One

Seriously? ONE?!!!

One Year Portraits

I've been having lots of fun with this new lens. It's a bit bulky, though, so I'm really glad I just rented it. I doubt I would use this as my "go to" lens on a daily basis. But, to try and get Andy's one year portraits, it's been great! As an added treat, Rob bought me a Wacom pad to help me edit some of the photos I'm taking. Then, he's also letting me have another private lesson with Photoshop guru, www.carolyncoffey.com. She teaches the retouching class at ACC. Love her!

Here are a few shots that I took this morning that Carolyn may be helping me with tomorrow.
Oh, and if we weren't busy enough lately, Andy is starting to take some steps! He's so proud of himself.
Suzy is such a great big sister. I love how great my kids get along.
Andy's face when Suzy showed up at the playground. One day, I will make a storyboard of his reaction. I caught it in several shots. Soooo cute!

The shirt is a copy of Amy Rose's Little guy. Loved the idea! I may actually make one out of fabric and sew it to a onsie. This morning, I just made a quick Crayola scetch at the kitchen table.
Sweet boy, I can't believe you are almost ONE! gulp, sigh... We love you so much.

Headshots

While I had the fancy lens, I decided to take some head shots of myself as well. Rob was a great photographer. These were taken just outside our garage. The kids were "down" and the sun was setting. We couldn't get too far from the house and needed to work quickly. We only took about ten shots. I needed an updated photo for our new website and the California Conference in October. I like the second ones and Rob likes the first. Any thoughts? I need to send one in by tomorrow. I'm guessing they will print them in black and white.




It will be our little secret that I'm wearing my pajama pants and flip flops on my lower half. :)

Hit or Miss

I'm having lots of fun with my 85mm 1.2 rental and new camera body. I'm crazy busy with work stuff this week, but it looks like I will make all of my tomorrow deadlines for some courses coming up this fall. Yeah! A special thanks to Rob's mom for helping me get over 100 pages of text edited in just three days. Phew!

So, anyhow. This lens really is amazing. Unfortunately, however, it's very hit or miss. For example...


BIG MISS! Dang, it was such a cute expression.

But, five seconds later... BIG HIT! I love this shot. It really captures all that is Suzy. Love you, sweet girl!


Blog readers beware... I have all day "off" tomorrow to play with this fun lens! Prepare yourselves for photo overload next week! Muuuwaaahhhhhaaahhhaahhh!

Eb and Flow

So, it's been two weeks since I've posted. Well, I've been busy. Not just anyone busy - Marti busy. If you know me, that says A LOT. It seems like life is like that for me. I'm always busy, but sometimes in different directions. I'm the type of person who throws myself into all kinds of things and I need to prioritize often. Right now, blogging is not a huge priority. I will catch up in about a week. Right now, I am working on a new webcast seminar for August 21st, a new 80 page manual, six hours of a new DVD, Rob and Andy's birthdays, the California State conference in Oct (500 people and a deadline for all paperwork of... July 16th. I started on it yesterday.....), a new tankless water heater installed today, radient barrier installed Thur and Fri, a new fence installed last Thursday, Tree trimmers on Saturday, and my entire downstairs painted a week ago. So.... I've been a bit busy and will continue to be so until I can get all my "work" finished. 'Tis the season... Oh, but I did rent that fun lens so when I'm not frantically doing "work" I'm takin' all kinds of bloggy post pictures. I promise to post more later. I just wanted some of my blog friends to know life is good... just busy right now. Thank you, sweet Rob, for cleaning the kitchen and living room for your own birthday dinner. I love how you understand my manic sprees.... Muuuuwah!

Suzyisms

Today, Suzy got a Jelly Bean before she ate her breakfast. Why? Because I traded her for a booger. From now on, if a booger gets in the tissue and not her mouth, I will replace it with a Jelly Bean. Why do we need this new incentive? Because according to Suzy, "Boogers taste good." I'm just hoping Jelly Beans taste better. ;) "G" - wanna give it a try with me? I may be on to something!

Yesterday, Suzy wanted eye makeup before we went to the store. I told her she didn't need makeup because her eyes were so "young and beautiful". She then asks me if my eyes were "old and tired." I guess they really are. When we got to the store (without makeup on either of us), I did not get carded when I bought Rob some bear. It was the first time in my life I wasn't at least asked for id. I hate 35..... I guess I need to start wearing makeup.

Suzy was so sweet yesterday. We made a care package for her friend, Katie, as they prepare to fly to New York tomorrow. Most of the morning was spent gathering items for the gift bag. Suzy wanted to also send her some "cards". She then started to make cards for some of her other little friends. I just love her caring and generous little spirit. At one point, she announced, "Lane will have to share with Brynna (his sister) because I don't want to run out of my supplies (post it notes and tape)." So sweet. So funny. Such a hoarder - like her momma.

