Potty Training

Sam has never been the kind of kid to hang around in a wet diaper. And he definitely does not tolerate a poopy one. Seriously, Sam even wigs out when there is a little food on his hands. CLEAN FREAK. A gene passed down from his daddy.

We figured that he was going to start using the toilet pretty early on so we went out and bought all of the necessities.

Elmo Toilet seat-check.
Pull ups-check.
Buzz/Woody underpants-check.
M&M's-check.

The first week he did AMAZING. He would come up to you (grabbing his man parts) saying, "Poop? Poop?" and then he would sit on the potty munch his candy and do business. He succeeded every day for 8 days.

Although he has yet to pee in the potty I was sure we were getting close to being pampers free.  Until he stopped preemptively informing us about his "Poop?" and regressed back to diaper-hood.

So, now its just a guessing game on weather or not he is telling us what he has done in his pants, or what he is going to do on the potty. We haven't tried any training tips yet, so if you know of any good ones, please let me know. I know he's still young, but we were so close, I cant turn back now!

The Zoo...again.

I recognize that I have posted Zoo trips approximately 30 times in the 5+ years I have been blogging. What can I say? We love the Zoo.

On Friday I begged/guilted Matt into coming with us and we met up with the Cox family in Seattle at Woodland Park Zoo. This was a MUCH needed break away from the norm for both of our families.

It was a somewhat sunny day, but still very cold. The boys, who spent most of the time out of the strollers, didn't seem to be affected by the temperature at all. The rest of us kept warm with hot chocolate and the Tropical Rainforest exhibit.

Although most of the animals were napping, we got to hear the Lion grunting, the Tiger growl and play with a ball and the Hippo made Sammy jump when it trumpeted and blew water out of its nose. It was quite the noisy day! (PS-Hippos have REALLY bad breath. Matthew gagged.)

Wings N Things

My Dads new band Wings N Things (a Paul McCartney tribute band) just landed a gig playing every Wednesday night at a restaurant in Issaquah called Field of Champions. The best part about this is that its family friendly so we don't have to find a sitter!

Sam LOVED watching "Bub" play and when he was handed a maraca by one of the band members he turned around to the audience and showed off his shaking skills.

Sam is seriously the biggest ham.
The 6th band member, Sammy.

My dad, rockin' out.

Ron. His whole life is pretty much rock and roll. I mean, his kids names are Ruby Tuesday and Jack Flash. How devoted (and awesome!) is that?

http://www.wingsnthings.net/

Sam dancing. Although I dont really know what his face is doing....

Come out and join in the fun! Every Wednesday night at 7:30!

Ladies Night

Last Friday (yes, I am a little behind in blogging) I met up with Courtney and Kelly while they vacationed the weekend away at Tulalip Casino and Hotel.

We started the night off with an AMAZING dinner at Tulalip Bay and then headed into the casino for some good ol' gamblin'.

By the way, don't bring your camera into the casino. I guess its bad. I got in trouble twice (I'm a rebel) by the same guy. Silly rules.

All 3 of us managed to come out ahead! Kelly and Court won close to $100+ each and I came out with a whopping $12. I was actually quite content with that POSITIVE number.

When we decided it was a good time to pull out, we headed up to the hotel room and changed into our bathing suits for the Spa Hot Tub.

It was so relaxing and fun, and as much as I love my boys, it was a GREAT girls night out!

Today was a good day

It was so sunny and beautiful that we pretended like it wasn't freezing out.

The beach sounded like fun. So we went. All threes of us.

We showed Sam how to keep his hands warm by putting them in his pockets. He liked that. It gave me a heart attack any time he came close to tripping.

But he looked so grown up.

Man, oh man did we make one cute little boy

And that little boy sure loves spending time with his Daddy.

The end.

Puppies!

Jan, Matt's mom, shows Brussles Griffons. I think I have mentioned this before. But did I mention SHE BREEDS THEM! The youngest female, Dara, just had 3 puppies! Sadly only 2 survived but they are doing just fine and they are very cute little things.

Both of them opened their eyes for the first time this week. Just in time for me to snap some photos :)
Yawn...

Sam has been so good with them. He can say "puppy" and is very gentle when he gets to pet them.

Mornings

The mornings are hard for me. Are you a morning person? Because I am NOT. EVEN. REMOTELY.

I have a problem staying up late at night in an attempt to spend as much time with Matty as I can.
On top of a 1 or 2am bed time, Sammy has been having rough nights due to a snotty nose and a cough.

Rough nights=crabby mommy.

Then the light hits our windows and I start stressing over all the things that need to be done in the day and my mood elevates to "total grump." I hate it.

Yesterday morning was like most at our house. Only this morning we had Daddy home with us.

Before getting ready to head into the Drs office for a diagnosis on Sam's yucky cough (resp. infection) Daddy and Sam sat down to play with his Toy Story sticker book while I replied to some emails. Sam LOVES all things Toy Story and has recently fallen in love with stickers as well.

They were so cute together I couldn't help but just smile at my boys.

My whole morning attitude changed and the rest of the day was a little bit easier. Gotta love these little moments.

Proud parents

This Sunday Matt and I hurried to the nursery room to check on Sam in between Sunday School and the 3rd hour class. Yes, we do that. Its possible that we are a wee bit hurt that the little man has yet to ask for mommy and daddy during 2 hours away from us. He's a little too independent for two very needy parents.

Anywho, we arrived at the nursery window right before snack time. Sam was sitting at the long table with all the other 18m-3 year olds while Matt and I squished our heads together to be able to watch him (hoping not to be seen). When the leader asked an older child to say a  blessing on the food, our little angel was the first to bow his head and fold his arms.

That's when Matt whispered, "We've done it."

Amazing.

In between the too much TV and the leaving the diaper wet for a little too long, we are somehow doing something right. He has learned reverence and respect.

And really, that's what matters, right?

Commercial Photography

I recently landed a job working as the director of photography for a marketing/printing company. When I was told there would be a lot of work immediately, I didn't take them very seriously.

About a week after things were finalized they sent me on a shoot down in LA and then put me in charge of a vending machine job that required photos for a brochure.

I guess I should listen to people when they say things :) I have been working constantly since I took on the projects.

Although stress has been higher, I am happy to be working. I am still able to be home with Sam which is the best thing I could ask for right now.

Its also very exciting to see my work being published. My images made it onto the cover of a magazine! So what if its not "National Geographic." Baby steps, my friends. Baby steps. :)

Gateway laptop. I am really happy with how this picture turned out. I had litterally 1 small light, a tripod and a white kitchen counter. Editing took me maybe 10 minutes. I am excited to say that I am not having to do a lot of after-shot processing.

The vending machine shoot was an experience in itself. These images are for a brochure to show companies what their machines have to offer. The hardest part was making foods like "Kraft Mac & Cheese" and "Dinty Moore Stew" look yummy. This was EASILY the hardest photo shoot I have ever been a part of.

Luckily during the "Cover" and "Epic" shot I had a little help. This image actually makes me cringe it was so difficult! (The hard part was impressing the "boss".)

Because of my work with the marketing firm, I have been able to branch out a bit with more commercial projects. I have done a few head shots for Doctors offices this week, and this one that is for an article about Jan Block (another boss of mine) who will be published in Encore magazine at the Paramount Theater.

I am loving this side of the business! It sure is busy, but I am getting to meet a lot of people and learn a TON. It feels good to be a professional again :)