The Dresher Family

A new happening

2012-01-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well there are a few, but the most odd to me is Anabelle's new found love for sweets. It literally just happened one day, out of the blue. On her first birthday we could not convince her to eat a cupcake, play with it, sure.

Now, she will willingly eat a cupcake, fudge, M &M's, you name it she will eat it. This morning she woke up me up asking for my hand. I fought it for a while, but eventually got up and she walked me to the spot where we had Halloween candy months ago and asked me for "cayee". How does she even remember that it was there?

At one of Greg's birthday parties, Grandma and Papa got her a special Elmo cupcake. Thank goodness it had been in the fridge or else she would have had frosting EVERYWHERE!

I guess these are just the joys of your children growing up and becoming who they are. Its fun to watch her share her likes and dislikes with us, but it is rough when we don't give her what she wants!! Oh, parenting!

49ers

2012-01-20T12:29:00.000-08:00

We (Greg) are a big fan of the San Francisco 49ers and this past weekend was very exciting. Not only were we celebrating Greg's 30th birthday, but the playoffs were this weekend and our team was playing. It was an awesome game and could not be more happy with the outcome. We are so excited for the game this weekend. I am guessing that there will be much more of this...

Belle pretends to like football, but she get bored VERY easily!

She is in love with Lily right now and can not do anything without yelling, "Come on Lily, Come on!" ;) Melts my heart every.darn.time!

Daddy was so into the game that he didn't notice Anabelle playing with his phone. Luckily, she gave it back! If it were my phone she would be watching Elmo on YouTube or looking up "wycdnfkjfejf" on Wikipedia.

We look forward to the game this weekend and much more weekend times with the family!

Cousin time

2012-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had some cousin time with Anabelle and Grant and were able to get his year photos done. He is such an active little guy, really reminds me of Anabelle at this age.

See any resemblance?

I sure do!

I did it!

2012-01-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

Or as Anabelle would say, 'I de dit". After the world was against me last night by making my commute home 2 and a half hours, I made it home and took pics of my girl!

I love her pure emotion in the pic below....

Girl loves her apples and it shows.

More to come, this is just a preview!

Photography Subjects

2012-01-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

I think that tonight I may attempt to do an actual photo shoot for Belle's Birthday party invitations. You may have wondered why I have not posted too many pictures lately. And that is because my kid has a very severe case of "photographers child". I know, it is dangerous. When I pull out the camera, this is all I get.

She is more concerned with eating ice or whatever she may be doing at the moment.

In the case below it is sunbathing with Lily.

I am left to fend for myself and find things to photograph, these lovely flowers that my wonderful husband got for me after a long night in the emergency room have been my subject a few times.

And an unsuspecting orange tree in our backyard...

Wish me luck with Belle tonight!! Our girl has a mind of her own and she wants what she wants. :)

Bringing in the new year

2011-12-30T18:14:00.000-08:00

Ever since I was a child I have really enjoyed photos, I remember looking at lacey photo albums of my mother when she was a teenager and really embracing the beauty and sentimental value of the photos.

I had the same feeling while looking back on my external hard drive from the photos of 2011. Not only was I reminiscing of all the fun times that we have had this year but I was reminded how far I have come in my photography abilities. My photography is such a huge part of my life and it means so much to me. Not only for the business aspect but for capturing my daughter and documenting her life for her to enjoy later makes it that much more special! It literally makes me tear up thinking of Anabelle's children looking at her photos and enjoying them the same way that I did as a child! Who knows, maybe that will spark a joy for photography the same way that it did for me.

I am looking forward to 2012. I hope that I can continue to enjoy my life, my husband, my child, my niece and nephew, my amazing sisters, and family, and photography! I want to slow down, remember to smell the flowers this next year and not get to caught up in the daily grind.

This year, I also hope to take more vacations!

I am so excited for the New Year and hope everyone has a great year as well!

Thanksgiving Family Time

2011-12-22T15:30:00.000-08:00

The Batista's came and visited for Thanksgiving and we had some down time to hang and enjoy our time together. The day after thanksgiving we went to Descanso Gardens and we had a blast. These two were obviously the best part!

Anabelle was introduced to peeing in the woods, thanks to Daddy! He even shook her because she couldn't wipe. She got a little pee on her so we experienced the rare pee-pee pants walk. Apparently it is not fun to have pee on your clothes while walking through a park.

There were fish...

Giant creepy spiders...

Fun times between Daddy's and their little girls...

Beautiful scenery....

(and a silly Uncle Bobby)

The coolest mushrooms I have ever seen....

Sleepy girls...

(she gets way too hyper when she is sleepy)

More thanksgiving pics to come, but I will end this outing with some feet pics of belle and I looking at the fish in the water!

p.s. We are home and I am very happy to be getting back to the grind and catching up on some pics. =D Love it so much!

Love

2011-12-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

I am not sure that I say it enough, but my life makes me so happy!! I have the best family in the world and I feel so lucky for every person that is in my life.

It is moments like this that make me slow down and just enjoy...

Belly enjoyed some outside reading while we were waiting for the cousins last week.

Speaking of slowing down, I need to. I am going non stop and I am in need of a vacation, good thing I see the Caribbean in my very near future. ;)

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T10:50:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year, for the first time. It was so much work and there are very limited photos because I was the ringleader of all the Thanksgiving craziness. I spent many hours prepping, cooking and cleaning for my amazing family to enjoy this...

And the joy of seeing the cutest Thanksgiving plate that ever existed, too bad she didn't eat much! :(

More on the family portion of Thanksgiving to come!

Giveaway Details!!!

2011-11-18T10:59:00.000-08:00

If you are my Facebook Fan you may already know that there is a giveaway in the works. But, I am so excited to announce a giveaway to say thank you to all my wonderful clients..and soon to be clients.

In order to win the contest, you have people vote on your photo by “liking” my Facebook page and voting/commenting on your photo.

Here are the rules/terms/conditions:

In order to win the contest, you ask people to vote on your photo by “liking” my Facebook page and leaving a comment on your photo. The comment will count as one vote.
Entries and votes will be accepted until midnight, Nov.30th. One person will win popular vote and I will randomly select one other entry for a free session fee and 50% off products.
Before I announce the winners, I will check to be sure that each voter did in fact “like” Holly Dresher Photography. Therefore, the winners will be announced December 2^nd.

Please feel free to ask any questions and good luck!

Because every blog post is better with a photo, here is a preview of a session I did with Mari!

P.s. We have all been sick this week so sorry for the lack of posts! :( We are finally feeling a little better.

Halloween

2011-11-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

I am so tired today and I just want to lay down and take a long nap. But I really want to get the halloween pics up before I forget or let it pass... like the wedding pics. :(

Where to start?

Belle was a lamb and the cutiest one that I have ever seen.

On Sunday we went to a party with her friends and she would not leave my side. Except for a minute when I put her on the table to watch the weird water toys grow.

Picture on the right is proof she wouldn't leave me.

Almost right after I took this picture Anabelle had a MAJOR freak out. Over nothing. And we had to go home. The freak out did not stop for a few hours but atleast we were home and not torturing the guests of the party with crying.

The next day, Halloween day was much better. After work, in order to convince Belle to get in her costume I bribed her with a sucker... She loved it!

The it was Trick or Treating time!!

We had a great time and Belle had such a great time. She said, "trick or treat", "Thank you", and "bye-bye" at most of the houses. :)

Adrienne 2 Years- Pasadena, CA Photographer

2011-11-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

I was pleased to take Adrienne's 2 year photos because this family is so sweet and Adrienne is such an adorable little girl.

Happy Birthday Kiddo.

Special Birthday toe painting! :)

Amanda Maternity- Pasadena, CA Photographer

2011-11-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of meeting Amanda and her husband Chris for a Maternity session. They were both a joy to work with and Amanda had the most perfect belly I have ever seen.

They are so sweet and in love!

See what I mean about the belly?!?

She is also a stunning mama to be.

I am also looking forward to meeting her little guy.. hopefully just a few weeks! :)

Maria Maternity- Pasadena, CA Photographer

2011-11-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

I am catching up on some recent (or not so recent) shoots. Maria is technically my Aunt and when she got pregnant with her second child I could not wait to take all of their photos. This shoot was so much fun and it was nice to spend time with her and my cousin, David.

She is so beautiful and absolutely glowing. I look forward to meeting my new cousin, Willow! :)

Very Overdue Post

2011-10-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

My amazingly talented father made a beautiful box for all of his grand-babies... including my little bug. Gramma Lori also made her a beautiful necklace.... love!

Seeing as how Belle is a girly girl, she uses it as a jewelry box and LOVES to play with it and put on her jewelry on, take it off, put it back in the box, empty the box.... etc, etc.

I love that my girl has amazing things that her family has made for her. It warms my heart that they care about her as much as they do!!

Love you Dad and Lori!! And thanks for loving our little girl.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

I hope that everyone has a great day and a fun time trick or treating..

Wish us luck trying to get her to wear her costume again tonight. ;)

A Random Friday Post

2011-10-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

First things first..... We got a new car! It is perfect and I could not ask for anything better. It warms my butt, listens to what I tell it to do, plays wonderful Elmo music... Perfection.

I also have added a new camera to my life.... it is almost as good as the car... almost! 5D Mark II, I hope you love me as much as I love you. :)

For my photographer friends... this pic as taken at 6400 ISO, and it is grainy but nowhere the amount of grain I would get from my T2i at ISO 400.

Belle and I went outside to play with the camera and her and one of the little girls from across the street were waving to each other and yelling, "HI" back and forth. So, we went over to play with them for a few minutes. Belle likes to find "treasures" in their sandbox and the girls are happy to help her.

