The funny things she does

Maycee is a VERY busy girl. She runs down the church hallways and right into the middle of sacrament meeting as I chase after her in high heels (BIG MISTAKE). In fact, just this past Sunday I was chasing after her and rolled my ankle with the RIDICULOUS heels I had on. I found myself flat on the floor immediately. It was so embarrassing and luckily no one saw! Time to bring out the flats. I have been in denial for too long, convincing myself I can get away with tall shoes. haha, mommyhood...

She just recently started watching television shows. Her two favorites are Wonderpets and Yo, Gaba, Gaba.   Yo Gaba Gaba is definitley number one. The first time I ever put it on she stood about a foot away from the tv and just stared, for literally the entire show! No, not really, but close.

This is her watching Yo, Gaba, Gaba!  She is too funny :)  I love her little laugh!

Also.....

Maycee is a little fish, but does NOT like the little swimming pool we bought her!  We got this hoping she would love it and play it and oh, the relief for us.  She has other plans, as usual.  Her idea of playing in the pool is when we drive to the pool and let her roam around in the kiddie pool.  Hmmm...I wonder if she'd like the mini pool better if we started with it instead?  Oh well, she'll grow to love the little pool...I hope!

And.....

Binkies...hmmm....to have it or not to have it, that's the question. Last week we could not find a single bink. We looked everywhere in the house, the cars, etc. couldn't find one! Maycee was flipping out and it happened to be the night before my state board exam. Kids sense stress.... anyway, finally Shem zipped over to Walgreens and bought new ones. Oh my goodness. I think we are fast approaching the point that we have her throw it in the trash. I'm sure other moms can relate. At first, I felt guilty for having a bink for her and now I feel guilty for getting rid of it. She is so attached to it. She wakes up in the night if she can't find it. Madness!

We're setting the goal of having her off the bink before school starts back up in August....I'll report back.  haha

4's and 5's:

This little girl is getting big!  She is a whopping 25lbs, CRAZY!!  Her birthweight was 7lbs. 12 oz.  I can't believe how fast babies grow into toddlers.  She just upgraded in diapers.  Yup...she's a 4.  What?!  This is nuts!  AND her shoe size is 5!  I remember when both her diapers and shoes we N (newborn).  Watching her grow bigger is really making me baby hungry!  I can't wait to have another baby.  Maycee is going to be a great big sister, I know it :)

I have attempted doing photography as a side business (AND love it), but it's so time consuming for my lifestyle.  I don't have the right editing program to batch edit, so it takes HOURS to edit as little as ten photos.  Plus, it's unrealistic in our given circumstances.  Time to dedicate all my time to Shem, Maycee, my health and spirituality.  Woohoo!  Freedom!  I'll be back in business in 2 years, baby!  Til then, all my photos are dedicated to capturing family memories.

Happier things....I recently became a Certified Nursing Assistant!  No job yet...but who knows?!

I captured some darling photos of Maycee for Father's Day.  With help from my sweet friend, Emily, we got Maycee to smile!  :)  Yay!  That is a rarity when the camera is in her face.  Happpy Father's Day, Shem, Papa, Grandpa W, Pops and Grandpa C!  I hope it was a wonderful day!

Enjoyin summer!

So...other than loving summer spending time with little Maycee...I am having a blast being a part of a practice photography group on facebook.  This group was created for photographers to be given "assignments" each week to challenge themselves.  It's such a great idea!  Last week was "after dark".  This week is "high speed". 

AFTER DARK: This is my all time favorite perfume given to me by Shem on our wedding day.  Light source: my laptop on our bed.

ISO 1250
f/2.2
1/20 ss
Canon lens EF 50mm/1.8

This week:
HIGH SPEED:
Jax is hilarious and he's too quick to photograph most of the time.  Today, as Maycee and I were playing in the backyard I wanted to capture Jax in flight.  I failed :(  BUT...I did get him frozen in "jump".  haha he's so cute, isn't he?  I will get him in the air soon.  I really like this photo though.  It captures his little personality, in my opinion. 

ISO 250
f/2.2
1/8000 ss
Canon lens EF 50mm/1.8

This is likely not the photo that will be shared with the practice group, although I think it's fun. :)

And another type of high speed photo...little Maycee playing with a full cup of water.  Dangerous business! 

ISO 500
f/2.2
1/1600 ss
Canon lens EF 50mm/1.8

Moving on...in the midst of capturing these interesting photos, I also captured some fun ones of Maycee just hanging out and playing. (scroll down to see) She is 16 months and we're getting so excited for her to finally go to nursery! She's getting so big all too fast. It blows my mind! And she sure is a special girl. I think I say that every post, but she really is! Love her!!

We take Maycee swimming at least 4 times a week it seems. She loves water and is so comfortable with it.  In fact, she will run (into the big pool) off the decking and into Shem's arms. We are so glad she loves it and is such a brave little thing!! She's too funny!

Maycee is obsessed with cups!  She is very insistent that she drink out of mine any chance she can.  She's such a big girl!

