Constructive Feedback Friday at I Heart Faces

I'm still very new to photography, as well as editing, so I'm really looking forward to today's "Constructive Feedback Friday" at I Heart Faces. I'm ready to learn from the great readers at I Heart Faces! I would love to know what I could do to get a better shot straight of out the camera, as well as any comments about the edit (and editing process).

This is the photo SOOC (I'm being brave and posting it pre-crop . . . please ignore my somewhat messy house in the background!). The background is a thick roll of wrapping paper. I wish it was wider, but it is all I had to work with at the time. She is facing a window. (Here is the image uploaded on Flickr).

Here is the EXIF data:

• Canon Rebel EOS XS with 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens
• f/4.0
• SS 1/25
• ISO 400
• 24 mm focal length
• Manual mode, no flash

First, I straightened the photo slightly (it seemed like it was taken at a slight angle), as well as cropped the photo.

Next, in GIMP, I cloned out the spots on the wrapping paper.

Finally, I opened the photo in Lightroom (I'm checking out the beta version right now) where I increased the fill light, as well as increased the blacks. I feel like it may be too dark in the bottom right corner (as well as too wrinkly).

Thanks again for the constructive feedback! Be sure to check out other entries in "Constructive Feedback Friday!"

Coupons, Baby Food, and a Milk Allergy

I sure hope you don't get tired of reading about my great finds with coupons! :) I posted recently about a great deal I found at Target which was partially due to the coupons I had in my coupon stash. While specific finds I post about aren't always going to be current, the point I want to make is the following: you really can save money with couponing. I wasn't convinced of this at first, but as I've collected my coupons I've proven myself wrong.

My recent shopping trip to Walmart was another example of how I was able to stock up because of some coupons I had in my stash. Here is what I got for a total of $10.17 (before coupons).

• Beech-nut Multigrain Cereal - $1.72
• Beech-nut Let's Grow Arrowroot cookies - $1.78
• Beech-nut Let's Grow Banana cookies - $1.78
• 2 Beech-nut Let's Grow Tummy Trays (Turkey Vegetable) - $1.72 x 2=$3.44
• Beech-nut Cinnamon Raisin Granola Stage 3 Baby Food - $0.82
• Beech-nut Whole Grain Cereal with Raspberries Stage 3 Baby Food - $0.63

I had two coupons for BOGO (buy one get one free) of the Let's Grow line of products. I also had a coupon for a FREE container of cereal (up to a $2.00 value) as well as a coupon for two FREE jars of baby food (up to $1.50 value). My coupons for these products totaled $6.61.

• 2 BOGO of the Let's Grow products. I bought a total of 4 Let's Grow products so I got 2 of these items free -$1.72 x 2 = $3.44
• 1 FREE container of cereal - $1.72
• 2 FREE jars of baby food - $0.82+$0.63 = $1.45

So, my price for all seven of these items after coupons was $3.56 ($10.17-$6.61).

On a somewhat different topic (but not completely), we're pretty sure that Ella has at least a milk-protein intolerance (if not an allergy). Ella has been on formula for a long time (maybe someday I'll write about why I'm not nursing, but I won't bore you now). We tried many different types of formula . . . she spit up terribly on all of them. I started adding cereal to her bottles (because I had read that would minimize spitting up). We discovered she did best on soy, but she still spit up a lot. I discussed this with the pediatrician, and he suspected she was lactose intolerant because I'm slightly lactose intolerant and she did better on the soy formula. He also said he expected her spitting up problem to get better as she got older; after all, some babies just spit up a lot. Months went on, and Ella was still spitting up - A LOT. I was always covered in spit up and smelled like soy formula (which smells disgusting, by the way). I figured this spitting up was just normal, although the other babies around Ella's age didn't seem to have this same problem.

Then we introduced yogurt to Ella . . .she loved it, but the spitting up was 10x (ok, maybe only 5x) worse than before. We tried a few different times, confirming that the yogurt was the cause for the increase in spit up. I talked to the pediatrician at her next appointment, and, after describing the issue with the yogurt, he mentioned the possibility of a milk protein intolerance or allergy. He suggested we try different dairy products to see how she reacted to them. One day we noticed that Ella got a rash on her face where cheese had touched her face. We also noticed an increase in the spit up when she ate anything with milk in it, but this spit up was just above her "baseline" of spit up she always had. Then I read about Gerber cereals. And I read that Gerber cereals contain milk-protein even though it is not listed in any way on the ingredient list. We'd been adding Gerber cereal to Ella's bottle from a young age to help with the spit up problem. We stopped adding Gerber cereal to her bottle. Ella has virtually quit spitting up. She is like a completely different baby in that regard. Now, as she's trying all sorts of new table foods, I'm careful to pay attention to if something might have milk in it. Now, to tie this in to my post about the Beech-nut products . . .

This was my first time buying the Beech-nut brand of baby food products. I was really excited about purchasing them for Ella because I had read that they didn't have any type of milk protein hidden in their products (if it is in it, it is listed). We gave Ella the Beech-nut cereal at lunch today, and she didn't have any issues spitting up this afternoon. Tonight we gave her some of the cookies (I'm not sure which ones, my husband gave them to her), and the spit up came back in full force. :( I honestly don't know if the issue was with the cereal or the cookies (or possibly both). I suspect the cookies because of when she spit up, but I'm not sure.

This process has taught me something as a new mom: if something doesn't seem right with Ella, it probably isn't. I was really concerned with her spit up, but was told it was normal by the pediatrician. To his defense, I really don't think I was categorizing the spit up properly, but I didn't know at the time. What I've been calling spit up is probably more accurately described as throw up, but I honestly didn't realize it. Now I know . . .

