Santa

Emma was very aware of Santa this year. Santa and his reindeers. We'd be out at night and she'd look up at the sky and ask when the reindeer were coming. She asked this lots.

One thing she really didn't get was the idea of how you ask Santa for something. But that isn't altogether too surprising for Emma. She doesn't ask for much in the way of toys. She doesn't "have to have" such and such. And it's not that she doesn't get this look of longing when she sees a commercial advertising a doll or princess whatever... She does. She gets a sparkle in her eye. But she isn't the type to turn to us and ask for it. I guess that doesn't really occur to her.

We are very fortunate in that every year we get to go to a special Christmas party where Santa stops by for a visit. And it has been so great watching Emma react differently every year. From the crying at age one, to this year where she barely let Santa sit down before approaching him and then giving him a hug.



Not afraid at all. Just sweet.

When Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas, Emma didn't have any words. I don't even know if she understood his question and it's too bad we didn't prep her for it either. So she didn't say anything at all, but sat there looking like her cute little self.


Now I was sure Ethan was going to cry. You know, he's a bit sensitive at times and I figured that once put next to this big guy with all the white hair and the big plushy outfit, for sure he would be screaming. But that really wasn't the case. Yes, he didn't want to have much to do with the guy and he didn't want to be put next to him. But he was pretty calm over all as long as Daddy stayed close.

The funny part about Ethan's visit with Santa was when Santa pulled out a little container of Cheerios (you know, to tide him over till the big night), Ethan just kept giving it back to him. That cracked us up.

What a great night though. Daniel and I always leave with such a good feeling in our hearts. Good friends, yummy food, being amongst other believers in Christ, and celebrating the miracle of Christmas. And oh yes, Santa Claus. Not that we celebrate him, but he plays a special role in our Christmas celebration too. As my friend puts it, he represents the spirit of giving. So glad that we could be part of such a special night. Thank you to the Jones Family for having us!

I will never forget what Emma said on the way to the party - She asked where we were going and I told her we were going to a Christmas party at Chica's (nickname for the daughter of the hosting family). Emma's response was "Happy Birthday Jesus?" "Yes!", I told her. "We are going to a party because it is Jesus' birthday." My heart was so happy to hear that from her.

Emma's first Christmas program

Wow. I think had I not been juggling the video camera and regular camera, frantically trying to capture this moment forever, I probably would have cried. Not because it was the best program in the world - it was quite chaotic and a touch disorganized to be honest - but because my daughter was up in front of an audience for the first time. Singing. Looking overwhelmed and a bit perplexed. But looking oh so cute too.

The younger preschool class were sheep and they sat in the front row; the pre-K class got to wear beautiful costumes and they sort of staged the Christmas story up on the stage (don't know that they were really acting it out much), behind Emma's preschool class. I didn't get many photos showing that Emma was actually singing, but she was. And she also did pretty well with the hand movements that went along with the songs.

I should also mention that the cute little boy she is sitting next to is one of two friends that I hear lots about at home. They seem to play well together and I often will hear him greet her in the mornings which always brings a smile to my face. (I would like to have posted more photos of the larger picture, but I'm not comfortable with putting all those kids on my blog... I did ask Mr. L's parents if I could post these two photos... I think this is going to be quite the challenge for me as the years go on and the kids are involved in extra-curricular activities.)

The songs they sang were "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Away in a Manger", "What Shall I Give Him", and "Happy Birthday Jesus". We were sent home with a CD of the songs about a month in advance so we could practice at home. We practiced in the car, usually on the way to school, and it was kind of fun. Her favorites were "Away in a Manger", which was so cute to watch her do the hand movements to, and "Happy Birthday Jesus". I think these two songs really brought the message of the Christmas story home to her and this was an amazing thing to witness. Throughout the season, she's been telling me about the baby Jesus and how it is His birthday. It's been awesome. How crazy that everything is clicking with her this holiday - the meaning of Christmas, in a very basic way of course, and the whole Santa thing, as well as gift-giving.

People who came to see Emma's first ever performance:
Grandpa -

I love how she so easily goes to her grandpa and automatically will hug him. It means the world to him.

Jerrie and Dennis -



Yep, Ethan was only interested in the sparkly things hanging from the ceiling.

And of course her parents -





We were/are so proud of our daughter.

A couple last notes, so as to not forget them later: When she first entered the room and was seated, I could clearly hear her say, as she very intensely looked around, "Where's my mommy?". She looked relieved to find me and it so reminded me of my own perfoming days when I'd be looking around for my family. My last note to self is not to forget how just as the program was starting, my daughter adjusted her dress so the dress was pulled all the way to her underwear and how nice for the audience that she was sitting so unlady-like for the whole program. Mom was mortified. But she's only four, right? It's okay. I just keep telling myself that it's really okay. :)

The beginning of our Christmas season...

started about two weeks before Christmas when we went out to get our Christmas card photo of the kids. It was at about this time when I had almost all of my client work taken care of, when I could finally just turn my mind to our home, our kids, our holiday. And I remember thinking that two weeks sounded like a glorious amount of time because I had truly been working so hard and it felt as if the holidays were about to be over - as if I had let the whole thing go by me. But no, I had two more weeks and I was extremely grateful for that amount of time.