After they collect them all, she puts them in a pile and then moves them to another location like a squirrel hiding his nuts from other squirrels.. it is pretty darn adorable.

Here are some random shots I took just trying to practice.

And it is starting to look like fall... We have 2 carving pumpkins and one for making pumpkin pie. I may be more excited for the pumpkin pie but don't tell Anabelle. ;)

Happy freaking Friday!

Buttercup Baby Mini Sessions

2011-10-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

I met 2 wonderful families at the Buttercup Baby Store. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day.

This is May, she is 3 months old.

I love this shot of Mama and her sweetie.

This is Catherine and she is 21 Months.

They were such a fun little family.

As with everything I am doing in my business, this was a great learning experience and I was happy to have the opportunity to meet the wonderful families that I did.

Anabelle- 20 Months

2011-10-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this girl look like a kid and no longer a baby?!?

Anabelle has added a lot of words in her vocabulary the past few months. Her favorite words include, more, eggy, milk, hi, bye bye, Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, Auntie, Elmo, yay, ouchie, pee-pee, poo-poo, juice, rice (the cutest word she says), Lily, Xena, Mari, Grant, ahh so many words to remember.

Some of her favorite sayings are- "Beep, beep, yeah!" (from elmo song), "More Elmo", "Mo-Me" (means more milk), "I pee-pee!", "I love you.", "Sit-down", and many more. She is using her words so much to tell us what she needs and it makes life a little easier.

The many faces of Anabelle.

I have to take pics to remember these adorable feet.

And hands!

I love watching my girl grow up and become herself. She is so fun to be around (most days) and I love who she is. She is loving, sweet, funny, hyper, smart (very smart), agile, and absolutely gorgeous.

Family Sunday

2011-10-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took Grandma out for lunch in LA. It was so nice to spend some time with her away from the large family gatherings.

We had some delicious deli food and Belle snacked on some bread while we waited.

I <3 her little bite marks!

Is is important to take time out of our busy schedules to spend time with those that are important to us! I love that Anabelle has so many wonderful people that love and care about her!!

Scarlett- 2 Month Old- Glendora, CA Photographer

2011-10-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of photographing the most adorable little girl this week. She was such a joy to hang with and kinda makes me want a little baby- (I said kinda).

I can never get enough of adorable baby toes.... They never smell, the always look cute, and what is attached to them is pretty cute too.

Isn't this face just the cutest?

This family is always a joy to be with and I look forward to more shoots with them all! :)

Flashback Friday

2011-10-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

It is Friday already?? How did that happen and where was I? Oh yeah, running circles in my mind like a chicken with its head cut off. Duh!

The flashback today is a shot from Grant's newborn photo shoot. He was so sweet and content, pretty much the way that he is now! I particularly love his little smirk in this pic.

I am the luckiest Auntie to be have an amazing niece and nephew!

P.S. I have a new found love for black and white conversions. I am sure there will be many more to come. :)

Have a great weekend!

Buttercup Baby

2011-10-13T15:42:00.001-07:00

This weekend I have a shoot for Buttercup Baby Store in Pasadena, CA. If you are in the area feel free to stop by and say hello!

Wish me luck!

Reflections

2011-10-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been a little tough. Tuesday night Anabelle and I were in a minor car accident and we are fine but the whole thing has just shaken me a little. I am so thankful that we are healthy and that the only real damage was to the car. I could not imagine if something happened to Anabelle or me. I am not even going to go down that road.

Here is the car.

We are waiting to see what will happen, but we will most likely have to get a new car. I am just looking forward to this whole ordeal being over with and moving on.

I have an indoor shoot this coming weekend and had to refresh on my indoor lighting set up so we all chipped in and took some pics. I tried to get some cute pics of Belle with paint on her face from school, but this was the best I could get.

She just wanted to play with the equipment so I had to sit with her and use the timer. She thinks the timer is really funny (excuse me looking like a zombie)!

Last but not least, I made Greg jump in to help out.

I love my little family. Do they drive me crazy sometimes? YES Do I want to run in a corner and hide sometimes? YES But more times than not, I love them more than words can describe.

Although getting in an accident really sucks and tests you in many ways, it makes you appreciate what you have and what means the most to you. A car is a car, just something that gets you from point A to point B and it is the things inside that mean the most. Life is beautiful!

Busy, Busy

2011-10-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks I have been so busy with shoots that I have not had the chance of getting too many photos of my own little family. While at a birthday party for one of Belle's friends I took the the birthday girl out to snap a few pics for her parents and then took a few of Belle and Greg.

This is Anabelle's new favorite pose. At first she started doing it when she wanted me to wipe her butt, but now it has become her go-to fun pose! I don't get it!

Notice the undies! She is in underwear full-time (except during naps) and she is doing great. Just yesterday she even started going to school in undies and only had one accident during the day. We are all so proud of her efforts!!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Flashback Friday

2011-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have been having a fun time re-editing some old images and it is fun to remember what my little girl looked like a few months back. This pic was taken back in May and it didn't make the editing cut back then, but it has different meanings to me now. It reminds me of the way my baby acted back then, how she needed me and paid closer attention to me, it even reminds me of her adorable open mouth baby kisses that she gave me back then.

She just melts my heart!

L.A. County Fair

2011-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend Belle and I were invited to the fair and there was not even a question as to if we would go.

This little munchkin had a great time and was such a trooper.

Her and her friend Desmond had a great time watching and petting the animals.

They played in the kiddo maze and by play we mean they threw hay all over the place.

Belle had her first fair food, all she wanted was water and baked beans. But for the rest of the night we smelled like smoked beef brisket and bbq'd corn on the cob.

What is a trip to the fair without a baby sitting on a table?

After we ate it was time to take in the fair. I have not been in years so it was fun to experience this all over again with Belle.

Belle waited in line to ride the carousel. She was so patient and so excited to ride it! We found a horse that she liked and she sat and rode the horse.

She was not happy when the ride was done but she got over it quickly once we got her some milk from a coffee stand. We had a great time at the fair!

My Pal

2011-10-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

This past week Belle and I have had some great alone time while Greg was gone. We missed him like CRAZY but, we had a lot of fun together and I am enjoying her company so much more these days. She is really starting to become a person and she is an amazingly fun person to hang out with. She interacts, acts silly, makes me smile, and smiles and laughs when I act silly.

I know that I am her mom and not her friend and I am the mom but she is also my friend. I do not always need to make her happy or have her approval on what we do or what I tell her to do and we argue sometimes but, who doesn't? :) I think that is the beauty of our relationship, we can be with each other and enjoy ourselves with out me or her holding grudges when the other does something "wrong".

I look forward to spending time with Greg this week and getting back to life with him at home and having someone else in the house that doesn't go to sleep at 7:30pm.

Lovely Babies

2011-09-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there were two adorable little babies...

Their mommies were friends and really enjoyed taking pictures of them.

But, these little babies did not like getting their pictures taken or listening to their mommies. They made their mommies chase them around and get sweaty..

The mommy to the little girl got a large bruise on her back from making sure the babies did trip and skin their knees.

The babies looked for kitties in the woods while the mommies tried to take a few pics..

In the end everyone had a fun time and the mommies have some beautiful pictures to show for all their hard work!

The end!

Potty Training

2011-09-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

We have officially begun potty training and our girl is doing so well.

This guy has been our friend...

We have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen because messes are much easier to clean up in there and it allows me to be productive at the same time. The dogs join us occasionally, but I kick them out because of their interest in the potty. It is gross.

Belle is leaning in for a kiss.

Belle is wearing underwear and a tee the past few days, although she prefers to have all her clothes off when she is going potty.

When she goes on the potty she gets plenty of praise and then we empty the potty in the big potty and clean it out. Belle stayed in the bathroom longer than usually but I had to check some food and I had a feeling something fishy was going on.

This is what I discovered.

She is a trouble maker and knew she was doing something wrong. Can you tell in her face?

It has only been 3 whole days of potty training but we are so proud of our big girl!

Flowers- Wedding Part 2

2011-09-26T11:30:00.000-07:00

Heather and I got up bright and early on Thursday am (day before the wedding) and went to the flower market in Down Town L.A. We loaded up Heidi's car with so many flowers, vases and supplies. At this point we were really strapped for time and my photos are limited.

Here are all the double-stemmed orchids that we got.

My workstation was on the floor with a large bucket of white roses sitting next to me. These are some of the accent flowers.

Although it was a little stressful, I felt that I was where I was supposed to be and with some of my favorite people in the world. Including this little girl, she learned to touch her feet while we were making the arrangements! I feel so special that I was there for one of her firsts!

I don't have any pics of the finished products because once I was done, we had to go to the rehearsal and then the wedding festivities began! But, the flowers were beautiful and extra special because I made them!

Cantalope Sorbet

2011-09-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

We received an ice cream maker for our wedding and were excited to try it out (ok, maybe I was a little more excited than Greg). We had friends over and tried to make it but our ice cream maker did not get cold enough. We fixed the issue and tried again yesterday. We mixed cantalope, strawberries, raw sugar and water! It was fun to watch....

Belle enjoyed watching it churn in the machine.

She also enjoyed eating it and I was happy that it was not too bad for her. :)

This is the bowl I made for Greg... I think he enjoyed it as well.

P.S. I am not slacking on the wedding posts... just waiting for pics!

Favorite things- September Edition

2011-09-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Sparking water made with our amazing Soda Stream (with ice) and red wine after the baby goes to sleep....

This mama couldn't ask for anything better!

