The Kate Effect

a texas girl meets the rain.

I ran across these pictures from our Florida trip in September - Kate is dancing in the pouring rain during our vacation. I remember watching her and feeling so torn. I was laughing at her joy and excitement for the rain - such a special thing for Texans who were still enduring a draught back home - but my heart could not be completely joyful. In those very same moments devastating fires were raging all over the hill country. It was so hard to enjoy the rain when our hearts were so heavy and our minds anxious for news. It was truly bittersweet.

Vacation Jar

It's been just over a month since our vacation to the Florida beaches and I finally sat down to put  our Vacation Jar together. I saw this idea on Pinterest and I could not wait to make one for Kate's first visit to the beach. I am glad I spotted the idea before leaving on vacation so that we could keep our eyes out for interesting items to bring back - otherwise it might have just been one shell. Not even two shells - just one.

Thankfully I had the idea floating in my brain and when we spotted the little crab and sea urchin all dried up we scooped them up and CAREFULLY go them home. This was not easy.

I love the simplicity of the whole thing. The jar is a vintage Ball jar that I picked up in Round Top (a bi-annual antique fair here in Texas - it's huge, like most things in Texas).  The photos are from her first day at the beach in Florida. There is one photo with the wave receded and on the other side is the same photo only the tide has come in over her feet. I hope to never forget her in that sweet striped swimsuit.

I purchased three more jars and I am already planning our next vacation. Wouldn't a shelf of vacation jars be awesome?!?

heres the crab the day we found it.

The Nephew

nephews are just awesome. thats all I have to say today.

a day at the beach

  

 

a day at the beach via iphone.

** the pic of Kate with the chicken nugget - she is showing me that her chicken nugget is shaped like Florida **

Hickory Dickory Dock

Here are few glimpses via iPhone at the beautiful grounds and dock Maria & Rudy have. We really enjoyed our time on the dock where kate caught a her share of fish. She is with Uncle Joe, who is Brad's uncle, with their catfish. Uncle Joe and Kate were good fishing partners. If she was on the dock  - he would let her reel it in. sweet.

We also jumped on the boat for a cruise through the inter-coastal waterways. It was a great way to see the dolphins feeding on fish and view the inlet where the water rushes out to the sea.

 

waco zoo.

the zoo in Waco is AWESOME. Mostly because when you have kids under 5 years old - it's really hard to see an entire zoo in one day. Austin has a zoo of sorts - but it is a rescue zoo. As much as I appreciate what they are doing in rescuing the animals....it is not the same zoo experience. San Antonio Zoo is great but it is still "far away" and ginormous for little legs.

We had heard good things about the Waco zoo and Kate had a jar full of change she had been collecting (i.e. stealing from my purse) so off we went to try it out. The cousins came too and the whole things was a great time!

this is kate daydreaming about something while we chilled at the playground/picnics area - which was really shady and nice. PLUS its right in front of some of the exhibits...

Of course kate is going one way on a giant snake sculpture and Judah is going the other - they come to meet in the middle and instead of just going around each other... they head butt. Judah's noggin is harder and bigger but Kate's will power and determination are unbreakable. 

Aunt Rach was super knowledgable and read all the little info plates and answered all the curious questions. I mostly took pictures (until my lens broke and literally fell out off the camera, yikes.) and got everyone in trouble by suggesting we act like the animals... which is annoying to others I learned.

a few of my favorite things - in the new house.

 - the way the sunlight filters through the trees in the early evening - the leaf shadows dance around the dining room. the house is super bright and FULL of light.

- the dark, iron/copper-ish light fixtures. a majority of the fixtures go together - yay for constancy!

- i love the banister and stair which are really wide - kate uses the banister as a horse corralling area.

 

key to my heart.

the day the movers came and moved the bulk of our stuff Kate went to hang out with some friends - when she came home we gave her own key and let her open the door to the new house. She was thrilled. the best photo is when she is chatting about her plans for her room on the doorstep and her key is hanging from her pink ... so chill. 

she is just plain cool sometimes.

moving out

it's time. time to pack it up and get out. moving day has arrived. 

 

 

movie nite at the park

spontaneous works some nights.

Griffin the Four Door

i always told myself I would not be the type of individual who has a new car every year. I would be the one that had a car so true to her personality that we would be tethered together for years until it could no longer run. 

then i grew up and moved and moved again, then had a wreck, and a baby, and blew a few transmissions...and realized it's not always that easy.

so a year after getting Rosalie ( and enduring a year of weekly trips to the car dr. for her first gear issue.*which they did fix and car dr. was wonderful) we moved on to Griffin.

Griffin is a four door Jeep wrangler. He is a mysterious dark blue, which happens to be KAte's favorite color right now so she approved immediately. He came with a hard & soft top - which makes me love him even more. 

I feel like my process of growing up is represented in my Jeeps.

 

Thor, my first Jeep, was older and rougher - A bright red wrangler with attitude and giant tires+lift kit - He had a soft top and zipper windows that had been cracked and cloudy from years of abuse and weather. Windows and locks were all manual and AC was hit or miss. the seats were torn and you could pull the plug in the floor and just wash out the inside ...

it was awesome!...for a young married 20 something 

 

Then there was the recent Rosalie. She was a dark a darker red...crimson really. Newer with a hard top. Real glass windows, but you still had to roll them down by hand. the locks were also still manual. She had a nice stereo and a great AC. She was the well developed and mature version of Thor. She was perfect.... except that I have a small kid now who crawls over my seat to get in the two door Jeep leaving muddy feet prints on my seat. And my client have to squeeze themselves into the back seat. And the groceries...well, you have to STACK them vertically and be real careful to not let them all fall onto the pavement when you open the back gate.

