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Wow. Today is the last day of January and I feel like I am just now finally re-emerging. Almost like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon! January was a ROUGH month. I'm still technically dealing with a case of "walking" pneumonia and still sound funky with a nasty cough to boot but for the most part, I am on the road to a full recovery. I'm shocked as to how deeply incapacitated I was for this entire month. Unreal. I am usually a very high energy, high functioning person and I think I get more done in a day than most people do in a week so for me to be so completely useless was very disconcerting and unfamiliar.
I kinda wish I could get one of those snazzy little Men-In-Black memory removal devices and pretend like January 2010 never happened! HA! Wouldn't that be neat-o?
The weirdest part of all this (due to the nonstop rain and illness) was me not doing a single photo shoot for an entire month. Ever since launching my business 5 years ago I don't think I've ever gone more than a couple weeks (always the last two weeks of December) without doing shoots. During my busiest time of year I am doing 3-4 shoots a week and during my "slower" season I am still doing 2-3 a week so for me to go an entire month without a shoot was just...weird.
Neither good nor bad. Just different. I think if I had been healthy during that time I would have definitely appreciated the time off more and enjoyed it whole heartedly but I was just too miserable to make good use of it. Which is such a shame! Additionally, me not bringing in any income for an entire month has definitely stretched our budget T-H-I-N and is causing me quite a bit of anxiety....
Having said that, I only have FIVE sessions open/left for all of 2010 (other than the usual newborns and pregnancy shoots I always squeeze in of course) so I know my year is going to be busy and full of fun shoots! I just need to get through this lull caused by the wet weather and illness and then everything will be back on track.
I really, really wanted to go to WPPI this year but I am fairly certain me not working this whole month makes that virtually impossible so I guess it will have to wait til next year.... Such a bummer because I was really expecting to make it this year. WAH! Oh well..... :(
Anyways, I am feeling better every single day and have definitely taken advantage of being off work to really hang out with my kids and cook nice meals and be able to clean the house more regularly and take Kooper on long walks on the beach and this new, slower, more peaceful pace of life has been really good for my soul. I'm not used to zen. I'm used to total chaos and mayhem and moving at the speed of light! So, in a way, all of this has been really good for me. It's taught me, at least a tiny bit, how to SLOW DOWN, which was, if you recall, one of my biggest resolutions for 2010! So, I guess I am right on track when you look at it that way! :)
I want to thank everyone for their patience with the lack of "eye candy" on the blog. Trust me, I am MISSING taking pictures. BIG TIME. So ready to get back into it!
Looks like we have another series of storms coming in so my February shoots are at risk of being postponed as well (oh please no!)... so keep your fingers crossed! :)
Can't wait to be able to get back to posting images here soon!!
Funny how the world works sometimes. Turns out the CEO of Zanfel read my last blogpost and had one of his representatives call me to offer me some advice on how to treat this massive systemic case of Poison Oak I have going on here. And the timing could not have been more perfect because I had yet again another miserable sleepless night last night and woke up this morning with THREE new outbreaks all over my body. TWENTY days in and I'm still getting new flare ups. This is beyond ridiculous at this point. The rep (Hi Daniel!) was incredibly kind and helpful and suggested I not do my tapering dose of Prednisone that I was supposed to start today but rather up the dose to avoid a massive "relapse" (which is where I was heading if I hadn't spoken to him.) They are also graciously sending me a few free tubes of Zanfel to help ease my suffering while the prednisone keeps trying to do its thing and flush this Urushiol oil out of my bloodstream. Previous to this miserable situation I currently find myself in, I honestly had no clue just how utterly debilitating and miserable a severe reaction to poison oak could be. And the ONLY thing that has brought me any relief whatsoever has been the Zanfel cream. But, because I have such a massive all over my body case, it was too cost prohibitive for me to be using it frequently throughout the day so I am incredibly grateful to the CEO of the company to have taken the initiative to contact me after reading my post and offering me some much needed relief from my pain and maddening itchiness. I honestly can't begin to describe what this experience has been like. Additionally, my flu bug has morphed into bronchitis so I basically spend my entire day and night hacking up a lung every few minutes. I swear, I feel like my body is shutting down on me. It's mind boggling. back to the doctor I go today to get more of that nasty Prednisone (sigh....) and just continue to hope and pray my body can and will eventually overcome this allergic reaction. A HUGE thank you to the CEO of Zanfel for his thoughtfulness and consideration. My advice to you, if you EVER get any exposure whatsoever to Poison Oak/Ivy, immediately do a wash with Zanfel and then you can get rid of all the oils right then and there and avoid the situation from becoming systemic and resulting in a long, drawn out, miserable case like mine. I promise to have a real blog post up one of these days when I am functioning again. Thanks for your patience everyone! :)
Only I would get poison oak in the dead of winter. And only I would get a case so bad that it becomes systemic, invading my body/bloodstream and popping up everywhere and not responding to even high doses of steroids (which are making me bat-shit crazy too btw). And only I would ALSO get a major case of the FLU + Laryngitis while my body battles this foreign toxic substance coursing through my blood/body. Oh yeah. That's how I roll peeps.
