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happy valentine’s day 2010!

February 14, 2010 in Daily Life, Family, Friends, Zachary | 1 comment

happy Valentine’s from our family to yours! today Zachary and I spent the afternoon with Aunt Amy, window shopping at the Promenade in Coconut Creek, playing with some Thomas trains at a toy store (baby boy cried because he didn’t want to leave!!), giving little Z his first taste of ice cream (he loved it!) and enjoying the cool weather.

we came home to hugs and kisses from daddy, Zachary’s favorites for dinner, play time with his books, toys, and his fun airplane which he loves to push around his room, and lots of laughs and sweet, funny faces for mommy. he is just a sweet, loving little boy and I am glad to have been able to spend the day with him.

tomorrow starts the work week again as Adrian and I prepare for the WPPI (wedding & portrait photographers international) trade show, the biggest tradeshow each year in the photography industry, where we have a booth for our studio management software, Táve. it is going to be a great time, but we are spread thin right now getting everything ready!

hope you all had a lovely Valentine’s… here is a little card to brighten your day!

Zachary’s 1st Birthday Photos

January 24, 2010 in Family, Zachary | No comments

Gosh, I’ve been such an awful blogger! I have been meaning to post these since I got them in November, but with work and life being so busy, this little blog has not been updated as much as I’d like. I keep thinking of things I’d like to write, but I haven’t had a free second. I’ll try to update more.

That said, here are some of my favorite images from Zachary’s 1st birthday party. Since it was his 1st birthday party and he was born around Thanksgiving, we decided to have a pumpkin/fall theme. I’m sure the next one will be something like Thomas the Train or Bob the Builder or Elmo or whatever…but he won’t remember this one, so I got to pick. :)

The images were kindly taken by my good friend Jessica Savidge, a fellow photographer who I work with quite often (can’t wait to shoot with her this coming weekend at a wedding, in fact)!

I painstakingly made this birthday banner by hand without a Cricut machine. I cut out all the letters with an X-acto knife. It was super hard, and I worked on it up until 3am the night before the party, but it was totally worth it! It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever made and I'm so glad I finished it for Zachary's party.

Yummy half & half cake from Publix. This was originally a Halloween design with Jack O' Lanterns on it. I told them not to put the faces on the cake since it was for a birthday, not Halloween. Well, as you can see, one of the pumpkins still has ears. LOL.

Pumpkin cookie favors for Zachary's friends :)

Me, my mom, and Zachary

Zachary thought his birthday cake was pretty cool!

He was not really interested in his little smash cake though. It was cute!

He wanted to feed his cake to Mommy. :)

Then it was time to open presents….

Zachary really loved this alien stuffed toy!

He loved his little piano!

One of my gifts to Zachary - a book about wild things for my little Wild Thing! :)

Our happy little family! :)

You can see more photos on my Flickr page. :)

happy family :)

December 18, 2009 in Family, Zachary | 1 comment

After a long day of Black Friday shopping with my sis in law Lissa & my mother in law Debi, we headed to a Mexican restaurant for sustenance… and Adrian and Zachary met us there. Zachary sat in between me and Adrian in his booster seat and was such a good boy. He loved sitting between Mommy & Daddy. Lissa snapped this cute family photo. :) We all look a little tired, and it’s just a snapshot from my point & shoot camera…but I love it!!!!

family visit & Thanksgiving 2009

December 18, 2009 in Family, Zachary | 2 comments

I have been a bad blogger! Sorry for not blogging, it’s been such a busy month, mainly because Zachary is WALKING ALL OVER! I have been spending all of my free time off the computer, chasing my little guy around the house. Just in the past week he has learned how to stand up without holding on to anything, so now he has become even MORE mobile! It’s amazing!

So…. this year was Zachary’s first “real” Thanksgiving since last year he pretty much just chilled out in his crib, seeing as he was only a couple of days old! We had Adrian’s mom, dad, and sister Lissa come visit for the holiday (sadly my brother-in-law had to stay home and work all weekend!!). It was fun having them come to celebrate Zachary’s birthday with us. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, thanks to my mom & dad’s amazing cooking (as always) and Zachary enjoyed the meal (and conked out after the turkey, which was adorable). It was a great family dinner and nice to have Adrian’s parents and sister there to celebrate our little boy, who we are especially thankful for each and every day!