Seed Bombs- Wedding Part 1

2011-09-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

When we got engaged and started thinking about a wedding, I knew that I wanted to be as "green" as possible. I wanted living table arrangements and favors that were outside of the norm and that were also green in some way. I tossed around a few ideas and settled on seed bombs. There are many articles about Guerilla Gardeners throwing them all over LA and creating beautiful "gardens" on empty lots or where ever they felt. I loved the idea that our wedding could keep giving and that flowers could grow in our name.

About a week before the wedding Anabelle and I went on a mission to find all the supplies needed to make the seed bombs. She was such a trooper that day, she stayed up till 9pm and was a joy the entire time, including stops at 4 different stores.

We got home, put Belle to sleep and Tera came over and helped me make the bombs.

We mixed dirt, clay and water till we came up with a good consistency.

Once we got it to where we wanted, we added the flower seeds. The base of our seeds were Orange California Poppies and then mixed throughout were Mega Large Sunflowers, Blood Red sunflowers, and sweet peas.

We then rolled them in a sheet to cut out the heart shapes.

Cutting out the heart shapes was not working for us as well as planned and we scraped the idea and just rolled balls. After many tasteless jokes we were done and ready for them to dry. We let them dry for about 24 hours and then they were ready to be packed in the home-made labels.

Heather and I put all the bombs in their bags and stapled the labels on them and they were done! I am so happy with the way they turned out!

Photography

2011-09-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE photography?!? ;)

A dear friend of mine gave me some shots of myself from a wedding that we shot and I love them! Thanks to Tera @ Tera MDC Photography. Check out her Facebook here.

I am really looking forward to seeing the pictures from my own wedding! I have some from Tera that I will post when I do the wedding post! I hope to get to it and re-live the memories soon!

Final pre-wedding post

2011-09-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

This will likely be my last post before I am married. It is amazing to think of all the fun that we will have on our special day! I have been scolded for not updating in a while so here is a random assortment of some stuff.

1. This vvvvvv
2. The moon last night was beautiful. I took a break from the wedding planning and snapped a few shots.
3."I'm a model you know what I mean"....She was obsessed with the blue dress this weekend. She carried it around with her and insisted on putting it on and taking if off herself. Notice that it is inside out, backwards, unbuttoned, and only one arm in. I also made her walk up and down the hallway a few times and she listened... We are in trouble with this one."And I do my little turn on the catwalkYeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah"

4. Xena has not been doing that great the past week but, she seems to be feeling a little better after some antibiotics.
5. This girl is growing up. She is talking up a storm and understands so much. Her favorite words are: bus, ball, towel, Xena, Lily, Dada( maybe #1), out (repeated from when I tell the dogs to get out of the kitchen), diaper, I love you, hi, bye, truck, ice, rice, papa, milk and she will pretty much repeat anything you ask her to. It is adorable!
6. She is still obsessed with water... except now, she hates the bath! Silly kid!Wish us luck on our big day!

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding

2011-09-01T14:20:00.000-07:00

Our wedding will be here in 2 weeks! I have so much to do and I am really looking forward to our big day! It is really fun to do all this planning and I am completely in my element except it all takes so much time. I will be back with a new post tomorrow. This is an orchid that we will be using for our centerpieces.

The weekend

2011-08-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

I could not be more happy that Anabelle is feeling 100% better. Is it so nice to pick her up from school and have her laugh, talk, and just have a good time with us. She came home on Friday all smiles and we were soaking up the cuteness.

How could you not?

All of the butterflies have hatched from their cocoons. They are beautiful and Belle really enjoys watching them fly around in their cage. We decided to let a few of the butterflies go and just keep 2 until Grandma can see them. Then we will let her take them to school to let the other two go with her friends. The ones we let go flew right to the good stuff.

Anabelle forgot about them quickly and continued to do her thing outside. Her favorite thing to do (when we are not looking) is to pick the berries off the flowers and smash them in her fingers.

Saturday morning we went on a great hike in Chantry flats to hike to a waterfall. It was beautiful, extremely hot, and tiring but well worth it.

This was in the car and the way.... I have been trying to get a pic of her in her new glasses forever.

Anabelle walked for a few minutes...

Then Greg held her while I walked the dogs.

We saw some beautiful butterflies. Anabelle was very excited when she saw them because we have been talking about butterflies a lot lately.

We finally made it to the waterfall and everyone was pooped.

Belle was ready to play.

Belle got a little wet and we had to take her diaper off and carry her with just shorts on. Luckily she was able to hold it the whole way up the mountain. We had a wonderful time and it was nice to all be together as a family.

Butterfly

2011-08-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night I got home from work and found a butterfly in the butterfly home. I called Anabelle over and she was so excited to see the butterfly flying around.

She wanted to pick them up and swing them around so, I had to keep my hand on the cage the whole time.

She is beautiful! I don't actually know that she is a girl but that is what I am going with. :)

If you have never tried doing this, I highly recommend it! Anabelle enjoys checking them out everyday and I have really enjoying looking after them and watching them grow into such beautiful little creatures. I am such a mom! haha

Anabelle is completely better and enjoying her time back at school and she has a happy mama again! Phew, that lasted way too long.

Organic Bloom and Most Valuable Blogger

2011-08-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce some exciting opportunities that I have in the works.

First, I was nominated and excepted as a finalist for the CBS Local Most Valuable Blogger Contest. Please take a minute to check it out and vote for me. You can vote once a day until September 9th. Here is the link or you can click on the image to the right.

Thanks for the support!

Second, I have teamed up with The Organic Bloom , a wonderful frame company. I have officially become one of their local vendors and anyone can now purchase their frames directly from me. I have put together a few examples of that they look like with my favorite little people.

The name to the left is the name of the frame.... all frames can come in 54 different colors, many different sizes, and custom colors are available.

Wouldn't these look cute hanging on your wall or sitting on your desk at work?

I have a few more opportunities in the works that I am not ready to announce yet but keep a look out!

And just because I can, a cute pic of Lily Bird or "Yi-Yi" as Anabelle calls her!

Anabelle Update: She is feeling much better and is back at school! YAY! I am a happy mama!

Back?.... Maybe half way

2011-08-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Oh man! I am finally getting back to the real world and not just taking care of a sick baby. She is getting better but not 100% yet. It is so hard for me to deal with her. Don't get me wrong, I love her and I know that she is not feeling good but she is testing my patience.

I love her so much and I just want her to get better so that she is happy and has a sane mama.

This were from a couple of days back but, when have you seen a set of pictures like this with Belle? It is usually hard to capture her because she is running around so fast. Now, if I posted pics from the last 2 days it would just be tears and yelling. She doesn't like me much the past few days, she just wants her Daddy.

She is grumpy but she loves to feed her fish and look at her caterpillars (almost butterflies) All of them have become chrysalis and now we wait.

This is what they look like right before they turn to a chrysalis. They hang upside down and then transform so quickly.

We transferred them to their butterfly cage so I was able to get some up-close shots.

By Sunday night I just needed a break. I went outside to spray paint some stuff for our bathroom and refinish a picture frame and I could not help but stare at the sky with the beautiful clouds. I decided to grab my camera and take some long exposure shots.

While taking pics I could not see much in the sky except the clouds and a few stars. After editing these images, I realized how many stars were in the sky that I could not see but my camera could because of the exposure length (1.6 sec). It is a reminder to me that when I am so busy and just glance at things that I may not see what is there all along and that I should spend more time to see the little things that are going unnoticed.

Unwanted visits....

2011-08-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Remember that worried mother that I mentioned a few posts back? Well, she is here and driving me crazy. Anabelle was sent home from school yesterday with a high fever. I took her home and she was so tired and clearly not feeling well.

See why that worried mama came around?

After Greg and I took turns letting her nap on our chests she woke up, drank some milk and was feeling a little better. I gave her a cool bath, gave her some meds and that got the fever to come down.

She started her bath a little sad and sleepy but she slowly got better.

Today we went to the doctor and she is ok and just has a cold. The fever is still lingering and she slept most of the day. To make it all worse, that pesky worried mama in me was having a rough day. I enjoy and miss my little girl napping on my chest but I want my happy girl back! I hope she gets better soon.

New addition to our family

2011-08-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Well 4 additions to be exact. We have 4 caterpillars that will soon become beautiful butterflies. We received them a little over a week ago and they were very uninteresting and tiny. We looked at them today and they are HUGE. I swear the have grown about 10 times their original size and one of them has already started her transformation to a butterfly. I can not wait till Anabelle can see them fly around.

The little orange things are food.

Our butterfly booklet says that we have 7-10 days till we have butterflies.

My Bridal Shower

2011-08-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Susan's wonderful friends threw me a shower on Sunday and it was an amazing day with amazing people.

My baby girl was there with me and was perfect. She played and was brave and played with strangers (to her, not to me). I snuck her away a few times to play with me...

A few if my amazing friends joined me for support.

My beautiful sis and my cutie nephew.

My dear friend and bridesmaid, Darby!

Greg's Cousins and Grandma.

My little munchkin man. I <3 him so much!

The ladies sang "Happy Wedding" to me! The cake was not only beautiful but delicious!

I was showered with amazing gifts and had some fun with some of them ! :)

Darby was the photographer during the gifts and she did a great job. She was trying to get my expression in this pic but the focus fell on Heidi and Grant. I am in love with this pic because they are both really interested in our new bowl... So cute!

And to end the day, these are my potential wedding day shoes but, I needed to try them out before I wear them all day at the wedding. They were brutal on my feet but that does not mean that they are out. Maybe I just need to break them in a little and wear them around the house while vacuuming. ;)

Thanks again to everyone who made it! It was a great day!

Sunset

2011-08-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

We had a long day on Saturday of swimming and playing and by the end of the day, Anabelle was tired.