I love three and a half. It was a tough journey for Suzy to get here. But, man, I could stay at this little "vacation spot" for a while. I hope you don't get tired of the stories. But I'm told this time goes by so very fast and I want to remember all these precious moments before we get to the teenage years.....

Suzy the helper

She did what????!!! As I came in from the garage today. Suzy announced that she was being a "helper". She had replaced the trash bag in the can. Huh? Rob is still trying to train me to do that. Or maybe I'm trying to train him? Maybe we got it all wrong all along. Maybe we were supposed to be training Suzy. I had no idea she would be capable of this at the age of three. So... how soon can she mow the lawn? ;) She already is a great weed puller.

Not only that, she's also helping me re-cover some chairs. Well... she's keeping me company and pinning a lot of my scrap fabric. We are in the midst of converting our home from basic generic white to Caribbean. Love it! I'll post some after photos later. I don't have many before photos. I'm too busy "doing"! Rob says these chairs scream, "Marti!". I guess that means he loves them. ;)

This is...

Andy: Innocent, sweet, fair, and easy going. He likes anything to eat, his big sister, his Mommy's hugs, and his Daddy's tickles.
This is Suzy. She's curious, innocent, honest, sympathetic, and active. She likes stories, her jammies, her baby brother, imagination friends, sprinkles, chocolick, and all things pink.

GREEN

I'm Green. Green, green, green I tell ya'. ;) My brother is going to "The Workshop" with Jasmine Star in Orange County. She's the one of the first photographers that I started following via blog and she is simply amazing. At first, I was shocked that Vickie, his wife, got him in. Then, I turned a very unflattering shade of green. ;) Next, I rationalized that he is the one that is actually trying to make money with his photography and I am just a big ol' hobbiest. I'm not willing to quit my day job. But still.... I introduced Vickie to Jasmine's blog! I WAS FIRST! Green, green, green. I'm secretly also very excited for Jeremy. Big brother, I hope you have a great time and I can't wait to pick your brain and soak up all the insider info you can share with me! I just hope Jasmine realizes how cool YOU are - ya' big nerd.

Perfume - Suzy Style

Suzy loves anything "Mommy." So, while in London, I picked up a couple of perfume samples for her at Harrods. I used to love them as a kid and figured she would as well. Maybe not the wisest thing to give a three year old, but hey...

I expected the spritzing of the eyes and was prepared to guard closely for a shattered bottle. These photos, however, puzzled me until I put it all together.

So, Perfume... Suzy Style... First, you have to take the container completely apart.

Then you spritz just the cap. Make sure and complain that nothing is coming out. Don't listen to reason about how it has to be all attached to work. Give up and just wipe it on your feet. Yes, feet. Feet?
Then, make sure and rub it into your hair. Hair? Yes, hair.
Hmmmmm..... What the?? Oh... yeah.... Isn't that was Jesus did? When she said, "I have to dry it with my hair." It sunk in. She also said something about oil and tears but it didn't make a lot of sense at the time. Guess what lesson they must have recently studied at church. Love you Suzy, always full of sweet surprises.

Friendly Fun

Today was my day to watch both girls. Since her Mommy doesn't blog, I'm not sure how she feels about photos on the web. So, here are some from today of my kiddos. We had some fun water play while Andy napped. I still think this is one of my best ideas. Let the sprinkler fill up the tubs. It's like having a baby pool without all the mess. At this age, the kids are still small enough to get inside. Plus, it keeps the sprinkler on low so it doesn't use nearly as much water.
Suzy likes to add shaving cream. We got the idea to "wash" cars and boats from my friend, Debbie.
The slapping the hands together to make a huge mess? .... That is ALL SUZY.
You may see this photo as body art. I see it from an OT perspective. She is learning how to hold the chalk and how much pressure is required to make marks. It's one of the most fundamental parts of pre-handwriting. You see, when kids can write on themselves, they learn what the pressure feels like both in their hand as well as on their body (later translated to the paper). It may seem trivial to some, but to an OT, this is pretty big stuff. Plus, maybe she will get this whole "inking myself" thing out of her system early.... ;)
After lunch, we broke out the dress up clothes. My little Princess Ballerina.
Andy wanted to play.


Admit it, I just caught you humming the "YMCA" song. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I didn't see it myself until I started uploading the photos.
He's official. He's got a badge.
Is it just me? Or do you see it? There is just something about this photo that makes me think of a police officer in a donut shop.
And because my "First Baby" doesn't get enough blog time....

