Three. My bean is three.
I love how he shows me the number three, with so much thought in how he arranges those teeny tiny fingers. Two weekends ago we celebrated Nate’s 3rd birthday with friends + family, complete with a pinata, gluten + dairy free cake + boatloads of love. I’m short on words these days, taking everything in + trying to be *in* the moment. Maybe, *too* in the moment sometimes, but hey – at least I’m present.
Happy birthday to my bean.
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I often say to myself, ” I’m gonna strap that camera to my back today and walk around the house. ” It barely ever happens – and that’s the truth. Most think because I photograph other families for a living, that I must just snap mine all the time. Not true. What’s that saying? The plumbers sink? The farmer’s daughter? Sometimes I mix them up and say the plumbers daughter. Anyhow, you know where I’m going with this. I tend to put others first, especially clients – as I should – being that I run my own business. Which leaves my schtuff to the last minute and usually at the bottom of the pile.
So this Sunday, I woke and didn’t take no for an answer. The gemini in me can argue her way out of pretty much anything, there’s a reason I loved Matlock as much as I did when I was younger. Younger, as in – grade 4. Yeah. I’ll leave you with that for a sec.
While it’s been quite a calm and mild winter, we’ve kept indoors for the most part. 0 degrees may seem mild to what we’re used to with -25, but it’s still a 0. So inside we stay. Here are a few snippets of our Sunday morning, ending with Nate’s nap. Those are hit or miss these days. I think he’s on the verge of throwing those naps out the window. Me on the other hand? Not quite ready for that, but I’ll take it if it’s dealt!
I’m gonna try my darndest to show snippets of my Sunday mornings. Like, my absolute darndsest. Regularly. Fingers crossed!
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Wow. Could this really be my first post of 2012? Seriously? How did it become March already? Where did the past 8 weeks go? And what’s with all the questions?
Questions. Answering questions. That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing for these past two months. We’ve got some strange days around here, that’s for sure, changes for 2012 both personally and professionally, but I’m ready – or at least – as ready as I’ll ever be.
So… these past two months… Nate’s been diagnosed with a gluten + dairy allergy. Oy. That was a bit of an adjustment but I have to say, he’s ben doing so amazingly since we cut it all out – cold turkey. I’ve become consumed with prepping healthy meals for him, while trying to add some variety to the mix. I’ll share all the GF + DF goodness in another separate post, with images of various recipes I’ve tackled.
As for me? I’ve been, as some would say, jetsetting, though, with the lack of the setting, really – the only part of that which is true would be the jet part in the fact that I traveled by plane. Most think that when you say ” I’m going to L.A ” it comes with some sort of swagger and swanky step that fills your days and nights while abroad. The truth is that when going for work, it leaves little room for anything else. Now wait a sec, I’m not resentful – just honest. That’s my new thing this year. Honesty. Who knew it could get you so far! And while I’m always honest with everyone else, I usually fall short when it comes to myself. The image below is the only image I snapped while in Los Angeles and it was even while I was working. All the goodies from the trip were taken on my phone through instagram. I’ll make a grid of those and post them too. So for now, here’s the one image.
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My little guy, carefully trying to open the box. More pics to follow in the coming days. xo
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Yesterday at the Pioneer Village, we decided to pay a visit to Santa.
Nate, Santa. Santa, You’d think that’s how it would go. Telling Santa his animated stories, requests for gifts of sticker books and the like but, um, nope.
Nate ran for his dear life.
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Yesterday we spent the day as Pioneers, making gingerbread men, rounding the grounds on the wagon and playing in the 1800s schoolhouse. We finished with a brief rendez-vous with Santa. And by brief I mean, Nate ran for his dear life. His sweet, dear life. Kevin was left on the chair, accepting the candy cane from Old St. Nick while Nate was pretty much down the stairs, round the corner and almost half way to the car. Welp – not really, but he may have well been! After he wiggled from Kevin’s arms, he wrapped himself around my legs, peeking back at Santa. He asked for a sticker book for Christmas. Well- he didn’t, I did – for him, not me!
I brought my camera for a few frames, I opted for the instagram way since it would relieve easily an hour of editing time and decided to live in the moment. It felt great. xo
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So I’m stuck on time these days – but I’m tired of my personal projects taking a back seat to most, so without further adieu – Nate’s DIY 2011 advent calendar!
I wish I could say I sewed like a madwoman, dyed fabrics and hot glued a bunch of flashy sequins, but I didn’t – I kept it super simple and filled it with loving activities for the 25 days of December. I’d like to post my instagram pics of Nate opening them on the daily – and well – remember that time thing – I haven’t done the first 7 days – YET. I’ll back-blog them asap and get caught up. 
If you’re doing an activity advent calendar with the kids – enjoy! And if you’re not – enjoy the days regardless! xo.
DIY Advent Calendar:
25 3×5 cloth drawstring bags – most packaging stores
25 shipping / label tags – most packaging stores
25 foam numbers – Michaels
Winter Oak stickers – Michaels – Martha Stewart
25 mini clothespins – The Paper Place
25 creative activities for the kids.
1 long string of twine – most packaging stores
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I know – I know! A Christmas post before Nate’s halloween shots?! Blogging fail.
I’ll get to that as soon as practically possible, things have been keeping me on my toes and rounding out the month of December for the studio has me workin’, workin’ and workin’! Just to give you an idea where my head is at these days – I forgot my camera at home. Brought 2 lenses – but forgot the camera. FAIL. That put me on a bit of a bender, I’d say. I was really looking forward to documenting the trip the way clients ask me to photograph their families – and then I couldn’t even do that for my own. It stung a bit, I won’t lie. So bless the heavens for instagram – it’s the way we rolled this year anyhow! It felt nice to not have to fidget with settings and lug the camera gear around , I spent my time looking for a tree – saw in hand – and called out for Nate every once and a while. He’d then run to me, tripping on stumps along the way. I savoured the day and embraced the irony of not having the camera for such an memorable event, in my books.
This year the trip to the tree farm was just the three of us. With the move putting us 2+ hours from Kevin’s family, who we annually tree hunt with, we hunted as a family of 3, rather than 12. Driving up the hwy – a la National Lampoon style – with a tree on the roof wasn’t so much an option for us this year, so we ventured out to a farm about 30 mins from us. If we hadn’t scoured the land for almost 2 hours – looking for the right tree – we would’ve had some time to share some hot cocoa by the fire and maybe pay a visit to Santa. Though, if I’m honest, the lineups were insane and not conducive to keeping an energetic, overtired toddler at bay. So we vowed next year to go for the wagon rides, sit by the fire and then grab a pre cut along the way out – which is what we ended up getting anyway – a pre cut. I know! Talk about gemini problems.
It was all worth it and in 12 short months, we’ll do it all over again. Family traditions for the win! xo
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