Latest News

To those who still keep up with my blog thank for continuing to check back in.  I've been pretty busy with this photography stuff and haven't had much time to write blog posts.  Anyway, Halloween is approaching and Kyla will be Little Red Riding Hood this year.  I hope she doesn't flip out about the costume being too tight, or won't wear her red shawl.  She is picky about how tight her clothes are (she gets this from me, I lived in spandex and leggings as long as I could when I was a little girl until I finally had to start wearing jeans and I can still remember flipping out pulling on my jeans because they were too tight)!  A bunch of us got together this past weekend and carved pumpkins, I did a Mickey Mouse pumpkin which Kyla LOVES, a snow white pumpkin (which I'm still working on...it's a tad difficult) and Greg did a regular ol' pumpkin face pumpkin.  The kids also cut out sugar cookies and watched Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin or whatever.  It was a fun night!  Greg is now working a lot in his part time job.  He worked 60 hours last week.  Poor guy, but he is taking care of our family and getting us ready for the future, which is good.  Kyla is hilarious...she is so funny and cracks me up a lot.  She is starting to run around the house and squeel at the top of her voice all while laughing at the same time.  She hates to get her diaper changed, so most of the time I've got to chase her around the house and she runs super fast, squealing super loud and laughing at the same time because she doesn't want me to catch her.  If I'm not in a hurry this usually cracks me up.  If I'm in a hurry, it's super annoying.  LOL.  I swear the kid is so slow and anyone who knows me knows that I'm always in a hurry and always late.  This combo doesn't work well with a 2 year old.  I got her ready to go to church all by myself this weekend by 9 am, but I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to my seat and was a tad bit late.  Hmmm what else.  I got a new manager at work...I just met her today.  She seems nice, but I'm not sure how things will turn out, hopefully good.  Kyla got her Annual Limb Differences Social invite in the mail a few days ago from Seattle Children's Hospital.  It is in mid-November.  I would like to take her this year.  I think she is old enough that she will be able to get something from it.  Even if it is a 3 hour drive and probably not in the best weather.  We will see.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned it here yet or not, but Kyla knows how to count to 10 no problems and has for a while now.  She is also starting to say her ABCs and we practice her letters in the tub when she takes a bath.  Hope everyone is doing well and has a good Halloween.

My Photography Blog

For anyone who would like to follow my photography, as I get better, do shoots for family and friends, etc., please access my new site:
 
http://www.ambervancephotography.com/

I also started a Facebook page which I seem to keep more up-to-date than the blog.  Check that out if you wish, Amber Vance Photography and 'Like' it!  :)

I'm still doing this just as a hobby, and wanted somewhere to show my works, so I have started this site.  Hope you like it.

Amber

Brief Break

Welp, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, eh?  Let me just say, September was one heck of a month, and not in a good way.  LOL.  I blocked access to my blog for a while and decided to return it.  I told my Hubby that I had blocked access and he was like “well then people who want to know more about ABS won’t be able to read it.”  I said that I knew that, but I am pretty sure people who just wanted information on what all was going on with our family were accessing it and not with good intentions.  So to those people… get a life, OK?  Now, on to important things.  I enjoy writing, always have.  I can remember being like in elementary school, having a diary and writing about things that were going on in my life, like about my dogs dying, about my parents fighting, about my parents divorcing, about who my best-friends were at school, etc. etc.  Then once I hit high school and started dating guys, I started writing again.  I still have both of these diaries, but the high school/after high school one is a doozey.  I was one of those girls who always wanted my first kiss to be with the man that I would marry.  I waited for my first kiss till I was 16 and wasted it on one heck of a loser, grown up man.  Literally.  He was 4 years older than me and out of high school…his intentions were not good ones and I luckily got away from that relationship the moment God gave me a fairly large wake up call.  Then came a few others that were alright but not too special, then came my first love.  That relationship was full of young kid issues and eventually dissipated, then came my Hubby.  He was the last one in my diary that I wrote about…  he didn’t make me cry, he didn’t break my heart.  Sure we had some issues in the start, but eventually worked through them.  That’s when I stopped writing.  Then with the birth of Kyla, I started up again on this blog.  The thing about an electronic version of a diary is it’s out there, for everyone to read…and unfortunately there are plenty of people who do not have good intentions and are only looking to gather information.  So, although I love to write about all things, I’m going to try to refrain from going into personal details too much and try to keep the focus of this on little Kyla.  I’ve also decided to start a separate blog for my photography.  Granted this is just a hobby of mine.  It’s fun for me to do, I’m not trying to call myself an actual photographer, because I barely have a clue, but I’m working hard on getting better and want to display my photos, so I plan to do that soon.  I’ve always been into art, but again, stopped doing that about 8 years ago. 