I found my Sweet Suzy Bear

With all of the attention Andy has been getting since we returned, Suzy has been a bit of a handful as well. Saturday morning, I met some sweet friends at the park in hopes of getting a few photos of their little guy who is just a few weeks ahead of Andy. I asked Suzy if she wanted to go be my helper and I think it was just what we needed. After about an hour of photos, she had me completely to herself on a playground. We missed each other. This was just what we needed. I came home and announced with Joy to Rob that my "Sweet Suzy was back." We found her at the park.






I don't know if she's saying, "Come-on Mommy!" or blowing me kisses. Either way, I love this shot.

Today's Suzy funny.... I've been swapping days with my friend, Tara. I take her little one on Monday morning, and she takes Suzy on Thursday. It's great. We both get a day "off" and it forces us to spend quality interaction time with our girls at least once a week. We try and do super fun things and I know Suzy and I are both enjoying it. At lunch today, the topic of princesses came up. I don't really encourage the whole "princess" thing. However, a friend of mine once stated that all little girls are princesses because God our Father is the True King. So, I told Rebekah that she was, indeed a true princess because God was her Heavenly Father. The end of the conversation went like this.
Me: Rebekah, Is God your Heavenly Father?
Regekah: Yes.
Me: And is he The King?
Rebekah: Yes
Me: Well, Sweetie, that makes you a REAL Princess!
She beams with joy.
Me: Suzy, Is God YOUR Heavenly Father?
Suzy: Yes.
Me: And is he The King?
Suzy: Yes.
Me: So YOU are a Princess, too. Just like Rebekah!
Suzy: No, Mommy. I'm a bear. You call me Suzy Bear.

This week

This week has been a crazy one. Andy was not a happy camper and I can't say as if I blame him. We finally broke down and went to Uncle Andy's office since our pediatrician was still on vacation and I didn't want to see yet another one of her partners. There is a reason he is called "Dr. Awesome". ;) If he weren't family, we would be switching. Granted, we saw him on day 9 of what we think is a 10 day Rotovirus. But, Andy stopped vomiting the day we saw him Uncle Andy and his poos got a little less frequent. Did I seriously change 40 diapers a day for a week? While he was cutting two teeth? While his diaper rash turned into a yeast infection? Starting the night I flew across the world? Seriously? Whew. We made it through. Aside from a runny nose that Andy is now sporting, we are doing soooo much better than the last two weeks. Dr. Awesome gave us some cream that actual worked on Andy's bum and for the FIRST time since we have been home from London, Andy played in the toyroom over ten feet away from me for fifteen minutes so that I could clean the kitchen. (Can you hear the angels singing? "AAAAAAAA") Plus, I was finally able to spend some quality one on one time with poor Suzaroo who was so starved for attention she was trying every way possible to get it.

Amidst the exhaustion, I will leave you with a cute little Suzy story. Because, in my opinion, they are so much fun. Rob's mom, Grammy, is painting a mural on Suzy's bedroom wall. I'll post photos later when I'm more organized. So, we've been having a lot of fun with that and lots of nice visiting time over dinners. So, last night, Suzy said something and we all laughed. I can't remember now what it was. But, as a three year old will do, she repeated it and, on cue... we laughed again. Rob's parents then moved on to a little more adult conversation but Suzy wasn't done. She kept doing whatever it was and then I would continue to play along. After about five times of only having my attention, she announces really loud, "Now LAUGH!" It was really cute. Rob and I have a lot of verbage that comes from various sit coms, kids I've treated over the years, my family, our small group, etc. Now we are adding some Suzy verbage as well. I'm sure "Now Laugh" will be quoted for many years to come in our household. Just like, "Why'd I do that?", "I'm being a helper", and "kissing height" are common vocab in the Smith house. Little bears, thank you for adding such joy and spunk to our family. You exhaust me sometimes. But we always love the things we have to work for more. Right now, I love my kids "to the moon and back".

Poopin' and Paintin'

Since our return home, Andy has been a sick little bear. It started pretty mild with a little spit up here and there and runny poo. Unfortunately, with his sensitive little bottom, it quickly turned into a pretty bad little rash and now he's started vomiting a little more as well. We finally broke down and went to the pediatrician on Friday and were told it was likely just a virus. It's weird. He's fine in the mornings and things seem to get a little better. Then, it's full on from about noon until bedtime. He usually throws up every other day and then mostly at night. He also has a nasty poo pretty consistently between 2-4 a.m. No fever and very little complaints, except when we change him and now pretty constant but I think it's because of his bum mostly. With his sensitive little bum, I have to be really diligent. So, we aren't leaving the house much. Today alone, I changed over 35 diapers and did five loads of just Andy laundry. I think my hands area as chapped as his bum with all my hand washing. The doc said 7-10 days. We are on day eight and I just pray I can make it the next two! I also pray no one else catches this. Although, like I mentioned- It doesn't seem to be really that bad except for little bums.

