Ever stalk the UPS man?!

like sitting at the front door, barely blinking an eye so he can't ding-dong-ditch you stalk?? or is that just me? it was one of those days again, my mother's day gift was in the mail and of course, mr. ups man decides to deliver at 7:30 p.m. (i think he does it intentionally just to torture me!). and this is so bad, embarrassing to admit but i'm going to keep it real... i didn't even take a shower today in fear of missing him (yes, he seriously has been known to ding-dong-ditch me!! and i didn't want today to be one of those days!). so in the mail... a new lens :) i ordered it last week, what a trial that was - they were sold out everywhere!

i called 4-5 different places and seriously, within the time it took me to make that last phone call, the first store miraculously received a shipment in (of 1, yes, a qty of 1!) and dh was able to order it online for me (side note: dh was stalking every website, like seriously hitting refresh hoping that he would find me that lens - and bravo hunny, you did it!). sorry if i'm rambling and i've lost you, but if you've ever wanted something so bad, and as it was slipping through your fingers you, by the grace of God (because yes, there had to be some divine intervention going on here!) were able to hold on for dear life... than you can understand that that was exactly me with this lens. go on, laugh.

so, it's 7:30 p.m., ds is super fussy from being up for 4 hrs straight already, i'm scarfing down my pizza (just waiting for ups man to arrive) and ding-dong! i'm up in a mad dash to the front door (which takes me .2 secs). yell to dh, "you've got Luke?!" don't even wait for an answer, start prying open the box. and here are a few shots i was able to get in before i had to start luke's bath and bedtime routine. already can't wait for tomorrow!

ETA: please forgive the messy rooms & fish tank. it's going to be such a learning curve going from a fill-the-frame mentality to a everything-in-the-frame focus. so i do apologize in advance for all the messiness that's bound to come through (at least initially) while i play and get acquainted with my new lens ;)

♥ ♥ Luke's BFF/GF ♥ ♥

how cute are these two together? luke's friend maddy came over for a photo session and of course hubbs had to stick luke in some frames (ok, like half of them! luke was in his jammies, so obviously not ready for pics but hubbs insisted). hubbs is definitely a camera hog, he just loves pics of ds. well look at these two together, can't you already see their personalities? luke's bff/gf (we can't decide which way it will go yet, haha) is a cutie right?! she's talkative and very fast, she's already crawling well and pulling herself to a standing position at 8 months and luke has yet to even get on all fours!! luke is very much in no rush to grow up and you know what, that's ok with me ;) luke is very quiet and calm, rarely talkative. we can go out for hours running errands and we always think he's napping in the car because he doesn't make a peep, but nope, never, he never ever ever (like EVER) falls asleep in the car. he just doesn't have any desire to babble, already quiet like his daddy, lol. well anyway, here are some photos that i think perfectly represents their individual personalities. luke's bff is always so interested in him and he rarely, if ever, reciprocates it. she's always giggling at him, trying to reach for him, and just so aware of him... he, on the other hand.. not so much.

don't these pics make you giggle, or is that just me again?! oh and btw - luke's bff is a mere 2 days younger than him!

started out a little rough...

i'm guessing she didn't want him in the frame, lol.

so hubbs rotated them, thinking it would help.. not so much, lol.

let's try a little space between the two.. nope, she didn't like that either.

here, hubbs making her laugh :)

oh, now they're best buds!

and how cute is this pic?! i just had to draw in the captions,

surely these were exactly the words exchanged ;)

My new fave pic

ok, so it's a little obvious... i'm completely obsessed with snapping shots of my ds. normal? then why does everyone look at me crossed eyed, asking what in the world i'm going to do with all these pics... guess what everyone... i DON'T KNOW! seriously, i have over 8,000 (that's right, eight THOUSAND) pics of ds since November. NOVEMBER 2009!!! ok, i'm going to try to put the camera down once in a while... seriously. i have a problem!

well here it is, my new fave pic (for the next few days anyway ;) black & white is growing on me, surprisingly. and hubbs keeps telling me i have a heavy hand when editing, yeah, that's me... i have a heavy hand with everything i do. i don't really think there's any changing that, i try but fail miserably. so for now, here it is, heavy-handed and all!

