The Perfect Family Portrait!

I will post the winner to the party contest tomorrow, but for now, a quick post.

My good friend and neighbor Firuzeh has been looking for the one good family portrait to hang above her mantle since the day these twins were born. On this photo shoot, we created new secret laughing techniques that will later on be sold on ebay.

But really, I love this one Firuzeh. Why? Because it says so much. After all, we were trying to get two two-year-olds to sit and smile. They never do that on a daily basis, so why pretend? right?

But becuase we worked so hard for it, here is my favorite traditional shot of the day!


Thanks for peeking!

Party Preview

I had a blast with everyone last Saturday in Newport. It was THE MOST AMAZING party!! The kids were hillarious, the house was full of so many fun places to take pictures. Thank you for being such a great hostess Brooke.

Here is a small sneak preview/contest. You don't have to be clever, just leave a comment and I will pick the comment randomly to win a free 8x10.

Images will be up soon!

Grandma makes it better

Isn't that the saying? It was nice to have a special guest at this photo shoot. She is a beautiful woman, and loves her grandbabies!

Ginny, your family is beautiful! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it for a few hours!

Kicked out of swim school

So sad, my cj was kicked out of swim school.

Rewind. About two weeks ago in the pool, he was so interested in swimming on his own that he began to duck his head under the water and hold his breath. That same day, he would put his head under and start "running" furiously under the water with his arms and legs attemting to go forward. I thought this was pretty funny looking, but eventually, he learned to move forward in his own way. About two weeks after the self discovery, he began to swim under water about three yards.

Today. Perfect time to put a child in swim school right? Well, let me put it this way. Teacher gets in pool, CJ gets out, runs to the other pool, and jumps in the deep end. She goes in, gets him and then he runs to the other pool and jumps in. At this point, I am ducking under towels to avoid eye contact of the head swim instructor, at the same time trying to act like this child needs some serious parent intervention- whoever those parents may be. Where are those kids parents?

And then at the end of the class they tell me it may not be right for him. As a teacher, I translate that as, "get your kid under control or you can't come back!" (sigh)

And to the most beautiful family every. I love you guys shuree.....

For Jamie.....

You said you couldn't wait, so here is a small sneak peek.

Check out the picture of all five kids looking to the water. See any magic tricks up our sleeves? Parents are my biggest trick!

After one hour with these five, I knew all five distinct personalities. An explorer, collector, miss independent, a really good listener, and a mr personality.


This one tried to pretend like he was having no fun......


nice try mister...






Thank you, thank you, thank you, for giving me the chance to capture those five personalities!

Fun 4th!

What a fun day for pictures. Tons of smiles, family, color. Best of all, I have been planning a gradkids shoot for over six months. I knew we would be together, and all the babies would be ready for a group shot. Thanks to the icecream cones, they actually sat long enough for me to keep my finger on the trigger, and take about 50 pictures. One of which turned out okay. Hope your fourth was fun!

Georgia

So I go to Georgia. Gone for a few days. Missing CJ sooooo much was the hardest part. When my husband picks me up (a day late) from the (wrong) airport (due to a cancelled flight), we go next to get CJ at school.

Rod has me duck behind the seat, and goes in to get CJ. I can hear them walking to the car. Rod tells CJ, "I have a surprise for you CJ.... It's in the car"

CJ opens the door.....

He sees me.....

and says, "Where is my surprise dadda?"

wow, it is getting harder and harder to impress him.

Here are a few shots from the shoot......

Doubly Blessed

These two babies are such a blessing to the family! They were perfect angels, awake the whole time!! So fun.

As a side note. I have been getting a lot of phone calls from new customers, and having a hard time calling eveyone back. Thank goodness for email. If you called me, and I have yet to return your call, I totally rock at email!!! So try me there. Thanks a bunch, and thanks for visiting!

Happy Father's day

Lullaby

It is amazing how many things can go completely missing when you have a three year old.

Ever since CJ was a baby, I have played the same lullaby cd to him as he fell asleep. I can remember those 2am feedings like they were yesterday when the sweet sound of the lady singing lullabys blares out of the stereo. In fact, although I dreamt of the day my son would ask me to sing him to sleep, he would rather have "the lady" sing the songs than have his own mother lull him to sleep. He would say, "shhhh mamma, the lady is singing!" (ouch)

Now this cd is missing, and I have no idea who she was. I think I picked it up at potterybarn, or target. I dunno. But it is sad because one of the reasons I am a photographer is because my memory is so terrible. I need help recalling those wonderful moments.

It will probably show up when I smell some funky smell coming from the stove, when the dogs get sick, or when our toilet clogs. That is usually how I find things around here.

And for Lisa, so you won't forget how sweet your Kayla was when she was turning one, here are a few of my favorite pictures.

New Master Card commercial

Two really-awesome-deal-on-ebay tickets to the Dodgers: $60
Gas to drive up to LA: $50
Dodger dog and Nachos: $20
Souvenier for the boy: $15
Getting on Jumbotron,
having a conversation with Eric Karros
watching a fight break out,
spending date night with the one I love:

Priceless.

(Why that never gets old, I do not know.)

PS Calee, why oh why emails to you always bounce back? Can you email me from another address. I would love to talk to you.

My love, my life....

my boy....
This is such a fun age. Cj and I actually have inside jokes now. Like the ones that only he and I get, and we laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Tonight, as I was putting him down to bed, it went something like this:

Mamma: Good night CJ, I love you.
CJ: Remember last morning (referring to anything in the past tense)?
Mamma: What happened last morning?
CJ: I went this way, and you went that way, that was soo funny.
Mamma: (trying hard to rack my brain and crack three-year-old code) Oh, yeah!
CJ: That was funny. (pause) Mamma, I like you.

Yeah! He likes me. Is that a step above love in his book?

I am officially a newborn magnet!!!

If you want to have a baby you should really just call me up and start hanging out with me . It must be that easy.

Here is the newest little one in my life, Cami. Soo sweet, and can I just say right now that this tutu is just about the cutest thing I ever saw. I will have to get back to you on where she got it.

congrats danielle!