Like a kid in a candy store!

At least that's how I feel when the UPS guy drops off a package from my lab! Here is the storyboard I designed last week from our dossier pictures and I am just thrilled with the results! This is a 20x24 floating wrap.

Of course these shots don't come close to doing this wall art justice, but you can get a really good idea. The colors are a little off and the pictures aren't as crisp as they are in the actual storyboard.

The floating wrap is a little less than 1/2 inch thick and the image is actually wrapped around a padded foam board.

It has a 3/4 inch foam board attached to the back for hanging, so it will stand out from the wall. Coolness! You can also see that the back is wrapped in black paper for a nice clean finish.

I'm in love with this new piece! It will always be a wonderful reminder of this crazy dossier-building time :-) Now I just need to figure out where to hang it so we can walk by it *a lot* ...

Papers, please?

A lot of people have asked how the adoption is going ... this is what we are in the midst of! Papers! I wanted to make sure I documented all of this crazy adoption paperwork! I had to stand on a chair to get all of it in. LOL. You can even see my EKG over there on the top right.

This isn't even ALL of the paperwork, that's what's nuts. It's a lot of it, but definitely not all of it.

This is the checklist I've been working off of for the home study. Almost there! DH got his FBI clearance re-fingerprinted today so we have a few more weeks to wait on that. I also need to call the health department today to find out where they are in scheduling our health inspection.

Our adoption agency folder, I really love our social worker, she's been amazingly helpful!

Certified birth certificates and marriage license! Lots of paperwork ... driving records and rabies certificates for the dogs. So phew, slowly but surely, we are getting there. We're getting close to wrapping up the paperwork for our home study. We just need to wait on DH's FBI clearance and our health inspection. After all of it is complete, our social worker will come back to meet with us again I think 2 more times. After that, she will compile a summary of all the paperwork and interviews. The summary is the "Home Study" that will go into our dossier.

We have some things to complete for our dossier also, but none of it is super time consuming thank goodness! I'm setting up tonight to take our passport photos so we can get that sent off. I was going to get them done at the post office but I found a handy .pdf file online that tells professional photogs what all the specifications are, so I'm just going to do it. It's not in me to pay someone to take photos of us when I'm perfectly capable. LOL.

PS - I just fell in love with my 100mm macro lens all over again. The depth of field ... wow.

Passport photos, check!

I found a great passport photo resource online that tells you the exact specifications for the images. Did you know that your head can only be between 1 in - 1 3/8 in tall? Your eyes can also only be between 1 1/8 in - 1 3/8 in high from the bottom of the 2 in x 2 in photo. Bet you didn't know that! LOL.

Now that these are all measured up, we just need to wait for them to be printed and send them off along with the form. Yay!

Family storyboard

Color or black & white?

I wanted to work on a way to use all 3 of these images for wall art. I really like the "whole house" photo but it would've looked kind of funny enlarged and hung on a wall (esp. because the house was in focus, not us). So this is what I came up with. My gut instinct is to go with the color version ... thoughts?

This is currently sized to a 16x20 but I'm considering going slightly larger ... maybe a standout instead of a framed print. But I'm not sure and I also have no idea where this is going to go ... maybe the stairwell?

Our dossier photos

We have to submit 6 photos with our dossier. My Dad came over to babysit last night and because it was an overcast day, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to grab a few of the shots we need. I loathe doing family portraits of us ... it's stressful because I can't see what's going on and let's face it, it's always "interesting" trying to get group shots with little ones. LOL.

China is pretty specific about 2 of the photos - we need at least one with all of us looking at the camera and we need one with us in front of our house with the whole house in view. I think I'm going with the first 2 shots - a closer-up portrait and a full body.

