day 31: deja vu

day 31: today I experienced a bit of deja vu... remember this post about a Korean first birthday party? well that little lady is the big sister to this little guy. And today was his first birthday. And since that old post was from 2007 that would make the little lady in that photo 3 years old! Can you believe it?! Man, oh man, time does fly! The little man's party was just as lively and wonderful as his sister's. And of course he was just as cute!

day 30: muffin hound

day 30: this morning I went and donated blood. I brought my camera with me to take a picture of something (I don't really know what I was going to take a picture of... certainly not the bag of blood... maybe the outside of the building?) but it turned into such a debacle (two hours!) that I forgot and just went home afterward (slightly grumpy but at least I was successful). Luckily for me, when we went out in the afternoon for our daily sortie Amelia decided to be extra cute and volunteered to show off just how much she LOVES muffins for my camera and all of my photo-rific viewers :)

day 29: happy to report

day 29: I am happy to report that today was indeed a much better day. There was no pooping in the house (unless you count the babies, but that was only in their diapers and to be expected). We went out near the end of the day to get some of the extra links taken out of my watch and the afternoon sunlight was just gorgeous. Amelia was really enjoying it. Paul was too, but he was too busy studying the cars in the parking lot to smile for a photo.

day 28: this picture is bad

day 28: this picture is bad and I know it. So rest easy, you don't have to sit there wondering if my judgment is getting iffy. It's just been a rough day. It's nearing 11pm and I am really honestly just too tired to come up with something better. I really hope that my dog does not decide that he needs to poop in the house (twice in one day) two days in a row. I have no idea where he got the idea that it was ok. If he does it again I'll be sure to direct you all to the craigslist ad where I post our dog for sale. He is pretty cute and you might want to buy him.

day 27: happy 16 months!

day 26: yesterday my sweet lovely babies turned 16 months old. We have a tradition of taking one a photo of them on their birthday each and every month in this same chair. The are getting so big! (sniff, sniff)

day 26: hooray! it's here!

day 26: I got a beautiful watch from Ben for Christmas. He really wanted to get it engraved but didn't have time to do it before he gave it to me. It was actually a little too big as well and we figured that as long as we were taking it in to get some links taken out we should get it engraved at the same time. Which would have been a good idea, except for some reason the engraving seriously discolored the face of the watch that we had engraved (big time boo to that). Luckily the store took the watch back so I could get a new one. We had to order it since they don't sell it in the store anymore and my new one came today. Almost the same as the original... just a little sparklier :) I love it!

day 25: hooray for grandma

day 25: today we got a visit from my mom. It was a real treat for the babies since they haven't seen her in two weeks. Amelia squealed for joy when she saw her walk in the door, which I'm pretty sure made my mom's day. I somehow always forget to take out the camera when my parents are around, or maybe it's just that we're having too much fun. Who knows. This is one of only three pictures I got of my mom and Amelia today, and I didn't get any of her with Paul. Next time, I suppose.

day 24: what a day

day 24: my computer has not been cooperating today. I think it needs a good healthy dose of maintenance, some hard drive cleaning and maybe while I'm at it a kick in the pants. Seriously frustrating how long it took me to get the wedding I was finishing up editing today done. I should not be waiting on my computer. I listened to a lot of This American Life while working.

day 23: access medical

day 23: on Saturday I did a photo shoot with the fine folks at Access Medical in Carlsbad. They wanted some images of their employees to fancy up the website. We had a lot of fun and they are such a great group of people! Here's one of the whole group. A handsome bunch, wouldn't you say?

day 22: this is what I have lying around

day 22: today I was trying to help explain to some friends the difference between different focal lengths and lenses, and what effect crop vs. full frame sensor has on the final images that your camera produces. I just quickly picked up whatever was closest to use as a subject for a bunch of pictures... and this was it. So this is my life... the most abundant inanimate objects in my home are toys. And highchairs :) At least Mr. Potato Head was cooperative.