 

Which is why we traded her in for GRIFFIN. 

Griffin has power everything!! glass windows, remote locks...rockin stereo. AND FOUR DOORS. huge back end for groceries - or bikes...whatever i want can fit there. He quite the beast but he is perfect for us. It's like my 19yr old self and my 30 yr old self compromised and this is the solution.

Hopefully he will be our for a LONG TIME. I plan on driving him into the ground~

 

* i know I posted on FB awhile back - but I realized I left the blog world out on this big event.

as close to a family photo as we can get.

peaches & old stuff

the apartment is a crazy mess of boxes and there is stuff in all the wrong places. only one more week until the move into the apartment we actually plan on living in. Last weekend we just couldn't handle spending all weekend in the box fill rooms. So we took the top off the Jeep and headed to the hill country.  

Fredericksburg sounded nice. Maybe pick up some peaches at a quaint little fruit stand. A short visit to an antique shop to look at old stuff... just sounded great. 

and it was. Sort of. 

Kate and I had our handkerchiefs on holding our hair back and giant sunshades on to block the bright sunshine, as well as the random loose strand of hair that might whip around in wind and threaten eye laceration. 

 It was perfect. Music blaring we headed down the highway in our Jeep feeling the warmth of the sun on our shoulders.

About 20 minutes later Kate yells from the back. I turn around to see her holding her glasses to her head and yelling "This was a BAD IDEA!" 

At first it was funny but she was serious. 

" Turn AROUND. I want to go home."

Obviously 4.5 year olds do not have a nostalgic taste for driving with the windows down. it was TOO windy she claimed and that this was a BAD IDEA.  Unfortunately for her, we had embarked on this day trip and had no intentions of turning around before we got past Austin city limits. Although in all honesty you do not need to drive to Fredericksburg to get peaches. There are peach stands about every few feet on the highway with gigantic signs that say FREDERICKSBURG PEACHES.

We pressed on and Kate continued her chant & warnings ever so often. 

We did stop in one shop where i found a fabulously old sewing machine table. Kate found some horns she thought were awesome. This picture was not set up - she was really sitting at the wicker vanity and the horns were in front of her... so of course she picked them up to see what they looked like on her head. 

 

we did get peaches and even a bag of fresh Okra which I am frying up tonight. 

 

In Fredericksburg we made a mad dash for some food because we were starving....and ate the worst food ever. We will not be spiteful and name the place but it was right on the main street. overpriced & not good. well, the peach cobbler was good but it was made with CANNED PEACHES. seriously? in Fredericksburg where there are peaches galore. 

while we sat in cafe we people watched out the window and noticed it was ....raining. 

yep. the Jeep top is off and it's raining. thankfully it was light shower.

After browsing some shops and riding a pony...

we headed home. Poor Kate was terribly sleepy and slept like this: 

 

I know it's been 'summer' for a while now but for me Summer 2010 began on this day. It felt like Summer to me for the first time this year. It's been too mild of a Summer so far and this Texas girl is ready for the heat. 

Now I am going to go hide before you all flog me for that last sentence. 

spa days & ladybugs

lately my days are spent working amidst boxes. when I am not working, I am shooting. why the boxes...well we moved into a wonderful apartment and then decided to reserve the bigger one across the hall. the need for that one extra bedroom became glaringly obvious once we moved our boxes in. so now we are waiting. it's like living in a hotel where you never really unpack or settle in...only not decorated and there is no room service....or maid service. yeah, that good.

having said that, it is very exciting to realize the flip side. i am working - and ALOT. enough to require office space in our house and to be too busy to even sort of unpack for a month. it's good.

 

 but somedays the boxes get to us. the work seems to big. the day seems too short. 

these are the days we stop and paint our nails.

 

this was last weeks nails : Ladybugs.

she loved them. today we did: Bumble Bees. 

I didn't pull out the camera today because it felt like work and i wanted to savor the moment. It's funny, when your job is to "capture memories" sometimes you just feel like being selfish and enjoying the fleeting feeling of the moments not captured. the ones  you can't share - they are yours and yours alone. To be savored and fading like dreams.

 
 i am truly hoping kate choose something besides a bug next time.

memorial day 2010.

it's been an exhausting weekend for me. engagement shoot x3, a wedding, and a family session - all in the past three days. but i am grateful. not just for the obvious reasons of having work or a family that allows me to gal-avant around all weekend photographing other people... but for the subtle blessings of clients who make work feel more like fun than work and connections with people that can only be described as "arranged by God himself". i am grateful for work i love.

despite my exhaustion, it the busy weekend has helped my heart and mind be in the right place to celebrate and remember Memorial Day. this year has been fun because Kate is at the place of asking a million and one questions. thankfully Brad is patient enough answer most of them.

I came home on Saturday evening to find out Kate and Brad had watched soccer together. She was excited to tell me all about the game "where USA played CHICKEN." Took me a good hour before I realized she meant USA vs TURKEY.