My family took a trip to the Oregon Coast at the start of the month and we camped for 5 nights.  Pretty sure this was the longest I’ve ever camped in my life!  It was a nice break, but I could’ve used a hotel or vacation share the last night.  Our laundry was so filthy by the time we got back home, LOL.  Good times.  I took almost 400 photos while at the coast and unfortunately purchased a corrupt memory card right before leaving.  I lost all but about 4 photos of my baby girl.  Even paid a data recovery geek to try to recover them for me.  No luck.  Totally bummed out about that, but I’m looking forward to shooting again and have something planned for this weekend.  Kyla began potty training last week and Friday, Sep 30^th was her first time using the potty.  I was so proud of her.  Unfortunately she isn’t too into her potty anymore.  I thought for sure we were going to be like on our way to getting out of diapers.  My child is so hard headed - she does what she wants to do and that’s final.  We have also been discussing making a big decision for our family soon, so I’ve been pre-occupied thinking about that.  Won’t say what it is right now.  We will see what the future holds.  I volunteered in our church nursery twice last month.  Those little kids sure are fun, but lots of work.  There were 13 little ones both times I volunteered and just me and two other gals.  The criers liked me for some reason.  I think because I picked them up and tried to make them all better, which usually worked.  I brag about how one little girl who only ever lasted 10 minutes in the nursery lasted the entire service – just call me the baby-whisperer.  :)  More later.

Emmanuel Kelly

Check this guy out on YouTube.  There are several videos of him there, heart-warming story.

Coast Trip

Going to the coast in just a few hours.  I'm behind on blogging, but will get caught up when we return.  For now, these past two weeks have been full of fun stressors and I'm ready for a break!  Going to my most favorite place, Cape Lookout.  Update you all next week. 

Amber

Past Two Nights

The past two nights have been eventful.  Greg's Sister Amanda and her fiance Stephanie were in town the past week and a half from New York.  We went out Thursday night to celebrate her last night in town.  Whenever Amanda is in town and Greg and her get together they both drink way too much and both get sick.  LOL, this time was no different than the rest.  Last night I planned a night out with our friends just for fun and we all had lots of fun.  Here are some photos of the past two nights:  (P.S.  I will post a blog on Kyla's 2nd bday party here sometime soon, when I get time)

 Stephanie, Greg, Me and Amanda (I was not drinking, hence, the no smile :))

 Lesly, Spencer, Me, Greg, Andrea, Josh, Rob, Shelley and Jen

 Me, Greg, Greg's brother Peter, Peter and Amanda's brother Aaron, Stephanie and Amanda

 All dressed up!  Rob, Shelley, Greg and Moi

 So cute, Amanda and Kyla...  They babysat for me for a couple hours while I ran b-day party errands.

Kyla cheesing it up with Stephanie while they babysat.

Couple More 2 Yr Photos

I've been having asthma problems and a little bit of a cold the past two days so have been home.  Pretty sure it's from all of the fires we have or are currently having in Washington state.  Hoping it clears up soon.  Thought I was going to have to go to the ER yesterday but luckily didn't have to once I got to my home where the air is cleaner.  Here are a few more edited photos of Kyla.

Once again, these photos come through so distorted sometimes (not sure why) so be sure to click on them.  :)

Kyla's 2 Yr Photos

Kyla is 2 on September 5th.  I have not had professional photos taken of her since she was 6 months old.  Had a bad experience the last time, so that is pretty much why I have gotten somewhat into photography, so that I can take them myself.  I did these last night.  It was so hot and Kyla was so uncooperative but none-the-less I still got a few good ones.  Here are some I have edited so far.  I also am now doing a trial of Photoshop Lightroom and love it!  Pretty sure I'll end up purchasing it after my trial expires.  I made the headband for her and her necklace.  You can't see it too well from the photos but I also had her in Huggies Jean diapers.  I've signed up to take a "how to use your DLSR" photography class from a local photographer on September 8th.  Really looking forward to that.