day 21: crazy bean

day 21: This week has been quite an adventure. First there's been the whole taking care of kids while sick bit (not fun). Add to that the five days straight of rain (come on people, I live in southern California... who has ever heard of five days straight of rain here?!) AND the cherry on top? For some reason I decided that this of all weeks would be a good one to transition the kids from two naps to one. Which means they've been nuts all week. Cranky, crazy, and generally miserable. Yesterday I decided that maybe just because they occasionally skip one of their naps doesn't mean they're ready to drop it every day. So today we went back to two naps and they actually slept well at both naps. Everyone was much happier (me included) and I'm convinced that we made the right decision in going back to our old schedule. The final proof for me was when Ben came home from work and both kids were in ridiculously good moods instead of being overtired and worn out. Paul was running around like the crazy little bean he is. How can you not love this face? Especially if it's a well rested one!

day 20: I made a dress!

day 20: I have been compiling a list of "must do" craft projects in my head for months... since probably this summer... and one of the top of the list items was to make a "refashioned" dress for Amelia. Basically take some item of clothing and remake it into something for her. I get a lot of the ideas for things like this from blogs, I particularly like this one, but I wanted to sort of just try my own ideas for this project so I didn't use a tutorial. I used a shirt that I got at Old Navy the other day for a whopping $1.50 so I knew if I screwed up it wasn't with major consequences. I didn't follow any pattern for this dress, I just kind of copied the shape and style of one she got for Christmas. It's not quite perfect (it kind of gives her football player shoulders) BUT it took less than an hour and I know where I'd do things differently next time so for a first attempt I'm pleased :)

day 19: I'm going to be sick FOREVER

day 19: so I was NOT better yesterday. Far from it. I was so much worse, in fact, that Ben had to take the day off of work and watch the kids while I spent the day feeling miserable in bed. Not cool. Very not cool.

day 18: score!

day 18: today I ventured out to brave the hoards of bargain hunters at Old Navy for their amazing 50% off clearance sale. Since everything that WAS on clearance (for like $3-10) was 50% off of that price today it basically meant that the whole clearance section could be had for between $1.50 and $5. Score! I actually only got two things for myself (a pair of pants and a camisole) but got LOTS of cute stuff for the babies. It's kind of amazing how much clothing for little tiny people can cost, so getting it at $1.50 a piece is a refreshing change. All of this was only $30 AND there were also two pieces of jewelry for myself in that price that aren't in the picture. I came home feeling very thrifty.

day 17: birthday party!

day 17: yesterday we headed to my grandma's to celebrate my cousin Amanda's 6th birthday party. She was very excited that we came, super thrilled with her gifts AND extremely pleased to be photographed. As you can clearly see :)

day 16: still sick

day 16: I'm still not feeling well (what a way to spend a weekend, eh?) luckily for me Ben took over all baby duties and let me take several long naps today. I really hope I'm feeling significantly better tomorrow. We're supposed to go somewhere and I don't want to miss it. I am also really sick of being sick and taking crummy pictures in the house.

day 15: it's official....

day 15: it's official, I have the world's best husband. He not only came home a little early from work today so that he could feed the babies dinner (I am sick and WIPED out) but he also took care of getting our dinner AND when I said I really wanted sugar cookies for dessert, he made some. He's the best. And looking sheepish in this picture either because he just ate about 5 of them (man, they're good) OR because he just dropped one on the floor for Herbie. I'm not sure which.

day 14: I almost...

day 14: today was a day of almosts... I almost baked something (but I didn't). I almost cleaned the whole house (but I didn't clean our room). I almost exercised (but I cleaned instead). I almost brought my camera with me when I went out (but I didn't). So instead I'm taking a lame reflection in a mixing bowl self portrait. Because I really should be doing one self portrait a week on this blog... but I feel very blah today. Let's hope I can get it a little bit more together for tomorrow.

day 13: balloons!!!

day 13: this evening a very nice employee of Trader Joe's saw Amelia and thought she might like a balloon. Boy was she ever right. Not only did Amelia like her balloon, she LOVED her balloon. She squealed with delight at her balloon. She played with it the entire time we were in the store, the entire ride home in the car (maybe the first time ever there was not a single peep of protest upon entering the car) and even took it with her into her high chair for dinner. Paul thought the balloons were pretty great too. He was just more low key about it :)

day 12: a sliver of sky

day 12: I have realized that trying to do a photo-a-day blog without it being a photo-of-the-kids-a-day blog is a really tricky thing to do when you are with them all day every day during the daylight hours. It sort of seems like my two options are either to take a picture of them or take a picture after they go to sleep. And once they go to sleep it's dark so I end up just taking a picture of something inanimate in the house which is kind of lame. I suppose I could take a picture while I'm out with them as long as they were strapped in the stroller, but I generally already have enough things to wrangle when leaving the house with the kids. Adding my camera to the mix is literally adding the straw that broke the camel's (or mommy's) back. Even just the two kids together is close to 50 pounds so I definitely don't need another 10 pounds of camera gear. But I digress. Today's solution to that problem was to step onto our patio for a quick snap of the sunset. I can't wait for the day we have an actual YARD to step into in the evenings.