Sunday evening I arrive home to find Brad and Kate parked in front of the TV watching the Indy 500 or maybe it was the other race... Kate was passionately explaining that her favorite car was driven by Juan Pablo and his tires were too "loose" so he had to go into the shop to fix them. After that she explained (hand motions and all) that tires create friction and they get sticky so they can grip the road.....etc.

Today Brad is at work. So I am the only one here to field questions today and the subject is Memorial Day. We have had some great discussions about remembering and honoring people and what a soldiers job is.

Right now Kate is lying on the floor showing me what it looks like when a soldier dies in combat. YIKES. You never know what she will zone in and focus on. She is at the age where death, dying, and dead are key words and we must reenact any situation those words might arise. after nap we may have a discussion about where and when reenactments are NOT appropriate.

I thought I would share with you some photos I was showing Kate of great-grandpa Wachter. This Brad's grandfather who lives here and in town and kate has had a tea party or two with him. It seems so appropriate today to share.

 ** these are family photos and it should go with out saying that you do not have permission to use or copy. i will find you. (followed by evil maniacal laughter)**

thank you great grandpa wachter, great grandpa james, grandpa d'anna... and to the many other soldiers who have serve, fight, and defend. we love you and we remember.

briefly a snowman.

a snowman's life is so very short. they start with a ball of snow and some button choices.

(the second photo is purely to show off kate's one week of hair growth after the incident)

Then it's a few happy moments of photos before the inevitable happens - an arm breaks off!

It's sad but true that very few life giving measures are taken in the case of snowman emergency. Once the demise is certain it's just best to finish it all off with a good stomping session.

who knew a snowman's end could be so dramatic and violent.

snow. seriously, it snowed.

we had snow. first a little and then a lot.

yep, I still live in austin texas and it wasn't some weird dream. it snowed big fluffy flakes. it snowed multiple times in one day. there was snow on the ground in the morning.

even as I type this it seems incomprehensible. It never snows here. not like this.

I tried my best to be ambivalent about the whole thing. I let kate run outside in her robe first thing in the morning when it was just the icy rain we Texans call snow. I figure this was all we would get and she should go out while it lasted. Then we got on with our day...

 

I helped Kate pick out a smashingly cute outfit for chilly weather, which she model for me. she was  quite the ham and telling me jokes. this was refreshing since she usually ignores the camera completely.

It happened to snow on a day that Kate goes to play with her cousins at Gigi's....which means I get a few precious hours to do the things I need to do without interruptions. I dropped Kate off, ran an errand and got home to tackle the pile of paperwork on my desk. Upon arriving home I found Brad. He had decided to work from home and avoid the slip and slide traffic later that day. I thought this was utterly ridiculous because I was still in denial that the "snow" would ever appear ....much less stick....and definitely it would not pile up on the highway. 

Here I am trying to calculate mileage, create invoices, and organize receipts (all the things creative types HATE about owning their own biz) when Brad peeks his head in and says " Have you seen the snow?"

There goes the likelihood of uninterrupted focus time.

Ten minutes later.."Wow, these flakes are huge!".....5 minutes later.."It's really snowing hard, I wonder if Kate is playing in it."  I wish I could say I handled this well, but I did not. After a few overly polite but curt replies I snapped and reminded Brad that this was precious non-child time for my business and I could see the snow just fine from the garage window. yikes. I know.

Good gravy. Not only am I not getting things done or getting to have the house to myself but now I am THE most Scrooge-like person in Texas for dropping my child off somewhere else to play in the snow AND refusing to stand on the porch with my husband for five minutes and enjoy the amazing hush of a miracle snow. I chose to immerse myself in Quickbooks (which I hate) and be productive. You have to understand... these were MY PRECIOUS few hours. (now go back and read that sentence again only think of Gollum from Lord of the Rings) If I don't get stuff done then then I have to miss out on family fun or sleep....

Eventually I gave in and stood for a moment with Brad on the porch and watched in awe as the flurries thickened. Then Brad announced is was time to get back to work. I will not elaborate on the face I made at him.

I picked up Kate from Gigi's where they had played in the snow ALL morning. I made sad attempts to apologize for not bringing her proper snow-wear and admitted that I was utterly wrong when I said it would never really snow.

We arrived home to find Brad done with work and waiting for Kate in the front yard. A snowball fight ensued immediately. I found myself safely indoors and thought "YES!" some time to myself.

But in the end I was drawn back outside by the uncontrollable giggles echoing off every surface. With camera in hand I walked out the front door and this is what happened next :

I would like to point out that Kate has socks on her hands because I have never had to buy her gloves.

One of the best moments were when the middle school kids bus dropped off and the a few kids made snowballs for kate and built up her arsenal. No words her exchanged, just knowing smiles and hard packed snowballs.

I am sure there is a moral to this story... something about family time being more important than work...or believing in the impossible.... or sometimes weatherman are right, don't judge them on a whole....

pop

this is my friends belly.

do you think she will forgive me for posting it on my blog.

perhaps I can convince her it is really just a photo of her munchkin who is due in July. perhaps.

or maybe this post will disappear after a few threatening emails.

It's so funny. A few weeks ago when she was in town she would touch her tummy and i wanted to say "umm, stop. For goodness sakes - I look more preggo than you!"

But this visit!? she POPPED. and she is adorable. and baby is really truly there.

Kate has become super aware of this whole pregnancy phenomena.

here is a picture she drew:

there is kate with curly hair and then there is me.

let me point out a few elements.

