12-1= 11 months!!!

 NOA is 11-months today!!!

What he has learned in the past month:

*he can imitate sounds really well - and tries to "talk" to you {in sentences}

(he can say "nana" for banana/food, "nenne" meaning sleep, "nai-nai" to put things away, "dada" for Dad, "mama" for Mom, "tta" when he finds things...etc - All in JAPANESE of course...)

*he understands "sit down" and other short commands...

*he knows the word for water - he'll go look for his sippy cup when you ask him where water is...

*he "blows" kisses {video coming soon}

*he does a lot better with strangers now

*he can make the "awawawa" sound with his hands and mouth {video coming soon}

*he is almost running! He walks so fast, his feet can't keep up

*he has completely gotten over his fear of grass!

*he says "no no no" while shaking his head - its quite hilarious...{video coming soon}

*he bows his head when you say "thank you," "sorry," and "good night" (in Japanese, only)

*He give you hugs, and cuddles with you! but he's mostly just up and going ALL the time

He is learning and growing up soooo fast!! I just want him to stay little forever...but it is really amazing to see him develop and discover new things. He is such a JOY to be around!

Go on over to my photoblog for some more amazingly adorable pictures of my little guy!

*＊Just Life* (and SOME photography stuff)

I didn't know what to name this post because I really didn't know what I wanted to even post about. {so I just started writing, and came up with the title at the end...} 

I guess I can start out by saying how excited I am about how Noa has been growing, and how fun it is to just watch him day to day progressing and changing! He has truly been the biggest blessing in my life. He is now almost running...and he is talking a LOT more, mimicking different sounds and trying to say words - like dada, mama, nenne (nigh-nigh), banana (of course) and mixing up different sounds to make up a word...He also knows how to bow now! {he's so Japanese! hahah} when ever you say "arigatou" (thank you) or "oyasuminasai" (good night) he BOWS!! its seriously one of the cutest things ever!

And Chad, {he's going to kill me for writing about him} but he is the best! - the best DAD, the best friend, the best son, and the BEST husband. 

why, you may ask??  well{no one would really ask that...}, there are a few reasons my hubby is so wonderful, they are:

he loves me for me...he helps me get through my bad days {and my good days}....he is SO good with Noa....and he LOVES (and would do anything/everything for) his family

...and....and.........get this....

HE GOT ME THE CAMERA!!!

not just A camera, but THE one...

{Thanks Babe!!! thank you thank you thankyou!!!}

can you tell that I am pretty super duper excited about it?

I haven't even received it in the mail yet, and I'm already blogging about it!

there will definitely be more posts about this little item...guaranteed...

...but moving on.....

I am also pretty excited about my new little photography logo (for watermarking my photos)

if you still haven't gone over to my photoblog to see it, here it is:

do you love it? cuz I sure do!!!

I'm pretty proud of myself for coming up with the idea and also for making it all on my own!...it was inspired by one of my own previous photographs:

it's definitely one of my all time favorite photos...(even though it was taken with my measly little point-and-shoot)

I really hope that these things will help me kick off my little hobby into something a little more than just something I do from time to time....thank you all for the support that you've shown me thus far!

I am really looking forward to where this journey takes me!

Michigan Week 3

Now onto Week 3 - and what a great week it was!

it started out with my little sister and I going shopping at Somerset. and we had a blast, of course!

When we got home, we made some parfaits for FHE desserts

mmm YUMMY!

We had a couple craft projects going on this week too, starting with some CLAY projects:

I made this turtle into a keychain and gave it to Chad as a pre-hawaii gift...

and made the strawberry into a cellphone strap :D

with the roses that we made, we decided to make some jewelry!

The finished products:

my sister's ring :)

and my necklace!

This was the first time I made jewelry like this, so i was pretty excited about the way it turned out!

I am still working on my other necklace, so more pictures will be posted later!!

Lastly, how can we have a craft-week, without making any headbands?!??
so we made some headbands...{only 2 of them pictured here}

my favorite that i've made so far!

Noa and I also had the chance to visit my dad at work....

 and Noa was able to see for the first time - how robots are made/how they work!

On the day we left, our family went on a picnic at our county park...
it was the perfect day for a picnic!

sunny and bright, better wear that sunscreen!

We made some good food! - including this patriotic cake in early celebration of the 4th of July.

We spent some time on the playground...

the swing put Noa right to sleep.....

Along with playing volleyball on the HOT sand and throwing around a frisbee, we enjoyed some quiet peaceful time with nature.

on the lake

with some animals...

It was such a great day - and a fabulous 3 weeks at home with my family.

Michigan Week 2

{It's going to be a LONG post again!!}

Noa and I both had such a great time back home -
 we just LOVE our family and had a blast spending time with each one of them.

Week 2 was a chill/relaxed week, not like the week before or the week after. Nothing was really planned out...but we still were able to do fun activities - like: shopping, going on walks, taking pictures, making good food, just having a great time!

**we had quite a few photoshoots**

the first with a mini-watermelon

the watermelon was a very random idea...I thought it would be so cute to have him holding it or playing with it, but he had NO interest in it whatsoever :(

we did a  second shoot with a golf theme....
{here is the story behind the outfit}: my dad is a huge golf-fanatic, and my neighbor came over one day and told us about how she made a golfer outfit when her two boys (now teenagers) were just babies and had their pictures taken in them...she thought it would be just darling if Noa wore the outfit and got his pictures taken in it as well...so we did!

the shoes even had real spikes on them! - I think that's the thing that scared Noa the most...because he would cry every time he tried to walk or crawl in them...

but i managed to get a few good shots:

The third photo shoot was for my little sister - After I cut her hair, we decided she needed to get some pictures done {senior picture style}. It was great for me because I got to practice shooting portraits and she got some great pictures!!
first, a hair shot:

                        {Before}                                                          {After}

I was also able to see one of my best friends growing up at her brother-in-law's graduation party.

it was so fun to see her for the first time in over a year!