Updates

We got the best phone call of the year the other day... Dot's officially going down to three legs! We've been concerned about Dot's half-leg (missing from the knee joint down) because it's always getting scraped and infected. The bone is right at the end so whenever the stump rubs on something (mostly when she's playing with her best friend Maggie), it gets inflamed and many times you can see the bone. Plus, she's always tucking it up into her stomach, which causes a large red bedsore-type rash that never goes away. That being said, we took her to a vet who suggested that it be taken up to her hip. Well, as you may know, we adopted Dot from the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter with the understanding that her leg wouldn't need any special attention, knowing that we couldn't afford a major surgery. So we contacted them and explained the situation, and were told that there would be a vote on if they would cover Dot's surgery or not. And they are going to cover the WHOLE THING! I have nothing but good things to say about the Shelter, they love their dogs so much that Dot loved going back there to get her vaccinations!

Dot is going in for surgery on Tuesday morning, and although we have a long recovery in store for us, I'm excited to finally be able to take her to a dog park and let her go crazy! (without worrying about skinning her knee and infection).


On another note, Johanna is FINALLY going to the bathroom by herself at night. She's been potty trained through the night for the past year, but she comes into our room at about 2 am and has me help her go pee, then tuck her back in bed. Since I go to bed at about 1 am (work hours are from about 9 pm - 1 am), you can image my annoyance at the fact that my 1-year-old sleeps solid until 9 am, yet my THREE-year-old gets me up at night, and as a side-note, my mattress is so old that I feel like I am laying on a rock. Plus, it's kind of scary because I'm in a dead sleep and she's so quiet, she comes right up to the edge of my bed and whispers, "mommy". So we made a star chart, set up a stool and nightlight in her bathroom, and told her if she got five stars we would go to Disney Land. And voila! (actually it wasn't that easy, but I won't get into details). Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that we broke down and spent the money on a memory foam mattress, and it was worth EVERY penny!!! Better nights of sleep are in my future!



After five more stars, she got a set of Princess books with a CD that reads them aloud to her, not sure who likes them more... me or her?





I might as well keep going here, both kids are still napping :)

If anyone blog-stalks my sisters, you would also know that Amanda and I (and both kids) took a last minute flight out to Ohio to surprise Nicole and meet our newest niece, Norah. It was so much fun, and the highlight was seeing Jo and Adeline play so well together.





While we were there, we went to a farm and fed the goats and I SWEAR that Johanna is going to be a vet or something. She reminds me of Ace Ventura in that scene where he comes home and all the animals flock to him. Nothing scares her and she has a special way with them. While Adeline cried (and I have to give her a break here, it was a little overwhelming with 20 or so goats stuffed into a small shed, starved for food and attention), Johanna ran around feeding them all, letting them lick her and try to take her hat off (multiple times).



On a side-note:

1) I remember when Johanna was about Emerson's age, she used to drape everything around her neck, and her favorite thing was my swimsuits. I used to think it was a hilarious individual trait, but then Emerson started doing the same exact thing! I even looked in my photo history and realized they were in the same age-month!



2) We had one of Johanna's best friends over the other day, and I kept reminiscing over how much they've grown (and changed) together. They are 3 weeks apart in age, and have known each other since 3 months old.



All right, Emer's screaming up in his crib. Next to come (hopefully)... monthly collages! Trying to stay on top of them this time...

Mr. Emer

I had a shoot at my house the other day so I figured with my studio all set up, I'd strip Emer down and do an impromptu photo shoot. I love how he and Dot are pretty much the same age, and I have so many pictures of them harassing each other (with love :) They're best buds. (note: I tried to bribe Johanna to take some pictures, but she is in a stage where she hates getting her picture taken. She always yells at me "don't take my picture!!" when I pick up my camera. Needless to say, no bribes worked this day.)






This one's in honor of my Dad (the "Tom Smart" face)

Six months of collages!