 Excuse the messy hair and hairbrush in this one.  :) 

 

Random Person Approaches Us

Last night we attended a local baseball game here in town with some friends.  It was Kyla's first baseball game and she did really good; a lot better than I thought she would!  Her boyfriend/bestfriend from daycare happened to be sitting two rows below us so those two little bugs had to sit in the aisle right next to each other almost the entire game.  Blocking all traffic like they owned the place!  They were sooo cute!  The little boy's name is Brennan and Kyla and him freak out when they see each other in the mornings at daycare...they're about two months apart, he is older...match made in Heaven right?  :)  So we were enjoying the game then decided to head down to the concessions to get something to eat.  I had just finished doctoring up our hot dogs and we were getting ready to head back up to our seats when some random dude with about a 3 year old daughter walks up to us and asks my Husband how he's doing.  My Husband was holding Kyla and was like "ugh good...," like should I know you type thing and then the guy just blirts out "I have a niece who is missing her lower right arm, like her" and proceeds to tell us her story.  It was random but neat... apparently the girl just turned 1 and lives in Idaho.  The guy asked if it was ABS and we said yes.  Then after a few minutes of talking, he walked away and we went back to our seats to finish the game.  This is the first time this has happened to us and I literally didn't even  notice the guy looking or anything.  I've noticed that I'm getting alot better about not caring, which is good.  I don't really even think about it anymore, around adults...I'm still not good with kids, but I think that also has to do with the fact that all the other kids that are around Kyla know her and know of her situation so it's not even an issue.  I don't really do the whole look around to see who's looking thing anymore and that is nice.

Anyway I've been pretty busy planning Kyla's second birthday party.  It will be next Sunday; a little early since I'm doing it while Greg's Sister is in town visiting from New York.  The theme this year is Bubble Guppies, which is Kyla's favorite cartoon.  And as you might have guessed, I've already spent WAY too much money on this party!  LOL, I can't help myself though...she is worth it!  So I've got the personalized edible cake topper, the iron-on decal t-shirt, the personalized banner, personalized invitations and Bubble Guppies pin-back buttons for everyone who attends.  :)  Thank goodness for Ebay and Etsy!  Kyla is going to LOVE it!  She has been scoping out all of the stuff I've been ordering and puts her face all up in the screen of my laptop and says "guppy guppies" over and over :)  We've also got an entire softball complex to ourselves just for Kyla's party which has an aquatic park and toys and a shaded picnic area.  A month or so ago I found a mini bounce house off of Craigslist and we will have that there as well.  Should be a blast!  I'll be sure to post photos. 

Speaking of photos, I've also been planning a special photo shoot of Kyla and was hoping to do it today but never got around to it.  I made her a couple things to make it special.  I'm hoping the photos will turn out really well, but not sure how much she will sit still  for me and wear what I'm planning to put on her!  We will see :)  I'll post those photos as well.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Photos

The whole fam has been sick the past few days, so this is going to be a quick deal.  I haven't posted in a while but am also not in the mood to put too much thought into this.  Last week I submitted a couple of my photos to our local newspaper and then found out this morning from someone on Facebook that one of them made it in.  They never sent me an email back or anything saying that it would be published,  but it was, so that was kind of cool, LOL, I guess to probably only the older folks that still read the newspaper.  I get it sometimes just for coupons, which I hardly do anymore.  Anyhow...Friday night we went out to dinner and a few drinks with friends before heading to see Daniel Tosh.  We were in the 5th row, he was like smack dab in front of me.  He was OK, but I wasn't like dying laughing or anything.  Yesterday we were feeling horrible so stayed home most of the day and again today.  Greg mowed the lawn yesterday and installed an air bag kit on his friend's truck so he was gone most of the day.  Kyla had to be held by Greg the entire time he was mowing the front yard, super sweet...she laid her head down on his shoulder for about half the time.  She LOVES her Daddy...  I also bought her a butterfly catching game at the store.  Her and I played it after dinner tonight, she likes it but isn't quite quick enough yet.  She'll get there.  I'm going to go hack up a lung now.  :)  Everyone have a good night.