Seriously though, I'm in a pretty miserable place. I am beaten down by this thing and feel very much at the end of my rope. I am on 80mg (daily) of Prednisone (steroid) which is doing NOTHING. I am taking Claritin during the day and Benadryl at night. I have completely lost my voice from the laryngitis. I look and feel like....poop. In fact, I look like a leper and judging by how the little boy at the post office reacted to me today (recoiling with terror and asking tentatively: "what happened to your face!?"), I realize that I truly do look just as bad as I THINK I look. This is not a figment of my imagination. I am absolutely scary looking right now. And I FEEL even worse than I look. The 24/7 pervasive, painful, achy, all consuming desire to itch the skin off my face, body, inside my nose and eyes... oh, don't even get me started. The poison oak has taken over my entire face. And the pain, the oozy, nasty, swollen, raw painful lesions. Honestly, I am NEVER going camping, hiking etc ever again. The mere thought of going through this again is to enough to swear me off of my favorite activities ever. I'm terrified that this is just never going to go away. And that my face is going to end up all scarred from this. I'm not a vain person, I never wear make up I wear my hair up in a ponytail every single day, I wear comfy clothes and shoes, but the thought of being scarred for life all over my face from this is utterly demoralizing.
In case you were wondering I have tried several homeopathic treatments, multiple all natural remedies, Tecnu, Zanfel, Caladryl, Calamine lotion, Salt baths, cortisone creams and basically everything under the sun. Absolutely NOTHING is working. I am on day 10 of this hell and it's worse than ever. I spent the whole day crying today. I'm just spent, emotionally and physically. I want to be well again. I want to be functional again.
Now, of course, I fully understand and realize that we are just talking about a case of Poison Oak here and not some horrible life threatening disease or something. I know. I really do get that. I'm grateful for that, I'm aware, I truly am. But, in the meantime, this is a very nasty case, covering my entire face and parts of my body and utterly debilitating not to mention that the treatment isn't working so I am admittedly feeling very bummed out in addition to just cranky from the pain, discomfort and side effects of the medication...
So, bear with me as my life is completely on hold while I desperately try to heal. If you have any suggestions other than what has already been attempted, I'm open to any advice. The doctors seem to think that continuing to increase my Prednisone and extending its duration is the ONLY option and I, quite frankly, cannot continue to deal with the side effects of the Prednisone much longer.... :(
I had that strong gut feeling that we should just stay home and absorb the deposit we had already paid on the cabin but for once I didn't listen to my gut instincts and I will NEVER do that again!
We had long ago made reservations for two nights in a rustic cabin up in the Big Sur Mountains to try to maximize a rare 3 day weekend with neither parent at work and the kids out of school. I had envisioned long hikes amongst the trees and fun trips down to the beach etc...
And had El Nino not hit, that's probably exactly how it would have all gone done but unfortunately (or fortunately if you consider how badly we need the rain I suppose), we had some really bad timing on our little (mis)adventure....
The rain was intermittent on the drive down and we were able to take many small breaks to stretch everyone's legs and let Kooper run and play. We took our time heading down. I still harbored some hope that everything would be OK but that sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.