(Side note: The price of jarred baby food is one of the reasons I chose to make Ella's baby food (well, most of the time!). Check out my blog about making her baby food.)

****Update**** My husband looked at the Arrowroot cookie box . . . below the ingredients, in red lettering no-less, it says it contains milk. I have no idea how I missed this before . . . I looked carefully (or so I thought) at the ingredients list in the store. Oh well, now I know! The banana cookies, however, did not contain milk and Ella loved them!

Ali aka Scooter

I was excited to see that it was "Pets Only" week at I Heart Faces. I have two great dogs (too bad I couldn't get both of them in the shot!): Ali and Reeses. This picture is Ali, a mutt that my husband and I rescued several years ago. She had been abused before we got her, so she was kind of shy at first, but she's always been the best dog I've ever been around. Sadly, one night we came home and Ali just wasn't acting like herself. She seemed like she was hurting, but we couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. It was really late, so we didn't take her to the vet that night. When we woke up the next morning, Ali couldn't move her back legs. We took her to the vet and he diagnosed her with Intervertebral Disk Disease. She had to have emergency surgery to have any hope of restoring movement in her lower half. Unfortunately, even after the surgery Ali still does not have the use of her back legs. With that said, she can get around amazingly well for a partially paralyzed dog. She "scoots" everywhere (thus the nickname "Scooter"). If she looks like she's crawling in the picture it is because she is...I think she can crawl/scoot faster than some dogs run! :)

Be sure to check out all the great entries at I Heart Faces!

A Joy of Parenting: Watching Ella Learn

Even though Ella is only 10 1/2 months old, I've truly been blessed by her. She has already taught me many things, and brought great joy to my life. One of the many things that always brings a smile to my face is seeing her learn to do new things. It is sometimes hard to imagine that 10 1/2 months ago she couldn't even hold her head up, and now she is saying her first words, crawling, pulling up, cruising along furniture, and doing many other things.

This first video shows Ella doing one of her newest tricks: "touchdown!" She also shows up she can pull up, and even stand up (on a crib mattress no less) without holding on to anything.


This second video shows Ella playing with one of her toys, her cookie jar. When she first got this toy, she liked hearing the music and watching the lights, but really couldn't do anything much with it. Now she can place the pieces inside the cookie jar, know to look inside to find the pieces, and take the pieces out. Hopefully one of these days she'll learn to match up the shapes with the cut-outs on the sides!

Singing to Ella: Bible Songs

This past quarter, I taught Ella's cradle roll Bible class. During that time, I learned a number of great songs to teach her about spiritual things. While the songs are very simple, many have great messages embedded in them, teaching important spiritual lessons. Here are a few of the songs about the Bible that we sang during Bible class, and that I also sing to her on a daily basis.

• This is the Bible, God's written word.
  It tells that God loves us, it tells that God made us.
  This is the Bible, God's written word.
  
  
• The B-I-B-L-E, yes that's the book for me
  I'll stand upon the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E.
  
  
• (Tune: Mary had a little lamb)
  Read your Bible, pray everyday, pray everyday, pray everyday.

Swagbucks Update

Previously, I've mentioned a site called Swagbucks. With Swagbucks you search using their site (powered by Google and Ask.com) and you have an opportunity to win "swagbucks" which you can then redeem for prizes like Amazon gift cards. I haven't been using Swagbucks for very long, but I just redeemed a $10 Amazon gift card, and my husband just redeemed a $5 Amazon gift card (he hasn't been using it as long as I have). These will certainly be handy for Christmas shopping! If you aren't using Swagbucks, just click the banner below to get started!

Baby Food Making Gear

If you ask any parent about what tools they use to make and store their baby food, you'll get some differing opinions about what works best. When I started making baby food, I did some research about the different products that people used, and I chose products that I thought were quality products, but also a good value for the money. After all, one of the many reasons I wanted to make Ella's baby food in the first place was to save money and it wouldn't make sense to spend a ton of money on equipment.

Here I've listed the products that I use to make and store my baby food.


Black & Decker Food Processor You'll need something in order to blend the baby food. I chose a food processor over a blender (although some recommend a blender) because my blender just wouldn't be able to get the smooth consistency I wanted (especially for when Ella was younger). I've put this food processor to the test, and I've been very pleased with its performance.


Oxo Good Grips Ice Cube Tray I didn't buy the ice cube trays with covers (I just covered them with foil when I froze the baby food), but I think these covers would be very handy. I had a total of three ice cube trays, which worked well for the way I made my food. I usually only made one fruit or veggie every few days. If you are more of the type to take an evening and make several fruits and veggies at one time, you'll need more than three trays.

Rubbermaid Easy Find Lid Square 1/2-Cup Food Storage Container These containers are great for feeding/storing/bringing baby food along in.


Playtex Fridge-To-Go Bottle Holder Even though this cooler is specifically for bottles, I like to use it to carry my homemade baby food around if we are out and about.

Glad Press'n Seal I use this to store my baby finger foods (more posts on this coming down the road!). This stuff is great (for many uses besides baby finger food storage).


Hefty One Zip Gallon Freezer BagsYou'll need some way to store the frozen baby food cubes. I like these freezer bags because they are easy to get in and out of - and sometimes I only had one hand to work with. :)



Rachael Ray 5-Quart Pan and Pyrex Bakeware Ok, so you don't need these exact items, but I used both of these items to cook my fruits and veggies. The Rachael Ray pan is one of my favorite pans to cook anything in!