Pregnancy Patrol

I live with the pregnancy patrol. Yep, that's what we call our four year old who feels like she's in charge. She can be pretty bossy at times and now it's double the fun now that I'm pregnant and she is always being on the lookout for me and baby brother.

Here are some of the conversations we've had around here lately.

 I give you The Pregnancy Patrol.

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(At dinner, I couldn't eat all of what I dipped)

Me: "Ugh, I'm full"

Ariana: "Well even if you aren't hungry, you still need to eat so your baby can grow up."

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(Driving in the car doing errands and she's getting mints out of my purse in the backseat)

Me: "Can you pass me a mint tic-tac, please?"

Ariana: "I don't think you should have one, mint isn't good for babies."

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(Me commenting on my growing belly one night to Richard)

Me: "Oh my belly button is starting to feel weird.

Ariana: "BECAUSE YOU'RE PREGNANT!"

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(While shopping for baby clothes, Ariana pointing out an outfit)

Me: "No, let's don't buy that one, I don't think it's very cute."

Ariana: "Mommy, that's because boy clothes aren't as cute. We just have to buy it anyways."

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and finally I hear this all the time. Randomly. All the time. It makes me laugh.

Ariana: "That's not good for pregnants"

I should state that the way she says pregnant sounds more like preg-ah-nents. It's all hilariously funny to me and I'm happy that she's so sweet and wants me to stay safe and healthy, although sometimes a mama just wants to do what a mama wants to do. 

(photos from our backyard on Mother's Day, 23 weeks pregnant)

It's a....(gender reveal)

Me at 22 weeks.

 A sweet little BOY!!!!

BOY or GIRL? A look at old wives tales.

When it comes to pregnancy everyone wants to guess what you are having. I have so much fun playing around with old wives tales and seeing the boy and girl gender results. Here is my list of old wives tales I did for this pregnancy and what they revealed.

Chinese Calendar - GIRL

Mayan Calendar - GIRL

Key theory- BOY

Baking Soda test - BOY, GIRL. I did this twice and it came out different each time.

Ring test - BOY

Cravings theory - BOY, GIRL

Skin theory- BOY

Morning Sickness theory - BOY

Dad's Weight theory - BOY

Baby's heart rate theory - GIRL

Spit in water test - GIRL

In case you aren't familiar with some of the test, here is what they are:

Baking Soda (this was new to me, you pour your pee on baking soda if it fizzes it's a boy, if not it's a girl)

Ring Test (hang your wedding ring over your belly, if it goes in a circle it's a girl, straight line it's a boy)

Key test (whether you pick up a key with the round part or the pointy part) 

Cravings, if it's salty or sour it's a boy, sweet it's a girl.

If your skin is the same or better it's a boy. If it's worse it's a girl.

If you have bad morning sickness it's a girl, if not it's a boy.

If Dad is gaining weight along with you it's a girl, if not it's a boy.

If the babies heart rate is over 140 bpm it's a girl, if it's lower it's a boy.

If you spit in water and it floats it's a girl, if it sinks it's a boy.

Ha! I just realized it's 7 for boy and 6 for girl. So it just proves how much weight you can put into these tests, but they are still fun to do.

When I polled our friends on my personal facebook, the majority of guesses was for another girl.

Check back soon for my gender reveal post!!

Snow Days

No, we don't currently have snow. I wish. These were taken a few weeks ago. Self portraits in the backyard with my remote and tripod.

Yellow Field of Dreams

Recently I posted about my photography fears.  If you are a photographer, you should take a second and go read it, you probably have similar fears.

I talked specifically about a yellow field of flowers by my house.  It took me some timing but everything finally clicked into place and I got some shots in the field. That's what I'm sharing with you today. I faced my fears and came out on top! It's an awesome feeling!

You have already seen these photos if you're on my Facebook fan page, so feel free to skip this post.

Also I've started a gallery/shop to sell some of my photography. It's still a work in progress, I'm adding new photos each day, but it's a huge step I've been wanting to take.

Go check it out, maybe there will be something you want for your home or office. You can get art prints, framed prints, canvas prints, acrylic prints and cards!

