Shanni’s Blog

Last week we went to a farm/pumpkin patch.  Anyway they had a sunflower patch and maze.  Here are some shots.

I got us some new sheets at Ikea

Wanna make your house smell REALLY good like Autumn?

in a small saucepan add:

Bring to a boil and then turn stove off OR simmer on low. Be careful not to let it sit too long or the water will evaporate and the spices will stick to the pan! I’ve done this a few times, now I have a ruined pan I use just for this purpose. Oops!

[recycled post]

I got Mateo a fish (well, I guess he’s more my fish since I’ll be taking care of it)

I know, I know.  I am terrible at updating my blog.  Sorry!  I just don’t feel like I have anything interesting to say.  My days are spent caring for Mateo, which is wonderful but I don’t want to bore my few readers with those mundane details.

I had a good birthday back in June.  We traveled to Utah for the week of the 4th of July.  That was fun.

I enjoyed spending time with my family and wish I saw them all more often.  I was really sad, lonely and depressed when I came home.  Dan has been working crazy hours.  I have friends here with kids but trying to arrange play dates between naps, gym classes, swim classes and mommy groups isn’t always easy.

Mateo has been such a joy.  He’s such a cute little person, he’s talking like crazy and it’s so fun to watch him learn and discover things.  It makes me sad that my little baby is growing up so fast but at the same time I’m excited to see his personality develop and I look forward to watching him grow and mature.  I guess that is why people have more babies.  Hmmm, maybe next year.

I’ve been trying to read more, I’ve missed reading books.  It’s hard to read after having a kid but I’m trying to find time.  Right now I’m halfway through “Eat, Pray, Love”.  The character is in India doing yoga.  I miss yoga.  I haven’t been since Mateo was born.  I need to start again.  I need to go to the gym too.  It’s hard to get up the motivation.

When I was in Utah my family got me hooked on “So You Think You Can Dance”.   Courtney and Joshua are my favorites I think.

See?  Boring.  I need to go put the laundry away before Mateo wakes up from his nap.

I got an early birthday present…a new camera!!!  The Canon 40D…isn’t it beautiful?  I’m so excited!  I also got this macro lens for Mother’s Day.  Now I need a new camera bag, all my gear won’t fit in my current one.

Here is one of my first shots with the new camera & lens.

I went to Vegas to visit my family and had a great time!  My sister Adrien has a boat and we went to Lake Mead.  Mateo did great, he loved it.

We even took him tubing!!!

I hadn’t been waterskiing in 14 years but I got up on my first try!

It was a really hot weekend (104!) so we swam at my parents house

Then we had yummy homemade pizza and poppy seed cake to celebrate my sister Lauren’s birthday

It was great to hang out with my family, we had a great time.  I wish we lived a little closer and got to see each other more.

I need your help!  I entered some photos in a photo contest hoping to win some $$$.  I’m saving up for a new macro lens and hopefully an upgrade to a new camera too.  I need some more votes though.  Please go vote for my photos!  Thank you!

http://www.competico.com/photo/beautiful-sleeping-boy

http://www.competico.com/photo/purple-tips

http://www.competico.com/photo/disney-concert-hall-hdr

http://www.competico.com/photo/grandma-s-hands-age-93

Today was better. Mateo is feeling better and I got out of the house for a bit this morning. I had a sitter come and I went and made some Dream Dinners. I came home and napped with Teo and we went on a nice walk.

I also have a cheery new desktop wallpaper on my iMac.