We spent lots of time with Adrian’s mom, dad and sister, and on one of the days they were here, we went to have lunch at Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach Florida. It is an AWESOME vintage styled restaurant with license plates all over the walls. so much fun!!! I can’t believe I’d never gone here before since I’ve lived in South FL all my life. I’m glad at least Zachary has had the chance to enjoy some of their food at a young age. :) The portions were yummy and filling so we didn’t even stay for ice cream, but we had a great time.

Here are some photos, first from Jaxson’s:

What a fun place! I didn’t get to take any pics inside the restaurant (I should have) but I’m sure we’ll definitely be back some day so I will do it next time. :)

Now, here are some photos from Thanksgiving:

Zachary looks so happy to be with his 2 grandmas! :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Zachary’s 1st birthday in photos

November 22, 2009 in Daily Life, Family, Zachary | 3 comments

Here are some photos from Zachary’s special day.

We started the day off with a blueberry waffle for breakfast and a phone call from Aunt Amy, who called to wish Zachary a very happy birthday. Zachary loved hearing the birthday song!

After Zachary’s nap, Adrian changed the car seat to be facing forward. Zachary is tall, so his legs were starting to get a bit scrunched. We were really looking forward to making the switch at the 1 year mark. Zachary really loved having his legs dangle down, looking out at everything and playing peekaboo every time I looked back at him. He thought it was the funniest thing!

Then we went to Volunteer Park, a great park in Plantation. I do a lot of photo shoots here since there’s great light and the scenery is nice and the park equipment is in good condition. It was Zachary’s first time on the slide and only his 3rd time on the swings. The last time he was on the swings was when he was much younger, so he really enjoyed swinging now that he is big enough to appreciate it. I had so much fun pushing him in the swing and taking photos of him smiling and laughing and having a great time.

All in all we had a really wonderful day. I’m so glad we decided to go to the park for Zachary’s birthday. Even though it was hot outside (almost 90 degrees, yuck!), he had a WONDERFUL time and I felt like I was able to experience magic and happiness through his eyes. :)

I also have to say that I’m glad I was able to get some cute shots of Zachary wearing his adorable tie-dyed Converse. Those shoes are adorable but they were pretty pricey, so I was hoping I’d get a chance to take some nice photos of Zachary wearing them before he grows out of them. He still has some room left to grow, but who knows when his feet will have a growth spurt. Mommy will be very sad on the day that her baby is unable to wear those cute shoes anymore…. mainly because I know I won’t be able to drop another $50 on a new pair!! ;) LOL!

happy 1st birthday to my baby.

November 21, 2009 in Daily Life, Family, Zachary | No comments

It’s November 21st and today was my baby boy’s birthday! Zachary had a very full day full of lots of fun – changing his carseat to face forward (he LOVED it!) going to the park (he adored the swings), the bookstore, and playing with Mommy, Daddy, and Maya… and finally heading off to bed. He didn’t want to go to sleep tonight. He’s teething – and he just wanted his mama to sit with him, so I did. I told him how I had such a nice day playing with him and that tomorrow we were going to have another fun day, since his Aunt Amy was going to come over to play with him, so he needed to lay down and go to sleep, so he’d be all rested up.

And my cute little boy did just that. He curled up on his tummy with his favorite dachshund stuffed animal (“Doxie”) and stuck his little tush in the air and looked over at me and reached for my hand. Holding my hand, I could see him smile in the light of his night light. I felt happy, but a little sad, too, because my baby boy would never be this little again. Every day he grows and matures SO much.

Soon the clock will turn over to the next day. One year ago, it was at about this time that I was finally settled into my hospital room after waking up after my c-section, and I finally got to hold my baby boy for the very first time, what an awesome experience. And what an awesome year it has been!

Pictures from our day coming soon. :)

on his way to one…

November 21, 2009 in Daily Life, Family, Zachary | 3 comments

well, in a mere hour or so, the clock will turn over to November 21st, and my baby boy will officially turn from a baby to a toddler.

nevermind that he has been a toddler for a while now, walking all over the house. he is such a big boy. it is amazing to see all the changes that he’s been going through lately.

He’s definitely getting so much more mature lately. He’s getting so good at listening to his mommy, and he loves to watch his favorite shows on Sprout network – when they come on he calms down and watches intently, laughing at all the right parts. He likes Elmo and The Wiggles. He is so much fun, and so funny, and has a great sense of humor. He is learning to brush his teeth at night, and he is learning to help dress himself when I put his shirt and pants on. He is a picky eater as far as what he actually likes to eat, but he is always willing to try a new food, which I definitely appreciate. He plays so nicely with Maya (though sometimes I think he thinks he is a puppy, too). He is a complete joy! Such a good little kid, and a very sweet baby. We are truly lucky.