We got there just before dinner and settled into the tiny little cabin called MorningLite at RoseHaven Cabins up in the Big Sur mountains. This cabin would be absolutely perfect for a romantic get away or a mommy 's escape trip. Very zen and peaceful and tiny and cozy and nestled amongst the trees. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this cabin.
However, we were a family of four with two high energy kids and a 12 week old puppy. DURING A STORM. Totally doable if we could have been in and out and enjoying our beautiful surroundings. And one additional little fact that we were not aware of. The toilet and bath are outside, uncovered, unsheltered from the storm/rain/wind. During the summer this would be super fun and quaint and even, dare I say, VERY ENJOYABLE. However, during a massive storm with gale force winds whipping the rain against your body, not so much.
I will always carry with me the image of me sitting on the toilet with my right hand holding an umbrella over me and my left hand holding Ellie huddled into my body (waiting for her turn) in the pitch black darkness and her screaming "I'm SCARED!" as the trees swooshed around us and wind blew the umbrella inside out and the rain pelted down on us. Yes, that is the one single image I will have from this whole trip. Good times, people, good times.
I only brought my point and shoot with me knowing the rain would mean no camera time but did grab a couple shots and some video.
The first picture here is right after we had unloaded everything and I was getting ready to make dinner. Kids are happy at this point and sitting on their favorite little enclave/nook area. My husband, who thoroughly did not enjoy this trip, and that's an understatement, is playing with Kooper on the floor. All is still relatively calm. Storm hasn't hit yet. Nerves are not yet frayed.
I then got dinner all ready and took Kooper out for a LONG walk on the roadway. He loved it and the rain and wind were still mild enough that I even enjoyed it.
Then I set the kids up watching a movie on the portable DVD player I had brought (phew!) and set about to finally try to relax.
Pretty cozy, huh?! Looks WONDERFUL, huh?! It was. I had a solid hour of peace and read my Newsweek magazine... and then the storm hit with a fury.
Kids COULD not go to sleep. The sounds of the storm and the movement of the cabin shaking was scaring them to death. Dog anxious. Husband frustrated. Me trying to meet everyone's needs. No fun.
Once everyone finally got to sleep I lay wide awake trying not to scratch my poison oak infested face. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I have poison oak ALL OVER my face and left wrist. Oh, it's bad. I'm on steroids because it's so nasty and it still feels horrible. I'm basically miserable and have been for several days and probably have another week of misery ahead.
Dose in and out. Need to pee but don't want to get soaking wet. Kids wake up and I do multiple trips out for kid potty duty while dad attends to Kooper potty duty. DRENCHED.
I make breakfast and then take this quick "panoramic" video as everyone is eating breakfast this morning. The video does not do justice to the powerful winds and rain blowing sideways and GUSTS that were shaking the whole cabin. Password is: stormyweather
We decide to "abort mission" and forego our planned night #2 (we had prepaid upon arrival for the two nights so we now have a 1 night credit to use sometime in the future, most likely SANS kids and dog if we can find a way to do that).
Go out to get the car to load up. Discover tree had fallen on car during the night. Miraculously, no damage because it was supported by the dirt bank on the other side of the car and had about a foot clearance, PHEW! (Ours is the blue minivan)
We finally get everything and everyone loaded back in the car and begin our slow trek back home. A ride that would normally take about 2 hrs took us 3 hrs due to the storm.
I cannot tell you how GOOD it felt to be HOME SWEET HOME. We may have an old beat up mountain home but it felt like a mansion walking in the door. I quickly got everything unloaded, put away, took a nice long shower, fed everyone lunch, got the kids set up playing nicely together in front of a warm fire in the living room, took Kooper out to play in the backyard during a break in the weather, got everything done to prep for our own severe weather advisory for where we live and then went into my home office to write this.
The forecast says ten more days of rain. I know we need it so I won't complain. I'll try my best to get Kooper and the kids fresh air every little dry spell we get. Besides, with the poison oak I can't work out and since I look like a leper, I prefer not to be seen all that much right now, so I guess that just means ten days of rescheduled shoots and NESTING at home. Might as well make the most of it.