day 11: teething is the pits

day 11: My mom always talks about a shirt that my brother had as a baby that said "teething is the pits". Well now I know why they make that shirt. I thought that teething was rough when the babies were getting their front teeth. But that was nothing compared to what is going on now with Paul getting his first molars. He has two coming in at once and he has been the saddest man on the planet. Take a look at this poor little guy's face. Complete with a single tear. He was sad for almost the entire day, although he did perk up at a trip to Costco. I am really hoping that he starts feeling better once his teeth are all in.

day 10:

day 10: this evening I attended another wedding, only this time I was going as a guest. One of my good friends from junior high got married today and my mom and sister came up to watch the kids while we went out. I didn't want to bring a camera since I was "off duty" so I didn't take a single picture (can you believe it?) Instead I took this crummy one when I got home. And now I'm going to bed.

day 9: a gorgeous day for a wedding!

day 9: today was my first wedding of 2010, and what a GORGEOUS wedding it was! A beautiful day out in Malibu and an unbelievably sincere and beautiful couple. It was absolutely perfect, I couldn't ask for a better start to the year! One of my favorites -

day 8: you weren't worried, were you?

day 8: so I didn't get my day 7 photo put online yesterday. Well if there is one thing I learned by the end of my last successful 365 project it's that you have to cut yourself a little slack. And if once in a while your picture doesn't make it onto the blog on the very same day it was taken, that's ok. I'll still do my best to get them up in a timely manner, but it's not always possible. So without further ado, here's my photo from yesterday. Mr. Paul getting a kick out of his trucks. He loves absolutely ANYTHING with wheels.

day 7: my baby's baby

day 7: Amelia got a baby doll for Christmas and she LOVES it and she LOVES to feed her baby a bottle. I melt every time!

day 6: oops

day 6: all of my least favorite images from the first year of photo-rific are ones where I forgot to take a picture during the day and just took a picture right before bed of something on my desk. And here I go again doing the same thing. Oops. Tomorrow I'll make sure to bring my camera when I go out. It's tougher these days when I'm also carrying 47 pounds of baby around. Quite a workout!

day 5: in a box

day 5: today was MUCH more fun and relaxing than yesterday (thank goodness). I think the kids have finally re-adjusted to being back at home after our long vacation. What better way to wind down your day than playing in a toy box? *disclaimer* I did NOT put the babies into the box. They climbed in themselves. No babies (or toys, or boxes, or dogs for that matter) were harmed in the making of this photograph.

day 4: blah

day 4: today was a VERY long day. and this is a VERY boring picture. but at least I'm posting one. I'm not giving up yet :) and oh, yeah, yay for us we actually managed to get our Christmas decorations taken down in a timely fashion. so at least I didn't have an entirely pointless day.

day 3: farmer's market

day 3: this morning we took Amelia and Paul to a farmer's market. After watching Food Inc. we've been convinced that buying not only organic but also local is an important thing to try to do. We picked up some oranges (seriously people... how do you eat only in season produce?! It seemed like the ONLY thing that was in season was citrus) that the babies LOVED. They ate two of them in about 30 seconds. Hopefully we'll be able to make a trip to the farmer's market a weekly outing.

day 2: playdate

day 2: This afternoon the peanuts (Paul and Amelia) had a playdate with their BFF (ok so maybe they're not best friends yet but they will be!) Olive and Paul's biggest fan Isaac. I love this one of Amelia... I think she's looking up at Isaac. They're always marveling at the big kids :)

day 1: a new year, a new start

day 1 - Yeah, yeah, yeah... this is the third attempt (since the first successful year, might I remind you) to restart photo-rific. But I figure that there's no better time than at the beginning of a year. I suppose it's kind of a sad start to the year to post the first entry a day late, but better late than never. I did in fact take this one yesterday... so... without further ado - day 1. This is one of my favorites from a super fun family session I did yesterday for my friend Jackie Wonders. She and her little girl are TOO cute.