You may have noticed that my photos have improved as of late. This is thanks to my new Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II which I love almost as much as my children.
I know a lot of you guys think I am a good photographer, but I’m really not. I don’t understand how to use real cameras and have no patience for instruction booklets. I didn’t really start taking good pictures until I joined Instagram and started taking all my photos on my iPhone which is obviously much more user-friendly.
I’ve owned other cameras in the past and appreciated the better quality of the photos, but I never liked using them as much as my phone. They were cumbersome and I felt like I didn’t get as creative with my shots.
This new Olympus is the first time I am really into using a real camera (partly because it so intuitive and I didn’t need to read the instructions to figure it out) and find myself grabbing it whenever the event is important for me to capture right. I used it to photograph Harlow’s birthday party, Mazzy’s birthday party (post coming soon!) and a recent trip to Gansevoort Market.
Look at the gorgeous quality of this photo of the girls.
Every year, we go to Rockefeller Center to look at the Christmas Tree, watch the ice skaters and catch the light show on the side of the Sak’s Fifth Avenue building, since there is really nothing more exciting for a little kid in Manhattan during Christmas.
Each year, Mazzy is in awe over the spectacle like it’s the first time she’s seen it.
I understand. I feel the same way.
The plan was to take Mazzy after school and meet Mike and Harlow by the tree. Mazzy really wanted to go ice skating but I told her 1) the line was way too long and 2) Harlow can’t ice skate so we’d have to go ice skating another time without her.
But then, Mike called and said Harlow wasn’t feeling well and he thought he should keep her home. This opened the door for Mazzy to beg me to take her skating again.
The line ropes around the rink and I always assumed it is about a two hour wait— totally outside the realm of possibility with a whiny 5 year-old, but Mazzy “really really really” wanted to do it, so I said okay, with the caveat that the second she started whining about the wait, we were calling it quits.
Mazzy agreed and then exhibited a patience I have never seen from her before in my life.
Turns out, the line moves much faster than I expected (two hours was actually 20 minutes) and before I knew it, we were renting skates and on the rink.
This was Mazzy’s first time skating with one blade and she was shaky but did great.
She was determined to get it right and never complained when she fell— she just got right back up and kept trying.
We’ve been coming to Rockefeller Center on Christmas for years but I never had the experience of being on the rink with the tree right above us and all the lights and people surrounding us. It’s pretty amazing and it did not go unappreciated by either of us.
When the light show started on the Sak’s 5th Avenue (right across from the tree, still in view from the rink) that was the icing on the cake.
Look at Mazzy’s face.
My new Olympus perfectly captured the moment. It’s worth noting that Ruth took all the pictures of Mazzy and I together. It was her first time using the camera, but it just seems to take great shots every time. Even when it’s dark or there is motion, it still delivers a crisp image.
Did I mention the slew of costumed characters that swarmed Mazzy on the way out of the rink?
Don’t fall for it! They all want cold hard cash.
The Olympus OM-D E-M10 MARK II camera has an old school look which feels super modern and the quality of the display screen is great, so you know what you are getting just like you do on an iPhone screen. The camera also has an amazing “click” when you press the button that every single person commented on when they tried it. Something about that click is super satisfying. The other thing I like, which I found out by mistake, is the camera automatically focuses and takes a pic when you tap the display screen. I would use this function whenever I was playing around with the settings and got lost. And lastly, you can continue clicking the camera even if it hasn’t resolved the previous photo yet, which is super helpful with little kids who are constantly moving.
Okay, I think it’s pretty clear that I really like this thing, right? It would make an awesome holiday gift for someone really special. In fact, I’m giving away an Olympus camera today!
Giveaway: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II camera
You must be a Mommy Shorts daily or weekly subscriber to enter. Then just “like” this post and leave a comment below telling me about your holiday plans.
I’ll also be giving one away on Instagram (@mommyshorts) so keep a look out.
Winner will be announced on Christmas Day, so you can enjoy it for the New Year!
Winner Update:
Congrats to Susan Cush! Please contact pam@mommyshorts.com to claim your prize.
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This post was sponsored by Olympus, but my obsession with my new camera is my own.
Trying to come up with some new traditions to enjoy with my new little family!
Love love love all your pics. For the holidays our tribe of 6 will relax at home and enjoy the day with each other.
This season, I’ll be hosting Christmas Eve at my house.. My grandmother isn’t upto it so I’ll be taking over. My grandfather battled lung cancer (and won) over the last couple of years.. Thank got he’s doing well, but it took a lot out of my grandmother… It would be great to be able to photograph the first time I’m hosting, the start of a new tradition, and be able to print out photos for her!
