The Chub-a-lub Baby in the Window August 17, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Little Man Dallin, Parenthood, Princess Hannah , 3commentsDo you see that cute little baby looking out the window?
The one with the cub-a-lub cheeks?
He decided to clap, sprout a new tooth, take two steps, and ride his toy bus, all in one day.
Before I know it, he’ll be talking as much as Hannah. Chances are, both of them will insist on talking at the same time in a closed confined space like the car. And probably sooner than later, he’s not going to let me kiss his cheeks all day long.
Which makes me sad to even think about.
Why do they have to grow up fast?
Welcome to My Neighborhood August 15, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Kansas, Little Man Dallin, New York, Photography, Princess Hannah , 4commentsWelcome to my neighborhood.
We live on the second floor.
The first floor is the LDS Bookstore.
The third floor has a couple of offices and an empty Masonic Temple.
We’re not in Kansas anymore friends.
This is part of our building. Our bedroom light is on in the window on the second floor, furthest to the left of the photo. We have a tree in front of our window.
I am in LOVE with all the architecture in this little town. I shot all of these at night, and I plan to do more night shooting over the next few day. Paris makes a good companion when I go out late.
Our apartment only has windows in the front and in the back (obviously, we have no side windows since we are in the middle of the building) and it is very long. Hannah and Dallin LOVE our new place. As soon as we opened the door, Hannah ran up and down the hall (Which is the longest hallway ever) screaming, “I love our new house! This is my favorite house EVER!”
True story.
Dallin was not far behind, speed crawling around our new place.
It was nice to be pleasantly surprised with our furnished apartment which we rented sight unseen.
That is also a true story.
I’ll post pictures when I get around to finding a spot for all of our things. 
How to Make an Eight Hour Trip in 10 Hours. August 14, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Church, Family, Princess Hannah, Trips , 2commentsIf there was an “Amazing Race” show for families, we would not win.
This is how to make an eight hour trip in 1o hours:
- Get gas. Every hour and half or so.
- Since you’ve stopped, change diapers. Go the bathroom yourself.
- While up and about in the gas station, get a couple of drinks and some snacks.
- Take the dog to the bathroom.
- Throw out all the garbage that has collected in the two hours since the previous stop.
- Get everyone buckled back in their car seats, and resume travels.
- Distract the driver. Talk about something unrelated to the route.
- Notice several minutes, or hours later, that you’ve taken a detour.
- Say hello to the city in area’s you never meant to visit.
- Take a wrong turn in southern Illinois. Admire thousands of miles of corn.
- Get back on track.
- Stop for lunch.
- Get everyone out. Including the dog.
- Stop at every tourist attraction along the way.
- Repeat this cycle as necessary until you’ve reached two to three hours over your projected arrival time.
Since we were already behind schedule, we decided to stop by the Kirtland, Ohio Temple. It was just a few miles out of our way. When you’re already behind schedule, what’s another hour detour?
This was the first temple our church built. It no longer belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but it is still very sacred and historically important to our church. Read more about it here.
Hannah in front of the Kirtland, Ohio Temple.
This street name is after our first prophet, Joseph Smith.
This is the first and probably last “traditional” tourist shot of our family.
It was so nice to see this little town and visit the temple.
We plan to stop by this place again on our way back to Kansas City.
We still need to do the official tours.
A Brief 10 Hour Reunion With Some of Our Favorite People August 13, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Friends, Photography, Saba, Trips , add a commentThe halfway point along our route was Dayton, Ohio. We were excited to stay with our good friends Brent and Michelle who we knew on Saba.
Michelle and I can both talk a lot.
Actually, I think Michelle can out-talk me.
That’s a fact.
This is Brent and Michelle’s street.
It was so humid in Dayton, you could see the humidity in the air.
It was a fun filled hang-out-and-chat fest during our 10 hour overnight stay.
Their kids are so cute, exactly as I remember them. Just a little taller.
This is Delainey.
She will be six next month.
When she was born, she came out talking. (Or so I’ve been told.)
And now, I interrupt these images with Grant explaining all the rooms in their house.
He is very accurate . . .
He doesn’t want to miss counting any room . . .
I would now like to shift your attention to the front door.
This is Paris.
She is whining.
If you listen really hard, I bet you can hear her through your monitor.
She is THAT sad about being left inside.
We now return to more pictures of darling Delainey.
She has such rich brown eyes.
And a very happy smile. Hannah sure loved playing with her toys.
When Hannah woke up in Delainey’s room, she exclaimed, “Mommy! Look at all these girl toys! Are they for me to play with!?” Delainey has quite the collection of pink girl toys.
And now, we return to Grant.
Until tomorrow,
Peace.
We’re the Only Family I Know That Can Make an Eight Hour Trip in 12 Hours. August 12, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Little Man Dallin, Medical School, My Handsome Husband, Photography, Trips , 8commentsWe left Kansas City on Saturday with high hopes of making it to Dayton Ohio (to stay with our friends Brent and Michelle) in eight hours.
Eight hours would be plenty of time for, lets say, someone traveling alone. Someone without kids or a dog.
We are the only family I know that can make an eight hour trip in 12 hours. We’re really proud of that. (Please tell me you read that last sentence with much sarcasm.)
On Saturday, we left the house three hours later than we originally planned, but no biggie. What’s three hours on an 18 hour trip?
Two hours into our journey, somewhere in Missouri, we passed a serious car accident within seconds of it happening.
Because I’m not super nice, it never, ever, crossed my mind, in the millisecond that we passed the accident, that we should stop and help.
Not once. (Please don’t judge. )
There were a few people there and I was positive that someone had called 911.
POSITIVE.