I hope we can try the Rosehaven Cabins again soon under more OPTIMAL conditions.... :)
[Addendum: I have to give major props to the owners, Doug and Donna, who were absolutely wonderful folks. I REALLY did love the cabin and very much look forward to staying there again when it's not in the midst of a major storm!]
Let's just say this trip was yet another entry in the long list of FAILED family escapades for the Wowak Family. We have a long history of pretty disastrous outings so this is just another notch on the belt so to speak!
Oh, and one last thing, poor Kooper had to have his ears taped down this weekend. If anyone saw AI they will get this next joke:
"Tape on the ears, tape on the ears, lookin' like a fool with that tape on your ears...!" hahahaha! Poor little guy. It actually doesn't seem to be bothering him at all, much to my surprise. And he handled the long car drives and miserable trip with MUCH grace. He is an amazing dog. LOVE YOU KOOPER.
I've got a new snazzy little feature on my blog. Go check it out! It's there ----------------> on the right hand side column at the bottom. It's called FormSpring and it's like an open forum area where people can ask you questions that anyone can see. I spend a HUGE chunk of my day answering photography related questions for people and many of them are the same questions over and over again. That's the main reason why I wrote my book (see right hand column top for link to my book) but some questions that pop up aren't covered there or are quick and easy for me to answer in this new "space." I like being able to help people who have a passion for photography and when the time allows, I will be checking this page and answering your questions. Also, they don't HAVE to be photography related! Have fun with it. Ask me ANYTHING! (That doesn't mean I will necessarily answer it though....!) It's also going to be a great central housing area for those most commonly asked questions I get so everyone can benefit from someone else's question. I think it's pretty neat. And free for you to have access to some great (hopefully?) tips!
My dear friend Jodie of FRESH ART PHOTOGRAPHY turned me onto these overlays WAY back before Christmas and I bought a few of them and then, you know, the HOLIDAYS..... I finally had a chance to play with them tonight and man, oh, man, I am in LOVE. You can see what Jodie did with the Valentine's Day ones HERE.
The genius behind these overlays is Jess of Vol.25 and you can check out her ETSY shop HERE. That's where you will find the link to these overlays. You have to have Photoshop to use them but they are very simple to use once you get them installed. I could spend HOURS just playing around with them. It's ADDICTING.
I pulled a few shots from my last two newborn sessions to show you a few of the overlays from the Whimsica-nessl Set and the Lovey Dovey Sets that I purchased. I can't wait to get the other sets!
You can customize these overlays to any color and size and location. It should almost be illegal to have this much fun with Photoshop.... :)
And to show what it looks like on a color image, I took this one, not a great shot in terms of available space to add the overlay but because you can resize the overlay to fit ANY space, I was able to squeeze it on the left in a long vertical way to make it fit on that tiny wall space. Pretty neat eh?
And then, if that wasn't enough, Jess just listed these TO DIE FOR Valentine's day "fold and seal" cards for your kids to hand out to their friends this year. OMG. LOVE! You can either purchased the pre-printed sets (in a pack of 36 cards) OR, conveniently, Jess has also made them available as a downloadable PDF file so you can print as many as you need at home with a good printer and solid high quality cardstock paper. Needless to say, these are what my lucky kids get to distribute this Valentine's Day! TOO CUTE! You can find them in her ETSY shop under the heading "HOLIDAY" in the right hand column. You HAVE to check them out!!
First of all, I PROMISE you I've gotten a ton of emails asking for more Kooper pictures so it is only because there have been specific requests that I bombard you all once more with some puppy pics.
My to do list grows and grows and grows and I believe it is now actually laughing at me. I think it knows it's winning this battle. Oh well. I'm so grateful this is my "slowest" time of the year workwise. I am still doing shoots but on a much more manageable schedule. And it looks like these next couple weeks are going to be rainy which is most likely going to result in several shoots having to be rescheduled.
I did teach a wonderful all day photography workshop this past weekend with a GREAT group of ladies. It was a full to capacity class and everyone was picking up on the concepts so quickly we were able to cover a bunch of subjects that weren't even on the class outline! I so love teaching these workshops and am glad my schedule is allowing me to do those again. Last year I only taught two before everything just got too busy! I hope to do at least one more before the Summer.