Shop Catherine Murton Photography

Catherine Murton Photography Facebook Fan Page

My Birthday

I spent my 27th birthday with my family. Well, most of my family. My sister and mother had to work, Ariana had preschool that morning, and Richard was already back in Germany for pre-deployment preparation. Deployments have to ruin everything. 

Basically I spent the morning, running to preschool, back home because I had forgotten her book-bag, back to preschool, to the post office to mail my friend a package, back to preschool and back home again. After lunch I tried to get Ariana to nap (without success) and finally gave up and decided to spend the afternoon in the pool. 

A family friend was visiting but she left to pick my mom up from work since I'd had her car and since it was Friday and she was suppose to get off work at 3. At 3:15 I was soaking up some sunshine in the pool with Ariana. We swam for an hour or so, then came inside to take showers and get ready for dinner out. 

Once everyone was ready to go, we enjoyed a nice dinner at Bonefish Grill. I myself enjoyed TWO black-cherry-agave-mojitos and reveled in the fact that it was my special night and I wasn't driving!

Dinner over, it was bath and bedtime for Ariana. Of course even though she could have had Grammy or Aunt Sarah or even Nancy, nope she wanted me.  Then it was cupcake time. We opened to cupcakes only to find they had been attacked by ants. Boo! Because everyone had worked early that morning they all ended up going to bed fairly early and I stayed up and watched Romeo and Juliet on DVD alone.

Birthday's aren't as much fun when you're a grown up. A 27 year old grown up to be exact.

I think the highlight of my day was the fact that Ariana sang the Happy Birthday song to me no less than 27 times. I loved it! That girl already gets that birthdays are a big deal!

But all the end of the day, I did get a new rocking outfit, new nail polish, a gift card and some fun accessories from everyone. And of course you saw what my husband got me, even though that was almost 2 weeks late!

Birthdays. Everyone has one.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday (6)

I think I'm starting to really get the hang of this hunt each week and I'm finding  the photos are coming easier and earlier in the week! Here are my lovely finds for this week:

Hi Key

(I had never used Hi Key before on my camera. I really love the soft dreamy feel it gave these flowers)

Bedroom

(I went all abstract and creative on this one. You know how it is in the mornings, everything is all blurry and you don't wanna get out of bed yet.)

Something Tiny

(First thought, glitter. It's fun and pretty and I found out it makes very nice bokeh to boot. I had so much fun playing around to get this shot!)

Off In The Distance

(I went for a walk on the outskirts of our village here in Germany. I think I'm falling in love with the beauty of Germany. This scene was just magical. The cute German houses clustered together in the valley, the sprawling hillsides, the magnificent horse and off in the distance against a dusky sky you can see windmills spinning in the breeze.)

Stripes

(Well hello Mr. Bumblebee! Your so cute and fuzzy and striped. Can I be your paparazzi?!)

This week I feel like I rocked it!! I'm pretty pleased with how all my images came out!
As always I'm linking up here:

xo's
Cat

Cheeseburger Cupcakes!

Cheeseburger cupcakes anyone!?

My friend Jeff posted a random picture of cheeseburger cupcakes on my Facebook wall last week and said "make it happen". Well this weekend I did, and it was so much fun!

These cupcakes are completely edible and made only with cake and icing.

Rich took these to work and everyone was fooled! They were a hit.

I'll post a little tutorial for this if anybody wants to know how I made them! 

Just say the word, and I'll share my cheeseburger cupcake success!

xo's

Cat

P64: Tickle Me Pink

Tickle me pink was fun. 

I'm surrounded by pink. Thanks to "princess Ariana" but nothing really captured my eye that I really wanted to feature. I took a few things but nothing really stood out. Until this one.

My favorite pink shot was this touch of pink (in and on) my blush brush while putting my makeup on one morning. The pink was very feminine and I loved the side light from the window.

My last few shots have been hidden color, which has been fun searching for it, but for next week (or the next) my goal is going to be FULL FRAME color. As much of the selected color in the shot as possible! Here's hoping we get a fun, easy color! :)

I can't wait to see all the pretty pinks everyone else found!

You can see them too, click the crayon below to see more photos!

xo's

Cat

Scavenger Hunt Sunday (5)

It's Sunday!