- there is a face in my tummy, right below my very large bellybutton. thats kate when she was in my tummy.

- there are circles on our legs. those are knees. and toes.

- there are circles next to me...that is yarn. I guess I am knitting.

- I have no arms. supposedly I don't need them since she refused ot draw me some when I asked for appendages.
 

I have a feeling we will be having many more "where babies come from" conversations over the next 6 months as two of my friends have babies...

(I take my own bottled water when I visit their house, just incase it's catching)

 

kate joins Flock of Seagulls.

the day the Saints won the super-bowl will be forever remembered in my house.

unfortunately it will have little to do with the fact that I had recently claimed them as my "team" or even learned to enjoy watching football. it will have nothing to do with the dear friend who came over and cheered with us and brought their Saints flag to hang in front of the house...

(although they will forever remember this day as well.)

we will all remember this at the moment Kate cut all the hair off one side of her head.

i know it might take a moment to sink in so let me slow it down for you.

SHE CUT HER HAIR OFF but ONLY ON ONE SIDE...ALL. OF. IT.

here is what she looked like around 5pm when the game started:

while it's true you can't see all her hair... you tell it's in a ponytail and she has cute frizzy bangs, right?

well here is what she looked like in the fourth quarter :

(which was really late for us because we did a lot of pausing the DVR so we could all see the commercials)
 

i know it's shocking.

you might want to take a moment.

if you didn't quite comprehend it here are a few more angles...

oh yes. she did.

and she liked it.

 
 
 i am to blame here. the girls were all watching a movie and resting in the family office. the door was open we were in and out of the room all the time but Kate decided to take matters into her own hands.

the problem: hair in her face tickling her nose.

the solution: use ladybug scissors to cut it out of her way.

*we had done and art project earlier in the day and she had cleaned up her table...I should have made sure I collected the scissors from her - ESPECIALLY since friends were coming over. bad mom.

she was sitting slightly behind her friend while cutting so it must have taken her a while to realize what she was doing - as soon as she noticed she promptly reported that "kate is cutting her hair" which caused me to FLY off the couch.

my first glance into the room was to see the back of her head which had a horrible mullet look. I came back around the corner to grab brad and friends.. thinking "well it could be worse but she will just have a short cut...it's actually really funny"

but upon entering the room the second time (with audience) kate turned and revealed 'ground zero'.

no hair. little wisps. sharp pointed star-trek like bangs.

heaps of hair all over the floor.

the floor, where all our jaws had dropped, was covered with hair.

I snapped out of my stunned moment just in time to halt the two and half year old from snipping her own bangs. what followed was actions on a mom in shock. I think I was quite calm.

my first concern was traumatizing her. I did this very thing when I was her age and the memory of disappointment is seared in my brain. so I found my brain in overdrive thinking about how to react in front of her friends - how to not get angry but not to laugh because Kate will do anything for a laugh and I did NOT want her to try to cheer me up later by cutting her hair again.

We have been focusing on the fact it was wrong to cut her hair...which she knows.

It was wrong to use the scissors on anything but paper.

privileges have been lost and scissors have been exiled to the top of the hutch.

BUT she is still beautiful and that is what I am protecting. My bold and risk-taker child is also sensitive and wants to please...so every grimace and sadness of those pretty curls has to be put away.

After she went to bed and the debate on what to do with her hair going forward had concluded...i was sad. This I think surprised me the most. I have been around the block when it comes to hair - having every color and super-short cut.

But those were decisions I made, consequences I dealt with. geez, i didn't expect this to starts so soon. As funny and crazy as she looks - I love it. But I realize that there will be kids and adults with not filter who will say careless things or well-meaning comments that she may take wrong. And I can't fix this.

It will take time to grow out. It will take a good deal of time.

for now we have stocked up on hats. The next few weeks we will wear lots of hats. Maybe after the one side grows out a little we will find an awesome short hair cut... but for now we will just let the bald spots grow a little. Brad has rejected the idea of truly "owning the cut" by including some bodacious pink and blue color....

 
 

the big reveal.

today is the day.

the day my friend finds out whether she will be going to dance recitals or football games.

the sun decided to shine and I decided to blog .....because honestly I needed something more to do than laundry while I waited for the news.

I actually have a couple of friends who are pregnant, although this one in particular is having her first, so I hoping that they wont ALL be the same gender. Otherwise I will be stuck with some very cute stuff and might find myself trying to meet random pregnant women in the grocery store in hopes of unloading the goods. Which is creepy at best but may prove necessary.

one of the other things I picked up for said genderless baby...was a tiny newborn grey ones-ie. It was super simple but on the right sleeve was a screened graphic of a traditional heart tattoo with the word MOM scrawled in traditional tattoo style.

LOVE it.

could pinch myself for not photographing it before I stuffed it into that brown padded envelope.

the best thing is ... i picked it up at a resale shop for $1.50.  i paid more for the postage.

come boy or girl, it will be worn.

detour in west texas

i generally have a good attitude about a session being canceled or rescheduled - I always see it as a chance for me to get away and do something different or just more time with kate or an opportunity... like a little treasure of time that I was not expecting.

While in west texas i was gifted with a little time treasure...one wide open morning due to a canceled session. the first thing i thought was, "what can i do that is out of the ordinary?" the answer was immediate - go see my Nanny & Papa. They live in a smaller town about an hour or so from where I was staying, which might seem like a 'trip' when you have a husband and kiddo to wrangle. Fortunately i was a single girl that weekend and made the decision to get up early and head even further West!

