What should I do with my hands?

I recently read an article with tips for "Mommy Bloggers", and one of the tips was to always use a catchy, "must open and read NOW" title. Is that ^^^^^ a catchy title? :) Okay, so it can determined that I am not very creative, ha!

Here are my Belly Shots/Self Portraits for pregnancy week 25! Taken in front of one of the walls in our very colorful school room! (It's actually the "dining room", but since the kids do school work in there, we decided to make it a bright and colorful learning environment!) I do have some regrets about our color choices, but colorful walls do make for nice photo backgrounds, and that's not the point of this blog anyway... :)

So here we go: 25 weeks



(Geeky photog talk here: All photos shot at ISO 1250, F 1.6, SS 1/160 and 1/125, self timer of course)


Now about the posts title...
I never know what to do with my hands! Doesn't everyone have that problem? I have people (that are in front of MY camera) ask me the very same question ALL the time, and I seem to always have an answer for them. But when it's just me and my tripod (or makeshift tripod, or chair, or table, or floor...), things can get a little awkward!

Side story: K (my oldest daughter) saw me and asked why I was taking pictures of myself! I wonder if my kids think I am just vain? I answered that I really wanted to remember having a pregnant belly, and am going to try to take pictures as often as I can. And that answer satisfied her just fine. And it's true!

Back to the hands... so then I tried this:



No, too high, it looks a little weird/awkward, right? Hm, try lower:



Aw man! Now I look like I have a tummy ache! Agh!

Anyway, haha, the whole pregnant belly thing is a toughie. You want to come across loving, but sometimes a gentle caress against the belly looks funny enough and awkward in front of the camera, and of course I am extra picky about how my hands look (i.e.: "Is my thumb sticking out?" or "My fingers look too fat in this one!" or "Hm, crooked finger angle...", yeah, I already know I'm weird.)



But does keeping my arms straight down seem cold and uncaring? Or do I just look stiff?



I am finding it harder and harder each time, and don't want to have too many of the same photo where my hands and arms are doing the same thing. Anyone want to offer some suggestions? Remember, I am not the creative type here, so I welcome any and all suggestions. I may not try them all, but welcome them with open arms, and hands, ;) indeed.

ETA: All photos were processed just a tad differently. Just because I can. :)

20 weeks (halfway!) Belly Shot

WM RS 20 weeks-6186 ED, originally uploaded by MonicaYB.

So... I am pretty late in posting this, since I am now 23 weeks, hehe, but if you know anything about me, you know that I tend to be late for all kinds of things, and you'd also know that I take so many photos, and then they stay forever on my hard drive, never to be seen or heard from again, :(

Here is week 20 belly shot (from 12/15/2010), shot in my "famous" yellow/orange kitchen (my kitchen has the best light in the house, so there will be many more photos in the yellow orange-ness!), with my fav buttery lens, 50 1.4, shot at (get ready, here comes geeky photography talk...) not quite all the way open, at F 1.6. (ISO 400, SS 1/250, for anyone who cares).

I shot it at a horrible time of the day, late in the afternoon, so the shadows are harsh, and I didn't spend much time processing it, but you get the idea, and it's "dramatic-y", :)

The jeans I was wearing, as you can see, still button all the way and in fact are still pretty loose everywhere but the waist. :) I'm still at that "awkward" point where my regular clothes are fitting a little tight, some uncomfortably so, but maternity clothes seem to swallow me up, and just make me feel frumpy.

This pregnancy (#4) in general is so different in so many ways! I am still savoring and enjoying it as much as I can, knowing there is a good chance that it may be (but hopefully not) the last time I am pregnant. :(
I have always enjoyed being pregnant, despite my severe sickness (which is just starting to end now at 23 weeks!), and aches and pains associated with it. There is just something wonderful and magical about carrying a precious life inside of you! But even this one has thrown me a couple of unexpected "curve balls", and things I had never experienced even the other three times!

Regardless, I don't forget how blessed I am, and I feel privileged to know God chose us to be parents one more time!

A kind "stranger" lady randomly said to me the other day, something along the lines of "I love seeing pregnant women! That's how we know God has not given up on mankind!". I never thought of it quite like that, but I love it, and realized it is true!

New year, new blog...

It's amazing what can change over the course of only two years! I decided to go ahead and keep my old blog and blog url, but am pretty embarrassed to see my previous entries and photos! Sheesh! I am surprised at all of the things I've learned over the last two years, and the changes that have taken place in our lives.

Please do me a favor and DON'T scroll down to any previous entries. But, IF you do, be forewarned that I do not take any responsibility for the horrible photos, or what I wrote, simply because I do not remember. ;)

Here's an update (about two years past due...) of our lives and some things you might expect to read if you so choose to "Follow" me...

I am a stay/work-at-home Mommy; I homeschool our kiddos, and I have my own (very small!) lifestyle photography business, specializing in babies, children and families. My husband of 7.5 years is the associate pastor of our church, which is totally home away from home, and we are blessed beyond measure!
In my last post (in 11/2008, Oh. My. Goodness!), we were still a family of 4, but we are now a family of 5, and soon to be 6! We added our third baby and second son into the world on March 18th of 2009, at the San Antonio Birth Center. That was one of the most amazing and best experiences of my life,  but that needs it's own blog post, haha! We are now expecting our 4th child (3rd son!) sometime in May 2011! Our EDD is May 5th (Cinco de Mayo!), but I have a tendency to go late, so I am thinking more like mid May. And this baby will be our first homebirth, with the hands and help of our wonderful, amazing midwife! I suppose I'll have to ask her permission before I post her name, hehehe.

Some things that I am passionate about, and that you will probably read about on my blog, if you don't get bored too soon, are, in no particular order:
My family,
Photography,
Babywearing,
Babies in general, :)
Natural birth,
Natural parenting,
Attachment parenting,
Organic/healthy eating and lifestyle,
"Green" living,
Cloth diapering and E.C. (Elimination communication, a.k.a. infant potty learning),
Homeschooling,
Midwifery,

And that's all that came to mind in these last few seconds. :)

I can not and will not make any promises to post every day, every week, or even several times a month. Just as often as I can! I'd love it if you would follow me, but also know that I will totally be posting links to new blog posts (on Facebook) as I publish them.
Be blessed and happy new year!