And Baby Turns One

Our friends Matt and Tre's son turned one last month and yours truly was there to document every last minute. They were gracious enough to invite Josh and the boys who had a ball. I even included one of Sam here becasue it makes me laugh.

Back on the Wagon

We got back from California on Monday afternoon just in time for Ben to start throwing up on the way home from the airport with the stomach flu. And then we all fell, one by one, except baby Sam (thank goodness for small favors). It has been hellish. Josh even had to clean up my sick (let's just leave it at that vague description). I don't care what they say, that's true love. It's easy to get all hot and heavy with each other. It's harder to take a mop and tackle your partner's unmentionable fluids.So now I will be on a blogging tear. It has been three weeks since I have posted a photo (yes THREE!) and I took almost 15,000 of 'em since then. So get ready. Set. Go.

It Ain't Over Until the Fat Lady Sings

Our time in California is winding down. Actually, it is more like long skid after several miles of crazy activity. Our tour of insanity has continued with more visits with more friends and more alcohol as well as more photo shoots with some wild and crazy families. I am too wiped to write much now, but suffice it to say that I have taken a million photos and will now spend the next ten years post-processing and blogging them all. We fly back on Monday, so watch out Texas. We're coming home.

Is It Possible to Die From Too Much Fun?

This is such a great trip, but it's no vacation. It is hard work. In order to maintain the schedule we have been keeping lately we need some serious stamina and frankly we are all a bit exhausted. Yesterday I had a photo shoot with Gretchen and Tomas and their little guy as well as their dog Hannah (whom I adore!) and we had such a great time as well as a nice visit. Then it was off to lunch for Sam and I with the photography girls. Such fun to hang with these three fabulous and oh so talented women, Amy, Rebecca and Mary as well as the adorable Skylar. The hard part about having such fun with my friends is that I want to stick them all in my suitcase and cart them back to Austin with me. I miss them SO much. And that would be the perfect solution because then all my old and new friends would be living in the same town as me. And really, it is truly all about what is best for me, right?And then the cherry on the sundae was dinner with all of my art school friends, Brooke, Ali, Stephanie and Leslie. They are all such smart, funny, beautiful women who I spent time in the trenches of thesis etc with. You never really know someone until you have seen them after an all nighter and strung out on coffee. We went to a great restaurant in San Francisco called Firefly, which was one block from Ali's fab new house in Noe Valley. At 10:15 we headed back to our abode in Berkeley, all four of us so tired we needed to be peeled off the floor. And while Josh was worn out from all day childcare I was happily buzzed on yummy red wine, prosecco, chocolate and the best company. I owe him big time.

Dear Diary

Another lovely day in the golden state. Last night we had dinner at our dear friends' James and Claudia's and their three lively children entertained our terror of a three year old. Apparently the highlight of the evening's activities was for the oldest to send the remote controlled car down the sidewalk and for Ben and their youngest son to bash the hell out of with foam bats. Who said kids don't get any exercise these days?Then this morning we visited with Laura at her studio. She is a woman I do some design work for. She is Ben's new best friend because not only did she give him grapes and yogurt, but she let him draw all over her bathroom doors with chalk. Crazy artists. Then we had lunch with my dear friend and fellow photographer Amy Perl at my favorite Vietnamese place in Oakland. Home in time for the daily nap (the best thing about vacation) and now off to eat AGAIN in San Francisco with one of my oldest friends, Leslie. Leslie and I not only went to high school together but college as well. She had planned for ages to go to UC Santa Cruz and I decided to tag along on a visit there and fell in love. Bet she regrets asking me along for the ride.

Life in Shangrila

They always say that you can't go home again. Even though that may be true, it sure is nice to visit. We have been having such a nice time seeing old friends. We drove by a couple of places we used to live and I must have gotten used to living in "everything is bigger in Texas" because those places looked miniature. How did we manage to live in them and not kill each other? And everything seems SO expensive here. I honestly have no idea how people afford to live here. Seriously. Are you ALL selling drugs?

Happy Mother's Day

Ihope all you hard working moms out there had a semi-relaxing day. I had Ramos Fizzes with my mom and my 92 year old grandmother. So it was a good day.I have not been posting because I have not had access to a computer since leaving my parents house and all erhave on the road is Josh's crappy work IBM ThinkPad. Man. Whoever thought up that red button thing in the middle was a moron.

Stories From the Road

It has been so strange to be away from the internet for DAYS. We have been busy as bees. Before we left Southern California, we had a photo session with the Incomparable Miss Whitney.It was SO great to meet her. She is a fabulous person and, of course, an amazing artist. She left me wanting to grab her and her family and drag them to Austin so I could have some more cool friends. Not to mention someone to geek out over photography with. It was a real bummer that Josh couldn't make the trip in the end, but I think we will have some great shots of me with the boys. She kept asking me what I wanted or what I had in mind and I would shrug my shoulders as if to say "I don't know". Quel lame client. It's funny because I usually have such a strong vision for my clients but none for myself. It was relaxing to leave it all in her hands.We got up here to the Bay Area on Tuesday and met up with Josh. We are staying in Palo Alto until tomorrow when we head up to Berkeley to settle down for the remainder of our trip. The first morning that I walked out into that wonderful Northern California air, I felt amazing. Like I was home. But I have definitely noticed the congestion here and I have already begun to long for the sight of an empty field. I had conveniently glossed over the fact that I would have the boys on my own for the three days that Josh was working this week. On Wednesday morning it dawned on me and my heart sunk a bit. I had just been the sole caregiver for the three previous days (with some help from my parents) and I was tired. So yesterday we escaped up to my friend Amy in Berkeley and the wonders of Totland. This morning I had my first client photo session with Meagan and Adam and their beautiful little girl. I will post some shots when I can, but I think we got some good ones. It was quite the childcare challenge during the session because Josh was working in Palo Alto so I had to beg for childcare help and luckily my friend Maura came to save the day. This involved some crazy early morning driving and I, of course, being me, got pulled over by a cop for making a left turn (that I was not allowed to make during the hours of 7 and 8 in the morning). WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?

