My photography blog

Hello friends and family! I am getting worse and worse at updating this blog. The truth is, I started this blog so my out of state family members could see updated pictures of my family. However, since my in-laws are now on Facebook (where I post photos on a much regular basis), and we now live near my parents in Oregon, I find myself neglecting the blog. And honestly, with everyone on Facebook these days and living so close to family members now, I don't see a need in posting on here, other than the gratification it gives me to type and hit "publish". :) So, I guess what I am saying is that you might not see very many posts from the Bateman Family from here on out. HOWEVER, I still LOVE stalking your blogs and hearing about you and your families, so please keep the blog posts coming! :) Now to get to my post topic-

As many of you know, I have "retired" from being a Registered Nurse after 3 1/2 years. I cannot express enough how wonderful it feels to not have to worry about creating work schedules around family life and working weekends and holidays. These past eight months of not working have been so great! I love staying at home with my babies and not having to worry about "work stuff". I have to admit though, there are moments during the day when I do miss certain parts of being a nurse. There are also times when I feel selfish for quitting and feel a hint of regret after ALL of the time, effort, and money put into nursing school.  However, I am so much happier now being at home with my kids and find that even though I may not be actively working as a nurse, the nursing knowledge I have is and will continue to be useful in my every day life. And who knows, maybe I will return to nursing in the future. For now though, my time is spent with my kids and learning more about photography! Speaking of which, I have created a photography blog that I would like to invite you all to check out. Please keep me in mind for your future photography needs if you are ever in Central Oregon! My blog is erinbatemanphotography.blogspot.com.
Thanks!

Fall Family Pictures

We had Blaine's brother, Brett, take our family pictures over the weekend. The weather and lighting were perfect! It is so nice to own a great camera, adjust the settings, ask someone else to snap a few shots, and edit the pictures myself at home. So much more affordable and fun! Granted, I have a lot to learn about editing and actually taking good pictures, but I have taken a few photography classes and plan to take a few more this year, which should help...hopefully. :)

Overall, the pictures turned out pretty good. However, I think the next time we have our pictures done, I will  ask additional people to tag along, just to stand behind the camera and get the kids to LOOK and SMILE. Now, if only I can narrow one of them down for our Christmas letter!

Cannon's Fun Day with Mercy J

I love living so close to family, especially when there are little cousins involved! Unfortunately for me, I never lived super close to my cousins growing up, which made it harder for my cousins and I to feel comfortable around each other each time we did spend time together. It always seemed that just when we had started having fun and had finally warmed up to each other, it was time to say goodbye. Blaine, on the other hand, grew up with the majority of his cousins living in the same town! How nice for him!  I am grateful that my kids can also have this same experience with their cousins. It also helps a ton that they each have a cousin their own age! Anyway, we had Mercy over to play for the morning/afternoon and the kids had a blast!  However, it is funny how Cannon and Mercy can be all smiles and play so well together one minute, and then both be fighting and in tears the next. Oh well, such is the life of a kid!

For those who have asked for indoor house pictures...

Okay, so I wouldn't normally post pictures of the inside of my house. However, since I have had a few requests to do just that, I thought I finally would. Keep in mind that we are still decorating the walls and such, so not everything is set in stone. Please ignore the bare walls! Also, as a heads up, there are A LOT of house pictures below...probably more than you care to see. With that said, please feel free to skim or exit out of this post now. Additionally, we are currently renting this house. Oh how I wish we owned it though! There are a lot of things that this current house has that our other house in Utah (which we did own) didn't have. For example, a master bathroom (shocking, I know!), pantry (another shock!), large and open kitchen, wrap around porch, attached garage (yet another shock!), and many other features. The list goes on and on. Anyway, I am going to stop talking about it and get right to the pictures... Front of house with wrap around porch- Front entrance into living room and kitchen just beyond (please ignore the ugly antenna above the t.v...Blaine nailed it to the wall temporarily for good reception)- The two kid bedrooms and bathroom just off of the living room (I love the arch leading into the rooms!)- Kitchen and the sun room just off of it (another love)- Office area (part of kitchen) and pantry (yahoo!)- Master bedroom, walk in closet (yes!), and bath (LOVE the double vanity...why don't all master bathrooms have this???)- Laundry room and ATTACHED garage (exciting, I know!)- Backyard- Okay, so that is the house! We love it!