I’ll also be taking my son to the tree for the first time ever! He’s 3 this year so I think he’ll be a fun age. Maybe we can try ice skating too 🙂 he’s SO obsessed with Christmas this year.. I can’t wait to see his expression when he sees that huge beautiful tree!! I haven’t been there in years, so I’m excited as well!!
Thank you for the chance to win this camera, it would be a Christmas blessing. Xo
Can’t wait to come down for our annual trip to NYC for the holidays to visit family and friends! Dually excited for our trip to North Carolina for a much needed reunion with my sisters and my nephew! 🙂 This is my daughters 3rd Christmas, and I have a hunch it’ll be the best yet. 🙂 Beautiful pictures of you gals!
Time with family and dressing my boys up!
I can’t wait to spend the winter off of work so I can focus on spending time with my family and work on starting my small business!
With my family. So looking forward to some quality family time.
The holiday plan I’m looking forward to most is getting my kids in their pjs for bed but then surprising them with a nighttime drive to look at all the beautiful holiday lights.
My younger sister will finally be coming home, after finishing her first semester of college. She has not been home since she left in September and I am really excited to see her. My grandpa will also being coming to spend time with us, and I always enjoy that. I am just excited to spend time with family!
We always spend Christmas Eve with my in-laws and spend Christmas day at home. This year my husband is working Christmas day at the fire department.
Absolutely beautiful!
We are so excited to live in the moment spending time doing “simple” holiday joys, baking cookies, playing silly games, white elephant gift exchange, drinking lots of coffee and seeing the faces of my 3 and 5 year old Christmas morning when Santa arrives!
Christmas Day is crazy going around to grandparents’ houses so I’m really looking forward to staying home on Christmas Eve with my two boys and husband and creating new traditions.
Time off with my boys spent doing truly Canadian Christmas stuff! Ice skating, snowman building… Topped off with hot chocolate! I love having no plans and just heading out each day for an adventure!
Christmas Eve will be church and crab legs. On Christmas Day will be spending time with family and eating and drinking far too much.
Definitely checking out lights, celebrate my little man’s 4th birthday, and our pup’s 5th birthday as well 🙂 and squeeze and friends-ma-kah in there somewhere!. Then of course family and more family for both Hannukah celebrations and Christmas celebrations! Can’t wait!! 🙂
It is my 2 month old daughter’s first Christmas and we will be celebrating by seeing how over stimulating my huge Italian family can be at our Christmas Eve celebration.
We will do Xmas with my family then with my husbands! This will be our son’s 2nd Xmas and I think he will be much more into the gifts this year (20 months). I’m so excited to watch him open them and play with his new toys! Capturing these memories on an awesome camera would just add to the excitement!!
Looking forward to no school and making lots of cookies!!!
Last Christmas my in-laws came to visit from Europe, which was great for the kids, but this year I’m looking forward to spending the holiday just with our little family, the four of us, quiet and relaxed at home. It’s going to be awesome!
Our holidays include staying far, far, completely away from my husband’s parents and their drama. Thank goodness we’re stationed across the country. We watch a Christmas Story and go eat Chinese food. Then we nap.
My baby sister is pregnant with her first kiddo and is due on Christmas. Planning to take it easy and await the news that I’ve got a new niece or nephew!
Spending time with family and watching my 17 month of daughter be in awe of all of our traditions. Christmas with kids is even better than Christmas as a kid! 🙂
We are going to try to split our time between my family and my husbands , hopefully we can see everyone with a newborn and a 21 month old! We would love this new camera to finally take decent photos of the kids !
This is the first yr I live away from my family for the holidays so it will just be my son my husband and i and we are creating our own traditions. I’d love this camera to capture our families “first own” Christmas
Spending Xmas day at home with kids, opening gifts, big breakfast, grandparents come over in the afternoon, and big dinner with everyone. Xmas music playing in the background, hot chocolate in hand, and lots of love everywhere. My favourite time of the year!
Trying to keep it simple this holiday season! Spending lots of time with my family and friends and keeping the magic alive for my two little ones!
My son is 5 and my adopted daughter will be 11 months can’t wait to get pictures of them with their holiday clothes in front of the lights and with Santa!
We are going to gather all our toys that we already have and go donate them! We’re gonna get new ones for Christmas, so our old ones go out to a child in need!
Visiting family in Florida!
Our oldest will be home for almost a month from his first semester of college, which will be wonderful! And our youngest will revel in not having a schedule to keep and homework to do. Spending time with friends and hopefully making a “quick” trip back to Michigan to visit family will be icing on the cake!