It was such a special time! The last time we could remember me spending time with them alone or with out the distraction of other family members was when i stay a week while I was 13 years old...I hung out with some older boys and my trip got cut short.

this time i was older, married and too tired to cause much trouble. not much.

here are a few images from our morning together.

my love for photos begins in this hallway. i loved looking at these very pictures growing up. Also in this hallway is a door that leads to "the back room" as we called it. It is a room that has been a game room, family area, the room where we played Coleco & Atari(first video games. nanny now has a wii, she keep up with the gaming industry) - also in this room was my nanny's at home studio. It is still filled with many of her props!

One of the other doorways in this hallway led to a small closet that she had turned in to a dark room so she could develop her own film. It was always some mysterious hole she disappeared into where the light was never on. It's now a closet again but feels similar to the wardrobe in CS Lewis's stories. My gut tells me if I reach far enough back behind the coats i will find the eerie room with no lights.

they were gracious enough to brave the chilly weather for a few quick photos in front of the house. I am so thankful. 

my papa is wearing this jacket from when he coached. I love it. He coached and his daughter married a Texas high-school coach, who then had two very athletic children. One of which is currently cheer for our very own Texas Longhorns. yes, we are texas to the bone. Friday Night lights is very relate-able.

Papa also owned his own pharmacy  - My dad is a pharmacist - my brother is a pharmacist. I love seeing that common thread, even in these men who are so very different.

I am neither athletic or cerebral in those ways. I am different. some what of a dream stuck in my own dramatic life which I embellish ever chance i get. i get this from my Nanny. She raised a family, supported and worked with her husband in his own business after putting him through school. She painted and created things and then decided to play golf- and then after I, and a few other grandchildren, appeared she pursued photography. She has her own business and at one time had her own studio. these days she prefers to photograph from the sidelines of a football game than behind a lighting rig. 

If i learned anything from her it's that it is never too late to reinvent your self and to find a new passion to pursue wholeheartedly. we talked about photography. it was fun to have the chance to 'geek-out' with her. I walked away with a full heart and a film camera... oh and handful of acorns for a project i can't wait to show you!

Moral of the post?

it's nice to have this fall through sometimes. disappointment often opens us up to opportunity.
 
 
 

lights up, eyes on.

http://ransomtv.typepad.com/ransom/2009/12/dj-promote-lights-up-eyes-on-ep.html

last weekend i got a client on top of the roof of a very old motel. thankful he is married to my cousin and i am pretty sure he wouldn't have sued me if he fell...well at least i hope not.

it's all good though, because he didn't fall. despite the cold fog and rain!

He is DJ Promote and five of his tracks are up at RansomTV for free download. yep, i said free.

you gotta check'em out. awesome stuff and a nice new sound for the holidays.

Kate is loving them so much that she is now rapping everything and she wants headphones to wear like Mote. i am so glad she has a fantastic appreciation for music.

Better yet we have had some great conversation based around the words on the tracks...like "who's eyes and I keeping on?" and "where should i go when I die?" and "whats goodwill, mom?"

moments i live for.

take  a moment and stick this is your ear!

http://ransomtv.typepad.com/ransom/2009/12/dj-promote-lights-up-eyes-on-ep.html

happy birthday, Judah Karl!

this morning i discovered an adorable photo of my youngest nephew in my mailbox. it was and invite to his first birthday party. the invite had such great timeing. Even though the TX family celebrated had celebrated on Thanksgiving and his birthday party was planned for this weekend in MN with the MN family - TODAY is his actual birthday.

It was a fantastic reminder to post photos from his birthday cake from last week and another reason to be thankless/thankful.

* I am not thankful that this year has flown by so quickly, but I am extremely grateful that his MN family will be able to have that special celebration. I am even more thankful that the party is not today since it is FREEZING cold outside and i want to stay home in my toasty socks by the fire.

t

the cat for non-cat lovers. a leopard

my cousin and her husband recently, by fate, acquired a domesticated bengal cat.

I know very little about this type of cat but I do know that if i did not have allergies and liked cats - this is the one I would own. sleek, short-haired with attitude. it's like having a small leopard in your house.

I just could not get enough images of this beautiful creature. well, until the allergies did kick in and then I had to stop photographing because my sneezing was causing motion blur and my watery eyes were making it difficult to focus. but atlas it is an awesome feline.

check out their story on how the acquired him here :

http://djpromote.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-two-new-leopards.html

 

super-aunt

 

my sister-in-law never ceases to amaze me. at our family dinner for Kate's birthday i found her reading to the kiddos, only she wasn't reading - she was reciting. She new all the word to the Dr. Suess book flawlessly and was reciting them on the correct page while she watched TV.

genius.

...the whole time it was sucking his blood!

I walked through the door at my moms and there was adorable Judah hanging out by the couch. Since i always have my trusty camera in hand i smile and snapped a shot - Judah being a total ham started being all coy and cute. so i continued to snap.

A fleeting thought crossed my mind, "wonder what that black thing is on his head? dirt, marker...MOSQUITO!"

i dropped the camera and smacked his head (gentle of course) to kill the blood sucking insect that was feeding on my nephew. yes, it was just as amazing as some national geographic scene!

poor kid was pretty stunned and just stared at me - I had to recover quickly. scooped him and found a large toy car. thankfully his testosterone took over and the whole experience was forgotten while we made car noises.

whew.

