New Blog!

Yay! A new blog! I admit, its kinda bittersweet leaving my little home at blogspot that I've had for the past few years, but now I'm off to bigger and better things! Change your bookmarks and your blog feeds...come on over to the new Amy Schuff Photography Blog!


Amy Schuff Photography Blog

Happy Birthday... & Week 35/52

My baby girl turned 1 today. I keep getting a lot of "has it been a year already!?" from friends, etc. I am the most surprised out of all of us. This year flew by and I'm not that happy about it! I admit I've been emotional, thinking about the past year and how she's my last baby and what it means for our family...and me as a mama. She's just about walking now, and pretty soon the days of a crawling baby will be gone. I wish I could go back to my young mother self, when Abby was first born, I would tell myself, "Enjoy these days! They grow up so fast!" Lily's been my indulged baby :) And I like it that way.

Remember last year at this time? I sure do :) When I posted this photo I never thought what would happen in the days that followed. I actually am pretty fond of those days that I was overdue with Lily. This by far is my favorite one that I took, it is still on my fridge :) I seriously considered resorting to this...but was a wimp. My husband was a huge inspiration during those days, especially for this one...he deflated his basketball just for me :) But finally, she decided it was time to make her appearance. It was true, she wouldn't stay in my tummy for forever, although at times I thought she would. She arrived in a quick 3 hours and 17 minutes (I remember exactly when I went into hard labor because it was during an episode of LOST!!) I'm happy that is behind me now, and all I have to look forward to is my baby girl...learning to walk...or to use a spoon...or to be able to eat her food without having to cut it up into tiny pieces. :)

My two birthday loves one year ago...



and now...



Week 35/52 on her birthday

Week 34/52

I've felt uninspired all week. We're dealing with whole family sickness here, as well as all the crap issues that come with buying a house!

Anyway, whenever I'm feeling uninspired when it comes to taking my week's photo, (and this can be a tip for you out there as well doing this challenge with me) I just think of something insanely mundane. This week, feeding a bottle. Lily turns a year old next Sunday, and she is in no way ready to be weaned from a bottle. I wonder how many feedings we've had together? It's just routine now, make a bottle, feed a bottle, repeat. But this kind of action I still want to document. I want to remember all the bottles and how little she was when she would drink from one. She'll grow to be like Mommy one day with her Coke a day habit. Right now the most unhealthy thing to touch her lips is the dirt she ate out of Grammy's potted plant last night :) So here we are...doing our thing.

Week 33/52

a bazillion loads of laundry to fold + mommy's deep hatred of folding laundry = lots of time outs for tickle fights

What to do...

...so the other morning, the family went and said goodbye one last time to Grandma. It wasn't as sad as I thought it would be, don't get me wrong, there were tears, but it really was a beautiful morning. It only rained a little bit, bringing out the worms onto the road. The kids were having a ball and it served as our entertainment while we waited. The kids were oblivious. How do you explain such a morning to a 5 & 3 a year old? I'm not sure how to explain it to a 27 year old...

So putting aside the great sadness of the morning, my family came together and did what we do best...we laughed together, chatted, talked about nothing really. We made jokes and doted on the baby, we stared at my sister who is wonderfully newly pregnant (and I'm so excited about it I could just burst!)

I debated whether to blog these photos, since they are all so personal to me and most of the world out there that views this blog won't understand at all what is happening in them, or even why they are personal (catching worms? personal?)...but my family will understand...and these are for them. Nothing special, but very special.

We all went out to lunch afterward at her favorite restaurant...she would have loved it.

So what to do now? What else?? Live life, love each other, laugh, tell jokes, catch worms (and follow with great amounts of hand sanitizer), don't sweat the small stuff (easier said than done) and trust that the God who made heaven and earth is All Powerful and All Knowing. He is taking care of our loved ones and we will see them again one day......





















This one's for mom!

wk 32/52

~ Bath time ~



*For anyone who is interested, this was shot with my d200 and new 28-75 2.8f lens with the black & white setting in camera, iso 1600 (dark bathroom!), 2.8f, 1/100. I really love the black & whites straight out of the camera. I ran a light defog on the photo and added some grain for a filmy look. It's amazing that I had to ADD grain, with an iso of 1600 there should be an absolute ton of grain, but I find that taking the photo in b&w really minimizes the grain.

*and with that....I am caught up!! I'm so enjoying taking these pictures each week. I just got that new lens so maybe I can take advantage of it this week and try something different. We'll see!

wk 31/52 & the snow

We visited the snow a couple weeks ago. Jeremy luurrves the snow, I in a few words *do not*. (I blame my Father because he took us to the beach and not the snow growing up...give me an ocean over a mountain Any Day!) But since I love my man, I'll bundle my babies up and walk around frozen ice for a few hours. :) This was the first time I had taken any photos in the snow. Any of you out there looking to me for guidance on taking pictures in the snow...please do not! Man it is difficult!

This photo SO my children...Abby the Helper, Lily the Joyful, Zach the Cranky. I love 'em all so much.


I know Lily is getting a ton of attention with my weekly photos, but she's pretty much the most cooperative lately! I know I need to get Zachy in some pictures. I'll work on that.