But, I digress. Kooper. That boy is ridiculously funny! And sweet! And mischievous! He keeps me on my toes and his care is pretty much a 24/7 endeavor. He goes with us everywhere and, at this point, we don't all go anywhere if we can't take him along. He has been great about hanging out in the car crate right outside the studio where I do my Tae Kwon Do (I can see him from inside as I park just outside the door) which has allowed me to not give up all of my workouts. I still have not been able to return to the gym as I don't want him crated in the car where I can't see him quite yet. I'm just not comfortable with not being able to keep an eye on him. But on the days Jason is home I am able to get a workout in so that's always a "happy day."
We start puppy classes in a couple weeks which is sure to be interesting. He is already testing us in so many ways. If he sees me get the leash to take him out to go potty, and he isn't in the mood to go out in the cold/wet, he will run to the very back of his crate (where I can't reach him), lay down and PRETEND to be sleeping! I kid you not! HILARIOUS!
If he is munching on something he shouldn't be eating outside and I firmly say "drop it!" he'll take a huge chunk of it in his mouth and take off running like a bat out of hell and he is FAST. I eventually have to catch him and put him back on the leash until he understands that he needs to listen to me in order to regain his "freedom". He's a smart one. Oh and his latest favorite thing to do? Launch himself down the play structure slide we have in the backyard. Oh yeah. And naturally, since he is still just 11 weeks old and a bit klutzy and uncoordinated to a degree, he does a dangerous faceplant at the bottom so I have to be there the whole time, slowing his body down as he glides down the slide and then catching his fall to soften it. It's like having another kid! Oh but he is soooooo funny! He has brought much laughter, let me tell you!
Ok, so enough rambling about Kooper. As promised to those of you who emailed me asking for more, here are a few pictures from today. I SHOULD be updating my website, updating my forms, doing my tax preparation and the thousand other things on my list but no, I'm doing a blog post about my dog..... (procrastination perhaps?!)
He does this adorable "point" thing with his right leg which I had not yet been able to capture with my camera but I caught it today and it's just so darn cute! He had just been chewing on the rose bush so he has that "busted!" look on his face. Love it.
I'm hosting a ZozoBugBaby trunk show on Saturday February 27th. It's THE BEST way to get your hands on Julie's incredible outfits. Any long time followers of my blog know about Julie's amazing work but if you don't, scroll down to the blog post right below this one and see for yourself! Those are three of several items that will only be available for purchase VIA the trunk show. Many of her outfits you can buy directly on her website but a huge chunk will only be offered at the trunk shows so be sure not to miss this! You can also get free shipping (to me and then I deliver) by attending the trunk show.
For more samples/photos of the ZozoBugBaby (baby through preschool) and ZoGirl (5 through 12 years) lines of clothes check out the links below.
If you want to RSVP for the trunk show I am hosting, email me directly or leave a comment below!
As some of you may know my dear friend Julie, designer extraordinaire and owner of ZOZOBUGBABY, creates the most amazing outfits for girls (although even Gavin has benefitted from her incredible sewing skills via custom made outfits) and due to the tremendous success and exposure of her label she has had some incredible opportunities to grow and expand her brand. It's been the biggest thrill for me to watch as her business sky rockets and encourage her as she starts to create custom artwork for her own fabric line. It's all so exciting that I can't help but smile when I think about it!
Her latest venture is to do Trunk Shows to help let folks see the actually dresses and outfits in person in order to fully appreciate the craftmanship involved in their creation. Not only does she have an AMAZING new spring collection being launched as we speak, she also created a Trunk Show Special ONLY set that can only be purchased at trunk shows.
Ellie was sent three of those outfits (one of which is actually two outfits in one) to model for the promotional material being sent out for these trunk shows. She also got to model a few of the spring collection dresses that I've already posted a while back.
I had precisely 45 minutes to shoot all three outfits (four if you consider the double duty outfit) in between picking her up from school, driving to our location, doing the shoot, grabbing a hot cocoa treat to warm up and then driving back to school to pick up her brother! And the light was terrible as 1 pm is my least favorite time to shoot. AND it was 55 degrees outside with freezing "cut-right-through" winds.