My husband and I will be spending the holidays in Honduras, where he was born and where most of his family still lives!
Enjoying the day with my hubby who has Christmas off for the first time since we’ve had our son, who is 4! My hubby is a police officer and has never once complained about working on the holidays but I am so happy to have him home for this one 🙂
We will be cramming 16 people in my tiny house for a wonderfully snug Christmas!
We will be hosting my husband’s side of the family in our new home on Christmas Eve. We just bought at the end of September and have been slaving away to get it ready in time (18 gallons of paint later to be precise)! Hopefully the cooking will be a piece of cake (or we will be stuck eating cake)!
Christmas lights! There’s something so magical about them ❤️❤️❤️
This year will be our second Christmas as a family of 3! My little one had her first birthday last weekend. This year, my husband and I are taking on Christmas Eve. This way we get to have all our loved ones in one spot for the holiday and there won’t be any running around and nap ruining on Christmas to make for a tired and grumpy baby. We are super excited and can’t wait for the new year to watch little Gracie grow!
Hopefully our holidays will be mellow this year, rushing around with a toddler puts me on the naughty list every time!
This is our first Holiday without my father-in-law. He passed away from leukemia. The whole family is loading up and going to the beach for a few days. A non-traditional way to be together. ❤️
Showing my daughter how magical the Christmas season can be…..and making lots of cookies!
I plan on slowing down and enjoying my babies. And sleep. Sleep will good 🙂
We love to go look at the lights at the zoo and just spend time with our family and friends. Lots of cookies, food, and of course there are some presents involved 🙂
Our Christmas starts with childlike present opening in our pajamas enjoyed by me (21), my brother (15) and my parents, then breakfast and afterwards we all pile into the car. We head to the beach where I do the Christmas Day Swim (we’re I’m Ireland and let me tell you, it’s really cold!) a long standing charity event where hundreds of crazy people attempt to turn into icicles.. then off for showers and dressing up and lunch in my aunts house. This year things will be different however as normally we go to give out presents in my grandparents house following lunch but my Gran passed away this last month so I’m not sure what will happen. However, in the evening we all gather at my house where my Dad cooks dinner for 15+ people and we all squeeze around two tables. I love these family dinners more than anything! We have three new babies in our family this year so it’ll be interesting to see where we fit the high chairs, otherwise we’ll be sharing cuddles around the table!
I would love to give this camera to my mom as a gift, she travelled the world with an olympus years ago and always wished for a new one. She’s had a tough year and I’m a student so can’t afford one just yet, I’d be so grateful be able to give this to her ♥
I will be sharing my holiday season with as many friends and family members as time and caffeine will allow. Lots of stories, laughs and a trip to NYC with my sister.
We have our second baby due any day now- so lots of snuggles and family time!
I plan on enjoying many of the holiday venues that my city has to offer!
We will be spending time with family this holiday season and teaching our children the real meaning of the season. We will also be baking our traditional Holiday treats & driving around listening to Christmas Carols and “pretties” as my kids like to call them.
Going to visit my parents in NY. Maybe this will be the year we are brave enough to bring the kids to Rockefeller Center!
Our plans are to spend as much time with family as possible!
We are young to celebrate our baby’s first Christmas at home with grandma coming tor a visit.
Our family does Christmas at Thanksgiving to be sure the Midwest weather doesn’t ruin travel plans. So on Christmas we stay home with our kids (4, 3 & 4 months), watching movies, listening to music, baking and snacking all day ????????☃❄️
I would loooove to have this camera! My big Nikon is getting old and is very cumbersome to carry with a toddler.
I’m spending the holidays home in Dubai where it still feels like summer and might go for a staycation on the beach!
We’re having an open house tomorrow for family and friends! Then celebrating in the 24 & 25 with family! The 26th is my birthday so it’s one More day of celebrating for us!!!
This is our first together as a family of three and also our first year having a Christmas tree up! As soon as we get the decorations we’ll be setting that up in time for our family get-together with immediate family and cousins on Christmas. It’s exciting and it makes my heart melt to start creating memories with our little one. 🙂
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Your photos are stunning! We’ll be visiting with family, driving to 2 different places to spend time with both sides. But on Sunday, already, we get to do gifts with my family!
Holiday at home with family. Hoping to capture some beautiful photos of my daughter and my son at his first Christmas!
Since I’m pregnant we are flying to my parents house Christmas Eve And flying home Sunday Bc TBT hubby had to work ????