Tomorrow, we’re planning to give the little guy breakfast and head over to a park to have some birthday playtime. it will be a low key family day playing with our favorite boy. I’ll be sure to take some photos and I’m sure we’ll take some video too. :)

I’m not sure how I’ll feel tomorrow on his actual birthday, bittersweet for sure. Right now I am remembering how I felt last year knowing that I was going to be waking up at 4am to head to the hospital. I had such a hard time sleeping and I remember tossing and turning in my bed unable to fall asleep. It was such a long day going through induction, pitocin, and finally the c-section, but I would do it all again, and my sweet little baby was 100% worth it of course.

well, that’s it for now. tomorrow is our little boy’s first birthday.

Happy birthday, Zachary! Mommy & Daddy and Maya love you very much. :)

our family portraits

November 17, 2009 in Family, Photography, Travel, Zachary | 1 comment

when we were in California last month, my wonderful friend, Hillary Gardner, from Stills by Hill Photography, did family portraits of us! I took photos of her family, too, so we got to trade, which was neat. Hillary did an amazing job taking pictures of our little family and capturing our sweet baby boy. I will forever treasure the images that she took and I am sooooo glad that we had the opportunity to have photos taken!!

Here is one of my favorite photos from our session:

san diego family photographer

click here to see the rest – and feel free to leave a comment on Hill’s blog!!!!

if you are in Southern CA and need a family photographer… call Hillary! she rocks!

happy first halloween!

October 31, 2009 in Family, Zachary | 1 comment

happy halloween from the cutest Star Trek Science Officer ever!!

We went to my parents house to trick or treat. it was fun taking our little boy trick or treating for the first time! everyone loved his Star Trek costume and thought he was sooo cute! He was adorable the way he walked to the houses holding on to my and Adrian’s hands. We went to about 4 houses before we all decided it was time for some air conditioning. :) Zachary was ready for a nice drink of cold milk and some cuddles. he did great and can’t wait for next year!!

Our trip to San Diego!

October 26, 2009 in Family, Travel, Zachary | 1 comment

Last week we took our first trip with the baby on an airplane to go to our cousins Stephanie & Scot’s wedding. You can see the pictures from their wedding on my photography blog here.

We had a great time in San Diego, California! Zachary did wonderful on the plane and slept most of the way there and most of the way back. When he was awake, he was easily entertained by me and Adrian and his toys and stuffed dachshund.

While in California, Zachary got to meet his extended family and cousins. He also met my good friend Hillary’s little girl, Lilly, and they really got along great and hit it off wonderfully. I am so sad that Hillary and I don’t live closer, she is a wonderful friend and Lilly & Zachary are so cute together. We made sure to take some photos for their wedding video of course. ;)

Adrian, Zachary, and I also had our family portraits done by Hillary (who is a photographer out in San Diego) and in return, I took her family’s portraits too. It was so much fun!

Here are some highlights from our trip:

Zachary and Lilly play together

Cousin Summer & her baby Kali

Me & Zachary laughing together

Our baby cousin, Julia

Zachary and his Cousin Kali meet & hug each other

Check out those gorgeous blue eyes that little Kali has – they are the same exact shade of blue as Zachary’s! Even though they’re 2nd cousins (Kali’s dad Ray is Adrian’s 1st cousin), they somehow ended up with some of the same DNA code that said to make their eyes that exact shade. It was interesting to me because you know your own child so well, right down to the shade of their eye color, and when I saw Kali, it startled me for a moment because it is exactly the same shade of blue as Zachary’s. Pretty amazing indeed! I think baby Julia will have a similar color to her eyes, but since she’s just a tiny little one, at 3 months old, it’s hard to tell.

Sean was the ringbearer at my & Adrian's wedding. Now our cousin is a young man in high school!

Scot brought his fire sticks to juggle for everyone at the La Mesa house the day after the wedding. What a treat!

Unfortunately I didn’t really get a chance to do any exploring on this trip and take any scenic photos for my personal portfolio. However, I did take this picture of a dog outside of Cafe Joie at Mission Beach which I really like. The dog was very cute and curious and hung out with me and Adrian as we ate our yummy meal and drank coffee.