So, that's what I've been up to since my return home from London. Welcome home! :) Still, I'm glad we went and had such a great time. I'm just wondering when I will ever catch up on this jet lag. I just interrupted this post to change bedding once again from both ends. So, it looks unlikely that tonight will be my night to sleep through. Poor little guy.

One of the things I've been wanting to do forever is to add some color to our house and make it a home. I even had a themed birthday party where my friends were supposed to come over and help me choose decorations. More on that later. So, since we have to be home anyhow, I've started doing some painting around here. Hence the title of the post. Rob was teasing that at least neither of my kids have decided to paint with their poo, as many kids do!

Sweet Tara took Suzy for a while on Monday and gave me a little reprieve. Poor Suzy. She wants attention so badly right now and I just don't have enough to go around as much as she needs. While she was out, I tried to steal a quick shower. Yup, this is my life. I threw some Kix (in a bowl that was dumped) on the floor with some water and tried to wash quick. It just made me laugh at further proof of my previous posts about how Andy is a little puppy.

Is it just me? Or is this photo "all boy".
With all the laundry, I'm having trouble keeping up. Normally, we are a disposable diaper family. But not when Andy is sick. I can't imagine the expense of 35 + diapers a day. So, I'm doing as much laundry as I can and using all kinds of little loin cloths. Here's a nice burp cloth that my sweet friend, Ivy, made for Andy. I had to laugh because when used as a diaper, it's upside down.
Ah, yes. Now you can see it says, "Andy". I guess it was meant to go over my shoulder and not on a bum. ;)
Don't you just love those chubby little legs? I could kiss them all day long.
Andy is into EVERYTHING right now. Suzy could care less about the bathroom as a baby. We have to be very careful with lids and doors with Andy. Yup, another way he's like a puppy.
Oh, no.... not the plunger! You know he was thinking about it.
Such a cute little baby but. Friends and more experienced moms tell me that fresh air is good for the bum. So, we put the diapers on really loosely and head outdoors. The problem was, he kept scraping his knees on the sport court. So, I improvised some little baby knee guards. My friend Cynthia called them something fancy and said I was just being stylish. Yeah, that's what I was going for. Style.

When it's really bad, we go sans diaper. I love how all "aired out" he is in this shot. It was right after I took off the diaper and he just relaxed for the longest time with this big look of relief on his face. It was too funny.
Pooh and Tigger? Yeah,... STYLE.
I put the hose on the slide and he thought that was great fun.
He even did a little soaking. I bet the cool water felt good.
Other than the frequent changes, this bug hasn't seemed to slow him down a bit! He's still in all kinds of mischief. Here he was caught red handed reaching into the pots and pans.
I've been trying to keep Suzy busy and do some fun things with her while Andy naps. Plus, I'm going crazy. I have to feel like I'm getting something done. It's in my genetics. When we Blacks get stressed, we gotta tear something up or get something done. So, painting it is. Suzy loves this little roller and pan that I bought for her to help me.
She's actually a pretty good little helper. We have to prime the wallpaper first before we can paint it. I'm too lazy to rip it all up. I don't even care if it looks bad. It HAS to be better than this floral I've been staring at for four years.
Suzy even learned how to clean up.
Not too bad for three years old. It was a good "base coat".
Her favorite part was getting all messy. Surprised? I'm not.

However, I probably should have thought twice before letting her paint with Kilz. She still has some in her hair and on her body that several swim sessions and baths haven't removed yet. Oh well.

On Monday, Rebekah came over for a play date. While Andy napped, I put both girls to work up in Suzy's room. She wants a pink room and we plan on doing a mural with Grammy this weekend.
They really enjoyed it and I got about half of the room edged while they worked on the one wall. The only thing I didn't think about was all of the little paint drippings that dried on this wall. Again, oh well. It will mostly be hidden by her dresser anyhow. That's why I chose this wall for them.

Suzy helped me finish up this morning during Andy's nap. Again, probably shouldn't have done her listening program with expensive equipment while she was holding a paintbrush. And again, Oh Well! Can you tell I should probably try and get more sleep before I do these crazy big projects?
She was so cute. The girls got a little paint on the floor and I was trying to get it cleaned up. Suzy grabbed a rag and said, "Mommy, take a picture of me being helpful!" So sweet. So starved for attention. (Notice the two day old paint still on her legs?)
Overall, I think it turned out well. It's a lot darker than I had planned. But, Suzy loves it. She thinks I'm cool because I let her have a very pink room. That makes it all just fine by me.

You can kind of see the purpleness next to her little lamp. It's hard to get colors just right on camera in a really dark room. Especially when trying not to use a flash.
Next up... maybe Andy's room or our master bedroom. Ooooh, will Rob let me continue my exhausted manic spree? Stay tuned to find out!