 

the youngest.

this is my youngest nephew. his mommy just took him to California for four days.

i swear she brought home somebody elses child - he looks so different.

He may be the 'baby" of the family but he doesn't know it. He is ready to be a preschooler like his cousins - he has no idea what babies do he just gets mad his legs don't go as fast as his big brother's.

  
 
 

happy birthday mom

mom,

you are amazing. you are so fun and creative.

you are so very beautiful and I am glad I take after you in so many ways!

I am so glad you and Kate have such a close relationship, thank you for making each moment with her something special. I hope you enjoyed your birthday as much as we did.

you are loved tremendously by all of us...even the littlest of our family.

can't wait to celebrate you again next year. maybe kate will actually look at the camera next year.

love, me

 

dear uncle diddy,

in a few years you might hear a small knock on your door.

it will be your neice.

thats where i will drop her off after

she gets in trouble for playing video games and not doing her homework.

love, me

* actually I am quite thankful that he loves kate so much and is so involved in her life. She is like him in many ways - she loves music and gymnastics and is natrually tuned into video games and computers...alright your hired diddy.

skip school, go to the zoo

 

San Antonio ZOO 2009

we skipped the first day of preschool to go to the zoo.

we had an awesome time.

the highlight of th day was a hippo's exploding poop.

obviously super funny to our preschool kiddos

check out the flickr page (which i really must utilize more) to see all the photos.

you can also click on the flickr badge in the upper right hand side of this page.

quentin tarantino parenting

i admire my sister-in-law in so many ways but this weekend i gained new respect for her parenting skills and a little absolution of guilt.

recently Kate heard me refer to something my dad used to say when I was a child...something along the lines of " if you do that again I will cut your arms off..." and how funny it seemed now because my dad is not a violent man. Kate in her amazing way picked up on this phrase while eavesdropping on my conversation and immediately started questioning the realities of cutting off body parts. Her little three year old mind thought it ridiculous. She began to tell me how bones were to hard for scissors to cut and it would be very messy. She was so logical and not emotional that it seemed very comical at the time. Since then I have felt some guilt for being so careless about my conversation within her earshot.

SOme of that guilt melted away this weekend when my sister-in-law told her two year old son to stop doing something and as all two year olds do, he asked why?

She precedes to tell him that he could possibly get his finger chopped off and like this ...(she holds up her hand with the fingers together only her pointer finger i bent at the knuckle so it looks like only half a finger)  .... and then she says, "and blood would come gushing out like this ..." (she uses her other finger to flick out from the half finger like splashing blood.) ...."and then you would loose alot of blood and we would a call the ambulance...."

I at this point am laughing so hard at her "amputated digit routine" that I can't see straight.  It was like a public service announcement by quentin tarantino

over morbid loss of appendage conversation : Absolved.

Permission to parent with graphic yet truthfully straightforward reenactments of consequences: Granted.

Rach, you are my hero!.

back to reality, oops there goes gravity

Ahhhh. I feel like I am sinking into and comfy overstuffed chair with a large cup of coffee.  Instead I am sitting in my mildly uncomfortable, but trendy, white office chair and clicking open my blogging software.  Quite the same feeling though.

It has been a while, I could click over to my posting history and tell you exactly how long it has been since I posted last but even that small movement seems like too much effort. I really want to pour my thought out onto paper…figuratively. Be warned, this post is bound to be full of misspelling and grammatical errors….run on sentences and misplaced punctuations. Yes, indeed.

I just arrived home from a wonderful trip to West Texas. The excursion was full of adventures as my mom,  Kate and I along with my sister-in-law and her two boys piled in the Expedition and headed to the “Ends Of the Earth!”  While I photographed the newest member of our family and her big sister, Kate and the boys visited their great-aunt & uncle who is a Firefighter.  They will be talking about the fire engine for weeks, the helmets, masks, siren, driving it, the lights….everything about it was explored!

There was family time over homecooked meals where we got to razz the family newly-weds, oogle my cousin’s new baby, and interrogate the youngest cousin’s new boyfriend!  My Granny, who Kate calls Granny-Great, was in great spirits as we crammed too many people into her tiny room at the assisted living manor. Her poor roommate parked her wheelchair in the hall and hollered, “Hey, you guys are gonna have to move outta the way so I can get in!” It made everyone laugh, even Kate got the joke.

We swam first thing in the morning –taking full advantage of the hotel stay. Kate has been swimming at grandma and grandpa's house all summer where they have a life-jacket-type-thingy. It makes her quite confident in the water. We had no such floatation device in West Texas. Therefore Kate jumps in the water grinning hugely and kicking frantically, yet she slowly sinks despite her efforts. (can I just add here that I hate swimming? I hate cool water and I am not coordinated…I was just meant for hot tubs.)  After many rescue attempts she must have accepted the fact that she indeed was not swimming but sinking. At lunch we meet my cousin who is in her first week at college, Kate greets her with, ”Ashley, we went swimming and I sunk.”

Now that we had my cousin sans her boyfriend we began to quiz her on college life. Turns out she has a Monday morning class on US & Texas History taught by Japanese professor whom she can’t understand. Oh, the irony of formal education.

Our most exciting adventure had to be the discovery of a Horny Toad. As we drug our overnight bags to the car we stumbled upon a large horny toad. These lizards are native to West Texas but are quite scarce these days.  When Kate spotted it she dropped her bag and said,  “WHOA, a baby  dragon!”