I regret to say that I have missed sending the collages out for the past SIX months, but the good news is that I have finally caught up on them! The bad news is that I don't have all the fun stories and notes from each month :( This was the busiest photography season yet, and I worked myself to the bone! I ended it with a big old case of pneumonia in both lungs, and I'm still recovering from extremely sore ribs and lungs. It was also probably the best diet ever, I think I actually need to put a few pounds on (that sounds like fun!!)

Johanna (just turned three) is so mature and sweet and loving, I sometimes wonder how we lucked out with such a wonderful child! She amazes me daily with her compassion, and is Dot's greatest ally ("Mom, she didn't mean to do it, she won't do it again"... and so on). She always makes sure that I am happy, and is the best hugger/kisser/snuggler ever. She is really into princesses and princes, kingdoms and castles and all the make-believe that comes with it. She even addresses Chase and I as "your majesty" and says things like "come here, my prince" to Chase. She's still very into all living creatures, including the annoying grasshoppers, ants, slugs and worms in our yard. She calls them her "little flower" or "little buddy" and carries them around until they inevitably get squished (or we secretly dispose of them). She loves Emerson like crazy, and has nicknames for him like "goofy head" and "silly boy".








Emerson (now 14 months) is truly a little man. He's a fast, confident walker but looks a little like a penguin, but with higher knees. He began to fully walk right before he turned one. He loves to point, and is usually leading the way with his pointer finger. He's turning into a mimic, trying to repeat everything we say. He's obsessed with cell phones and socks (loves to say "sock") and especially Dot. "Dot" was one of his first words. He follows her around and tries to give her huge hugs, which usually means laying on top of her (in which she sneaks out and leaves him laying on the floor). Much to my disgust, he also gives her open mouth kisses which leaves his mouth full of hair. It has been such a relief to have him be a great eater (Johanna is still a tiny grazer). Most of the time if he's whiny, it's because he's hungry. He abandoned his high chair a few months ago because he insisted on sitting at the small table with Johanna. He eats all of his food and then waits for Johanna to get bored and leave, and then he moves on to her plate and finishes it off. I've been trying to teach him some basic signs, including "more" (tap all your fingers together) and just the other day he started doing it his own way, which is using his pointer finger and taping his palm, as if he's saying "put more right here". He cracks me up. I've lost track of his teeth, but I think he's at about 10-ish (two on bottom, four on top, and the rest somewhere on the sides). How's that for vague? The second kid just does not get as much documentation!

Halloween & Emer's 1st B-Day

I have been M.I.A. on my blog for the past month, and since it is my only method of journaling (and Emerson's baby book - how bad is that?) it's about time I did an update. Mostly, I have been buried under mountains of photo shoots and editing, rarely getting to bed before 1 am. Unfortunately, my work hours tend to be from 8 pm - 1 am. Then I decided to make myself go a little more mad and sew my kids costumes on top of everything else. I found a Dorothy costume for Dot and it was so hilarious that I had to design my kids costumes around it (which is really dumb because Dot only wore her costume for about five minutes of unproductive picture-taking before trick-or-treating.) Jo was Glinda the Good Witch of the East and Emerson was the Lion. I never finished Emer's costume (he was supposed to have a mane) and I forgot to have Jo carry around her wand. Oh well! I have these memories of my Mom making our Halloween costumes - she would measure us right before we went to bed and we would wake up the next morning all excited to see how much progress she had made. In honor of her, I spent one night sewing until 4 am.

This was at the Aliso Viejo Community celebration, and I hadn't finished the "Glinda" crown yet so she was just a princess (much to Chase's distain!!)


Sitting in the Fire Truck


My girlfriend and I took the kids to Disney Land and let the girls wear their costumes. All the character were out that day, and the girls were in absolute heaven getting to meet them all. They are BFFs, and it was so cute watching them run through D-Land holding hands, all dressed up!



The three amigos at the Campbell's In 'n Out Kids Halloween party:



"Adult" Halloween:





Halloween night:





If you are wondering where Chase was, he and Mason were working the Haunted House at the Campbell's.

