Trevor has great feet

Right before I left town I went down to Bonney Lake and spent a couple of hours with Trevor (and his awesome, funny, laid back parents). When I came home his photos were waiting for me and they turned out to be the most perfect welcome home present I could have asked for. I got so happy and excited when I looked at them...they made me happy and excited to inspired to be back and to be a photographer!

He had the most expressive feet!



Okay, I talk a lot about why I love my job...making memories...creating family stories...all the great stuff...but the other really amazing part of my job is seeing so much love! They are totally gaga over their little boy and it shows in every photo...the amazement and delight that they have the most perfect, beautiful special kid in the universe!

This is one of my favorite family photos ever....I love it and man I had to work for it. Trevor was much more interested in the passing cars than in the me even though I must have been quite a sight lying flat on the sidewalk making every funny face and noise I could muster!

Something new

I know...I said I would post vacation photos but it's so much easier to edit 30-40 images than 2000 so I went through the ones from Ari that I took right before I left that got thrown on the (huge) pile of things to do when I got home....

Notice something new? Yep, he's a bike rider now. He's got this comically little bike...like little monkeys should be sitting on the handlebars and fenders. And he goes really fast...like 80mph...or maybe 8 million mph. To which I had to agree since I didn't have a radar gun and therefore couldn't definitively tell him that it probably wasn't that fast...

I'm really used to this look for the camera. It's the "I'm waiting for something else to happen..sometimes you make funny faces when you take my photo but in general this is the most boring part of the day".

Which is 10 million times better than the fake smile he flashed me last week. It floored me. It broke my heart. I deleted it right away.

Exie's all grown up

I'm home I'm home! Did you know that I had gone? Did you just think I was being a blog slacker? Nope, I was on vacation...a photo safari I like to call it. Two weeks walking every nook and cranny of Venice and London with my folks...I meant to blog en route but the thing about all that walking is that it made me really tired...and all that sightseeing plus about 2000 photos made me really overwhelmed and really tired. And now I'm home and of course the piles of mail and laundry and an 8 hour time change have made me...you guessed it, really tired.

I'll go through the photos and amaze you with the randomness of my vacation photography but until then...Exie turned one! We missed her actual birthday...stomach flu and photos are not conducive...She's not quite walking but she's so happy and easy and good...



And then the party was over and the photos were over and the cake was over and Exie got really really tired...

Baby plots...

Babies aren't dumb. They are scheming little masterminds masquerading as innocent little pixies...getting adults to do their bidding...not just the simple eat sleep stuff....I'm talking about a baby plot to make whole groups of grown ups traipse around after them on a seemingly drunken course while making funny faces, exaggerated gestures, squeaky sounds....they must rub their hands in glee when they see me coming.

Ellie looks all cute here...

But you can see her plotting what she'll have me do next....

You see the twinkle...as if to say, "They are all under my control...."

Serious Pudge

Alana has some serious pudge. Which is funny because her brother didn't...he was a scrappy little guy. If they were babies at the same time...and involved in pro wrestling...she would totally beat the pants off him...

Sometimes (read usually) it's hard to get that combo shot...it takes a lot of patience (read bribery) from all involved. So when I saw these happening my heart just melted...

and then he tried to pull her head off...

The ultimate nature walk

It's spring break. Thank goodness...preschool can be grueling...And so our weekly get together was like it used to be...no place to go, nothing to do, no one else to chat with. And I loved it! I like picking him up at school and seeing him interact in the world but I miss getting to just be with him and pick up on his little things in a quiet and relaxed way.

He's really into nature. I'd say right now but it's been a recurring theme. We brought a baggie so we could collect things for his nature table. We hit the mother load. Snail shells. Two giant ones. Empty. And a whole walnut. Do you know how hard it is to find a whole walnut shell? I do. His parents do.

On the way out the door I saw the cape his teacher made him for his birthday. I tucked it in just in case. Warning...he looks exceptionally pretty in this get-up...these photos aren't for those with a strict sense of boys only fashion...

Lucia storms City Hall

I'm always looking for rainy day spots...there are surprisingly few good places to go when the weather is yucky. Jaime was with me at an event in City Hall and patiently listened to me go on and on about how cool it would be to take photos there...so it seemed fitting that I made him(serious arm twisting) bring his baby girl for a test session. You wouldn't think it would have been so perfect for a toddler but not only is it visually amazing, totally open and filled with light but it is surprisingly tactile.

There weren't a lot of surfaces that weren't licked...as a non-parent I'm not yet immune to the ookiness of this....

This is really why I love my job....happy kids and families in love with them...tummy tickles, pride in accomplishment and the sweet way kids relax into the security of their parents...

I have a few more indoor ideas that I'm going to try out in May...if you are up for a mid-week adventure send me an email. I can give you the details...