I got some lovely photos of the “baby dragon” I hope to post soon.

It was a wonderful trip, made even more wonderful by the absence of computers and cell phones. I am actually thanking the Lord for leaving my chargers at home.  Some days I wish I could permanently loose them but for now I will charge up these batteries so I can jump back on the horse tomorrow.  I can already hear the white rabbit ….

“I’m late, I’m late For a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye. I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!”

mr. silverstein and uncle diddy

 

a part of me will be sad when uncle diddy has kids of his own, kate is so used to being the center of his world.

this was from his recent visit where he read his favorite poems from the Shel Silverstien book he gave her last year.

 

well, if I have to move over - you better be awesome.

it was really hard to move over and vacate the best friend spot when my BFF decided to get married. i was already living miles from her and we were no longer running in the same circles... I had a baby and dog and she was managing a full plate at college...

it's not like she didn't spend most of her time with other friends anyway. we barely got to see each other.it's not like i wasn't already married but I was always married. It's not like I didn't predict her move to Texas would avail her to the wonderful future with a texas man, I practical spoke it into being.

Despite all of this - I was nervous. things had to change. it was just the principle of it. I had to move over and make room for HIM.

Thankfully HIM is wonderful. not only do i get along with HIM but brad does too. i am still quite shocked every time we hang out and I realize how much I really do like HIM. How often i tend to take HIS side. How much he deserves credit for the impressive job HE does of loving my friend.

I think I have been holding my breath since their wedding last May. Not because I thought it would all fall apart but because i knew there was no doubt of success. Because I knew this was right for her but in my mind that meant she would change. she would mold HIM and HIM to her and I wasn't sure what that looked like... or where I fit in. I think in my apprehension i stepped back and made room.

not want to crowd or stake my claim but being open to what would be best for her, even if that left me on the awkward phone call friend list. I think I let my  self-conscienceness get the best of me. HIM makes room for me and SHE puts up with my weirdness. THEY are my BFF and I am double-ly blessed.

Happy Anniversary, ya'll.

summertime is here.

i know it's still May - but it is hot here in Austin. it is time for sprinklers and swimming!

i just love tues and thurs. even through I usually have a lot of work on the computer to do, i set it all aside and head to gigi's house watch the cousin's play in the water.

there will most likely be loads of photos like this on flickr by the end of summer.

 

 

 

the after swim daze

 

new grounds for play.

I have been crazy busy lately - so all you get are photos of the crazy cousins today!

gigi and poppi got a swingset for their backyard. hunter came over and walked by the back window, paused and said, "gigi, there's a playground in your backyard!"

LOVE IT!

2 things to note

2 things to note, originally uploaded by justinmjamestx.

this is my nephew's backside!
his mom took this and noted the following:

2 things to note
1. notice the black band under my jeans, those are undies. i am learning to go tinkle on the toilet and mom says im doing well.
2. see the "dad deer" in my back pocket. well my name is hunter and i live in tx, did you expect anything less? :)

* I love my family.

happy birthday nephew!

 

I can't believe is only two!

 

so many people? maybe i should start with the family.

   One of my recent clients wrote me a wonderful email about how happy she was with her son's photo session. It was great to hear the encouragement. Honestly God brought it all together and is truly the one to thank.

One thing she said was "It must be so cool for you to be making a career in something that brings so many people so much joy!"

This little phrase has been ringing in my ears. I don't always know if clients liked their photos or not. I struggled with this at first. The lack of feedback. When you photograph people you know - you generally hear what they have to say, new clients you have never met before don't always feel the need to report back on their feelings.

Brad at one point compared it to my hairstylist. He said "Carrie, do call your stylist the next day and tell her how much you love the haircut? The only way she knows that you are happy is when you don't complain and when you call her to schedule another appointment." This helped me wrap my head around it. It is also the reason I called my hairdresser today and told her how much I REALLY love my new cut.

It is cool to know that I am documenting what a person is like right now. Most people will value this kind of documentation later when they are no longer at this point in their lives. Often parents or spouses of the subject recognize the personality in the photograph and love the quirky ones that capture those attributes they adore.

The other part of the comment that has been nudging me is "so many people"... the fact is I am becoming lazy about documenting my own little life. Sure I still photograph Kate and even use her as a subject when practicing but it's always about Kate. If you happen to be close enough to her you might get in the photo.

I realize I am doing an injustice to my own story. I am hoping to push through those barriers of laziness and really challenge myself to capture our life and relationships as I see them. To document my life and not just my child's growth spurts. I know that this will be special to Kate one day. Not only will she be able to remember her relationships with family but also see the world through her mom's eyes.

Here's a good start.

                

 

 

so you know a few days ago it was cold...?

ummm. that was hell freezing over.

how do i know?

My mom and dad got puppies!

That is not a typo - they got TWO puppies. Two LAB puppies.

PUPPIES!

if you know my family you are probably aware that we are not really natural animal lovers...My mom, brother and I are all allergic to cats and various other animals and well our one dog growing up was kind of spastic.

Who would have ever thought that we would all have dogs! when we get together for family dinners (my brothers fam, my fam and mom and dad) we will have 6 adults, two preschoolers, a baby, and FIVE dogs. It sound crazy but it is fun.