Luke's 6 month session with Sarah K Chen

sorry i couldn't figure out how to save the images and put them in post... but here's the link to his amazing photographer's website. we just LOVE the sneak peeks and can't wait to see the rest (of which i'll be posting my faves, so stay tuned).

::update to Luke & Daddy post/pictures - not that i was ever deluded into thinking my picture-taking skill was anywhere near the talent of Sarah K Chen, but after seeing her pictures it's even more clear now why hiring a professional photographer to document Luke's first year of life was a great investment::

Playing with black & white

generally i'm not a fan of black and white conversions. i don't know why, i guess i feel like dimension and detail gets lost without color. so i decided to play a little today, because i have absolutely nothing else to do ::insert sarcasm:: and here's what i came up with.

Her name was Lola...

she was a camera bag, teehee. Lola arrived yesterday and oh, she is a thing of beauty. i just love her so! i ran and jumped into hubbs' arms to thank him for feeding my habit and he said, "of course i'm supportive (of photography) babe, i see how much time you're spending on it and really doing a lot of research and learning!" ahhh, what a great hubbs! i've totally cashed in on his "supportiveness" and in the past few weeks have purchased a nice little chunk of awesomeness to keep me "well-fed" for a little while ;)

so here's Lola in all her glory. she is really so much more beautiful irl! here is where you can get one too, if interested. she comes with a nice little dust bag that matches the purple lining. ahhh, i say it again!

Ugh! Can't sleep...

Visions of baby albums, shopping cart covers, external flashes, Easter baskets and lenses running through my head. I need to get a life. A hobby. Something that doesn't involve 24 hrs of eating, breathing, sleeping my son! Who was I just 6 short months ago?! Seemed like a lifetime ago, I can see how easy it is to get lost in laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping and babies! For now i'll just enjoy, bask rather, in the delightfulness (sometimes insomnia driven delightfulness) of getting to spend 24/7 with my boy. Soon I will return to the working-out-of-the-home field and will be a sort of miserable for having to divide myself further. Right now I enjoy that all divisions include my son, I won't be able to say that for much longer :(

Going back to work will bring all sorts of new challenges and I'm sure i'll be looking back on nights like these, wishing I could be working on another baby-related project.

and... because posts are always better with a few pictures.. i'll leave you with these, the number one reason i have a hard time falling asleep at night...

New lens just arrived...

... i am smitten!

canon 50mm f/1.8 II

Anxiety induced Insomnia

Why?! You're gonna laugh, or maybe not if you find that this happens to you, too. I'm continually, like a million times continually, clicking refresh on my email anticipating awaiting and email from my baby book maker. Ugh! Send it already. Tell me how much more I owe you for all the crazy but very necessary additions to the already-fabulous-baby-album i need to make. Did I mention how necessary these additions are?! Seriously, how do you expect a completed album to not house awesome V-day, St. Patty's Day, Easter and 4th of July pics in it?! EXACTLY!

So, while I anticipate await calmly for her reply... This is my heart's new obsession (as if I need a new one!)

Really?! YES! If simply for the name alone, "Lola." Lola was my name in a past life, I'm quite certain. If you knew me, which I hope none of you do irl, you'd know that this purse, er, camera bag, was made for me! It's from a new company, Epiphanie, and won't be available until February. Oh wait, that's today :) Now to get my hubby on board, hmm.

And yes, I actually do have anxiety over the baby book (not knowing how much more $$$ I'm going to want, and probably not be able to, put into it) and over this new crazy obsession of mine. Honestly, the obsession will not go away until I have my awesomest camera (a previous obsession of course) nesting snugly away in it's new home, aka "Lola!"