checking in

This is not an abandoned blog. It may have appeared to be an abandoned blog for the past many moons, but it isn't. It still lives on in my mind, but has been beaten to the punch by that social media giant for quite a while now.

I've been having a good time, shooting a variety of fun things…parties and families and soon-to-be-mamas-again. So here's a sampling. Just to tide you over. Until I get my brain back to this space.

This is a shot I snapped quick as we headed down to the water for the "real" photo session. And it's one of my favorites of the whole deal.

My good friend is about to have a baby. And I just moved away and won't get to meet her. I'm so bummed about the timing, but so glad I got to do one last photoshoot with her and her family. She is the one who got me started again after our big move to California.

Another good friend is an amazing party planner. She may very well be the only reason I get blog traffic anymore, as each time one of her parties that I've photographed shows up on a party website, she's linked to me to credit me for the photos. I almost feel like it's cheating, since she makes it so easy to get good shots. I think I'll do a whole blog post on Miss Party Mom sometime soon.



Another friend just recently welcomed her husband home after a year overseas. Girls like her are my heroes…living gracefully and fully while a part of her is missing. I still need to edit the rest of her photos of them and their sweet kiddos. My last shoot on the central coast. I will miss it much!



Another Miss Party Mom party…I just loved this table she designed and her husband created. Her son is a huge Peter Pan fan, and she transformed her whole back yard into Neverland for his 4th birthday!

Combine another MPM party with my good friend above who's about to have a baby, and here's the gender reveal party…

And here's a shot I got today at the Grand Canyon. I know. It's not of the canyon. But I really love skeletal trees. Wanted to make sure there's still a bit of "just jen" in this post :)

pumpkin patch fun

She doesn't know it, but Lisa Leonard has been my tour guide to the central coast for the past two years. Her latest local mention was a pumpkin patch I hadn't heard of before. And I'm glad I looked it up!

Now, the Avila Valley Barn is pretty great, as they have animals and food and pumpkins all right in one place, but they usually also have hundreds of PEOPLE you have to dodge to enjoy all the ambiance.

Probably going on a Monday helped tone the crowds down, but when we showed up at La Familia Ranch, we were the only guests there. (In a fun coincidence, Lisa and her boys showed up a few minutes later. I got to introduce myself and tell her she was the reason we were there.)

Every kid should get a chance to ride in a wagon with a pumpkin on a sunny October day.

outside vs. inside

You've now been outside my body as long as you were inside it!

Milestones this month:

Official transition from your infant car seat to a convertible car seat. Which also means you get to ride in the shopping cart seat now, and ride facing forward in a stroller. I am amazed at how much you have loved stroller riding when you can see all around you. You hold onto the tray and sit up straight and just smile and smile, occasionally waving your arms around. You love the feel of the wind in your face. On a long walk, you eventually slouch back, pop one foot up over the side and just chill. 

Time with the grandparents! They have all really enjoyed getting to know you at this age, and you've enjoyed lots and lots of love from all of them. 

Road trips! After your first plane ride on your 8-month birthday, we had a couple of days of longish road trips on our way to meet up with Daddy. You do really well in the car…such an improvement from when you were mere weeks old and screamed the whole time.

Beer! Just kidding. I just think this picture is funny.

Cousins! (And their parents!) You met your cousin Gabby for the very first time, and the two of you have had a great month+ getting to know each other. I think you'll both be sad when we are back on the other side of the country and can't spend time together. You got to spend a weekend + with your cousin Esther, and she just can't get enough of you! 

Food…let's just say you don't follow all the books. You think it's funny when I try to feed you with a spoon, and would much rather take the spoon and chew on it. I manage to get some food into you this way, but you are still just not very interested in baby food. You were almost all the way to 9 months when I offered you some avocado…and you ate it and wanted more! Ever since, we've been offering you bits and pieces of lots of things we're eating, and you really like most of it. Still not eating very much of any one thing, but you have tried lots and lots of new foods.

Sightseeing! we got to take you to some historic spots near where we were staying. 

Restaurant highchairs! Since we're not home, we're eating out much more often, and you are getting good at sitting in your own chair (and getting strangers to talk to us).

Teeth! Those first two bottom teeth showed up about halfway through this month after not much fussing at all…just lots and lots of drool and a few nights of interrupted sleep. You're a dream baby.

