Monthly Archives: May 2009

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You have to see the humor in things.

My 4 year old son Max is very….inquisitive.  He is always getting into something he shouldn’t.   Kent and I were both hoping his destructive habits would subside by now.  Tonight he was upstairs for less than 10 minutes alone and managed to get my cosmetic bag down and proceeded to apply eyeliner, lipstick and mascara to the bathroom counter, sharpen the eye pencils, and of course, apply the make up to his own face.  He crushed all my blush in the process.  After a little talking to, I took him outside for a few snaps, where you can see his ’smug mug’.  He has a sly expression–doesn’t he? I may use these images on his wedding day as blackmail.  And I’m going to keep stockpiling images like these so I have a WHOLE arsenal by the time he proposes.  But seriously, take a look at his sweet, cherub face.  How could I EVER stay mad at him more than a few minutes?

By the way, the flowers I ordered for myself turned out to be a disappointing fiasco.  They looked NOTHING like the picture I embedded in my blog yesterday.  No lemonade pitcher, no fake lemons floating in the water.  WHAT?! Can you say false advertising? I called the company this morning and told them I was not satisfied.  They are sending a second arrangement tomorrow…supposedly more representative of the picture on the web.     I should snap a pick of the imposter flowers that are currently on my kitchen table.  Not only was I missing the cool lemonade pitcher and lemons, the included a TON of green leaves and hardly any flowers–we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day! My family and I are planning on spending part of the day at Gilroy Gardens (or Bonfante Gardens as I still like to call it), then after the sun wears us all out, I will come home and take a nap with my little Max (4).  Little Max moved from a crib to a queen sized bed several months ago and I have to tell you….I adore weekend naps with him.  I stay up late most nights during the week, so this weekend sleep catch up is a necessity.  Max is not much of a snuggler, but I love watching him drift off to sleep.

My gift for Mother’s Day is a complete detail of my car by all three boys.  Kent has been intermittently working on this project all day long and with the boys helping, they used way more water than necessary as they enjoy the spraying/rinsing part of the wash.   My car was washed, then waxed and I can hear the vacuum going now.  He will use that oily stuff on the inside that I love the smell of….forgetting the name now, but it gives it that ‘new car smell.’  This is what I consider the BEST present because it is thoughtful and kind and they all participated.  I bet I also get breakfast in bed–that’s become a tradition for my birthday and Mother’s Day.  Eggs benedict with extra hollandaise and perhaps an extra egg.  (Sometimes I can eat 3!!)

Lastly, I’m waiting for a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  That I ordered for myself.  Yep, you read that right! I didn’t intend on this happening, but I was online ordering flowers for my mom and saw this really great arrangement.  (The same flowers you see above in this post–aren’t they great?) That arrangement was not available in Ohio, and I really, really liked them, so I decided I could enjoy some flowers of my own.  

Tanner came up with another humdinger of a question in the car on the way to hockey practice yesterday.  (He and I riding alone).  The question was….”Where do babies come from?” I have now determined, based on how I responded to that question and the “Is Santa real?” question last month, that I pretty much stink at answering these very important questions.  I know for the babies question, I went into way too much detail.  After I finished bumbling it, I asked him to explain what I just explained and he didn’t want to, said he was a bit embarassed.   Hmm.

Anyhow…that’s it for now.  Thanks for reading and have an incredible day with your loved ones tomorrow!!!!!


Something to think about…

A fellow photographer and friend of mine recently made a post to an online business forum we both belong to.   Even though what she wrote made me a little sad, what she wrote touched my heart.  I always encourage parents to be a part of their child’s portrait session during my initial conversation with them, but sometimes there is a little resistance.   For those who read the information below and can identify, please rethink this next time you come visit me.   And a confession…I am this way too–usually ducking out of the family photos as much as I can, but I’m going to make more of an effort to let my husband have the camera every once in a while so I can be photographed with my two greatest accomplishments in life.   I don’t want them looking through the thousands of images taken over the years and realize there are only a handful with mommy with them.   Here are her comments:

“I just got back from a week in LA to photograph a bunch of my newborns from last year who just turned one.  One of my clients turned one on December 6 and her Mommy passed away in her sleep (heart attack) on December 8. During the newborn session the Mom didn’t want any of her and the baby because she felt she looked horrible (which she didn’t, but I tried and tried to get her to do just a couple and she wouldn’t). It breaks my heart every time I think about this and how there are no photos of them during that special time.

While I was there this week the little one walked over to the table that held a photo of her Mom, Dad, brother & herself that was taken in July when they were vacationing in Hawaii. They had hired a pro in Maui so they could have a vacation session. She picked up the photo from the table and was walking around with it, at one point she stopped and stared at it for the longest time and then let out of a soft “Momma”. I think that was probably one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed. I had to excuse myself and go to my car (claimed I needed to get some more CF cards). I wanted to cry at least 10x while there, it was so incredibly sad. This mom was a non-smoker, was physically fit, no family history of major illnesses, it was just a freak thing that happened.

Hold the photographs and images you create dear to your heart, you never know when it will be the last image that is taken of the family as it is today. I also encourage you to try and always get the parents in some of the shots if at all possible. I want to say out of all the clients I’ve had over the years I think I just have 4 or 5 who have flat out said no. Hugs your kids and family often, tell them how much you love them often, I know I always do but ever since I’ve been back and witnessed this its made me hug them just a little longer and a little tighter.

Be proud of being a photographer and for the lives that you touch just for a moment, but will bring joy to for years with your images. “  (Angela Calderon, Atlanta)

They’re starting them younger each year…

This little one’s mom teaches math (the kind of math I probably got D’s in)…and brought her school books to the session.  I love the preppy schoolgirl skirt and her round facial profile.     I love photographing this age! You’ve got to see Quinn from the front too–she appears on my web site, in the BABIES gallery.  Gotta love those pouty lips and CHUBBY cheeks.  I think the image I chose of her for my web site illustrates why it’s so easy to fall in love with our babies….

AJAXed with AWP