My aunt is having her thyroid removed Christmas Eve so we’re having Christmas on the 19th! We rarely get family time anymore so i would love to have a fantastic camera to capture those moments. And my 3 year old munchkin of course! I love your Instagram pics <3
I will be spending the holidays iand th my newborn baby girl (5 weeks old) and my husband! I look forward to celebrating my baby’s first Christmas 🙂
I think I’m hosting Christmas at my house this year for my husband’s side of my family. In our tiny cottage. We just found out. Yikes!!
Love the pics. They are so crisp and clear and beautiful. Although I think your subjects might be responsible for the beauty! Olympus makes excellent cameras. My first camera when I was about 15 was an Olympus and I just loved it.
We are taking our 1 and 2 year olds on a road trip to see grandparents 10 hours away…should be fun???
Love the pics. They are so crisp and clear and beautiful. Although your subjects might be responsible for the beauty!
Olympus makes excellent cameras. My first camera (when I was about 15) was an Olympus and I just loved it.
Spending the holidays in Annapolis with my loved ones….
These pictures are absolutely beautiful! So crisp and so clear, Olympus is such a great camera. Mazzy looks so elated and happy, I’ve never even been to NY. This holiday season my family aren’t really doing much which is a really big surprise, being hispanic we tend to throw really big parties on the 24th and 31st but as of right now we’re trying to figure out what’s going to happen. Happy Hanukkah! And hope Harlow is feeling better 🙂
this would be an amazing gift for Christmas for our family. Right now, we bus use our phones and I wish we had something more professional. Looks like this was an amazing night! Can’t wait to bring our little one in to see the tree!
We will be busy visiting family, but what else would we want to be doing during the holidays?! Each year becomes more magical watching my 4 year old and 1 year old enjoying and experiencing the holidays. 🙂
It’s both the first Christmas after my mom passed away and my first Christmas as a mom. It will be a bittersweet time spent with family remembering and keeping my mom’s traditions and building new ones with my new little family.
My brother and his family will be joining us for Christmas. Nothing like getting hugs from your big brother at the holidays!!!
My husband is deployed overseas, so my girls and I will be spending Christmas at home. My parents will be coming to spend Christmas with us and we will also go over to the in-laws house at some point.
The grandparents are coming up and we will be ice skating and checking out the holiday decorations in San Francisco.
Beautiful photos! We visited NYC for the first time last week and salting at Rockefeller center was a highlight. Our big tradition in Atlanta is to ride the Pink Pig as a family and go to a candlelight service.
I have no idea what our Christmas plans will be this year. it doesn’t even feel like Christmas in Illinois. I haven’t had to even wear a jacket in days. It feels like spring rather than Christmas. However, I have two weeks off and a bunch of my favorite Christmas movies on order at the library, so hopefully these will help my daughter and I get in the Christmas spirit!
Spending the holidays at home with our 2 month old daughter. We’re so excited to be celebrating her first Christmas and our first Christmas as parents!
For the holidays we will be spending it with family near and far at my mom’s house and see as many Christmas lights with our 1 year old has that same awestruck look in his eyes like Mazzy. It is just the most precious moment. I feel like I’m seeing it all over again through his eyes.
We are more of the pajama-lovin’, Hot Cocoa sippin’ (Hot Toddy sippin’ for Mom and Dad), and Holiday movie watchin’ kind of folk. Of course, we may venture off to a family gathering or two.. those are always fun! But then we hurry home and snuggle up.. Because the real joy is found at home for our little gang.
For us, it’s just a nice time to sloooow down. PJs all day, and a nice dinner with friends at night.
Northern Wisconsin snow and Christmas fun, here we come!!!
Celebrating our baby’s first Holidays! Love this giveaway!
Spending the holidays with my boyfriend and family!
What an amazing experience! The closest I came was ice skating in milenium park, but my dream has always been to visit NY at Christmastime! Our plans this year will be full of food, family and hibernating. Hoping for snow as a White Christmas always seems more magical. My 4year old has been begging me to take her skating sonthat will be on our agenda too!
We have family coming in from out of town and we are also visiting family. It’s going to be a busy but wonderful time.
Spending lots of time with family- all traveling to visit us! We are staying home and enjoying quality time as our little family before family rolls in Christmas Eve and Day. My husband travels and is now done traveling for the year. Woohoo! I am so excited about this giveaway! I actually have a large bulky camera that I am noticing I am using far less these days with an active toddler. I just can’t seem to get the shots like I used to. Have the time they come out terrible. It’s so hard to get her to cooperate and sit still. I actually looked into buying a camera like this on our last visit to NYC in 2014 when I realized there was no way I could manage my daughter who couldn’t walk at the time and the camera by myself navigating around NYC with a horrible umbrella stroller. I ended up just using my phone and was disappointed to not have better documentation of such an awesome mother-daughter experience! Now we are expecting baby #2 and need all sorts of things (another car seat, dresser, bed etc) and just don’t have the expendable income to be able to purchase a splurge gift like this on myself. Like I said, I would so LOVE this so I don’t miss out on capturing those moments!