Swinging! Both in the park and at Uncle Chris' house…you get all mellow in the swing.

Spectator sports: Daddy's been playing softball, so we get to go watch. You chill out in your stroller and take it all in.

New toys! At both cousins' houses, you've gotten to play with way more toys than you have tried as of yet. Toys requiring batteries (help!). You have enjoyed all the exploring and have figured out quickly how to make the noises you want to hear.

Clapping! You've figured out how to put your hands together…the clapping noise comes a bit later on :)

You manage to scootch yourself backwards, but haven't yet figured out forward, purposeful mobility. You still love to "fly" on your belly with arms & legs going like crazy. 

You love being outside and I can generally count on a walk to calm you down if you're cranky. You love textures and sounds and exploring how the two relate (spent several minutes rubbing your head on the foam mat, then the laminate flooring, curious about the different feel & sound!) You cluck your tongue and think it's great when every adult around you starts doing it, too.

You love doggies & cats & birds & airplanes & being outside. You get super excited when you hear the door and know that Daddy is home.

I love being your mama. As much as I loved the 9 months of holding you inside of me, I have loved these past 9 months of holding you and loving you and looking in your eyes and watching you grown and learn and discover. 

eight months already!

Better get her 8-month post up before she's 9 months!

She's stolen the "C" … apparently wants to be known as "Luy" from now on?

She's enthralled by fire, and enjoys sitting with daddy in the man chair watching the flames. If daddy's not home, she'll watch the fire by herself…all comfy on the floor like so:

She's super content to play in her play pen or on the floor with a few toys. Once she knows I'm watching her, though, she wants mama time! She caught me sneaking up on her here.

She had just woken up from a nap and gave me the sweetest series of faces, from totally zoned to grabbing for the camera. Here's one of the ones in between. Love how her eyes match the chair.

We love spending the day in SLO, doing some shopping and finding yummy food. Okay, mama loves it…Lucy enjoys being along for the ride. Here she is on the table outside at the Urbane Cafe. Some day I'm sure she'll have a Senior Portrait to match this shot.

Sleepy-eyed girl at her first Easter sunrise service, after getting up in the wee small hours to bring daddy to the airport. She was a trooper. Even though she looks less than thrilled.

Later on Easter Sunday…she was just talking and gesturing away…she's such a sweet, happy girl!

Even later on Easter Sunday…in her official first Easter outfit. 

More talking and gesturing and posing…wish I had set her up with better lighting for this one!

Trying out our new Kozy carrier…she needed some snuggle time and mama needed to get some things done! Conked right out. Yay.

A walk along the riverbed. Loving the new carrier…and her new Gap hat. There were some days this month that the only thing that would calm her down was heading out for a walk.

And here she is on her 8-month birthday, enduring her first plane ride! She slept the whole first leg, and this shot is of her just waking up at the end.

 

Lucy, it's been a big month for you! I'm trying to feed you baby food, but you are much more interested in sucking on your bib and tasting the paper towel I clean you off with. You still aren't rolling over or crawling, but you do love to "fly" on your belly…arms & legs waving and kicking. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth a bit and sometimes even scootch backwards, but you have yet to move forward on purpose. And that's okay. Life is still pretty easy, knowing you're not going to disappear on me if I turn my back for a minute :)

You love to talk, and wave your hands around like you're conducting some invisible orchestra. You think your hands are the coolest things ever. You love playing with paper or anything that makes that fun crinkly noise. You rarely nap for more than 40 minutes at a time, but most of the time you sleep the night through with just an early-morning nursing and back to bed. You've been working on your teeth for a while now (and there will be more on that in your 9-month post!). 

We love your grin and your squeals and your babbling and your half-hearted attempts at locomotion. We love your snuggles and smiles and drool (well, daddy is still a bit drool-shy). We love watching you learn new things. We love all the compliments you receive from total strangers. We love you. More and more all the time.

lucy in the grass with…twigs

I love watching her discover something new. She sat in the grass and picked up leaves and twigs one at a time, carefully inspecting each one, talking to some of them, then put them right back down.

flaky doors

Saw some cool old doors the other day, covered in texture and color and history.

I wonder who was the last person through those doors?