And here is the whole house in view one. LOL. We totally look like ants. What's disappointing is that when I zoom in, we all look awesome and I really wish that we had done a closer-up version. I might have to try and recreate this pose :-) :-)

This one of Angel was my "test shot" to make sure all my settings were good to go. I am totally in love with this portrait ... maybe a portfolio piece if I get rid of the hand stamp?! The beautiful smile, hair blowing in the wind, big flower headband, rich colors ... ahh, perfection! Gosh I love this little girl!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my Dad & S. for doing this for us. My Dad was the shooter and S. was court jester. LOL. She took her "assignment" very seriously (or not seriously, we were all cracking up!) and got some great smiles out of the kids. These were by far the least stressful family portraits we have ever done. I actually had fun, yay!

We'll be submitting the 1st, 2nd and 4th shots for our dossier. We still will have to come up with 3 other photos - all of us doing "stuff" as a family. I'm working on figuring out what I want those to be ... playing in the playroom, working in the garden, cooking ... ?? I'll think on it :-)

Tortellini Monsters!

Lovebug thought it would be fun to eat his tortellini with his fingers. LOL. Angel jumped on the bandwagon. I think she got a little more into it than him. Hehe ... too funny :-)

Blessed

My Mom and I took the kids out on Saturday for a "session" in their Easter outfits (I know, I'm way behind, LOL). I had these grand plans for a gorgeous shot of them together all coordinated. Yeah, that definitely didn't work out. It's partly my fault because it was around 7pm and partly just that they are kids. Anyway, while editing these 2 portraits, I remembered how annoyed I was while I was taking them because I couldn't capture what I had envisioned. I then realized how stupid that was ... why in the WORLD was I so annoyed? It seems dumb looking back - God has blessed me in a million and one ways ... and I was actually annoyed. Um, Hello?! LOL. Sometimes I need to step back to gain a little perspective.

Soooo, I present to you a couple of individual portraits of my amazing blessings from God. I have lots more to go through, but these were 2 that stood out.

Here's the music video of the song I stole my title from:

Nana and her kiddos

My mom went out with us to help with a few Easter outfit pictures AND to get some nice retirement pictures for her. YES, she is retiring!!!! She's excited but nervous at the same time ... I keep telling her she'll be FINE but I think she's going to have to find that out on her own :-) Anywho, this is the composite picture that will go on her retirement posters! Angel wasn't into cooperating but at least everyone will get the idea :-)

King of the wild frontier

Alright, so maybe my little guy isn't going to be taking over the wild frontier like Davy Crockett anytime soon ... but I'm positive he's waaaay cuter. LOL. I really liked this first one but couldn't decide whether I favored the color or b&w version, so I just included both of them. I like the colors in the vest & hat, but the feel of the b&w.

Lovebug is such a piece of cake to grab quick shots of now. I said "Lovebug, can I take some pictures of you in your hat?" He responded, "CHEEEEESE!" with a big smile. LOL. What a funny kid.

Part of me feels like these shots should be in color but I like the b&w's better. I have both in case I decide I want the color versions later.

Isn't he edible? LOL. I joke all the time that I want to eat my kids, they are just so sweet! I was way overdue for some snapshots of the kids. I've been so busy with work and the adoption paperwork that I have been slacking on my photo-taking as a mommy! So here are a few of just Lovebug. It seems like several posts have been mostly him, but I think I went through an Angel phase a little while ago so it all evens out :-)

And as if the shots of Lovebug weren't awesome enough ... here is a diptych of my little buddy and my Dad complete with coonskin cap circa ... 1959 maybe? My Dad will have to correct me but this shows you that the roots run deep :-) LOL.

A Wakeup Call

If you know me well, you know that I buy organic whenever possible, I don't use pesticides or harmful cleaners, I use healthy personal care products and I steer clear of plastics when I can. A lot of my family & friends think I'm nuts when it comes to this stuff ... but really, our kids are not protected anymore and it's our job as parents to be educated. The government isn't doing that great of a job, so we need to step it up. There are so many toxins in our daily environments. Small changes can have huge impacts. Watch the video and if you feel moved, get their book from the library and read it. And then,

HELP SPREAD THE WORD!

A Wake-Up Story from Healthy Child Healthy World on Vimeo.