So we kicked off the holidays with going to Fashion Island in Newport Beach to get our photos (which I have already posted about). Since I have already posted a couple of Emma, I think it only fair that I share a few of Ethan.

First off, Ethan is a C L O W N! And he makes the craziest little face when he is in his silliest of moods:

I hope I am getting enough photos and video of that face because it seriously is the funniest thing EVER to watch. The dude knows he's funny and he takes it to the max. In fact he will make this face at me when we are together in the car - I'll turn around to look at him and he'll make "the face" which is always such a crack-up.
I don't know about the rest of you second-time and beyond type moms, but there is a lot about my first child that I have forgotten. More than I even want to admit and this makes me really sad. Because you don't ever get those things back again. You hope and pray that you took enough video or took enough photos to document who your child was when they were hitting their first milestones. I think about this with Ethan, and I have decided that if I forget everything else, please don't let me forget this funny face that he makes. It is so precious. And hilarious. So him! The day that he doesn't do it anymore, that will be a sad day for me.

And for a more serious, portrait like photo:


We had such a fun time. My friend Michelle also brought her kids to get their holiday card photo. So when we were done torturing the kids (at least that's what it felt like), we let the kids go on the beautiful carousel ride that they have there.


I took a ton of photos of Emma while on the carousel and one thing I found very interesting as I looked through the photos at home is how the lighting is so different in each one. Obviously, huh? We are turning in a circle after all. But you get every kind of light - warm, cool, direct, etc. The one above was sort of on the cool side and I warmed it up. But this next one was in such beautiful, flattering light. As if reflectors were being used. I love it.

I didn't do anything to the color, but brighten up the photo some. I got a couple others in this beautiful light where she is looking more towards the camera, but because I was moving too (trying to steady myself) they were out of focus. Darn! But you can bet I will try this again.

And here are the three musketeers together. We had just gotten off the carousel.

Aren't they just so cute? It's funny when I think about these three. We have so many special shots from holidays that we spend together and such and now there is Ethan too. He doesn't quite fit in yet, but soon he will and that will be fun to have special shots of our four together.



Hope you enjoyed! It feels so good to get a little caught up with my blogging. Thanks for stopping by!

our Christmas morning

Merry Christmas! I can't imagine there are too many of you around on a day like today. And usually we wouldn't be either, but this year we have the rare and wonderful pleasure of having Christmas day to ourselves, to spend any way we like! Which of course means that we are home doing nothing but lounging - the kids playing, hubby sleeping (currently with the little dude) and me blogging... It really is so nice.

I always take a picture of the tree in its last stage before gift opening in the morning. I took a pic last night before going to bed, and then again this morning because I liked the way I could see some morning light hitting "Santa's" gifts in front. The boys had been up since early morning (and I mean early! - little dude is making a habit lately of waking up a little too early for our taste) and I got up around 8am. Emma likes to sleep in so I suspect that we will be waiting on her every year. :)

While waiting I took this picture too:

These were Emma's gifts to us this year, bought on her own while at school. It's so cool... At school they have Mistletoe Mall in the beginning of December where people set up booths and sell their wares to the kids for Christmas gifts. Very inexpensively, I might add. How special for the kids. Although reminded the day before, on the actual day of the sale I completely forgot to send her with money. And by some miracle, I was able to dig up $9.00 from my wallet. I NEVER have cash on me so this was so lucky. I was really excited for her to participate, knowing that she couldn't buy much, but knowing that the idea was more about the spirit of giving. Well, I picked her up from school that afternoon and she woke up so excited from her nap, trying to tell me what she got for everyone. And I have to back up a little... Before waking her up the teacher showed me her gift bags, 5 total, and told me the funniest story about how she even bought a gift for herself and she was the only student that had her own gift gift-wrapped! And yes, there it was, "To Emma, From Emma". Cracked me up! Okay, so she was sort of telling me what she got and all I really gathered was that she bought Daddy crayons and Ethan a duckie. She bought Daniel crayons? I never told him that. The kid was so excited and we were going to love whatever she got us because she picked them out. Right?

Well, we were pleasantly surprised.

She gave Daddy a little tool set. I don't think she truly knew what it was, but she must have thought crayons because the box they came in was the same shape as a crayon box. Just look at how excited she is in that photo! Even better, they were exactly what Daniel needed to put together Ethan's race track. That made her very happy.

And yes, brother got a little duckie.

But Mommy's gift... Well, Mommy cried. I cried.

Emma bought me a bracelet. It says "Mom" all the way around with hearts for the "O's" I couldn't believe it. You can't see it in the first pic, but I'm pretty surprised and the tears are welling. Actually the expression you're seeing is me asking Emma "Really?" I think she was opening the bag for me and that's why she is handing it to me. I love my bracelet. LOVE it. And I would have loved whatever was awaiting me in that bag, but what she gave me was just so beautiful and meaningful. I know that they sent adults along with the preschoolers to help them purchase their gifts. I realize that another mom probably suggested it and Emma said yes, but in my mind, I can picture Emma saying yes and being absolutely excited about it. She has such a sweet little spirit in that way.

