New Direction....UPDATE

  Hello all! It's been a couple years...a lot has happened and I just wanted to come give an update, even though I no longer use this blog! (Well with the exception of THIS post here) I have changed jobs, locations, and goals and dreams but I am still first and foremost a mommy...the same gal, just with some growth. Before I get into what I am doing I want to give a shout out to my son Brayden, he is turning 3 this month!!! Hard to believe eh? Ya, hard me too. I've been planning his birthday party and I really think this year will be his best so far. Which is good, because before he didn't really understand what was going on. Ha! Ok so what am I up to? I work from home doing sales with American Support part time and the main passion I have decided to finally pursue and do something with is photography. That is the reason I am posting this....I will be soon starting a photography blog. Now I am getting a little ahead because I do not have a date or anything as of when I will launch and begin the blog, but just know it will be soon and probably after this month is over since it's filled with to-dos and fun already! I do have a Facebook page and would love for ya'll to go give it a "like" so go search it...Karilyn Joy Photography. I think that is all, just a short and to the point blog but who knows, I MIGHT stop by here again some day and post. It will always be here! See ya...

I need to start blogging!

Yes it has been forever, but I would just like to say that I AM alive! We got moved into the new place end of August and we are doing just well. Brayden is about to turn ONE October 30th and I couldn't feel more shocked at how the year went by so quickly. It was one of the toughest, yet BEST year of my entire life. He is worth everything and I love him just to pieces. I have been quite busy planning stuff for this month, including his party on the 29th and I have to say I love it all. When you stress about something amazing I call that good stress! Haha I know I'm weird. But if your a parent you understand what I'm saying, right?

In 2 days he will be dedicated to the Lord, at what they call a "Baby Celebration" at my church, Harvester Christian. I think this will be a wonderful experience and I'm very much looking forward to it. Everything else is set and good to go. Like, his birthday cake...I sketched it out and have a lady to make it, his one year photo shoot...hired a lady to come out to our house where I will have 3 different "outfit" photo shoots, the party of course...his first haicut, or I should say trim haha! That's this Friday also, and what else...and you can't forget the one year check up and shots! Not looking forward to that one but it will be nice to see how big he is :) Oh and we got his Halloween costume and our plans set as well. Just the day after his birthday! OH and did I mention all the other baby birthday parties we are invited to all within the SAME week?? Ya, crazy but exciting, too. I hope we make it to all of them but we may not. Depends if my hubby gets his 2 week vacation granted...prayers please!!

There are so many other things I could write about but I'd like to do a couple other things before I go to bed and it's getting late! So what will I write about the second year around being a stay at home Mommy?? Hmmm well it's still my first time so stick around and find out with me! :D Goodnight all, sleep tight.

*bear hugs*

Lots of Excitement!

I can't believe how much my baby can do now, and how BIG he is getting! Ah and he will be a YEAR old very very soon! Brayden is clapping, waving, crawling super fast, cruising, and walks with holding onto his walker toys. So I am told by many people that that means walking is just around the corner, eeep! I also love it every time someone says to me, "I can't believe how GOOD he is!" Which I get told that a LOT lol. And it's true. I know this is the result of us not spoiling him and having him play on the floor since he was really tiny. He is definitely not the baby who want to be held ALL the time. He likes his independence and LOVES to explore! Now don't go thinking we don't give him tons of love and hold him, because we DO. He is definitely the most kissed baby, and the most played with baby!! But I wanted from the beginning to teach my child it is ok to play by himself and entertain himself when Mommy and Daddy are busy. I kid you not this boy will play for 1-2 hours straight while I do house work and such. That is an awesome thing in my opinion! So, to sum it up, my boy rocks ;)

Moving day is set for this Sunday (AHHH 2 days yippy skippy!) and I'm very excited about it. Can't you tell? If the place hasn't been inspected by then, then we will still move most of our stuff and just not actually live there til Tuesday, because that is Jon's next day off. But they are working really hard over there to get it all finished, yay! I am most excited about this place because I am actually going to get NICE furniture and also decorate! A girl like me loves that kind of stuff. And I already got Brayden room painted. It's green and looks really good! The place we have lived in the past 1 year is not so very modern and we hardly have any furniture, and it is not decorated at all. Blah. But I will say one thing nice about it here, and that is that this was my baby's first home. There are so many wonderful memories I will hold in my heart forever and for that I will miss it. A little ;)

I am not for sure when, but with us having a yard and all we have really been thinking about getting a doggie for Brayden. He LOVES dogs! And I want to see him light up like that all the time. It is sooo cute when he is around a doggie. So we are still deciding but it would have to be a really good dog that I can trust if it's going to join our family. Only the best for my Bray Bray!! :D I will update again once we are moved probably. So until then ta ta for now and don't miss me too much, I'll be back!