Emerson has had some major milestones... he just had his first Birthday, cut his second tooth (on his b-day!) and started walking last week. He is SO much more work than Jo was at this age, we didn't even need to baby proof with her. He tries to climb up or sit on anything possible, so everything seems to be a hazard. His one present was a little car to sit on, and he was so excited to get on it that he threw a tantrum as Chase was trying to get it out of the box.



I catch Emer doing things like this:

Or splashing in the toilet with Johanna's fresh pee. Gross, probably TMI. Sorry.

We attempted a family photo shoot a few weeks ago, but I think we'll need to re-do it because of Johanna's massive bruise face. She rolled off a blanket as Chase was pulling her around and smacked her head and got a huge hematoma, which turned into a bruise and then seemed to melt down her face so it looked like she got a black eye. (this pic was minutes after the smack, so under the bandage is a huge forehead bulge).



A few days later, the bruise starts melting... I still love this picture...


Me and Emers


One last pic of Johanna with her favorite gymnastics "Coach Lisa"

good for a laugh...

I have so many of these stories and I forget them the next day, so I find myself writing them on whatever is around, like the back of receipts. Then I lose them and they're gone for good, so I think I'm going to start blogging more as my way of journaling.

We role play a lot, Johanna tells me who I am and then who she is. This morning, I was "Snow White" and she was "Prince", so that's how we addressed each other. Jo: "Are you going to watch me at gymnastics today, Snow White?" Me: "Yes Prince, please get in the car" and so on... so this morning I was exhausted from the fourth night in a row going to bed after 1 am (editing), so I decided to try to make myself some coffee. We were late for gymnastics and I took a corner a little faster than I probably should have, and my coffee went all over me and the car. I was so frustrated I was about to lose it, when I hear from the back seat "what happened?" I told her and she responded (sounding totally put out BTW), "Uhhhhhg! Snow White!!!"

Crafty

If I could just sit and do crafts all the time, I would. I remember making hot pads for my kindergarten teacher, clothes for my barbies and trolls, and one time I even made about 20 "pink ladies" jackets (from the movie Grease) when a group of my friends and I entered the talent show contest in 8th grade. I love making Halloween costumes, but haven't decided yet what everyone's going to be. Anyway, last night Amanda and I had "sewing night" (i.e. husbands away at Ducks game). I've had this pattern in my head ever since my friend Mackenzie got an adorable skirt at her baby shower... I changed a few things and made it double-sided. Ta da!




p.s. Emer FINALLY got his first tooth the other day, the day he turned 11 months!

Just Beachy

It is still so hot here, I can't believe that it's almost October! We've been taking advantage of it and spending some time at the beach, which is the perfect time since school's back in and tourist season is over.






All day yesterday I was canvasing areas to do a specific photo shoot, and last night Chase came with us down to Emerald Bay. Talk about lifestyles of the rich and famous! I have a friend who lives there so she called me through the security gate, and then all the sudden you are in this bubble of an exclusive world! The houses are obviously huge and amazing and unique, and they have their own private beach with volleyball courts and a playground.



Emer finally stood up by himself (first time!)... once his feet were securely buried in the sand...




I love how Johanna's face is outlined by the sun...




This morning I caught Johanna doing this... see if you can figure out what she's singing before me and my marvelous voice chime in...





Last week my Dad flew in to shoot Buchanan Street's Challenge for Children event with me. We've done it together for three years now, and I love being able to finally work WITH him! I feel like I've been watching him work (shoot) my whole life, and it's sometimes surreal to me when I realize that now I'm doing the same thing. Jenny watched the kids for me and brought them to the event for a little bit so my Dad could see them. Here's the two "Tommys'" together (Thomas is Emerson's middle name).



I'm in charge of shooting the team photos, and this year it was much more fun because there was a contest for who could be the most creative and the best team spirit. Obviously I'm a little biased since Chase was part of Camco's team and my kids made it into the picture, but I didn't have a part in the judging. They did end up taking second place. See the other winners on my photography blog.




I got a new lens so I experimented on Johanna. This is her "Mom! I'm so sick of posing for pictures for you!!!" face.