Ellie did not complain ONCE. She was amazing. She never fails to astound me but this time in particular I was completely in awe of this child. She has an understanding of her body and poses and how to engage the camera in ways that I have never witnessed in any another child over all the years I have been doing this. And I'm not just saying that because she is my daughter! If you saw her during a shoot it would blow your mind. Every second is a new pose she creates herself, she needs very little direction from me other than suggestions of where to stand or sit and she takes it from there.
Ok, enough bragging about my kid. I just had to mention how proud of her I was. It was so cold you can actually SEE the goosebumps on her body and yet, she powered through it with only the occasional "geesh, it's like North Pole cold mama!" My little rockstar that one.
I should also mention that I will be hosting a ZOZOBUGBABY and ZOGIRL trunk show on Saturday February 13th and will actually dedicate a post entirely to that right after I do this post so stay tuned for those details.
This first outfit was her favorite one. She insisted on wearing it after the shoot to go to the Starbucks and has been begging to wear it to school. Unfortunately, it has been far too cold for that but hopefully she can wear it again soon!
This is her "I'm a puppy" pose :)
I'm just so in love with this next shot. So much poise for a 5 yr old.
Julie is the QUEEN of accessorizing and she sent along this TO DIE FOR headband to match the outfit. I loved it so much I wore it the next day! HA! Ellie was willing to "share" it with me but only "sometimes" as she so delicately put it. The headband comes from Blue Eyed Freckle on ETSY. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Now here's the second outfit that has two tops to it, a long sleeve and a short sleeve so you can match the weather you've got. PERFECT.
And, last but not least, the final outfit. I wanted to move locations but the lighting was making it impossible to go anywhere I wanted to. I ended up in front of a big bush and used my mounted flash unit to give her a pop of light from the front and then have the main light source coming through the splotchy tree/bush area from the back. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but it's not as bad as I thought it would be! Phew. This first shot CRACKS me up. She was wearing her jacket (she had 5 minutes of "warm up jacket" time in between each outfit) and suddenly announced "I'm ready!" and literally unzipped and threw her jacket to the ground just like a runway model would. She has never SEEN a runway show so where she got that from is beyond me. I barely caught her throwing it in time. She then said: "let's roll!" OMG I was laughing soooooo hard!
Walking back to the car after a job well done. Side story: When I picked her up from school she was telling (quite proudly) all her little friends that she was heading "off to work." I love that girl.
So I get to this point in my life where I finally have BOTH kids in school EVERY day. I've got my workflow down to a science. I've finally got a tiny taste of FREEDOM. I can work out every day, meet up with my girlfriend's from time to time. I can SLEEP IN on the weekends! After all these years, finally some ME time! Wooohoooo!! And then what do I do? I get a puppy....... Silly girl! And yet, despite the fact that I am once again cleaning up pee, poop and the occasional puke, up all day and night taking him out to potty, and the fact that Kooper requires more of my attention right now than either of my kids, not to mention that he WAKES ME UP AT 5am EVERY SINGLE DAY, I couldn't *possibly* be more in love with this guy. In fact, we are all gaga over him. He is very very very loved.
I realize I have probably over-extended the good graces and patience of my readers here with all these puppy related blog posts so I promise this will be the last one for at least a little while. Besides, at the rate this guy is growing he won't be puppy sized much longer. At ten weeks he is practically the size of a full grown regular dog. Crazy! We had his birth mama come over this weekend with two of his siblings (to play, visit and do the next round of vaccinations) and I was reminded of just how HUGE this guy is going to be.
I had some time right after lunch to grab a few shots of Koop. Of course, not the best lighting for this sort of thing but I made do. I feel like like my doggie portraits are kinda boring so I am trying to play around and get creative. It's so hard to hold the camera in one hand, the leash and treats in the other hand and get his attention all at the same time. I thought toddlers were challenging but this is a whole new realm! HA!
We've had very few sunny days since bringing Kooper home two weeks ago so today was one of the few days that he was able to enjoy the WARMTH of the sun beating down on him and he was SO HAPPY. Remember, these dogs are originally from Rhodesia and as I watched him lay in the sun looking up at it appreciatively, I could just hear him calling out: "Africaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" So cute!