Flying Solo

Wow. Flying with two kids sucks. Flying with two kids by yourself REALLY sucks. And flying with two kids, by yourself, with a migraine headache. Well, that's just cruel. And so my return to California thus began this morning. And as soon as my parents picked us up I spent the next thirty minutes puking non stop in their car in a plastic bag. Bet they were happy to see me huh? The only nice thing about getting sick when you visit your parents is that your mom is already there to pick up the pieces. There is no need to think "I want my mommy". So we got back to their house and I immediately ensconced myself in bed, let the children be damned. But they were, of course, more than amply provided for by their doting grandparents. Now I am better, but my outfit needs to be burned.I also called Josh to tell him that we arrived safely and to relate the vomit story. I asked him how he was enjoying his liberty and he said "It's lonely". That's the only problem with complete freedom. No one to share it with.

Early

It is about 3:30 in the morning and in a couple of hours Ben, Sam and I will be on a plane heading West to California for a two week visit back home (Josh will be joining us on Tuesday). It will be the first time we will be back in our homeland since packing up to live in Texas last July. It's funny to think that Sam has never been there (except in utero). We will be seeing some family and old friends and I will be photographing a bunch of families. Good times. I will be sending updates from the road. So until then, I have miles to go before I sleep.

School Daze

I am still finishing up the preschool shooting. It has been such a great time. I have a renewed respect and appreciation for all of the teachers at my boys' school. They work so hard and are so loving and attentive and just great people. I feel so lucky to have my boys there. I wasn't going to post any photos until I had finished, but I can't help myself. This is my favorite shot so far. This little angel loves the camera and the camera clearly returns the sentiment.

Discovery

I have been photographing all week at my son's preschool and it has been so much fun and also exhausting. It has been really nice getting to know Ben and Sam's world and really discovering what an amazing place it is. I have taken a million photos and am not ready to post any yet, but I will share two cute stories.One of them was on my first morning there. A little boy asked me, after I had explained that I was there to take the kids' pictures, "Why?" And I said, "So your parents can see what you do all day." He replied, rather tiredly for someone so young, "Yeah. My mom is ALWAYS asking me what I did at school all day." Another little girl and I were playing and I told her that I needed more memory for my camera but that I would come back. About twenty minutes later I saw her in the playground again and she said "Did you get more memory?" From the mouths of babes.

Baby Feet Are Scrumptious

Passover

Our good friends Michelle and Doug had us over for Passover dinner where the food was yummy and the company sublime. I could not stop taking photos of their daughter who is quite the little Renaissance beauty. And Sam is quite smitten with her as well. How do I know this? Well, he was pulling her hair. DUH! And before anyone starts crying about how I shouldn't give my son wine, it's grape juice. So hold your fire.

Stormy Weather

All I have to say is that rainy weather and kids are like oil and water. I wanted to shoot myself about 46 times yesterday. It was truly the LONGEST day of my life.

Waterloo

We went to Waterloo recently with Sharon and Brad and I LOVE to photograph their little man. He is such a little angel. We also ran into Mel and Tim and their little blue eyed cherub, so I nabbed one of him too.

I'm Baaack!

I got back Wednesday night from The Lab Workshop in a small town near Dallas called Glen Rose. It was such a great workshop. I always feel like I am gambling when I take a workshop that is in its inaugural year, but this one was fabulous. It was well organized, I learned a lot and I had a really great time. Usually there is at least one annoying person in every crowd, but not this one. It was such a great group of people and the workshop leaders, Amy Coffey, Fred Egan and Michael Norwood were stupendous as were Amy and Michael's better halves Curt and Cindy and all the kiddos. And everyone was so generous with their time and information and I loved what Michael said on the last day. He said "We are now invested in your success." I thought that was such a positive thing to say. It left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.It was so nice to have a few days to just geek out in photography world and not spend all day thinking that there are a million things I should be doing (and that I am not). We were going all day long and shot oh so many photos. Here is just a sampling. There are more on flickr and I am sure even more to come. A big THANKS to Amy, Michael and Fred as well as all of my fellow lab rats. You were so great.

Hiatus

Tonight I am heading to a little town outside of Dallas for a three day photography workshop. So I will be MIA here until Thursday. For now, I leave you with these photos of my boys. I am ready for a little break, but I will miss them so.

Old Friends

In a few short weeks we will be going to California for a two week visit. I can't wait. It will be nice for Ben to see some of his old buddies like his friend Theo. We have missed him so much. And now Theo has a little brother too, so he and Ben can kvetch about the miseries of having competition. In the first shot they are only wee ones. The second one is the last time we saw Theo before coming to Texas.

Sicko

Ben had a bad fever about a week ago. Here are some shots of him looking pathetic. But at least he had his juice and his ambulance. Just in case there was a real emergency.