She was a trooper while swimming in the pool and we had a really great time. It was just me and her in the pool with Alexis and so, I was really able to focus on playing with her!

I really had to get her home but the sunset was beautiful as always. I had to snap a few photos before we left for home.

Continue this busy journey....

2011-08-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend was no different than the last week has been.... busy, fun and extremely tiring. Friday was date night for Greg and I and we were really looking forward to some alone time.

I picked Anabelle up from school and she had paint everywhere. It was in her toes, on her hands, arms, cheeks and a ton in her hair. It was so bad that I thought it was a cut that bled and crusted in her hair. That is the worried mommy in me that comes out sometimes and messes with my "chill mom" mentality.

There were 4 things that I HAD to get done on Friday between the time I got home and the time that I went to sleep.

1. Finish the necklaces for the hosts of my Bridal Shower.

I was able to do this while giving Anabelle a bath... This leads to #2 bathe my painted monster.

Can you tell she has fun in the bath? Lucky for me, I had time to work on the necklace because she can keep herself entertained in the bath. Disclaimer: I was sitting on the floor next to the tub the whole time.

3. Get ready for date night with Greg....

Check!

4. Drop Belle off at her friends house and head out on our date. I tried to get some pics of Greg and I but, he does not like to cooperate.

We had a really nice time hanging out together on our date and enjoying each others company. We were actually able to sit and talk at our favorite Sushi restaurant instead of making sure that Anabelle is not bothering all the people in the restaurant.

New dishes

2011-08-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

What is it about our new plates that make an easy dinner look like a masterpiece? We have the greatest friends and family and gifts have starting coming to our home for the wedding! We are so lucky for everyone in our lives!

Our kitchen remodel is almost complete and we officially have a dishwasher. YAY!!!!

Finally catching up from the weekend....

2011-08-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend kicked my butt and totally knocked me off my schedule. I am still feeling a little mixed up but it is getting better. This post will be extremely random so, please bear with me.

The day before Greg left for his Bach party he told me that he needed some help getting some stuff from his car. Belle and I walked out there, (she burned her bare toes in the process) and found some beautiful sunflowers that he got me. He wanted me to think of him that weekend and that is exactly what I did.

How could I not think of him when seeing these flowers... they are so beautiful!

I was so excited to take pics of the babies this weekend and there was one little stinker that would not cooperate... Can you guess who?

Those are literally the best pics that I got of her this weekend.

My Bach party was on Saturday night and I had so much fun hanging out with my friends.

I am really looking forward to the wedding!

Mari- 2 months old

2011-08-09T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get these photos up for a few days now but, we have been busy with the house and recovery from the Bach parties this past weekend. Even now, I have a sick baby sleeping on my lap and I could easily not post these pics but I am determined. :)

We spent the weekend with my sisters and I was so happy to be with them and my niece and nephew. We had big hopes of getting a photo of all three babies but it was just not going to happen with all the different nap schedules.

This was my first real photo shoot with Mari and she was such an angel. I think we got some amazing photos.

Due to scheduling conflicts we were not able to get newborn photos of Mari so, we were happy she let us take some newborn-ish photos.

She has great head control and is also so smiley!

She loves her mama.....

Grant and Mari were so sweet together. Grant wanted to grab her head and Mari seemed uninterested.

I was so happy to be with all the babies and it is always a pleasure to photograph them and their adorable personalities.

Friends

2011-08-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

Belle has been learning so much and I think that she has been benefiting a great deal from going to school and spending more time with her peers. After school on Friday Adrienne came over and the girls had so much fun playing, eating, swimming and just being toddlers.

We hung out inside for a little while.

Went and played in the backyard. This included swimming in the pool, watering the plants and playing in the hose.

Baby butts are so adorable!

The girls really enjoyed themselves and after Adrienne left, the rest of the weekend Belle starting talking so much more. It was like someone flipped on a talking switch. And the words keep coming... last night she said "thank you" when I gave her milk, said yes when Greg and I asked her a question, and this morning we were getting ready for school and she said "lunch box". She repeats lots of words too but, I like it better when she thinks about when to use the words herself.

Sending her to school was a great decision and I am so happy for the progress that she is making. She is just a kid these days.

Family

2011-08-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

With the wedding comes lots of opportunity to hang out with the people that I love. We have lots of fun times planned. This weekend I will get to hang with my sisters and neice and nephew and I could not be more excited.

This past weekend, Heidi and Grant came over and we took some pics. I can not wait for all three cousins to have pictures together!

Can you believe that Grant is 6 months old? We took his six month old pics of Grant and a few with Anabelle just for fun!

He crawls on all 4's and instead of going back to sitting on his butt, he squats. He looks like a frog frequently!

He is also very happy...

There were many stare-off's with these 2... You can tell who is the boss!

Of course here are some of the cutest redhead I know...

Cooking

2011-07-29T10:42:00.000-07:00

We have had so much going on the past month that it has been harder for me to take pics of Belle. I got a few yesterday when she was "sorting" her laundry. She has also been pretty clingy so, if I sit on the floor, she runs over to sit/lay in my lap.

She is also talking so much these days. We were trying to distract her yesterday while I had stuff cooking in the oven and so I would ask her to bring things to Greg and when she would get there, he would ask her to bring things to me. She is our butler.. :) When she would come to me she usually had something really random like the plastic off of a new video game. I would ask her if it was trash and she would repeat "trash" then I would tell her to put it in the trash can. She would repeat " trash can" and walk over to put the trash in the trash can. She is so adorable and I can not believe how much she understands and how much she is vocalizing what she knows.

Packing lunch for school has become a big part of my night 3 nights a week. Lucky for me our remodeled kitchen is making me want to be in there a little more and get much more creative.

These little guys made their way into Belle's Lunch today. I used to have these as a kid during holidays with my grandparents and they were sooo delicious.

So, I made dinner, made lunch for Belle and even made time to make fresh salsa with ingredients from our garden. The only thing that was not from our garden was cilantro and onions. Our cilantro is not doing well this season and we did not plant any onions this year.

I grilled 4 jalapenos that were from our garden to add to the salsa and it was so spicy, my lips almost fell off. Greg thought I was just being a wimp but, it was spicy!

Looking forward to the weekend. Belle has a slumber party tonight at our place and tomorrow Heidi and Grant are coming over!

Happy Friday!

Finding Old Cute Pics

2011-07-27T16:02:00.000-07:00

My style for photography constantly changes and I never trash images. It is so fun to go back and find really cute pictures that were not my cup of tea before.

That is what happened with these.. She is so sweet and little!

These pics were back from February!

Random Tuesday Assortment

2011-07-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have been neglecting my blog this past week because we have been so busy. This is going to just be a random assortment of what we have been doing the past week.. :)

Daddy was out of town, our kitchen was remodeled, I was busy with wedding prep, hanging out with friends, lots of swimming and playing in the water, prep for Belle to go to school and just daily life.

I really think that Belle is enjoying her time at school and she seems to be getting into the routine. She knows that when she has her lunch box she needs to get her blanket and go to school. At the beginning of the week we have to bring her stuff in a reusable bag and leave it at school so they can send her dirty stuff home at the end of the week. I used that bag this weekend without thinking and Belle went to the cabinet to get her lunchbox because she corresponded the bag with going to school. It was really cute to see her understanding.

Getting her lunch ready for school is a little challenging for me and is time consuming. I am guessing that it will be easier once I get the flow of things but, I am still trying to remember all the rules and stuff that I need to pack. I got in trouble last week for sending her to school with peanut butter in her oatmeal.... Oops!

I try to stay creative with the things that I make her because I dont want her to get bored with the same old stuff. I had some celery that I needed to use before it went bad so, I was going to make her peanut butter and celery sticks.... then I remembered that I could not use peanut butter. I went digging in the fridge for something with the same consistency and I found the cream cheese. Belle will eat cream cheese on a spoon so she must eat it off of the celery. I added some dried berries to top it off. I dont know if she ate it but I was proud of my creative snack!

While our kitchen was being completed, Belle kept trying to find her way into the kitchen regardless of how many obstacles we set up to keep her out. After her nap, we ate some lunch and then went to Kidspace to get out of the house. I officially have a water baby. She LOVES the water and gets very upset when we take her away from it. At Kidspace, anything that had water involved was where she was hanging out.

We got home and still had some time before the kitchen was completed but, we managed to keep her out and the cabinets were finished that day.... they look great!

Greg is in to video games and Belle enjoys watching him...

She is in awe of him!

I told you this was going to be random... my newest obsession is bagels with cream cheese, onions, and cucumbers with salt and pepper.. it is seriously A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

We had a mini photoshoot and when I use the remote for my camera, Belle thinks that it is very cool and she smiles and looks at the camera. Why can't she do that when I am behind the camera? It would make my life so much easier!

I hope to get on my blogging game this week!

Apples and water

2011-07-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

The other day after the photoshoot I did with Belle, we had to water the plants outside. While I was watering, Belle thought it would be fun to drink the water. I just wanted to get the watering over with so that we could go inside, get in the bath and go to bed. She had other plans.

By the time we were done watering the plants she was freezing and shivering. We brought everything inside and she grabbed one of the apples that we used in the photo shoot. She was munching away and was clearly hungry but freezing. So I put her in the warm bath and let her have the apple with her. She was acting sooooo silly and even said apple many times.

I am so happy that it is Friday! Weekend here I come!

Testing out some stuff

2011-07-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

I love that I have little models to help me out when I need to try out some new ideas. Here are some of my favorite shots from yesterday.

I made Lily Model for a little while too. I asked Xena but, she was not too interested.

She insisted on having her night-night giraffe. :)

I was excited to finally get a few shots of my smiley girl!

