Bath Time

When he was about 11 weeks old, Emmett started going down for the night promptly at 6:30 pm, every night. Of course he woke up a hundred times in the night (still does, most nights), but he never wavered on his 6:30 bedtime. This was so hard on me while I worked full-time. I would come home at 5:30, rush to give him dinner and a bath and a few short minutes of playtime before he started to melt down and we had to get him ready for bed. So hard! Until a couple of weeks ago.

One recent night he wanted to stay in his bath longer than normal. He was playing so happily that I just let him stay up, and each night since then he's been the happiest little boy in the evenings and stays up a full hour later than he always has. It's been so much fun! We linger in the bath, take long walks after dinner, and he runs around laughing and playing before we finally take him to bed.

Bedtime is another thing that's changed lately- Since he was born, I've always rocked and nursed him to sleep. I know they say you aren't supposed to, but I had such little time with him each day that I needed that special time with him each night, so I did it anyway. I'm glad I did because those are some of the sweetest moments we've had together, cuddled up and warm in his rocking chair, saying our prayers before bed.

Now we're working on weening him, so we slowly cut out the nursing and rocking at night. He fought me for a few weeks but now when we head to his room each night, we say his prayers and he just leans his head back towards his crib while I hold him, letting me know he's ready to lie down and go to sleep. It's peaceful and sweet and he's just such a good boy, I almost can't handle it! He's been sleeping so much better, even through the night a few times this week (!!!!!), so we are all really loving the later bedtime!

So now each night he takes really long baths. I sit on the floor next to him the whole time and he just plays and plays and chats with me. It's so much fun and I know I'll always remember these night as some of the most fun times we've spent together so far. I take tons of pictures and videos and send them to my family so they can see him so happy and funny. It's awesome!

"Little Weirdo"

Corinna's post this morning about Evie and her Altoids had me laughing out loud at my desk, so I thought I would chime in with my own little weirdo story.

Last night Emmett found a pair of socks in his room and his face lit up like he'd found the world's coolest toy. He tucked his little sock under his chin and wrapped it around his neck and walked around like that for an hour! So silly. I think maybe he was trying to wear it like a scarf like his mama does, but who knows.

I'm constantly amazed by the way he views the world. The simplest things make him happy and everything he sees is exciting and fun. Keep up the weird little Emmett!!

Linking up with Corinna at Track 8 and Annapolis & Company!

Inspiration: The Everyday Project by Annapolis & Co

I found Annapolis & Co a few months back (through Casey Leigh- if you don't already read this one, start. Now!) and instantly fell in love with her blog. The photography is so striking, I found myself pouring over her posts to see more of her beautiful photos. I found myself wanting to pick up my camera and work harder at my own photography. I wanted to learn! Isn't it amazing when you come across a blog or IG feed that really inspire you to be better? So great.

I've spent some time the last few days reading Mary Beth's posts from her series The Everyday Project. Have you seen this movement on IG yet? You can check it out by searching the hashtag #theeverydayproject. I've been seeing that hashtag everywhere for weeks now, and finally found time to check it out. Mary Beth is an iPhone photography genius! She's writing weekly posts with incredible tips for iPhone photography, giving you simple and brilliant instructions on everything from basics like lighting and perspective, to how to capture movement, and how to add typography to your photos. She gives you the inside scoop on the best apps to use for editing, and even gives really wonderful advice on Instagram etiquette- things like how to grow a following, where she talks about the right ways to connect with others on IG. Really great stuff.

The post she did on how to capture a Silhouette was my favorite- I learned so much from that post about how to use your iPhone's tap-to-focus feature to change the lighting and depth of field in your photos. This is basic stuff, but I never would have figured it out without Mary Beth's help. She is able to take her beautiful photos and break them down to show you exactly how she captures them, and each post leaves me feeling more inspired and more excited to go out and experiment with my own photography. I only wish I'd taken the time to read them sooner!

The purpose behind this series is to inspire readers to go out and play with their cameras, to take better photos, and to share them on Instagram. Spend a little bit of time going through #theeverydayproject hashtag on IG and you'll see that she's done it! She has created a community of people, learning and sharing and helping eachother to grow. As I come across images I love I've been liking and commenting on them, and I've discovered some really beautiful feeds, while getting great feedback on my own images. People are doing amazing things on Instagram. I'm already a huge fan (#overgram much?), but this new community of IGers has really renewed my love for Instagram.

I'm inspired, empowered. Each day I can't wait to take photos, to play with my iPhone camera, to mess with my photos and create beautiful images. I'm rethinking the way I Instagram- I want my feed to be beautiful, to tell my story, and to welcome others and inspire them. I am so grateful to Mary Beth for taking the time to share her knowledge, and can't wait to learn more!