First attempt at baby pictures, long way to go..

I have never really invested any time trying to shoot pictures of people. My sister is great at that but I tend to do better with still life. Below is my first attempt to learn about light and shutter when working with babies. I have a long way to go. The first picture below shows what this lens and camera are capable of. I shot this test pic of our porch heater, free standing, through a window at a range of about 25 feet.  If you zoom in you can see how clear the image is. Babies move unpredictably and the light in our living room was the worst possible for this experiment but we will improve and by the time I figure it out they won't be babies anymore...

Test shot for contrast and clarity

Laith

testing light and babies patience

Vivienne

Multi-tasking

Luckily for me, the NICU stay put the twins in a good 3 hour schedule.  Every 3 hours we eat, burp, cuddle and go back to sleep, and then I pump, and have anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  This time is filled quickly with creating more bottles, doing dishes, small chores, work and the occasional nap.  After 3 weeks of just that small amount of time to squeeze in as much as I could, and becoming more and more sleep deprived, I've taken up a new tact.  I change each baby's diaper, then sit down in the middle of the loveseat, set up the pillows with blankets covering as protection from spit up and spilled milk, lay each baby at a good angle, and then hungry mouths are stuffed with bottles.  It's cut feeding time in half.  Now only if I had an extra set of arms for burping...

  

Every once in a while I see myself when looking at our babies, but most of the time I see Bryan.  Vivienne is the spitting image of him, and as Laith's cheeks fill in I see Bryan more and more.  As I posted these pictures, I noticed for the first time that Vivienne's chin is just as pointy as Laith's, which I know he got from me.  She's also turned into quite the momma's girl.  Yesterday was their 2 month check up, and they got 2 shots each for immunizations.  It was difficult to watch Laith get his shots and know he would cry.  It was even harder to then make Vivienne go through the same ordeal.  Vivienne unfortunately takes after me with shots, and gets hard little knots from where the needle poked.  It causes her to be extremely upset if you even brush her owie.  Bryan was trying to soothe her last night to no avail.  I offered to take over, and the transfer of her into my arms instantaneously ceased her crying and she went straight to sleep.  Although she'll have to get over being momma's girl quickly, I don't mind it for a small while. 

Attack of the Super Twins

Our home has become the site of a battlefield.  The counters are littered with an army of bottles that bravely went out into battle and came back war torn.  The sink is filled with their remains, and containers are all over with their body parts, awaiting to be put back together again.  The family room has become a gathering of pacifiers, blankets, rattles, and burp cloths attempting to develop a battle plan for the next wave of troops.  The bouncers sit at attention, ready to deliver the command of Operation Babies Awake...Again.  The pump is under cover on the desk, disguised in the ghillie suit of a tote bag.  The barracks haven't yet been occupied, but the nuclear waste dump I expected the diaper pail to become hasn't happened.  Instead, that's the laundry hamper.  Massive blow outs have claimed the north hamper bin, and the south is slowly succumbing.  The underpants gnomes have discovered our collection of diapers and have quickly been depleting our resources.  Our bedroom has become a temporary headquarters for the launch of new attacks.  Occasionally a temporary cease fire is set up and this is where these moments have been captured.

(She gets this pose from her daddy)

 

And just when we think we've won a battle...

 

BAZINGA!

Laith also rolled over from his tummy to back for the first time last week!  We captured his fourth go on video.  His face cracks me up.  He constantly grunts and groans as though every movement is a giant effort.  And in the final frame of this video, I notice my battle frenzied floor.  There's a Where's Waldo of items...blankets, clothes, a remote, toys, a bottle, and a sweet baby boy who surprised his parents with his monumental accomplishment.