Free day

2011-07-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to stay home with Belle because she had a little bug she probably picked up from school. They would not let her go in so, I tried to just stay at home with her, but she was so grumpy and Greg was trying to work so we went and ran some errands. We went to the store, got the car washed, got some new fishes for Anabelle's fish tank, went on a mini hike, and saw Alexis and the girls for a minute. I only got pictures of the hike but we had fun at all of the places that we went.

At the fish store, there were some koi that were in troughs, when we walked by them they stuck their heads out of the water and made some cute fishy faces at us. Belle was smitten. She wanted to touch them, but I assured her that it might not end well. The rest of the day, I asked her what the fishes did and she made a cute fish face. I am in love!

At the car wash, we watched the car the whole time while she was pointing and saying "car".

Alexis and the girls were shooting a movie in Altadena and while we were out and about she called and so we said hello to her for a minute. Belle thought our conversations were very funny because she was ultra silly and cracking up at good points in the conversation. She also loved hanging with the babies, she would not stop waving at them. I think that she was waiting for some kind of response from them that she never got.

She also had fun on the hike, she wanted to climb in the dry itchy grass.

I tried to get her to actually hike but she just wanted to explore the stuff around her, including dirt and rocks. She was filthy by the time that we left.

We found some beautiful wild flowers growing along the trail.

I realize that I should not make a habit of going out and playing while she is sick, because I know that soon she will realize that she can fake it. But, for now we had fun and she slept well last night! :)

Random Stuff

2011-07-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been dreading going anywhere with Anabelle because she gets really grumpy. I often have to bribe her with food so that I can actually get done what I need to. Today we had to go to the hardware store and to the grocery store. At the hardware store she was good, she played in the cart but towards the end of the trip there, I knew she was going down hill. She got upset when I put our items on the counter to check out and quickly recovered once they gave her the items back.

We got in the car and I could tell that she was hungry. I tried giving her the leftover lunch from school but she literally turned her nose up to me and shook her head that she was NOT interested. We drove off and she was fading and fast. I quickly realized that I needed to get her some food quickly so, I did it..... for the first time. We went through the drive through at Burger King. Don't judge me! I didn't want to stop the car, get out the screaming toddler and go into anywhere. So I got her the apple fries, if you dont know, they are not actually fried, they are just apples cut in the shape of fries. She loved them and very quickly changed her attitude.

When we got to the store, I did not want to be "that mom" that gives her toddler fast food so, I took all evidence of Burger king, put it in the trash, and put her apple "fries" in a cup. She was happy the entire time at the grocery store. While at the store, I stocked up on some crackers that I can keep in my car to avoid situation like this from ever happening again.

Today was her third day at school and the first time that she got hurt. When we went to get her she was cuddling with one of the teachers and had an icepack on her head. She was fine and just had a little red bump but, a little red bump will not keep her down. :) Today was also the first day that her artwork was sent home with us. It was very cute and I can not wait to put it on our fridge.

Anabelle is also become so much more of a Daddy's Girl and it melts my heart. They are so sweet together and it is so fun and amazing to watch their relationship grow and change.

I want to go spend some time with Greg so, I am going to speed this up. Thursday Belle jumped in the pool with her clothes on, Daddy got upset that I let her do it but, you are only a kid once, I will let her embrace it!!

Goodnight!

Pasadena, CA Children's Photograper- Hailey

2011-07-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

I am trying to get up to date on my blog today. This is a shoot from February.... I know, I am really bad!

Hailey was such a sweet little girl and such a great model, she would try any pose that we asked of her. So sweet!

Hailey asked to have some pictures with Anabelle and she was so gentle with her the whole time. This proves how old these pictures are, Anabelle is a little baby!

Pasadena, CA Children's Photograper- Adrienne

2011-07-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

I am just getting around to uploading this set of pictures that I took about 3 months ago. Oops... Adrienne is Anabelle's friend and she came over for a photo-shoot. Anabelle was asleep and Adrienne was a little sleepy and hungry but, she is still such a sweet and beautiful little girl.

Lily came over to say hello!

San Fernando Valley, CA Wedding Photographer- Bailey and Erik

2011-07-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding for a coworker of mine. It was so much fun and amazing to watch them celebrate their love!

Fourth of July Fun!

2011-07-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a few friends over for a bbq and we had such a great time. The company was fun, the food was good and the babies were cute.

After we all ate Anabelle and Adrienne went in the kiddie pool. By 6pm the water was so warm that it was kinda like taking a bath.

They started off just wading in the water with a little splashing and playing with bath toys.

Anabelle soon realized that it was way more fun to fall in the pool on her butt, lay on her back, roll over to her tummy, belly flop and kick her legs.

She even dunked her head under the water quite a few times, most times she choked on water a little but only once was it bad enough that she needed some comforting.

There was a giant airplane that we are guessing was flying over the Rose Bowl that went right over the house. The girls were pointing and checking it out.

Our friends Mike and Andrea were also there with their baby Sarah. She was a little too young to join in the pool fun but she was able to dip her feet a little and play with her mommy and daddy.

We finally all got out of the pool. Belle was shaking she was so cold, it gave me fond memories of swimming till my body was frozen to the core. She got out of the pool and just stood there shaking till we wrapped her up all nice and warm.

Adrienne also got dried off and played with bubbles.

We had a great day and Greg and I just hung out at home after everyone left and made sure the dogs didn't have heart attacks because of all the fireworks.

Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July.

Too much

2011-07-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a little too over stimulating for me so far. I will start with Friday. I decided that I would be brave and take Anabelle and the dogs for a walk to the park and it started off really great!

We all walked nicely, Anabelle sat in the stroller and the weather was really nice.

Anabelle played all over the jungle gym while the dogs stayed tied up at on side of the playground.

She went down a big slide and gave me some trash that she found (her new favorite past time) Gross!

She walked in circles on the jungle gym before she pointed to the swings. We went over and there was much more fun to be had. All this time the dogs were just waiting patiently.

We packed up our stuff and started the walk home. We saw some wild parrots in the trees.

After we saw the birds, it went downhill. The dogs decided they didn't want to walk nicely with us anymore, Anabelle decided that she did not want to sit in her stroller and almost fell out. I let her get out and she didn't want to be held, she wanted to push the stroller. So I was pushing the stroller, holding the leashes for both of the wild dogs and making sure that Anabelle was safe. Then, she decided not to push the stroller and just wanted to pick up trash and give it to me. I finally called Greg to meet us because I just could not take it anymore. Unfortunately, he was not dressed and we made it home by the time that he was leaving to meet us. We were all fine and made it home safely but I had way too much.

Earlier in the day, we had dropped of Anabelle at her first day at school and she did fine but, it really upset me. I honestly hate paying someone else to take care of my baby when I would so much rather be doing it. Because of that, my morning was rough but, I got over it after a few phone calls to the preschool. I don't know if it is related because I was upset but, my stomach was also bothering me all day. So, when it came time for dinner, I was not so hungry and Greg ate an early dinner. I decided to go to the store, it was a bad idea. I got the most random assortment of foods that included, a whole chicken, crackers, brie, marinated mozzarella, Frozen garlic bread, peas and ice cream sandwiches. I ended up eating the bread and ice cream sandwich.... So weird.

The sandwiches were an upside to my night. The box says that they are from San Francisco and they reminded me of my family up there Miss you guys!

I will update about our crazy 1 day trip to Vegas later, when I recover from a 3 hour night sleep!

Dole Cook-off @ The Grove

2011-06-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the Dole Cook-off this weekend at The Grove. We had a nice time and Belle was a trooper and seemed to have a blast.

Greg and Belle shared a yummy sample of pineapple, it was very sweet watching them enjoy a snack together.

For lunch we walked over to the farmers market. Belle was getting quite grumpy so we didn't spend too much time over there, just enough for Greg to eat and me to get some food to go. It was nice to enjoy my lunch once we were home and Belle was asleep.

Dad, this is for you because I know you love this place...

We had a nice weekend with some fun stuff and new fun people!

Pasadena, CA Children's Photographer- Anabelle 16 months

2011-06-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

My little girl turned 16 months old this past week!

She found my pearls and asked for me to put them on, and wore them all day! They make for very cute pictures :)

2011-06-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a necklace for Belle for a while but, I needed to see how a necklace looks on her before I make her wedding necklace so I made her one. And she is actually wearing it. She doesn't even try to take it off.

Today, I was cleaning the house and Anabelle was walking around with a bag of Trader Joes Peanut butter filled pretzels. It was very quiet and I this is what I found..

I slid away so that she didn't know that I was still watching her and she literally went swimming in her mess.

Who swims in food?

This is right before the dogs came and snatched up the snacks!

I love my night time baths!

2011-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Belle and I went to the park. I swear that I actually play with her and not just take pictures.

Last post, I forgot to mention that she is a messy haired monster because her hair is getting longer and she refuses to let me pull it back or put anything in it. The second a clip goes in, she rips it out.

We were going to play around the Rose Bowl and then got to KidSpace so she could play in the fountains. I didn't take her there right away because I didn't want her to get wet right away. SO when we were ready to go to the fountains, they had closed. Bummers

There were a few little play grounds around KidSpace and there were squirrel dens all over the place. I have never seen so many. It looked like little meercats and I love those. :) There was one family with a lot of babies and this little guy was brave. He was squeaking at me and everything.

It is hard to get Belle to smile for the camera these days but, the swings always work!

We went to get dinner and placed our order and went outside to wait.

She found some flowers to smell.

Some pretty fountains to look at.

(Canon baby!!)

Right before we went back to get our food, she thought that it was funny to go "night, night" on the stairs. It is apparently very funny to go to sleep on stairs.