So, here's my boy. I do love him so.
What you got there?
Instead of fighting the direct, harsh sunlight I decided to use it to play with my shadow. Just trying something a bit different by having him in my shade and highlighting my shadow shape.
Little Dani here belongs to two of my favorite people. Daddy Dave and I go WAY back and his beautiful wife Kristy and clicked the moment we met. I've had the immense honor of being able to chronicle their journey together from their engagement photos, to their wedding, to their pregnancy pictures and now... tada! The arrival of their adorable little girl Dani.
Being able to watch and document this journey for them has brought me so much joy. It's been so amazing to watch the transformation from dating to married to parents. Such HUGE milestones in someone's life and I got to be there taking pictures for every single one of them! What a treat!
Little Dani definitely takes after her parents. She looks like the perfect combination of both of them and has their strong, vibrant, lively personalities. She did not want to acquiesce to my plans right away. She wanted to let me know who was boss first! :)
Eventually, time and patience (combined with a few tricks of the trade) won out and she relented, allowing me to photograph her and her adorable little self not to mention her magnetic smile. I love catching those smiles! I CANNOT wait to watch her grow up.
Kristy and Dave, I love you guys to pieces and am so touched that you have let me chronicle this journey for you from the beginning. I can't wait to see what the future holds in store for your bright and beautiful family. Kristy, you are a NATURAL at being a mom.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
This first shot cracks me up. That's the "what the heck?" look that I've seen on Dave a billion times... muahahahahahaha
Just a couple quick shots I grabbed this morning as Gavin had a cuddle session with Kooper. Before we had a name for Kooper or had even PICKED him as the dog we were going to take home from that litter of nine pups, we had assigned Kooper the nickname "loverboy." That name was derived from his CONSTANT kisses/licks that he would dole out quite generously. Even as a tiny little newborn puppy, he was (and still is) a total and complete cuddlebug.
This boy loves to give kisses. And we love getting them. And even though he can't fit his whole body on Gavin's lap anymore (and barely fits in mine!) he finds a way to cuddle all over the kids as best he can. I just love the interaction here between Gavin and his dog. It's just pure love and trust, through and through. With sloppy wet kisses of course.
Kinda sorta makes my heart melt......
And I'm experimenting with a new blog border/watermark system based on the stolen images fiasco I went through a few weeks ago. I'm getting used to it as I've never been one for watermarks but have no choice based on some very unscrupulous people out there in the internet world!
I really wish I had a picture to share along with this post but sadly I don't. My many attempts yesterday to get a fun picture of the kids with Kooper actually AWAKE and alert (rather than sleeping on their laps) proved to be an exercise in futility so I come to you with a picture-less post! Please forgive me as I will have another newborn shoot to post very soon with the cutest little baby girl! :)
For those wondering, Kooper is doing amazing and growing like a weed. This dog is going to be HUGE, like Great Dane kinda huge. On the one hand it's exciting to watch him grow so fast and on the other hand it's extremely intimidating. We start puppy training classes later this month. I can't be having a 100+ lb dog that doesn't heed my every command. So, we are getting started early!
Now, onto the New Year. I'm sure I echo most of your sentiments when I say: HELLO 2010!!! and buh-bye 2009. :)
So, I was wondering, what are your resolutions for the New Year? In the past I've completely resisted the idea of resolutions. I thought it was silly to wait until the New Year to implement change that needed to be made or use that as the impetus for making goals or trying new things or what have you. Of course, that was back when I was single and life was carefree and I could pretty much do anything I wanted WHEN I wanted..... Then, as I got older, married and had kids and life got kinda crazy busy and there was very little (if any) focus on my time anymore I realized that busy working moms actually NEED some kind of "starting off point" to launch new things/behaviors/goals.
