sickness, neglect or life

I know it's been a while since my last entry but we've been living a busy life lately.  First it started with sickness.  Izzy had a cough like a 80 year old smoker and I was just getting the onset of an ear infection.  After 5 days of antibiotics for the fluid in Izzy's lungs she was healed but I was getting worse.  Sure enough I had a full blown ear infection.... enter the culprit. 

This infection lasted a week and the antibiotics I was prescribed did nothing, zeltch, nada.  Bring on the second round of different antibiotics... infection is pretty much cleared up but it still feels like I have the whole Pacific Ocean in my right ear drum.  It is starting to drive me crazy (well crazier then I already am).  I can hear myself chew, brush my hair, talk, and sometimes I really think I can hear my thoughts which are starting to echo too.  I will give it a few more days before I start shoving things down my ear to puncher my ear drum. 

Then there was neglect.  I wasn't doing it on purpose but I decided to show my ear who is boss and go on with my life like I had planned.  Thus... I went to my photography class.  I LOVE it!!  Who cares I could only hear half the information.  Here is one of my instructors, Fernando.  He was modeling for us so we could practice action shots. 

  

Then I got to spend some special time with our little neighbor, Ella.  Her and Izzy get a long like two peas in a pod.  Izzy will always ask where Ella is everyday.  Anyway,  they had a blast playing pretend kitchen.  Ella also shared her brand new Leapster with Izzy.  I'm in love with these two. 

Then I did a photo shoot for this sweet little baby only 10 days after she was born.  This is the same baby I got to photography when she was only 12 hours old.  To see the rest of the pictures taken at her photo shoot check out my photography website www.dreaminginstills.com

 

Then came....... life.  And life always brings us special little treats. 

A hour road trip to buy running shoes....

Izzy took this picture.  I'm so proud.  

Then there was Izzy's first day of gymnastics (she was totally 80's).....

There there were playing with bubbles and snails in the backyard....

And then.... there is always true love and always having your best friend to help you hunt for "wellooow lowers". 

Have a great week everyone!!

finding my inner bad ass

I'm addicted to this girl's blog, www.kellehampton.com.  She has two beautiful little girls, a unique eye for photography and skill to write to make you feel every emotion she is holding on to.  This morning, as I was reading through her blog, she mentioned that there are days when you are in a funk and you have to find your inner bad ass to get through the day.  Well that post was only fitting for how I was feeling this morning.  As you see, I'm not feeling well thanks to Izzy.  She has been sick for a week and has graciously passed it along to me and Chris while herself is still sick.  She is whiny and cryee and only wants her mama, I am sick too which means I am whiny and cryee and I want MY mama.  BUT I found my inner bad ass.  With the help of my husband, we have deep cleaned, vacuumed, scrubbed, washed and sanitized just about every inch of our house.  My bad ass, made me get rid of all the germies that are lurking in our house and keeping us ill.  Good bye you bad little germs that have made my life a living hell this past week. 

Yesterday, after we took a visit to Izzy's doctor, we traveled down the highway a bit to find Whole Foods.  (Let the angels sing their praises from above, ahhhhhhhh).  We did it.  We have never been to Whole Foods but we did it.  We are part of the California cliche. You know what too, I loved it.  I felt healthier just walking into the joint.  I probably won't be making my milk and bread run there but I definitely will be buying my fruits and veggies fresh there.  While I wandered through the isles, Izzy also made her way through trying to touch anything at her level.  Thank God for daddies.  After I decided we should leave since I was not shopping on a list and this could get pricy, the nice lady at the floral counter wanted to give Izzy some flowers.  Not just dingy old sunflowers but roses.  That made for a happy girl. 

 

Most of the rose petals are on the floor of my car since Izzy was pulling them off one by one.  It was worth it though, she hasn't had that much fun since before she got sick.  Thank you Whole Foods for making all of our day a delight.  

introducing...

Katie A. Gera, 7 lbs 9oz and 20 inches of pure love! 