I can’t wait to go home to CT for the holidays, although I have had a wonderful time spending the holidays in DC celebrating the season. Hope to be able to make it to NYC to see the beautiful tree in person.
I get to go home for Christmas! I am in my senior year of college and as a nursing major, this is the last guaranteed Christmas I will get because nurses work holidays especially new nurses. So thankful that I get to go home and celebrate this holiday and the birth of Jesus with my family!!!
I will be spending Christmas morning at home with my husband and our 7 month old! We will be visiting my family at the end of the month though and my son will get to meet his great grandma for the first time!
I’m on a year long exchange in Senegal (I’m a teenager who really loves your blog despite not having any children!) So that means that this year, I don’t get to spend the holidays at home. Senegal is 95% Muslim, including my host family, but Christmas decorations are still popping up around my city! I plan on skyping my family in America, making a big Christmas dinner for my host family, and going down to the ocean to enjoy the 85° weather instead of bemoaning that I can’t have a white Christmas like usual!
Christmas for us this year will be traditional with a focus on not being too busy! We are so overextended during the year that our whole family, kiddos included, is looking forward to a couple of weeks with no school, no work and a focus on celebrating the good news of Christmas that is found in our savior. We will be baking cookies, driving around to see Christmas lights and looking for ways to make the holiday season a little brighter for everybody.
Last year my husband and in-laws went to NYC the weekend before Christmas and these pictures brought me back to how spectacular everything is! The city and stores do such a great job bringing the holiday to life. This year we are staying home. I have a 10month old and family agreed to come to our house, allowing me not to have to split the day between my family and his (as well as keeping the nap routine as consistent as possible). What do you get a 10month old for Christmas?… A new car seat for daddy’s car- and a really big box it came in to play with 🙂
I have been reading you posts for awhile now and fall more in love with NYC. Seeing the city thru your posts, pics made me want to go experience it too! So last weekend I headed up and did the same with the exception of skating and fell in love! I now know why you love your city so much. Perfect ending would have been catching glimpse of Harlow! I’m heading to Central America to visit family and give to others this holiday season. Hopefully I’ll get a special gift 😉 Happy Holidays!!
This is the first year that we get to stay in our OWN home, and wake up here Christmas morning to celebrate our miracle baby. My family has a tradition of ordering in Chinese food and watching Love Actually on Christmas Eve, so we will continue that, as well. Happy Holidays to everyone!
We get up early and head to my parents for 7 am, where everyone’s there. Aunts uncles cousins siblings grandmother, open Santa presents. And even us older ones,some almost 40 open our gifts from Santa. Then make a massive breakfast, and head to my aunts down the street. Joined by more family and open family gifts. Have a massive lunch, 3,834 more appetizers. And finally dinner drinks and games. Happy holidays mommy shorts!
Spending time with family, friends and lots of delicious food is always how we spend the holidays!
This is our first Christmas where our son (2 1/2) is beginning to understand and appreciate the fun of it, and unfortunately also the end of the first full year of my venture out on my own. I left a not so family friendly atmosphere, of course discovered after I had my son, and started my own law practice! It has been wonderful, amazing, and rewarding, but what it means is that money is very tight still! So, this Christmas season all my son wants is an orange garbage truck and we are so excited to watch him open that at home Christmas morning and see the joy on his face!
My Mom is coming to spend Christmas with us for the first time in 8 years. My 6 year old daughter is going to be very surprised on christmas even when Gramma arrives since she has no idea. Would love to capture that moment!
We’re having a small family Christmas, hopefully sledding on the ND/MN hills if we can find some snow. Your post makes me want to plan a family Christmas in NYC maybe next year! Beautiful photos!
Lots and lots of holiday parties. And lots and lots of family time. I’m definitely enjoying it!
This is the first year Santa’s making an appearance! Sadly, he’s proving to be pretty ineffectual as a behavioral modifier so far.
I will be baking biscotti which is my yearly tradition and this year I get to have my 2 1/2 year old daughter help me! We plan to visit with our family on Christmas Eve and Christmas. So exciting because this is the first year our daughter understands Christmas!
Christmas plans involve going to stay the night at the grandparents and then having a giant family party! Look forward to it all year long!