*big hugs!*

Countdowns

Brayden Turned 9 months old Saturday and you know what that means...t minus 3 months until he hits the big ONE. It's too soon! I have seen how quickly 3 months flashes by with having a baby and I never knew time could ever dart by that fast. Crazy. I am getting a little excited to get ready for it and plan, and I will let you in on what I know I want to do so far! I want a small, intimate birthday party at casa de la Roberts' (our house lol). All of our family and friends are in California and we have met some great people here in St. Charles to call friends and they will for sure be invited. The more I think about the party being on the small side the more I love it. Less stress, less money to save, and more one-on-one time to spend with our guests. Plus everyone who will be there will be special because they are joining my closest family members and ourselves for this wonderful day in our lives. It's pretty important to Jon and I! And I want the theme to be "Prince Brayden." That also brings me to some other great news, we found our new home and will be moving in sometime this month! This was such an answer to prayers, and I feel God is rewarding us for all our hard work and dedication the last year. It has been quite a ride to say the least. :) So anyways, let me share some of the great details! It is a duplex, 3 bedrooms 1 1/2 bathrooms, 2 story with first floor underground so no need for an icky basement, all laminate floors, comes with all appliances (except washer and dryer, we already have those), a small fenced yard with a swing set left by the last tenants, and a storage shed. Another awesome thing about this place is, is that the entire downstairs is almost complete from a total renovation. There was a random flood a couple months ago (first time ever) and went into the downstairs of the 2 duplexes, but they are going to build some nice brick walls surrounding the entrance where the water got in, so it will almost be impossible for another flood to sneak it's way into the house. Oh, and I absolutely LOVE our landlords! They are awesome. They have been doing all the labor on the place (except for the dry walls) and really take great care of their properties, which is extremely important. We are used to really old landlords who are really strict yet slack on getting stuff done, that needs to be done. But they are younger, and really nice and cool people to talk to as well. I'm super excited ya'll! YAY! And finally I will be able to do our laundry IN our home without having to go down and up stairs to a basement. That is kinda hard with a baby who needs to have an eye on him all the time. And my favorite part? I am a nerd for this but that would be the DISHWASHER!! Never in my life have I had to hand wash dishes until we came to Missouri where almost no one puts them in their rentals. I mean, what the heck? I hate it. Hand-washing dishes til my fingers are all pruney like raisins and dry is not my forte! So that's the info on the new place. Everything else lately has been going awesome, including Avon. I love selling it and although it's still the beginning I love having my own business that's something of, well, my own! I'll have to try and get on here a little more often than I have been. Gotta go now, baby just woke up early from his nap and doesn't sound happy about it! :P


*hugs!*


some 9 month photos of Brayden!

Oh the busy life

So new things to share with ya'll! First I will start with the most exciting... I decided I wanted to add another source of income for my sweet little family, as well as start a new passion. (I have many of those) Since I am not working and all, I have a lot of free time, and kinda miss working. That's a BIG kinda. I don't actually miss going into work, having a boss to impress, and being tied to so many hours. But I DO miss the feeling of making money! And not in a greedy way, ok ;) I decided to start my own Avon business! I am my OWN boss, I set my own hours, and I get to put my famous customer service skills to use! You should know something, I am very excited about this, as also a little nervous to see who will and who wont support me. I could only hope that I will earn the business of my dear friends and family. I mean, they are buying this stuff already else where (and probably paying a lot more) so why not put their to a greater cause? That's the way I see it. So anyways, I also have my website and it is shopwithKL.com, so feel free to contact me through there, or even here, if you don't live near my town. I also ordered my business cards and stamp! I am doing everything I can from the start to get supplies I need. Stoked!

I religiously post about Brayden and what he's up to so here ya go...He is 8 1/2 months now, crawling up a storm but still goes back and forth with army crawling, has 8 teeth, mastered the "pincer" grasp, eats real food 4-5 times a day, still babbles a ton and even said "da da" yesterday, wants to stand up every chance he gets, and the cuteness he exudes just increases every day. He is still an amazing sleeper, however I got a conclusion as to why Bray would sometimes wake up 1-4 times in the first third of the night crying/screaming. He has sleep terrors, or confessional awakenings. Unfortunately this is something that is passed down from his Daddy but it doesn't damage or bother him. He doesn't even remember what's going on. But when he has several days where he is only getting 3, 30 minute naps it causes them to happen and usually in clusters the more days in a row he has had insufficient sleep. The past several days have been awesome and he is back to getting the sleep he needs. I hope it stays like that! As of today my sweetie has another little cold. He's just coughing and has had a high temp since yesterday, but if it's like the last one he had it will go away real soon and not change things that much. 

I have continued with my sewing hobby and have made little things here and there but not as much as I did the last time I posted about it. I just went to the craft store yesterday and got new fabric and ribbons so I will be starting up again in no time! I still need more supplies, though. It's crazy how much you can buy at those stores and still realize there's all this other crap ya gotta get! lol Here's a pic of a monogram "taggie" I made Brayden.

I didn't cut out the holes like the instructions tell you to because the print is just SO cute! I will probably make another one with different fabric anyways because I just love it, and it's super fast to make. :)

Well I know I don't get a chance to post as often as before but I will do my best to keep it interesting so thank you for following and reading. Seeing that "views" number makes me feel special! Ya, I'm a bit cheesy. Toodles!

