Death of a Purist

Although I am no Luddite, I swore in my youth that I would not make the jump to digital photography and, God forbid, Photoshop. I was a purist, using only film in my hand-me-down Minolta Maxxum. I would make endless trips to the same destination at different times of the day just to capture suitable light. Now with two boys, there is a certain ease to just getting a good shot and worrying about getting around to making corrections on the desktop later. Also, if you know me, you know that I am a horrible portrait photographer. I would much rather take pictures of undisturbed wilderness.

Here are some of my recent attempts at breaking in my new Canon XSi and touching my photos up with Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, great for a beginner like me in a digital world.

Little People

One of Parks and Wyatt's favorite new toys a the Playtown Little People. As you can see in the pictures below we have amassed quite a lot of the town folk. The individual people come with little 3"x3" books that the boys also love and are great for stuffing into the diaper bag. While the boys were playing with their Little People the other day, I was playing with my new Canon XSi. "Lovin' it."

This how I found Duke asleep on the floor.

The boys are really getting good at calling each one by their names. They know the mommy and daddy ones. They know the doctor, firemen, and policeman. They call the dog, "dud" and cat, "mou" - like meow.

A group shot.

Parks plucking the dada up in his grasp.

We call him Goober, the mechanic.

Growing Up

Here are a few random pictures of the boys. I was going back through photos of them when they first got home from the hospital. Even now, from time to time, they seem like the little babies that were so dependent on us for everything, but with their second birthday approaching in a couple months, it seems hard not to recognize that they are growing up into little boys.

Parks seems to be much more of our people pleaser. He is very helpful when asked to do something.

Wyatt would much rather do his own thing.

Parks is seems always ready to horse-play with me.

Wyatt needs a little more prodding to horse-play. He is much more into reading his books and babbling about what he sees when he reads and the toys he plays with.

Parks is much more demanding of our time. He constantly wants to be held and has picked up a habit of whining about nothing at all for extended periods of time.

All in all, they are growing up so fast together, yet their personalities become more distinct each day. They are really starting to get to the point where they see each other as companions, enjoying playing together and copying each other. It really is such a joy to be able to witness it.

The Pink Pig

On the way home from my (Todd's) parents house after Christmas, we met some friends of our at Lenox Mall in Atlanta to ride the Pink Pig with all the kiddies. It was only when Julie started asking where the pictures were from that day that I remember we had them and had not posted them. So, Merry Christmas all over again. If any of you guys are in and around Atlanta, it was a lot of fun for the little guys. I would not suggest it for older kids or dads who are 6'2" tall. I had to unfold myself to get out of the ride.

If you do not know, the Pink Pig started in 1953 with Priscilla the Pink Pig debuted as a monorail ride at Rich's department store in downtown Atlanta. In the 1950s, children waited to ride on the Pink Pig — a string of metal monorail cars that carried them high above the old Rich's store, where they could gaze down at the wonderland of toys below.Mommy letting Parks try on some pig ears.

All of us together as we rode around the track. The original Pink Pig Monorail car on display.I wish I could say that Parks is smiling but he was ready to get out.Mommy and Parks - midride.