Shem loves his little girl :)

These are some pictures from today.  These were taken in the same series of the 2nd high speed photo I have in this post.  I love following her around and taking random photos.  Funny to say, I am holding back with all the photos.  I took a lot more than this, but chose to only post my favs!

I cannot resist painting her little toes! She's catching on, though, so the paint job seems to look a little worse each time as she gets impatient. Haha...and I always have fun making my toes look almost pedicured. ;)

Doctors Couch..is that right?

I am so proud to have such ambitious brothers.  Chris Couch, MD, graduated on May 12th, 2011.  Jason Couch, DO, graduated June 3rd, 2011.  So awesome!  Here are the memories that were made in this special time in their lives.  Sharina, get a blog and Alaina, you should update yours!  :)  Love you guys!

Held at the Phoenix Art Museum.  Chris':

 Chris and his two children, Colin and Sienna. 

The Couch grandparents flew down for Chris' ceremony.  :)

Held at Midwestern University in Glendale, AZ.  Jason's:
I feel so terrible..I don't know what I was thinking not capturing Jason being hooded!  I'm SO sorry, Alaina.  :(

 

 Jason has a beauitful family!

Week one of summer school

That title is so boring, but it's self explanotory.  This week was crazier than anticipated!  Memorial Day threw everything off, too.  Tuesday was an easy day and Shem seemed to enjoy his time at school.  He is able to work out and I can already see a great change in him from having excersiced this past week.  My class is not at all fun.  Yes, it's English 102, but I consider it to be harder than nursing school.  Tuesday I had an assignment due.  Wednesday I had an assignment due.  Thursday my first essay was due.  Yep, I'm not cut out for this.  And Shem, well, he is enjoying his classes.  He is taking an physics course in the evenings and engineering in the morning.  Lucky guy.  haha.  Although Maycee and I are at home all day without a car, it's quite fun.  She is saying a lot more words now and every chance I can, I encourage her to repeat my words.  This week was the first ever that she has been calling me "mama" rather than just saying a sound.  She will yell throughout the house, "mammm, mama!"  It's so sweet.  For the longest time, she has only been saying "dad".  It has made my week listening to her sweet little voice calling me her mother.  Back to the week....haha, Thursday was jammed packed with research, babysitting, writing and more writing.  Jason, Alaina, and my parents attended a banquet held at Jason's school in preparation for his graduation the next morning.  They had previously asked me to babysit before I was aware of the essay I had due at midnight.  Ha, wow, I am spacey.  The kids were great and I was able to finish the essay on time, resulting in an "A" on my assignment.  But it was just one of those days that you wonder how you're going to make it through without crashing and burning.

Friday was a really great day.  We woke up extra early, 6am to be exact, to get ready and leave by 7 to get to Glendale for Jason's graduation.  Maycee was grumpy she didn't get to sleep in, but she had a lot of fun at the event with all her cousins around and people to bug.  haha.  Jason graduated from Midwestern University with a Docorate degree in Osteopathic Medicine (DO).  Now there are two doctors in the family!  My brothers are awesome.  I failed to mention, Chris graduated on May 12th from the University of Arizona Medical School with a Doctorate in Medicine (MD).  After Jason's ceremony we had lunch and headed back to Mesa, getting home at 2 ready for naps!  That night we attended an open house in honor of Jason's achievements.  What fun Friday was!  Jason is such an awesome guy.  I really love him and admire the person he is.  We were best friends when we were younger and as I mature I feel like I am gaining him back as a friend once again.  It helps, too, that we share the interest of serving others by pursuing careers in healthcare.  :)  Yep, he's awesome.

Saturday Shem and I FINALLY went on a DATE.  Yes, a REAL date.  Our previous date consisted of dropping Maycee off at mom and dad Wanlass' house and then socializing there a few hours.  We ended up going to Home Depot for about 45 minutes.  It wasn't a bad date, it was actually a lot of fun.  We picked out cabinets and counter tops and carpet for the house we will build one day.  But I've been dying to go to a movie with Shem and he was sweet to take me to one!  We saw the new X-men movie.  We loved it!  We love all the x-men movies, but this one was one of the better ones!  My favorite will always be the Wolverine movie, but X-men: First Class in my number two!  I love James McAvoy in leading roles.  He's a great actor and plays his roles outstanding.  Sorry to bore...I'm tired, but I felt like telling about the week for some reason.  hmmm..not sure why because it isn't like me to blog about my week.  Haha, random.

I'm looking forward to this week!  It's gonna be a great one, I have a feeling.  Learning to be more optimistic in my life...trying to count my many blessings.  When I do that, I can't help but be happy!

Have a great week!

Random:  I was looking for a couple that I second shot with Trevor Dayley and came across this: 
Couple - Andrea & Shem
These were taken a while back and I have never posted them on our blog.  I have thought about it, but there is something about viewing photos from the photographer's site that makes them look so dang beautiful.  :)