Lightroom Editing Magic

If you are new to photography I highly suggest investing the $9.99 per month for the Adobe tools that include Lightroom and Photoshop.  Lightroom is very easy to use and allows you to create/load preset filters to help expedite the editing process.  I have created some filters of my own but also taken advantage of some great deals from seasoned photographers who sell bundles of lightroom presets.  I recently purchased some presets designed by a professional photographer specifically for newborn photos.  Here is a sample of the output from a one-step editing process of applying the lightroom preset.  

RAW vs Edited Images:

3 Months

You won't go back to the pediatrician until May for your four month check-up so I don't have your height and weight measurements this month.

Current Likes/Loves:

• Looking up at the sky when we go outside
• Babbles/Coos including trying to mimic noises with changes in pitch
• Looking at pictures in books during storytime
• Grasping items especially your pacifier, mr. froggy, a green sensory ball, and a giraffe rattle
• Textures - you love feeling items with different textures
• Pulling my hair 
• Breaking out of your swaddle overnight
• Spalshing in the bathtub
• Easter gifts from your grandma and nanas

Our First 12 Weeks Together

I was so fortunate to be able to spend your first 12 weeks at home with you.  It is a time in my life that I will cherish forever.  I cannot explain in words how immediate and deep my love was for you when you were born and how much joy it brought me to watch you grow and change so much in your first few months.  It was with a heavy heart that I headed back to work this past week.  The night before my first day back I held you in my arms before I laid you down in your crib for bed and cried.  I know in my heart that working and providing for you is just one of the many ways I'll show you my unconditional love for you.  I hope that as you grow up that I can model for you that you can be a loving mom and wife and still have a career if those are the things you desire for your life.  And I hope even on days in the future where we may bicker or disagree that you know that nothing in the whole wide world brings me more joy than getting home to see your bright eyes and hear your sweet voice (just babbles and coos for now).  And that even when you've grown up and moved out on your own that there will be nothing that brightens my day more than spending time with you and hearing your voice.  I've always loved our home but you are a powerful magnet pulling my heart towards home and our time together.  It brings me great peace to know you are getting so much time with your grandma and nana for now and your daddy this summer.  You are a very lucky little girl to be growing up surrounded by so many people who love you!  

A Parent's Love

I thought I knew
As I grew
How much I meant to you

I thought I knew
As I grew
How much you meant to me

But now as I
With mine own eyes
Watch my little girl grow
I understand the full extent
Of a parents never ending love

- D.K. Jones

Two Months Old

Weight: 12 lbs and 5 ounces (up from 10 pounds at your one month checkup)
Height: 22.23 inches (up from 21.5 from your one month checkup)

Current Likes/Loves:

· Your bedtime routine of ukulele/singing and stories

· Your own hands

· Your green frog lovey

· Your pacifier

· Looking at windows and things with bright contrast

· Bicycle exercises (with the accompanying Queen song of course)

One Month Old

Weight: 10 pounds (up from 7.1 birth weight, 7.7 at 1.5 weeks checkup)

Height: 21.5 inches (up from 19 at first pediatrician appointment/20 inches from hospital)

Current Likes/Loves: 

· Mommy singing & Daddy playing ukulele

· Making eye contact & looking at faces

· Snuggling

· Bathtime

· Sleeping in the car

· Pooping/Peeing when your diaper is off

· Your pacifier

The Night/Day You Were Born

On Tuesday your dad and I were getting ready for bed.  He read Little One by Jo Weaver and after he finished the story my water broke.  I guess after hearing about the little baby bear you were ready to come out of hibernation.  We called the on call number and waited to hear whether we should head to the hospital or not.  We finally got the confirmation to drive to North Fulton Hospital.  When we arrived they confirmed that my water had broken and that you were officially on the way.  We were admitted into a Labor & Delivery room and then the waiting began.  You took your time a total of 39 hours during which everyone kept eagerly asking about your arrival.  It was stressful waiting for you but your daddy and all the nurses/midwives were a wonderful coaching and support system.  

Finally after a long day and a half you made your grand entrance into the world at 11:17 AM EST on Thursday.  I will never forget the overwhelming sense of pride and love I felt the first moment I held you in my arms.  I knew right away our lives would never be the same.  I will spend my entire life loving you and being there for you in whatever way you need.  You truly are the best thing that has ever happened in our lives and we thank God all the time for trusted us to raise you.  I hope that there is a never a day in your life when you don't know how loved you are.  You were born into such a loving family not just your dad and I but 3 sets of grandparents and a wide networks of aunts/uncles and friends who all love you so much and have been so excited to meet you.