So, I'll start this off by sharing my resolutions for this year and what I'm doing to make sure I follow through with them:
1) SLOW DOWN. That's a big one for me. I've actually struggled with this all my life. I am HIGHLY self motivated, very driven person and have boundless energy, almost in a spaz kinda way. I just don't ever stop moving or doing. I physically cannot just sit down and do nothing. If I am sitting down to watch TV I am also folding laundry and paying the bills and then vacuuming during the commercials while I do it. If I am cooking dinner, I am also helping with homework and getting school projects ready for the next day and packing lunches at the same time. You get the picture. I take multi tasking to a whole new level. And while some people think that's a great skill to have (and it CAN be), it's a bit OCD if you ask me and kinda weird that I am completely UNABLE to sit still and do absolutely nothing. I start squirming uncomfortably after 30 seconds. It seems I have to be juggling at least three things at the same time in order to not feel guilty about my productivity. And that's ridiculous. So, yeah, I need to slow down. I need to focus on ONE thing at a time more often. I don't expect to suddenly stop multi tasking but I need to be able to play with my kids without also trying to do three other things. I need to be able to just ENJOY whatever activity and moment I am in without trying to pack as much into it as possible. It's not healthy and, ultimately, I cannot expect to be able to maintain this energizer bunny approach to life for much longer. Time to learn new ways. So, my #1 goal is to SLOW DOWN (and smell the roses so to speak!).
2) HAVE MORE FAMILY TIME. That's a biggie. My husband and I work opposite shifts. When he is at work I am home with the kids (and puppy now too) and trying to manage the house, kids and editing/business related stuff. And when he is home, I'm off at a shoot or holed up in my home office editing as much as I can. Our TOGETHER time as a family is really limited. So, in order to have more family time, I've taken on less shoots this year. I've only cut back by about 20-25% depending on the month in question but that has freed up some much coveted family time for us to enjoy. Last summer whizzed by so fast and I didn't feel like the kids and I even had much of a summer. I hardly ever took them to the beach or any of the many, many "adventures" I had planned in my head. I want this summer to FEEL like a summer break for them. They spent most of their time playing at home watching the back of my head as I edited like mad. So, I've cut back on my workload so I can spend more quality time with my kids and family. And I'm really looking forward to it!
3) COMPLETE A TRIATHLON. I've wanted to do a triathlon for DECADES. It's always been something I wanted to do. I used to be a competitive swimmer all through my childhood and college years and I know I CAN do it, it's just a matter of committing to the training that is required to make it happen. Running my first 10K race this past year really motivated me to follow up with this dream and make it happen. So, I recently signed up for the Mermaid Mini Tri in Sept. 2010. That means that I have to seriously train for this because I paid the moolah to register for it. I don't even have a road bike yet (I'm going to ask for one for my birthday in June) but I take weekly spinning classes at the gym and that will have to do for now and I also have my super old mountain bike I can take out as well. In order to make sure I don't like DIE or PASS OUT while attempting my first Tri I have set up a workout regimen that I play to follow as best I can. It's a Monday through Friday deal with weekends off to let my body recover and go on my shoots and have some family time. Mondays is my spinning class followed by weight training. Tuesday is my Tae Kwon Do (I'm a red belt training for my black belt right now) class followed by my Zumba class. Wednesday is my crossfit class. Thursday is Tae Kwon Do (and then I will add swimming on thursdays after TKD as part of my new training schedule) and Fridays will be a long run. It's going to be between 1.5 and 2 hrs of training per day so pretty intense for me. After that I go to my home office and work/edit until it's time to pick up the kids from after care. And then edit more after they go to bed at night. It's definitely going to be a huge commitment especially on the days when my work is piling up or I'm really not feeling like it but I want to finally do this after years of just "thinking" about it.
So there you have it. My top three goals for 2010. I have plenty of others too but I'm going to keep those to myself and work on them bit by bit. I also have a few surprises in store for my readers this year so stay tuned for those. Oh, and I am going to do two blog features this month on products I think other photographers will love! I've got lots of things planned as you can see!
Lastly, I have a slot left in my Photography Workshop on January 10th so if you'd like to attend, please send me an email!
OK, now it's YOUR turn. What are you goals/resolutions for the New Year? You can send me a private email if you don't want to share in the comments below. Or just write it down on a piece of paper. Sometimes the mere act of putting down in written format really helps "seal the deal" in your head and help you commit to it.
I wish for you all a joyful, peaceful, prosperous, and exciting New year filled with lots of Love and Laughter.