2011-06-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Remember yesterday how I was worried that my baby was not going to want me anymore. Well I got home and my messy haired monster was all about being with her mama.

I sat on the floor and she scooted her way into my lap and slid down till she was laying on me. This is a rare occurrence with my little girl, she is always on the go.

We laid down with each other for a little while and then went outside.

Anabelle adores her new bubble lawn mower, she pushes it for a few minutes and then stops to inspect where the bubbles are coming from. She is very inquisitive and you can see the motors turning in her head.

When Greg was done with work, he joined us outside to finish installing our new fountain. We are really making our patio in the backyard so much nicer and we love it so far! It feels great that we are creating a place where we can escape from the messy house, the stressful work day, the paperwork piled up on our kitchen table, and the sleeping baby to just relax.

We ended the night with some mac and cheese that was a little hot, Belle used her new skill of blowing to cool it off. She can only blow air out of her mouth when her tongue is curled, it is the silliest thing.

Happy Tuesday!

The End of a Chapter..

2011-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

My little monkey has officially weaned herself. :( It was not a quick decision but one that we both have been slowly working on making. Being a nursing mommy is really hard when you are working and dislike pumping. About a month or so ago, I decided that I was not going to pump at the office anymore. When I would get home, Anabelle would not even ask for milk. I was still nursing her to sleep but, she recently gave up that too.

I miss the quiet times that we had together and just watching each other, i miss our late night cuddles where the only thing that I can hear is the sigh that she makes during every gulp, i miss her calmly sitting on my lap because that never happens with my active girl.

I am happy that she is growing and becoming more independent but, I can not help but feel sad. Not that she doesn't need me but that my baby is getting big and growing up. Soon, she will not want her mama anymore and she will be a big girl. I cherish every second that I have with her and just want her to slow down a bit so I don't feel like I miss so much!

Just six months ago, this was my baby!

Now, a few weeks ago this is my little kid.

In less than 2 weeks Anabelle will have her first whole day at daycare/preschool. I can not wait for all the new things that she learns and the new experiences she will have.

Good-bye baby, hello little person!

Obsessions

2011-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

I have these cycles where I am obsessed with something. Last month I was obsessed with cookies and cream caramel apples, most recently I have become obsessed with strawberry milkshakes. They are so delicious! Greg keeps telling me that they are not good for me but, I made one last night and it was great and well deserved. :)

Anabelle sometimes gets angry when it is bed time and jumps in her crib. Occasionally, she will hit her mouth on the crib while she is jumping. I always calmly tell her that she is ok and that I will see her soon but, a few nights ago she was upset and jumped in her crib and chipped her tooth. It is not obvious, it just looks a little shorter than the other front tooth.

I was trying out some lighting with my lightscoop last night. I dont usually dont take pics after dark but I needed to try it out. She was grumpy because I was trying to put her to bed later. I am also obsessed with sleep and Anabelle has been waking up at 5:30pm. It worked and she slept till 6:30am instead of 5:30am. I win!

Happy Wednesday! :)

Weekend Projects

2011-06-14T11:55:00.000-07:00

My life is filled with WAY too many projects. Don't get me wrong, I love projects and I feel so great when I complete them but they are all filling my mind with the anticipation of finishing.

I am getting Anabelle's room completed slowly. I hung her letters and a piece of art that Aunt Staci gave to her. It is coming together nicely.

Tonight I am going to hang some picture frames that I made for her and then her room will be complete till we remove the crib from her room.

My second project this weekend was figuring out what I want the wedding flowers to look like. I went bright and early to the flower market in downtown LA and picked out the flowers for the bouquets and centerpieces. I am in love with them and getting so excited for our big day!

I was trying to get a cute pic of Belle with her flowers but she was not having it. She was busy sweeping, that is one of her new "things". She would sweep and rakes all day long if we let her. She also has this new "game" of taking her flash cards out of their box and putting them back in one at a time. This sounds like a fun game except she gets very frustrated that sometimes they do not slide in the box easily and she yells and whines. That is the not so fun part of the game.

Project number three this weekend was redoing our patio in the back yard. We took out the cement tiles and put them back with spaces in between each one and planted grass in between. We are really excited for the grass to grow in because it will look so much nicer.

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE iced tea? Well, I do and this is one of my favorite things to look through, everything looks good when I am seeing it through my iced tea cup! :)

Even this girl.... jk she is cute!

Teeth Brushing

2011-06-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

Anabelle has become obsessed with brushing her teeth. When we are in the bathroom, she always whines and points to her toothbrush and toothpaste. She even knows how to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush. She is not very happy when you take it away from her but, she gets over it if you can distract her.

I am bombarded with work today and unable to write too much. But hopefully this weekend I will have some fun pics to share. I am making wedding arrangements this weekend and hopefully redoing our patio. Wish me luck!

Just a Monday

2011-06-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

When I got home last night Belle was asleep but, I swear when she hears my voice in the afternoon and she is napping she wakes up screaming right away. It makes me feel special knowing that she wants to be with me when I get home but she needs her sleep and I wish she would just sleep a little longer.

When she woke up she was a little grumpy so she had a snack and then we took off her diaper and put on some undies. When I am with her we work on potty training and she went 2 times with me last night! Then we went to clean her room and cover up the nail holes in the wall to hang her new letters for her name. I love the way that her new letters came out and she seemed to really enjoy them.

We made a song out of singing her name and she was giggling and squealing all over the place. She also loved holding the "A".

The whole time we were in her room, Xena just sat and watched her. Anabelle was standing on her toy-box when I took this picture. I don't know what Z was thinking about but, my guess is, "duh, duh, duh" :)

Belle is into the pointing stage. She literally points at everything! She points to her nose, eyes, ears, points to her brain inside her nose (or picks it) and then points inside her mouth (or eats boogers). She also loves to point at body parts on other people including the dogs...

She is also a big kisser, she enjoys kissing dogs and other little kids. When we are at the park she follows other little kids to kiss them, I wonder if the other parents are creeped out. In a way, I don't care because she is such a sweetheart and I don't want to take that away from her!

Notice Lily in the background of the pic. She loves Anabelle more and more everyday but, her interactions are short and sweet.

I really love our afternoon times.

Anabelle is starting at a preschool/daycare on July 1st, I am very excited for her because she is in the same class as her friend.

I have not been getting cute feet pics lately but I got one last night. I think it is harder to get cute feet pic then cute face pics. :)

Business

2011-06-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have been working on building my photography business and it is really fun and exciting. I realize that this is my way to be a work-at-home-mom and it has me super motivated to work hard so that I can be home with my baby!

I am working on my website, www.hollydresher.com, I have also changed the address of this blog to www.hollydresherblog.com. I am making lots of changes to make things look better and grow my business.

These are my business cards, I designed them and on the back are about 10 different photos that I have taken during my portfolio building.

I had a stamp made for my packaging of my products.

I have also opened an Etsy shop that I will be adding my design work to and some other art stuff that I enjoy doing.

I really want this to work out so that I can do something that I really enjoy and work from home so that I can play a more active role in raising my daughter. I am missing way to much right now and it is so hard to be away everyday!

Wish me luck, please! :)

Getting Ahead

2011-06-05T21:55:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend but, I am starting to feel like I am in a good groove right now. I made omelets both mornings this weekend, worked more on the redecoration of Belle's room, finished up some unfinished art projects, helped with the Garfield Heights Block Party and kept my house very clean.

We had a nice time at the block party and Belle met a few new friends. She was such a good girl, she even passed her nap time by 3 hours and she was such a trooper.

There was a live band and Anabelle starting dancing and the rest of the day people were coming up to me telling me that she was a great dancer. :)

Today we took Belle to a new park that our friends told us about. We lucked out because there was a dog show at he Rose Bowl and there were dogs walking around everywhere. Belle was making her silly dog park whenever she saw a dog walk by. When we got to the playground it was pirate themed with pirate ships, rocking boats, and cannons including piles of cannon balls. Belle was holding on to this pirate version of monkey bars and was literally holding on and when she would get to the other side she would drop and we would catch her. She really enjoyed herself.

Greg was watching a game of tennis going on and I had to snap some pics. I swear these 2 are going to run away from my camera soon. I cant even get them to pay attention to me when I have it anymore. :)

We finished the night with homemade burritos and a bath.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and if you live in SoCal, enjoyed the random rain this evening.

Our Flower Girl is growing up!

2011-06-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week Belle has been a little grumpy. She wants what she wants and you can not talk her out of it so, she has had a few timeouts. When we are outside, she loves to pick flowers and that is a big no no around our house.

She picked a few rose petals (that I allowed) and she was happy with the ones that she picked and continued to play with them. I think that she was practicing for her role of our flower girl at the wedding. ;)

Anabelle was in a time out for stomping on the plants in the front that Greg takes care of so nicely. So she was crying and clearly angry at me and we both hear someone yelling and stop to listen. We hear, "Anabelle, Anabelle, Anabelle come and play" She looked and me and ran to the back yard.

The neighbor girls were calling for her to come and play. When did it happen that she has friends that ask her to come out and play? My baby is way too old!

She was literally running to go see the girls!

She is too old too!

Last night I also turned off my baby monitor and let her be a big girl. She was still asleep when I left this morning. They grow up way too fast.

Challenges of being a mother

2011-06-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have been challenging and I feel like I am being tested in all aspects of my life. I am having a hard time managing my time and being happy while doing it all. I find that I am away from home too long and when I come home there are a million things to do but not enough time to do them all and play with Anabelle. I also struggle with not teaching Anabelle who her Mommy is, I am gone all day so I fear that I will not be able to teach her the things that bring me happiness. When I get home, I try to do things that involve her and still allow me to check some stuff of my to do list.