That means it's time for another Scavenger Hunt!

Decay (old or abandoned):

(I'm not sure if this is really abandoned but covered in vines and with the old door, I thought it would work for this prompt. I kept looking for an old barn but couldn't find any that looked abandoned.)

Groups of 3:

(Using the last three eggs for breakfast for me and Ariana.)

Kitchen:

You may have seen my banana hammock in the background of my "calm" photo on a previous hunt. I thought it would be apporpirate for kitchen this week. I love seeing my bananas relaxing over there waiting to be made into smoothies (recipe soon!!)

Things that make you say "hmmm....":

(How do flies get into my house with the windows closed?? They are so gross and annoying. Grrr....)

Me time:

 (This one is pretty obvious. The best way for me to feel recharged is to do a spa day at home. Paint my nails, give myself a pedicure, mint mask as above and a glass of wine usually cover it. Maybe catch up on some Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Thanks to my husband for helping me take this picture.)

This post was brought to you by Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

Check out more photos here:

xo's

Cat

You asked, I'm ANSWERING!!!

This was so much fun. I got some really fun questions. Thanks to everyone who played along. 

Here are the answers to the questions you wanted to know!

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Sarah asked: What is your favorite thing to take pictures of? Excluding Ariana because we all know how much she is! :)

Well, excluding Ariana, I think my favorite thing would have to be nature. Sometimes it's amazing what you can find when you take your camera out on a walk with you! Even your own backyard turns into an adventure! Bugs, birds, flowers, leaves, mushrooms. All the beauty in nature just grabs my heart.

Scrappy Grams asked: So where are you and family based right now?

Oh yay a military question! I was wondering if one would come up! We are stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. For the most part it's wonderful but learning German is very difficult. Luckily lots of Germans speak English and are really nice, especially our landlord. They like to practice their English with us.  Living in Germany has it's positive side like experiencing the German culture and of course TRAVELING!! But there are also negatives, but that's another post. Maybe next week?? :)

Scrappy Grams and Kristy both wanted to know: What was the meaning behind the title "No Wooden Spoons"? 

There have been a couple people wanting to know this question recently! I'm glad you asked! I don't like the feel of wood. This applies to toothpicks, popsicle sticks and yes wooden spoons. It gives me goosebumps and it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. Ahhhh!! When I was coming up with a name for my blog I wanted something unique and that popped in my head. I guess I could have named it "No Toothpicks" but No Wooden Spoons just sounded better :) Lindsay from Aisle to Aloha just asked this question in my recent interview over there so if you missed it, check it out!


I had a few questions about this photo I posted in my Ask Me Anything post. Here goes...

Jessica asked: How did you process this photo! I love it!

Thanks Jessica! I used  Paint Shop Pro X2. I'm too cheap for Photoshop, this came free on the laptop. Anyways, I opened my photo in Paint Shop. I edited it using Glamour Filter (found under Effects>Photo Effects>Film and Filter>Film>Glamour) Then I increased the saturation (Adjust>Saturation. I set my brightness to -10 and my saturation to 50. I basically just adjusted it until I was satisfied. I think then I added sharpness around my eyes with the sharpening tool. Oh and let's not forget a little blemish remover just to smooth out any imperfections

Brooke also had a question about this photo, she wanted to know my process for taking it?

Brooke, you are probably going to laugh. This is a self portrait, taken hand held, at arms legnth. I took it sitting in front of our glass front door for lighting. I just held the camera out (50mm) and took a picture. I took a few to get the shot I wanted. I was trying to have a relaxed, but not too relaxed (like you just woke up haha) look on my face. I couldn't see myself so that was difficult trying to get the right angle. I didn't crop this photo at all. I took it at about 2 in the afternoon. The settings are F 4.9//1/8th exposure//ISO100.

Jasmine asked: So far, what is your favorite picture/color you have taken for Project 64?

Oh what a hard choice. Every week I love this challenge more and more. I think my favorite would probably have to be my Robin's Egg Blue photo. I really love the pop of blue in this urban photo. It was one of those moments when I took my camera out for a walk around the neighborhood and glanced down and saw this color jump out at me. I'd never noticed it until that day, and it's right by our driveway! It was a happy little surprise, I think that's why it's my favorite!

