Leona Lane

ANNETTE LAKE / A STELLER STORY

I found this fun app a couple months back called Steller. You can make little online books and stories with it. We went on a hike on Saturday afternoon to Annette Lake. You can see all my photos in the story below. Hope you like it!

 

THE LITTLE THINGS // NO.61

Back with another episode of the little things. For this week it's just like I said on Instagram yesterday ... all the plants, a cup of black tea, corners getting cleaned and an ultra colorful maxi skirt.

I love plants! I'm still not sure that plants love me... but we're working on that relationship. I find plants super therapeutic, they add so much life to a space. And in February, there is so much need for new life. And they're relatively cheap compared to fresh flowers. And to top it off, they help clean the air! Triple win in my book.

The overly cheerful maxi skirt was found at Target recently, in the clearance section. Love finding something that is perfect and is a bargain too boot. I can't wait to wear it every other day this summer. But until then I'll just blast the heater and wear it inside. 

I've had a few extra days off this week, so the house is getting cleaned. Things pile up, dust collects, you know the drill. But I decided no need to wait til spring for the proverbial spring cleaning. It feels good to have stuff off the floor and dust bunnies in the trash. Office up next - it is a disaster with a capital d.

And a good cup of tea never hurts. What's livening up your February?

LUCY | THEN & NOW

I just love how photography captures the passage of time. One of my favorite past time is looking through photos of Lucy on my computer. Every now and then I will come across a photo and it will remind me of another photo I took a long time ago. Each time this happens, I save the two together and make a little collage. This blog post is a combination of several of these collages that I've saved in the past few months. They each tell a story of how much our lives have changed in the past year and a half!

Lucy at Three Weeks: My little sleeper. She did not move at this age so I could just rest her in the big chair to take a photo. I was still getting used to posing a newborn and figuring out the most flattering way to photograph her...I soon learned that shooting from above v. below was much cuter! But still...I love seeing those cute feet and that strawberry hat that she wore all the time.

Lucy at Fifteen Months: She no longer sits in the big chair to take a photograph. Now she must stand up and try to bounce around. And this must be a good time for her to check out her pink socks. 

Lucy's First Thanksgiving: We stayed in Seattle that year. Lucy was just a couple of months old and she slept on and off throughout the day. She woke up just in time for dinner at Grandma's. I did not get to enjoy my dinner because she was pretty needy that day. I remember that night was the first time Lucy slept through the night! And she kept on sleeping like that for quite some time...we lucky parents.

Lucy's Second Thanksgiving: We celebrated in Couer 'd' Alene this year with my parents. Lucy got to sit at the big table! My mom bought cute plates for both Lucy and her cousin Jaela. She started eating with a fork for the first time at this meal! I was so proud that my girl ate pretty much everything on her plate. We lucky parents. (She wakes up more at night now, though!)

Lucy's First Christmas Party: The party for my work is always fun, with lots of dancing and live music. Lucy slept in my arms for most of the party (at age three months) but she did get a chance to dance with her Dad.

Lucy's Second Christmas Party: I don't think I've ever seen my girl have more fun. Not only did she dance the night away with her Dad, but she found a pink bouncy horse to sit on. She brought it right in front of the band so that she could bounce to the beat of the music. She was really social and fun. She stayed up until 9:30 that night and I was amazed. And so, so proud to be her mom.

Lucy gets a Bumbo: At age three months we bought Lucy a bumbo! She was so chubby that her little legs would barely fit! I loved that it allowed her to sit and see the world. She would sit next to me on the counter and watch me cook. She sat on the floor and played with toys. At six months we used it for feeding her. We still have never bought a high chair because this bumbo has been so useful.

Lucy still uses her Bumbo: I love breakfast time with Lucy. She sits in her bumbo and eats her egg. Her monkey is always nearby and she's still in her jammies. This photo was from December and it was before daycare started in January. Although she still eats breakfast like this, life is a little more hurried now. We don't have as much time to just hang out in the morning, except for on weekends.

Lucy at One Month: I have so many photos of Lucy snuggling up with her Dad in the mornings. He always drinks coffee and checks the news on the lap top. Ever since Lucy was born, she is right nearby! At a month old, of course she is swaddled. She's just finished her breakfast and will probably go back to sleep soon, since sleep was all she did at that age.