Yesterday when I got home, we went outside and put an old painting that I did on a smaller frame. Anabelle helped with holding the tape measurer and the pencil. Today, we hung the painting and a mirror. I feel like I want to change her room as she gets older and grows, I think that her room needs to grow with her. So, we are redecorating. :)

I hung the mirror and painting and she was so excited that she could look at herself that she started dancing in front of it.

Then she practiced her acting skills and was making all kinds of silly faces.

I wish that I could stay home with my baby and teach her the world. I feel like I miss so much while I am gone and it kills me.

I don't know why I took this picture but this little stuffed animal is so cute. Ron and Susan got it for Belle when they went to Australia.

The rest of the night we played with toys, made dinner, took baths and then Belle went to bed. She is such an amazing little girl. I miss the time that I am away from her but, we really have a great time when we are together!

Dave & Kristine Wedding

2011-05-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

I really, really need to get in the shower and get ready but the internet is sucking me in! Greg, our friend Mike, and I went to a wedding for our friends Dave and Kristine on Friday night. It was seriously a beautiful wedding and we left the baby at home so, we had a fun adult night. There were such cute little kids at the wedding, I wished that I had brought her so that she could play and dance with all the other kids.

The flower girls were outside playing soccer with some other little boys and I could not help but take a picture of them. I have to admit, I felt a little creepy but the adorable picture it totally worth it!

After the ceremony, we went to our table and saw this....

As if I didn't already feel bad enough for not bringing Anabelle, I had to remember her absence through out the whole reception. We also were sat at the same table with 2 other couples that had toddlers....But we had a nice night and tried to enjoy ourselves.

Note the vodka cranberry to keep me peppy. :)

The wedding was at a beautiful little lake in the hills above Malibu and the scenery was just gorgeous.

Overall we had a nice night and I have never been so happy for Anabelle to wake up and cuddle in the middle of the night. I missed her so much!

Belle Singing

2011-05-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

My little girl loves to sing.... Don't mind my awful sicky singing.

Sick and fun at the park

2011-05-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

Since we have been back from San Francisco both Anabelle and I have gotten sick. She got it first and last night it found its way to me. That is one bad part about having kids, you get sick so much. She not only is sick but her first molar is breaking through her gums as we speak. Needless to say she is really clingy and not sleeping well. That is not so great when I am trying to fight this cold.

This morning we woke up and she saw Greg in the doorway of our bedroom. She started running to him to give him his good morning hug and Michelle didn't realize what she was doing and swooped her up to give her a hug. She was very upset and started crying. It was adorable! She is really voicing her opinion these days.

Last week we went and hung with our friends to play at the park.

Although Anabelle and Desmond do not really play together, they do congregate in the same general area. They did get ahold of the diaper bag and ate ripped it apart like a pack of wolves.. Does that count as playing?

The realized that it was really fun to play in this little seat.

Playing with sand and getting it in your hair is fun. :)

Anabelle has this new obsession with airplanes and looks in the sky and points when one passes by. She is very observant.

I am finding it hard to come up with words to describe my emotions the past week or so. I hope to kick this cold soon!

Lauren Maternity- Pasadena Photography

2011-05-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine from high school contacted me and asked me to take her maternity photos. I was more that happy to take them. She is really beautiful and I am pleased that she likes her photos.

Her dog Ollie joined a few photos, he was showing off and had a major case of the zoomies.

The weekend

2011-05-23T14:26:00.001-07:00

This weekend the fam was driving up to SF to go to our friends wedding. It was in Mendocino area and so we drove up on Friday and got to SF around 6:30pm. We stopped by heathers to say hello and found her in labor. I can not describe how excited I was to be there and I was hoping that my niece would come before I needed to leave for the wedding on Saturday. Everything went perfect and I was there to watch my nieces birth. It was so amazing and I am so proud of Heather, she did an amazing job!

Mariana is my favorite niece... :)

Then we were off to the wedding and left Anabelle with Aunt Staci and Uncle Jonah. They had a blast and taught Anabelle to say "purple". So cute. We had a long and beautiful ride to the wedding site.

Congrats to Lauren and Jeff! Such a beautiful night!

Greg and I had a little down time at the wedding so we took pics.... He is so handsome!

It was such a busy and amazing weekend but we are glad to be home!

2011-05-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight Greg and I had to do our food tasting for the wedding and so I stopped by the house to pick him up and saw Belle for a minute. When I left she was really upset and starting crying. Well we got home about an hour later and Belle was sooo excited, to see her Daddy. She was reaching for him calling his name. I asked for a hug or a kiss and she would not give them to me, but she gladly gave them to Daddy. Not cool! I am beginning to think that she was upset because Daddy left, not me.

Since I got home a little later, we had our family time later in the day. Greg did some gardening while Belle played with the dogs, danced and played with the neighbor girls through the fence.

Such cute little girls!

She has started hugging legs.

She dropped her Mrs. Potato Head eyes in the watering can and was looking for them and she is waving at the neighbors.

Late post

2011-05-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

How has it almost been a week since I have posted? I really have way too many things on my plate right now and I am leaving important things behind. Last week it was designing the wedding invitations and getting them printed. We should get the envelopes in the mail tomorrow and then I will be busy getting those all out. While waiting for the envelopes I allowed myself time to build my website. I love the way that it is turning out but it is so much work and it is only half way done.

This past weekend Greg came home with a chainsaw.... on a stick. It is for trimming trees and it seemed really scary. It however was not scary at all, it was really fun. It made me feel like a wild woman cutting down the limbs of the most annoying tree on the face of the planet. Don't worry, Anabelle was happily napping while we chopped down said tree.

I have lots of updates but I NEED to get some sleep tonight so I am off to bed.

Wedding

2011-05-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

This wedding planning stuff is stressful and overwhelming at times. So what is anyone to do when they are feeling stressed out about wedding planning? Well type in things like, "Stampedes I would happily die in" into Google images. Seriously, it is cute... you should try it. Or this little dog with eye brows...

"One day I am going to whistle?" Enough said!

I have spent WAY too long cruising the internet but, I am feeling a little better.... until tomorrow when I have to deal with more wedding stuff....

My little Family

2011-05-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

In defense of Mothers Day, my day on Saturday was great and I was able to do a few things that I have been wanting to do. Almost every weekend, I beg Greg to take Belle and I to breakfast and he never wants to. So Saturday, we went to breakfast as a family. It was so yummy and Belle was such a good girl. Then we picked out some new plants for our front yard and planted them together while Anabelle was sleeping. The last part of my day was taking pictures together. It was tough to get us all looking but it represents who we are as a family I guess and I heart Anabelle's chunky legs.

This is my favorite picture that we took as a family. It truly shows what a family with a toddler is like.

I was able to get some good pictures of Greg and Belle. I even managed to capture her new "trick". Greg taught her to flex her muscles on command. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

So much mutual love and trust that I cant handle it!

Not looking forward to working all week but this weekend will be awesome. I have a Silent Auction for Anabelle's New Preschool that I donated a photo shoot for, Zac Brown Concert at the Hollywood Bowl with a good friend of mine, and a maternity shoot for an old high school friend. Looking forward to it all!

Mothers Day

2011-05-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

So being a mother is tough right? Why should Mothers Day be any different? My patience has been tested all day. There were multiple times when I just wanted to crawl in a hole for a few days. One of those times was when we were driving to Santa Barbara and Anabelle was so upset that nothing would calm her down. She cried so hard that she threw up.... all over herself and her car seat. I spent way too much time washing her car seat in the bathroom of a restaurant only to have a long line of women waiting in line as I walk out smelling like baby throw up. Oh Motherhood, you have treated me so well today!

Even though she was grumpy and smelly, I still love her and find her adorable. I just wish I was able to enjoy my Mothers Day a little more!

2011-05-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got home from work and I took Belle outside to play. She always gets very upset when the front door is opened and she is not allowed to go out and play. I mean tantrums.

I think this is one of my new favorite pictures of her. I am pretty sure that she was eating a leaf and that is why she had such a silly face. i <3 it!

How come she is growing up so fast? She is a real person, a little one but still. :)

We are a barefoot family (the girls at least) and we were running around barefoot and I tried to get some pictures of Belle's feet but she was not cooperating . She was just running away then not too long after I took this picture, she realized that the ground was hot. She froze and did a little hot dance. It was so adorable that when I went to get her, I had to giggle a little. It made me happy that she is feeling life and the world. She is experiencing the things that I remember as a kid and it is amazing to watch her just experience the world and grow up.

Burning Feet!

Heathers 9 Months Maternity

2011-05-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

I forgot that part of my San Francisco trip was taking pictures of Heather and some of Bobby too. There were way too many things going on this day between a grumpy toddler who laid down in a hole in the wall taqueria to go night-night , a sleepy infant in a sling, a preggo who only wanted a strawberry shake, a soon to be daddy who didn't want to have his picture taken and me.... :) We are a great little bunch and had a blast but it was hard to take pictures with it all going on.

The sleepy guy himself.

I don't know what Anabelle was doing, but she cracks me up.

While I was taking some 9 month maternity photos for Heather I saw this bee. There were actually so many beautiful, large, and fuzzy bees but I really liked him!

I am very excited for this little baby to be born. They will be such great parents!

The Fuller Family

2011-05-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

I have had way too many photo shoots lately that I am feeling overwhelmed with the fact that I want to post them all to my blog. How is that going to happen? The answer: it is not. I am going to try to post them all but I will just stick to my favorites and learn to let go. That is a good quality to have right?