It fun to have puppies around, especially when they live with someone else. These are the sweetest little pups too.

 

click continue for more cute photos

Christmas Eve + Guitar Hero = Family of Rock Stars

     

   

 

cousins rock!

 

judah, today was supposed to be your birthday...

 

but we are so glad you came early!

thanksgiving 2008

 

the thanksgiving table at my moms was so wonderful with tiny bits of fall scattered about.

       

kate could not keep her hands off of the deco.

Judah a few days before he suprised us with an early birth!

   

Kate brought friends to Thanksgiving : Tiger and Dog 1 and 2.

I promise there was no coordination of plaid! Hunter and Kate just happen to be in similar attire.

     

Look at those cute little Puma's, Hunter and Kate wear the same size!

The Kids welcomed the guest for us.

What am I thankful for? A mom who puts up with me.

(if you would like to see the photo larger just click on the photo)

 

the wish bone that refused to break.

OH Boy OH Boy!

Judah Karl James 

Born December 1st 2008 at 6:36am

7.5 lbs    21in

Descripition lanky and sleepyhead. Hunters lips.

the photos are from day 3.

     

 

um hunter and rach both do this face!!

     

gigi with judah... he likes to relax when hung in mid air - too funny.

 

Hunter day 1 - not real sure why everyone wants him to look at the baby.

     

Cars are way cooler than brothers...eventually he shared a truck with Judah.

it the wide mouth Hunter...love the way kate is just looking at him is amazment.

 

*I am not sure why my images look washed out when i upload them to typepad...its a recent developement and it is driving me crazy. Imagine photos with a little more saturation, please.

Thanks

cousins rock.

   

gigi please tell the dr that he can take out more of your insides if he wants to! mom said thats called surgery. hunter came to play with us while you were eating ice chips at the hospital and aunt rach was working hard. we didn't work hard but we played hard. having a cousin is awesome!

love, K8

ps - hunter had to wear my pink Dora crocs because he forgot his shoes, but don't tell uncle justin.

   

 

 

 

 

Amarillo by Morning

yesterday we drove from Austin to Amarillo and it was a fantastic! Kate did a great job of keeping busy. She was also very self-sufficient. We are driving our little Honda Accord and the backseat is packed upon both sides of her carseat. I was so thrilled to see her help herself to her library books in the bag next to her and watched her expertly arrange the tray I brought along in antcipation of a goldfish snack. I thought she might scream because it was not mustard on white bread, which seems to be all she will eat right now but goldfish seem to be acceptable.

the great fence is finish - let the celebration begin.

finally the fence between the neighbors yard and our is finished. I no longer have to wonder what it would feel like to be mauled by their dogs. Not that their dogs are too terribly vicious but the do project a quite possessive and mean attitude. Especially to Kate who is small and loud.

the dogs are not out often but since the fence blew down a few weeks ago they have been fenced in with frail chicken wire. I often practice in my mind what I would do if one of them bounded over the silly wire and headed for my small loud child. The conclusion is lots of blood.... the dogs that is.

I like dogs in general - wouldn't say i am a lover of dogs but i strongly like the canine breeds. I think it is a simple trust issue. But now their is a fence and it is beautiful. I am thrilled a Brad's handiwork and thankful to Special K's fiance's (he needs a nickname), to my brother, and to Grandpa D. I love that you all are willing to risk splinters to provide my little one with a safe place to make mud pies!

From Shirley Temple to Jack Nicholson

This is how I left Kate on Friday morning when I had to meet mom and dad at the ER. I was meeting with my 'running partner' for the first time (and no I do not mean running as  in physical exertion - rather the woman who was brave enough to commit to doing life with me and talking about life and God and how those two things collide.) when i recieved a call from dad. He was at the ER with mom again. This was visit 3 to the ER, day 8 for the horrible migriane, and the 6th doctor's opinion heard. I was starting to panic that something was really wrong with mom but I shoved the unthinkable notions down and continued my morning in erie normalcy. What else was could I do?  I had the mini Jack Nicholson decorating her tiny body with her markers, which thankfully was keeping her occupied, and my new running partner would be arriving any minute from a good 20-30 minute drive across town with her twin toddlers.

So I pulled a Bree Van de Kamp and calmly made my bed. 

When my partner arrived she asked how I was an I went on a verbal vomit of the weeks events sparing no detail, although there were many details that could have be spared. All the while Kate is so excited to see the girls she begins to run circles around then like a sheep dog trying to gather the herd. She began to give a grand tour of the house, only stopping at the important places : the fish tank, the play kitchen, her bed with her quilt. the funny thing is ... this was not there first time to the house! The girls had been over the previous week for her birthday party and played with all her things. OH, but this was different. Kate had the girls all to herself.

As I rambled on about my woes Kate chased the girls with her markers managing to color one of the twins neck and shirt bright green. If youa re imagining a few careless marks of color you would be sadly mistaken. It was more like heavy scribbling. Let's just say there was more green than peachy flesh.

Dispite my daughter apparent goal to turn the girls into little Incrediable Hulks my running partner urged me to go be with mom while she wrangled the kids until Brad came home. I don't think I can express the sheer relief and fear I felt when I left the house. I was so relieved and thankful that she had given me an escape and permission to be in crisis. In the same breathe I was leaving my partner with my exuberent daughter who would most likely spend the morning looking for ways to shove the twins into the dryer or comb their hair with the spaghetti strainer.