So you can tell what the highlight of my morning was. :) AND, these were the first gifts Emma wanted us to open, even over gifts from Santa. Oh, and Emma's gift to herself was a little lizard beanie plush.
I'm a very proud mommy.

I love these little munchkins of mine.

The dude was pretty excited about his race track and cars...


A little too young yet for the whole thing, but lots of fun to come!


And here's the little guy sneaking a cookie off the table.

And being caught!


Sorry for such a long post if you actually read through it all. But it has been a nice day for us. And I hope it wasn't too weird seeing us in our pj's with our sleepy eyes.

Now, I need to start clearing off my desk because I have to make room for my Christmas gift from hubby... He gave me a monitor that spans out about double the width of my current monitor. It's HUGE! He is currently "testing" it out, so I figure I better make space for it soon if I want to keep it.

I hope you all had a great holiday. God bless you all!

new banner, new colors & new photos coming too... I promise!

All week I've been wanting to add new photos... And today should have been a good day to do it, but I came down with a bit of a stomach type flu - not terrible terrible, but enough to keep me on the couch without any energy to do otherwise. Just the fact that I can sit on the couch though is something. Haven't done that in a while. Even watched a movie tonight with the eyes that are in the front of my head, opposed to with the eyes that are in the back of my head... Much more enjoyable I have to say. :)

So, yep, new banner up there. Used some of the pics from this year's Christmas card. Trying to get it to be longer across the top, but can't figure out how. So sorry if it doesn't look right.

I will try very hard to post some new pics tomorrow. AFTER we finish up our holiday shopping.

My Emma

Can't tell you happy this pic makes me... I feel like I captured a real moment and a smile I see everyday. Emma, although much more cooperative these days, still does this weird pasted on smile thing. It's so nice to catch "the real thing".

We just got back from an outting to Fashion Island where we took pics of the kids for our holiday cards... At quick glance through the photos it looks like we did good because you know, it's tough! Tough on us to keep them focused and looking like their real little selves; tough on them because you know, they're kids! And they are the photographer's kids on top of that. But they did pretty well - got a few nice photos of the two of them together and got some nice individual shots. Whew! Mission accomplished. And to top it off, also got some nice holiday card-worthy photos of my best friend's kids. So she can check something big off her list too.

Before I could even post this, I got a bit of sad news about my good friend's neighbor, and you know, it's heart breaking news. Sorry, I can't really share the details, but as Jerrie was saying, it just makes us so grateful for the good things in life that we enjoy, like spending time with each other. Yesterday the kids and I spent the afternoon at Fashion Island with Jerrie... It was a very spontaneous outting. We went for hair bows, of all things! And since I had never been there, and Jerrie goes often enough, I thought it would be nice to have her come along. I knew Emma would enjoy it too since she doesn't get to spend as much time with Jerrie since starting school. I felt so worried that I had taken up her whole day since I was the one who asked her to go last minute. But then I get this sweet email from her last night thanking me for such a great time and why don't we do things like that more. Isn't that the truth?

I have been so wrapped up in my photography business this holiday season, and it's been a good thing to be as busy as I am, no doubt, but it's also been a learning experience for me. A lesson to take to heart for next Christmas season. I can't neglect my family. My kids are only little for such a short time. I have to enjoy it to the max. Although I thought I was being careful about how many jobs I was taking on this year, I found myself overbooked. And I feel like I've been missing out. We have two more weeks left until Christmas, which makes me so happy to have two full weeks, and I hope to enjoy some holiday cheer with my hubby and kids. I think I might even make my mom's holiday cookies, which I don't think I've really wanted to do for a couple years now.

Don't quite know how to end this post, but to say that I do have a lot to be grateful for. I feel blessed. Really and truly blessed.

Thank you for letting me share. Got a little long-winded, especially for a post that was only supposed to be to share a photo of my Emma. Have a good week!

More beautiful kiddos

There were so many sweet photos from this session that it was hard picking just one photo to represent it. But I thought this was sweet with this pretty three year old holding her baby sister and cousin.


Such a beautiful little girl. Not crazy about having her photo taken.... hmmm, sort of reminds me of a certain other little girl that I know.


Well, it's almost 1:30am. Don't know why I'm still up. I could've gone to bed a couple hours ago, but here I am. I'm not even furiously working on photos like I probably should be, but I'm taking a breather. Had a p&j sandwich a half hour ago because I wanted something sweet, but don't really have anything in the house. And then washed it down with a cold glass of milk. I think that hit the spot. And now it's finally time for bed...

This one just makes me happy

I am working on a session (third to last for the year) that I am loving!


Beeeeeeautiful baby, wouldn't you say? Baby Gap, eat your heart out!

Is he too much, or what?

Too much cuteness that is! I'm about finished proofing this session and along the way I came across some pics that I thought I should blog... But then I would tell myself, "no, just finish these up!". Well, I got to this one and I couldn't pass it up. So this is for you Andrea and Cesar. I can't say he is smiling like this in all the pics, but there is definitely a lot of cuteness going on in your photos. I can't wait for you to see them!