Kristy asked: What kind of camera are you using? Your pics are always awesome :)

Thanks Kristy! I use a Nikon D7000. I got it for Christmas! Before that all my pictures were taken with a Canon Powershot so don't think you have to have a huge fancy camera to get nice photos. I've seen some great photos taken with camera phones. To see all my photography equipment and gadgets, check out what's in my camera bag!

Brooke asked: What holds a bigger space in your heart, painting or photography?

Wow, that's like trying to choose a favorite child. Ok, so it's not exactly the same, but it's still difficult because they both have special places in my heart. I will say that photography is my first passion. I've only been painting for about a year, but I've been in love with photography for 10 years at least! If I look back on the past few months of my blog, you can see a trend, and I have to say photography holds a bigger space. (And that's the honest truth) Whenever I find a photography blog, I'm amazed at how much time I spend purusing through old posts. I love looking at photography and seeing things through other people's viewfinder. I love the magic that a camera brings to scenes of everyday life or objects. But, I paint with passion and let my imagination flow freely. It's a toss up, but I think photography might be #1. :)

 

 

 

Lindsay wanted to put some of her work "out there" and she asked: How did you get your name/blog/shop out there? Any advice or tips?

Well Lindsay, it's a hard one for me because I still feel like I'm growing and learning as a blogger and Etsy shop owner. I still feel fairly new to Etsy. Blogging was easy for me. I started finding blogs I liked and started reading them and that lead me to others. I commented a lot and made a few etsy purchases from some of my favorite etsy shops which in turn lead me to blogs. I joined in linky parties and took part in giveaways. I joined swaps and pen pal groups. I just recently started looking into sponsorship to gain more attention to my etsy shop and I can see an increase in activity. It can be a lot of hard work, especially if really go for it, but in the end just remember it's suppose to be fun. 

A few tips I would have is blog about things you like, and things YOU would want to read on a blog. Don't copy other bloggers and don't follow trends unless you are really into them. Above all else, be honest, and be real. People like to read about people who are "real" :) I hope that helps. If you want more advice or info, feel free to email me at nowoodenspoons(at)gmail(dot)com.

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So there you have it! I hope you have all learned a little bit more about me and I didn't bore you to death!

Thanks to all my lovely readers who played along!

If you do a Q&A post, please post your link here so I can ask YOU some questions!! :)

 

xo's

Cat

New Blog Features and Photos of the Week

As you may have noticed (or not), I changed my blog a little bit. Removed some of the clutter, expanded it, and added some fun new pages to read. See the tabs at the top. I didn't like the "pages" option that Blogger gave me, so of course I had to be difficult and make my own. This was a lot harder than it looks. I spent a good couple of hours figuring out the html codes, creating text images for buttons, creating corresponding pages, and of course linking them all together. Just when I thought I had it right and went to test it, each tab opened in a new window. Not what I wanted. I fixed it and it's all good now! YAY for me!! I feel like such a total nerd at how happy this makes me! Some pages are still in the process, but should be up and running in a few days. I'm also debating whether or not I want to even attempt to make a new header and blog button. If someone more computer code literate is feeling extra helpful, then by all means, please help me out! I would truly appreciate it!

As promised, here are some of my favorite recent shots. Mostly I've just been playing around taking random shots.

Me, overexposed, testing out different settings. I like it anyways :)

Our rooftop, smoke in the setting sun.

Icicle melting

Finding direction.

What does it mean? haha, it's just one of the random birds that sit atop the trees in our village.

Oh and notice the lovely color of the sky. This is NOT a black and white photo, just a gray day haha!!

Snow has all melted this week, Ariana got to choose her own shoes. No more snow boots!

Me in the mirror. Random, I know.

 On the walk, this moss and sun peeking from the trees was calling my name.

All the melting snow and a little sun flare.

I'm super excited for this weekend. We are going out of town! This is going to be our first trip out of Germany since we moved here 4 months ago. I'm sooooo excited! I hope the weather is nice, so I can take tons of pictures!

Happy weekend to you all!!

xo's

Cat