These little cutiest were born last week and I took some pictures of them in the hospital that I edited and just never posted. So here are some that i took this week. They are so precious!

London was a great little model and she let me try out some new stuff!

Sedona was not as happy as London but equally as cute!

I had to get some pictures of the older brothers also.

Adorable Ledger is such a sweet handsome little guy.

Sage would not put his boats down but it was ok because, he was wearing his bathing suit so it was fitting.

All 4 of them!

San Francisco Part 4

2011-04-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower time... It was a great baby shower with equally great women. My brain is tired and I dont have anything clever to say today so here are the pics.

These cupcakes look so good, I had the chocolate cupcakes. The cake part was good but there was huge chucks of sea salt sprinkled on the top of the cupcakes. It was soooooo gross and ruined my cupcake experience.

Heather is such an amazing mom-to-be, beautiful, smart, caring and so many more qualities that there are too many to list.

We had some great food....

Popping the Champagne...

I have the most beautiful sisters in the world!

Notice Anabelle running for the stairs. :)

Heather has great friends that gave her great gifts for the arrival of Ms. Peanut.

Reading some of the books that Peanut will be reading!

There was a guest appearance at the end of the shower. Diva, such a sweet little kitty. Anabelle saw her in the beginning of the shower and was obsessed with her. That is why she didnt come out till the end of the shower when Belle was asleep. ;)

San Francisco Part 3

2011-04-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today has been such a long day. I have been going non-stop all day and have not had enough to eat. One of my best friends had her twins early this morning so, I drove to Santa Monica for a long lunch break to visit them. The babies are so sweet and I cant wait to watch them grow up.

I am determined to get all the photos up from my San Francisco trip, so I will post more about the babies later!

Friday night we warmed up some pizza and hung out at the house watching tv and playing with the babies. I had not seen Grant for a few weeks so, most of the pictures were of him and his constant surprised face. :)

Tummy time!

He was looking at his Mommy when he was smiling, he loves her so much!

Heather (and Peanut), Heidi and Grant.

They are all so awesome and I miss them all and think about them all the time.

San Francisco Part 2

2011-04-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

Heidi and Grant came to SF on Friday night so, Heather, Belle and I went to the city to have lunch with Bobby before they arrived. We went to an awful restaurant that sounded appealing to Heather because she really wanted a Shirley Temple. So, we sucked it up and ate there to fulfill her Shirley Temple craving. After that we went back to the apartment and hung for a while before Heather and Bobby went to pick up Heidi and Grant from the airport.

Belle hanging with Uncle Bobby.

Auntie Heather "watching" Belle play, can you tell that she was really tired?

With a toddler and a preggo, there was a lot of time being spent on the sofa-bed.

Working again. :)

While they were gone, I had a little time to play with Belle. We explored the garden, drank a delish hot chocolate that Bobby made me, read some books, and even saw a few kitties playing in the backyard area.

They have so many great plants on their patio it was a photographers playground.

Getting stuff ready for my crispity, crunchity, peanut buttery niece. :)

My little baby consultant had a lot of fun in her cousins room. She ripped all the books off the shelf and even read a few.

She was such a squirm worm while I was trying to get some feet. This is the best that I could get.

The adventures with Grant and Heidi will come soon!

San Francisco Part 1

2011-04-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

This will be one of many blog posts about our trip to San Francisco this past weekend. Anabelle and I flew up on Thursday to start the planning for Heathers baby shower. The flight up went to well, Anabelle made friends with the couple sitting behind us and was playing peek a boo the majority of the trip. When we were leaving the airplane, she was blowing kisses and waving at the people on the plane as if she were a princess. It was absolutely adorable.

Once we got there, I hung with Heather so that Anabelle could nap. When Belle woke up we went to the park so that heather could work for about an hour. We had a nice time walking up and down the park. We walked so much that my legs were sore the next day.

We met up with Heather for ice cream and then went back to the park to hang. Belle had so much fun giving blades of grass and little yellow flowers to her Auntie.

There was a little working done by Heather, she is such a working mommy. She looks so damn adorable!

More of our adventures to follow!

Grandpa Reed

2011-04-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Around Anabelle's Birthday and Grants birth I was super busy and we had so many things going on. I was completely overwhelmed with everything that I have not posted some of the many adventures that we had. I wont post them all but I will post a few of my favorites. First is all the fun time the Belle had with her Grandpa Reed. She really loved spending time with him and it was so special the times that they spent together getting to know each other.

We were able to get some alone time and we went to the Zoo with Grandpa Reed. Of course, I forgot her hat and so we had to get her a new one. As it turns out she was not the only one that enjoyed her new hat.

I apologize in advance for the photo bomb!

We took a little break and Belle hung with Grandpa for a little while.

Grandpa also made her toy chest. She was able to put it together with him and it was a fun time had by everyone.

When I was super busy getting ready for Belle's birthday party I needed someone to take her off my hands and Grandpa offered. They went outside and were playing with rocks. Belle would pick them up and show them to Grandpa and give them to him. I was washing dishes when I saw this and it was a sight I didn't know that I would ever see. My Dad lives so far away and I was afraid that my daughter and my father would not be able to have a close relationship. After this trip, I no longer have that fear. They have a beautiful relationship that I am very happy to watch through the kitchen window! :)

Since these are old pictures, I don't have any feet pictures. BOO!

Afternoon Family Time

2011-04-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

Some days when I get home Greg takes a little break to hang out with me and Anabelle. It is always so special and I really enjoy watching them play together. Even though I didn't go to work today because I am as sick as a dog, when Anabelle woke up from her afternoon nap we had our afternoon family time. Today for instance Anabelle and Greg played hide and seek. Anabelle has really gotten good at finding him in his hiding spots. She is consistently amazing me with how intelligent and agile she is.

Anyhow, the other day Anabelle and Greg were playing on the bed when I got home from work. She learned to get on the bed with the toy chest that her Grandpa Reed made for her birthday.

I think that she was trying to wiggle her way away from Daddy when I took this picture and she just looks so sweet.

Kissy time.

It seems as though I have been ending a lot of my blog posts with feet pictures... so I think that I will just do that from now on. How can you resist with such adorable feet?

Aside from the obvious...

2011-04-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

These are 2 of my favorite things right now.

I gave the girls a bath tonight and she is a sparkly clean doggy now. Don't get me wrong, this dog is a dummy and doesn't have many brain cells but, I love her and he is part of my family. Look at her adorable face.... how can you not love her? I also love how great she is with Belle, it makes me love her even more.

I LOVE cabbage. How can something so simple be so amazing. I like it cold, sweet, spicy, hot.... I just like it!

Beach Evening

2011-04-13T10:33:00.001-07:00

As I have mentioned, I have been craving the beach so, we went!! My mother in law didn't have plans so she joined us for a wonderful evening at the beach. We loaded Anabelle up with warm clothes and an adorable little hat and started walking. The smell of the salty air brought me back to fun Hawaiian memories with Heidi and I felt so loving and nostalgic. I was bringing my baby to a place that brought me so much joy in my younger years. It was no Hawaii but it was the Pacific Ocean and I think that counts for something. :)

Walking down to the beach, she seemed completely unaware of what I had in store for her. She played in the sand with Susan and walked around falling everywhere because, sand is hard to walk in.

Then, it happened. She saw the water and it was over. I caught her face the first time I really think she knew what she was looking at.

You can see the curiosity and excitement in her little eyes.

And she was on her way! She was going for it and nothing was going to get in her way. Not the freezing water or a pesky seaweed, nothing. As she was walking to the water she made sure to wave. She really wanted to say hello to her friend.

The waves would come in and it was fun. She was amazed with the water on her feet and then the waves would recede. She was very upset when she did not have the water at her feet anymore. WE tried to reassure her that the water would come back if she just waited but it is tough getting a 13 month old to wait.... for ANYTHING.

Our pants were wet and sandy, we were cold and were all ready to eat. I think this was a successful beach trip enjoyed by all!

Family day

2011-04-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

I have been itching to get out with my little family and just enjoy the outside with them. This weekend I convinced Greg to go with us to the park. I was looking more towards the beach, but I will take the park if that is all I can get. Greg is actually going to have a busy day tomorrow and I am considering waiting in traffic to go to the beach tomorrow night for a beautiful sunset. I am craving the beach and my little girl has never put her feet in the salty goodness that the beach brings. Anyways, back to the park. :) Greg took Anabelle on the jungle gym and she was a little frightened at first. She crawled for the first lap and then quickly realized that it was ok to run on the jungle gym.

See the crawling on the bridge.

She went on the slides with daddy multiple times.

She even went on the slide a few times all by herself.

And all trips to the park include a very LONG ride on the swings. She acted as though she were a princess on a float. She was waving to everyone, smiling, and using her sign language very frequently to tell us that she wanted more. She is such a ray of sunshine.

How could I resist these adorable feet together. If I was a monster that hid under beds, I would surely eat these feet.

Family day was a success! I will post the second half of our day soon!

Super Mom

2011-04-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

Tonight I feel like a Super Mom. I am watching our neighbors 19 month old daughter and it was so fun hanging out with her and Anabelle. It was much easier than I had imagined because they were just playing and eating lots of snacks. The highlight of my night is that I put them both to sleep and they were both happy and cuddly. See, Super Mom! :) When I imagine putting a 13 month old and a 19 month old to bed at the same time I think of fighting and tears. They are both such adorable and sweet little girls. I am so happy that Anabelle has her as a friend and that we live so close.

Today I was cleaning the house when Belle woke up from her nap. When she woke up, the lighting in the livingroom was amazing and so I snapped a few pictures of her.

This is her flirty shy smile. I love this face!

I took some photos of my adorable nephew and I will post my favorites soon!