But, David is WAY nicer than I am and his instincts are just a bit quicker.
He pulled over, and jumped out of the car, ran across the freeway (which was not too scary as you can see by the picture, traffic was moving very slowly.) to assist until help came.
At first I was all, “How are we going to help? Me, you, and the dog, with our chatty three-year-old, and bashful baby? Not to mention our tiny car towing a U-Haul?”
Plus, we were just a tad behind schedule.
Anyone else following me?
It only took me an extra few seconds after David stopped to realize that he might be the only person who stopped to help that might actually know something.
I gave Dallin the i-Phone to play with (which made him grin from ear to ear), and stepped outside to snap a few pictures of the scene while Hannah cried her eyeballs out. She was very sad David left so abruptly with no explanation given to her.
Turns out, the chick driving the truck, blew a tire. Not knowing how to drive her car on three wheels, she rolled.
She was not wearing a seat belt.
We’ll never know the fate of this girl, but David was almost positive she had a neck injury. She could not feel David touching her arm which is not usually a good sign.
The jaws of life came out to retrieve her, and we were on our way.
This is our car.
This is the necessary U-Haul transporting some of our stuff.
This car/U-Haul combo is a head turner. Especially with two adults,and two kids and a dog in the back.
For one, most people are amazed that a car so small can tow a U-Haul that size.
Second, more people than I’d like to count, have asked if we were moving ALL OF OUR STUFF for six weeks.
Hello?
These are the necessities! Yes, we are renting a furnished apartment, but I learned a LONG TIME AGO (when we moved the the Caribbean), that “furnished apartment” to someone else is does not mean “furnished apartment” to you. That said, I brought anything and everything I thought I might need. I didn’t want any surprises, and I certainly didn’t want my children’s only toys to be Tupperware.
I’m completely justified with this trailer.
Someone, please back me up.
Tell me you too would have rented a trailer to move a bunch of stuff for six weeks.
Anyone?
New York, Here We Come! August 7, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Church, Medical School, Trips , 11commentsWe’re going to New York for six weeks.
That’s right.
We’re not going to the BIG APPLE.
We’re going to Upstate New York.
Rochester to be exact.
David will be doing his OB/GYN rotation at a hospital there.
We’re renting an apartment on Main Street in Palmyra. It’s about 30 minutes away from Rochester. It’s a quiet little farm town, rich with LDS church history.
Our apartment is directly above the LDS bookstore. This will certainly be an interesting living arrangement for us. I’m sure there will be many pictures to come.
I’m most excited to see the the autumn leaves turn while we’re there and I can’t wait to see Niagara Falls.
This is one crazy adventure medical school has taken us on!
We leave this weekend. Wish us luck on the two day drive!
(I’ll be back to blogging in a few days after we settle in and get internet.)
What Do I Do Now? August 6, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Daily Life, Photography, School , 1 comment so farToday, I’ve been bored.
I don’t think I’ve been bored in YEARS. I almost forgot what it feels like.
I feel like I’ve been going 100 mph and then BAM!
I hit a brick wall.
Game over.
My classes ended yesterday, and I’m sad and relieved all at the same time. I have learned IMMENSELY this summer from both courses, but there is no way I could continue going to school full time, and be a mom, and happy wife full time simultaneously.
But . . .
I’m still sad my classes are over because I loved them so much. It’s a good thing I have fall semester to look forward to.
I think I’ll give my house a proper cleaning.
Maybe I’ll even get ready today.
This boredom will pass, won’t it?
In other exciting news, I have BIG, BIG, BIG news I’m sharing on my blog tomorrow.
AND NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT.
But this little one sure is cute.
I Have a New Love August 5, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Photography , 1 comment so farI have recently discovered the work of Michael Kenna.
I’m IN LOVE with his photographic style.
I dare say I love his art more than I love Ansel Adams’ art.
Which, is really saying a lot.
I can imagine my house filled with his fine art pieces one day.
They are just so beautiful.
Recently, I had to duplicate a photograph by someone who is a master of photography. I chose Michael Kenna because, like I said before, I LOVE his work.
I chose to copy his image of a wrench.
Not because I like wrenches, or heck, even know how to use a wrench, but because I thought it was the most likely picture I could reproduce.
This is my lame attempt at reproducing a masters work. It was more difficult that I expected it to be. Especially the post production of the image. It looks like it’s black and white, but it’s not a true black and white. It has a green tint to it. Getting the exact color of green overlay to match the original picture was tricky.
Kind of like following a recipe is tricky for me. I need more freedom than that.
Too many rules.
Meet Two of My Friends August 4, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Friends, Medical School, Photography, Saba , 6commentsSay hello to my friends Ray and Leigh.
I knew them on Saba.
Leigh is a medical student.
That’s how we met.
They now live in Kansas City. Funny how we keep moving to the same place.
They’ve been married for awhile.
Looks like it’s working out for them.
They are planning to adopt. Do you know of a baby for them?
They plan to use some of these pictures for their adoption profile. This one will send a good message.
So will this one.
Leigh has great jewelry. (Maybe she’ll give me her great pieces when she gets bored of them.)
Leigh and Ray are such a great couple and will be wonderful parents one day.
And, they were so flexible when I called them on short notice for this shoot.
Great couple + flexible schedule = Great parents, right?
Let’s find them a baby!
Pregnant Beauty August 3, 2009
Posted by Emily in : Friends, Photography, Pregnancy , 3commentsThis is my friend Mandy.
She’s beautiful.
And she’s pregnant.
This is baby number four.
It’s a boy.
Actually, this will be her fourth boy.
She makes pregnancy look glamorous.
I had a great time photographing her.
Turns out, we both like to talk.
A lot.