Lucy at Sixteen Months: I love this {blurry} photo of these two. Still Dad reads the news and drinks his coffee, and Lucy loves to join in the fun. She loves to sit next to him and read books. Here she is reading her favorite books, which of course are highlights magazines.

Lucy's First Superbowl: I made her this onesie to wear at the Superbowl party! We got to cheer for the Seahawks as they won their first championship. Truthfully, Lucy was five months old and refusing to nap, so I pretty much missed the whole game. She finally feel asleep for me to catch the half time show! I loved watching football that year (2013) because Lucy was always in my lap.

Lucy's second football season: She's a lot more excited about football this year, even if it just means giving us high fives after a touch down. Mom and Dad get so excited and she gets excited too...its awesome! Her onesie doesn't fit anymore, but we got a her a real jersey on sale on Black Friday! She's the best little Hawk fan. I'm glad I have these photos of us together, even though I'm fat and pregnant now, and even though we didn't win this year. Football season is a big deal in our house. Go Hawks!

Thanks for reading all these stories! I know they are all personal and may not relate to everyone. However, I hope you are inspired to take photos and keep them and put them together with old photos and tell new stories. This is the best, best part of photography!

THE LITTLE THINGS // NO.60

I'm bringing it back, and it's number sixty to boot. When we first started this blog we wrote a post called 'The Little Things' every week. And right about now, it seems good to have a reason to focus on the good, not the bad. The beautiful, not the ugly. The sunshine, not the shadows. You get the point. 

And I'm bringing back the numbers just for me. Cause the point of all the little things is that they add up. The sum is greater than parts. All the little moments and things added together make a statement. A statement that life is good. And we all need that reminder once in awhile. 

Today, I'm grateful for this little furball, who is always happy to see me, loves taking catnaps with me in the middle of the afternoon and loves shower water. He's also stopped bringing me presents - which I appreciate tremendously! 

PROJECT LIFE | JANUARY 2015

I think this is my fourth year of doing Project Life. For a couple of weeks I considered not doing it again, but then I asked my husband if I should continue the project. His answer was YES! He said it in a way that let me know that he really values the documentation that I do for our family. Sometimes when spending so much time on a project like this, it's easy for me to forget how important it is, especially when it gets a little tedious and boring. The first year I did this project I was OBSESSED. The second and third year I loved it, but by the end of last year it became a BIG CHORE. (I did finish 2014 though! I'm very proud of that.) Because of those feelings I wanted to hold off on starting a new year. But a few things reminded me to keep at it.

1. I am having a baby in May! Baby boy deserves to have his life documented just as much as his sister's.

2. The joy that comes with this project ebbs and flows, and even though I am in a slump right now, I keep reminding myself that I do LOVE IT. Especially the result.

3. My husband loves it. My kids will too. Already Lucy loves to thumb through the book from last year and point to pictures of herself or people she knows.

4. I am pregnant right now but I won't be pregnant forever. I have come to terms with the fact that growing a tiny human in my belly really stifles my creativity. But I remember how much I loved Project Life in the first few weeks of Lucy's life. I was crazy about it. I know I will be crazy about it in May when my son is born. 

So there you go. Four reasons to keep working away on this project. And just so this whole post doesn't stay depressing, I think I should mention that working on these past few weeks from January was really, really fun. I kept it simple and easy and finished it all within one evening.

I have one big trick for keeping things easy. I am using iPhone photos almost exclusively, so I have been doing most of my photo editing and making collages using my phone! At the end of each week I go through my library, and I do the job of cropping several to 4 x 6 and lightening them up a bit in Afterlight. I use the ABeautifulMess app to make my collages. There are always several photos that I want printed smaller, so I make a collage of two photos in a 4 x 6 spread.

I've been sticking with my plan from last year to use just one or two colors on each week. This is another tip that keeps everything easy and fast. The first week I mostly used pink and red, and the second week I used blue and grey. 

I love that this book gives me a place to keep track of Lucy milestones and bits of memorabilia such as the ultrasound photo of my son. I also like to add fun things like our "Crafternoon" invitation or the map to the local zoo. 

On this last page I did not have enough photos to fill an entire spread, so I just cut the last 12 x 12 page protector in half. I love to alter page protectors to make them work for me. 

Here's to another year of life documentation! I am excited that I've gotten a good start and now feel inspired to keep this going. Thanks for taking a look!