*Hugglies!*

I'm Back :)

Well our trip was successful! We ended up staying 3 nights and 4 days like we wanted to. Brayden did awesome! He slept like he did at home, so I am very proud of him. We stayed 2 nights at my Mom's and one night at my sister's. I really missed my sister and nephew Jaxson, who I haven't seen since Easter. Her husband and my other nephew are in California so we didn't get to see them, and I sure miss them too! Can't wait until they get back. Anywho, the fourth of July/Husband's birthday was nice and we all had a great time. The part of the trip that I will always remember was when my husband lit a mortar and it fell to it's side, facing my mom's house, and continued to shoot everywhere towards where we were all standing! It was scary, lol. And this was the first time in mine and my husband's life where we even got to light one of these bad boys. I was recording a video at the time and forgot my camera was even on and you can't see what going on but you can hear my shrieking screams, which makes it hilarious. I will definitely be posting it on youtube! So the past couple days since we got back home I have just been taking it easy with the baby and also catching up on z's. Yesterday was Jon;s last day of 6 days he had off so we had a movie night after the baby went to bed and had yummy treats. It was the perfect end of his vacation! It's just sad when he had to go back to work. I'm a softy ;)

I am excited for tomorrow morning because I am meeting with a local Avon rep to get me set up to start selling! I for sure don't want to be one of those nagging women that goes door to door or hits up random people while at the grocery store (been there!) but instead I will just let my friends and family know that I am doing it and hopefully will get support from them! I mean, I know all these women use makeup and beauty products already so they might as well support a cool stay at home mom like myself, don't ya think? ;) So the point of me doing it is so I can help out with our bills and not feel like I am doing NOTHING. I love being at home, but I also like to be busy some of the time. And I feel for my hubby, going to work 40 plus hours a week. I want to help out! I will have a website where anyone can by stuff from Avon, through me, no matter where you live. So I am stoked about that part! And that's pretty much it about that...for now.

I am feeling pretty tired tonight so naturally I can't think much of what to write about or what to update on. I will, however end this post with the video I mentioned. Hope it makes ya laugh :D

You can totally see at the very end it land right in front of me! Kinda wish I kept the cam rolling haha.

 *hugs n' sparklers*

My 1st tip post: Baby Photography!

Any picture of a little one is always bound to be super duper cute! But I would like to share a few tips that I have learned and noticed myself when taking pictures of a baby. Or anyone!

#1 Snap snap snap: Keep snapping that cam over and over and worry about what they look like later. That way when you go back and browse you will be surprised with wonderful shots you didn't realize you took! Sometimes I'm like, wow, did I take that?? And then eventually you will figure out what you did and can take those pro looking pics next time on purpose. Everything takes practice though. I still snap snap snap because I just love taking hundreds of pictures of the same thing. Don't judge me. ;)

taken with my Galaxy S cell phone

#2 Natural lighting: Try not to use a flash as much as you can. Natural lighting is way more attractive and makes the picture stand out more! Plus with the flash you end up with nasty red eyes you have to go edit after, and that can take a while if you took hundreds of pics! (Yes I have been a victim of that torture many times)

Casio Exlim

#3 Get up close, super CLOSE:  Pictures of kids and babies always look way cute when you can take a picture really close in their face. (That sounds invasive) But it's true! You can see those gorgeous eye colors and sweet facial features really well.

phone pic

#4 Edit: Editing is really fun, especially if you have Photoshop! But you don't HAVE to have Photoshop. Most Cell phones with cameras now days have awesome applications you can download...and for free! That will give your pictures some sweet effects. A hobby of mine is taking photos myself, then turning them into pics that look like they were done in a studio. Most studios charge an arm and a leg for those features to be added to your pictures and I say, PAH! I can do that myself yo.

phone pic

Before

After-Photoshop

#5 Keep that camera near: My must have everywhere I go is a camera. You may think that's silly, but I have pictures of pretty much everything my son has ever done. I keep my phone on me at all times that doubles as a camera. And whenever I leave the house I take my actual camera, too. Keeping it nearby and ready to grab and snap ensures you will get those random silly faces and "firsts" on film or photo. And that's just priceless!

#6 Different angles: Take pictures from different angles than just always doing straight on and centered. Play around and take a snap off centered, crooked, diagonal, and even upside down. Straight is boring when you only take pics that way, and you get different dimensions and features by turning the camera around some!



#7 Get those cute grins: For a baby, I always do what I know makes them smile or laugh over and over to catch it on camera. (And no matter how ridiculous it makes me look! lol) He seems to be starting to catch on that that's what you do when Mommy has the camera!



#8 Any camera will do: Of course, you probably know my love and desire for the SLRs and how I want one oh so bad, but right now I just have my Casio Exlim and the camera on my Android phone. And they get the job done, for now. (I still plan to get an SLR!)  You can get a good quality photo no matter what type you have. (That's MOSTLY true haha) You just have to learn how to work what ya got Momma! Or Daddy! lol



And there you have it. My kiddo photography tips 100 % by yours truly! Hope you like and feel free to comment if you have any sweet tips to share. If I think of any more I will edit and add it here. :)


*hugs n' grins!*