I had the honor of taking pictures of this sweet baby girl just 12 hours after she was born.  I originally was supposed to be there before and after the scheduled noon c-section for the photo shoot but Miss Katie was working on her own time.  She decided to arrive at 4AM that morning instead of noon.  Just as well, she is beautiful as ever.  Mom, dad, sissy and grandma were glowing!!

poor sweet girl

Today Izzy's toys took a rest.  Nothing was being dragged across the floor, no annoying music coming from the stand up toy in the corner, no jumping, no laughing.... nothing.  This is what I saw all day starting at 8AM.  This little girl laid on the couch with me all afternoon sleeping on and off, fighting a fever, and lots and lots of cuddling.  Then daddy came home from school.  After we made a flawless transition from my arms to Chris' arms, set Chris up with video games and a McDonald's shake; I left for the fabric store. 

I decided that I want my purse to be a camera bag.  I do not want to carry both around with me, especially if I'm doing a photo shoot for a family.  So after much research I found a DIY way of turning my purse into a fabulous camera bag.  I'm pretty proud of it.  The next one I will do a much better job.  I was rushed, with a sick baby and all, and I was on a time crunch.  All in all, it turned out pretty well. 

Taken with my iPhone so you could see the final product.  

After I create the crazy things that I think up in my head I become very grateful to my mother for teaching me how to use a sewing machine. I'm also thankful she bought me my own machine two years ago. 

So, remember how I told you Izzy was not mobile all day?  Well there was one hour in the late afternoon her body decided it wanted to play before it crashed again.  I found on craigslist the mac daddy of all play kitchens.  A very nice Marine family sold it to me cheap and it was in PERFECT condition.  Izzy LOVED it!!  I love playing pretend with her.  I love to see what her little imagination comes with.  I cannot wait for her to gain more vocabulary so she can tell me the scenario we are playing out together.  For now, I will eat the plastic egg with a spoon and click our glasses while we say "cheers". 

michelle's visit

My bestie, Michelle, flew in for a visit from San Diego for a few days.  It was nice to talk photography and hand over the baby to my husband so I could enjoy a little alone grown up girl time.  The first day she was here I took her to a little mom and pop coffee shop for a little lunch.  Afterwards we walked up and down the Coastal Trail taking the sites of the seals and even wild sea otters.  I thought there was a starbucks close enough to walk to... a mile and half later... we found it.  While we sipped our salted carmel hot chocolates (minus the salt since they didn’t have any) we made our way back to our car in the chilly weather. 

On Tuesday we headed back into Monterey to check out My Museum with Miss Iz.  It was a blast playing pretend with all the toys there.  Afterwards we semi enjoyed a McDonald’s lunch at the park with 100 other birds that wanted McDonald’s too. 

Wednesday we took a ride further down the coast to Carmel by the Sea.  It was a beautiful little town with lots of unique shops.  We both bought some Christmas ornaments from a holiday store and enjoyed watching the blue ocean.  

 That evening we traveled to our local beach in Marina to watch the sunset.  It is very rare that I have pictures of me and Izzy together.  Thank goodness for Michelle because she captured a very special moment between mother and daughter.  Check out Michelle’s blog “A Belle and her Beau”.  She takes some beautiful pictures!  She needs to start doing it professionally.

Thursday we had to say good-bye.  I hope the days between our next visit are short.  It was great sharing some time with a friend I had been missing since we left San Diego in December.

some days

You know, some days I can’t believe I’m a mommy.  Other days I can’t believe I’m a wife.  Most days I can’t believe that I have my own little family and we live on the other side of the US from our original family.  It’s funny how fast the days move and then they turn into years.  My daughter turned 20 months old today.  Where has the time gone?!?  20 months of my life have flown by.  How can I get them to slow down?  It was only yesterday we called the hospital to see if they had a bed ready for us.  Then 32 hours later we had our little girl.  I whole new world opened up for us.  A huge responsibility that we weren’t sure if we were ready to handle but we knew we had to.  Some days I can’t believe she is mine.  I have her my whole life and every move I make determines what I kind of relationship we have with each other in the future.  Some days I’m afraid of what the future will bring us.  Other days I’m excited of what lies ahead.  All I do know, I have the cutest little family and it keeps getting better every day.