who could blame us for wanting to stay longer? Adjustable bed, luxurious robes, daily room service....

The Ultimate in Luxury

Private jet, Limo, Spa, personal chef....a garage door that opens during a power outage. That's right. Don't you just hate not being able to open your garage door no matter what. Okay, I know what you are thinking. We really didn't need this but for $10 more, why not. Plus the garage door button has a built in motion sensor to turn on the light too. Again, we didn't need this since we have one already hooked up to the lights but I'm a sucker for a good deal.

Here's our old broken one that died before the weekend.

Our new one is a belt drive system that supposedly is super quiet. It's pretty quiet but the garage door is still noisy. You can see the huge honking backup battery mounted to the ceiling. It's kind of ugly and the new models have the battery built into the unit but heh, that's the price you pay for bargain luxury.