a new workspace.

So its been my DREAM to one day walk out of the apple store carrying a new imac. I've seen people do it all the time. Walk out of there with a big ol fancy computer like its nothin, like they buy them all the time. We were finally able to save up all of our money's (thanks to a very busy march) and make this dream come true...well sort of. We went to pick up our new 27 inch imac. The thing was HUGE. I couldn't even carry it out of the store. So I watched as Bryce carried out my dream and I carried Benson.

We got it home and set it up in the office. I somehow felt that the office needed a little kick. Needed something new to welcome imac to the room. I told Bryce I wanted to do a couple of projects. And he said "you get 50 bucks." I ended up spending 60 for my three projects.

The first project was a collage of my old cameras. For years I have been trying to decide how to display them in the office. I finally took pictures of a few of my favorites and got them printed. Bryce helped me with the rest. He cut out all of the wood, which we already had. painted them black, and then decoupaged the pictures on. and then had the task of hanging them on the wall. love ya B! This project cost $30 to get the prints developed at costco.

Each pic is a 10 in square and the wood is 1.5 inches thick

The next project is a series of three prints which I designed and then printed at home. Just a couple of my most used phrases during a shoot. The frames were 10 bucks each at ikea. Sorry about all the glare, that would be our white trash paper blinds (soon to be replaced).

This will give you a better picture of what each one looks like

The last project is probably my favorite. Not because it didn't cost me a penny, but because I made it all (mostly) by myself, and it holds a pic of my family. Yep, its a frame. Bryce is usually the one that makes the frames in this household and the one that paints them. I wanted a chunky frame to set beside the computer. One that would stand up all by itself. He was a little weary when I said I wanted him to show me how to make one. But he did. I'm not going to lie, I freaked when I went to use the chop saw. The name alone gives me the chills. I could imagine everything. my hand. the chop. the saw. and the blood. oh the blood. Soo Bryce, in fact, made all of the cuts. But everything else I did by myself. Pretty much became a master at the nail gun. I can even hear Steven Tyler right now telling me "Brittney, I think you nailed it." 

We assembled the base frame. I had to glue each corner and then nail them together. Let's just face it, the top right corner frame looks like a piece of junk. But i kept with it. I sanded it. puttied the cracks. sanded some more. And then we cut the pieces for the outer part of the frame. And I nailed those, sanded, and puttied. Then it was time to paint (probably the most time consuming part of the project). We sprayed it black first. And then I painted on the teal. Roughed it up a little and then added some dark glaze. And then it was finished. And in went a 5x7 pic of my little family.

and that will be the last frame i ever do.

puddle.

Benson, remember that big puddle after all the rain.

i told you to go stand by the stop sign because it would make a cool picture with your reflection.

You did great.

but then you went and did your own thing.

Remember when I told you not to get wet

Remember when you looked at me and then ran straight for the water

Remember when you purposely went to the middle of that big puddle. and stayed there. knowing we didnt want to come in after you.

Remember I wasnt upset

because

we had gotten that cool shot that I wanted.

picnic.

So March was pretty crazy for me. I still haven't fully recovered from that month. The days seem all blended together... if I wasn't at a shoot then I was at home editing a shoot. Poor Benson and Bryce got put on the back burner for a while. but..

Bryce had the day off on Thursday, so i put aside my editing for the evening, and had a picnic with my 2 boys. I made chicken artichoke paninis for me and bryce. amazing. Benson had a PB & J. And for dessert we had some chocolate covered strawberries and oreos. 

We ate dinner on our blanket, ran around with chocolate on our faces (because mom forgot napkins), rode our bikes around the lake, and then fed bread to the ducks. it was perfect. it was just what I needed. It was just what our whole family needed.

I need to remind myself to do this more often.

Because those paninis were to die for.

too fast.

 my parents always said "you kids grow up way too fast"

i loved it. i loved growing up fast.

now im the parent. who looks at her not so little boy everyday.

and thinks

"you're growing up way too fast"

i hate it.

it all happened so fast...

I was getting some work done on the computer. editing like a mad woman.

Benson was playing nice and wasnt bothering me.

I could hear him walk out of the room and then come back in. talking jibberish to himself.

"this is nice" i thought "maybe we dont need a second child"

It was eventually time for a break. and thats when I turned the computer chair around.

thats when i saw it. saw all of it.

half eaten pretzel sticks

close to fifty wet wipes

a single hot wheels car

q-tips

diapers

a can of refried beans

a kitchen towel

papers from the trash

I can't help but think...maybe its time for Benson to have a sibling?

a family vacation.

It was almost three years ago when I got off of work on a Friday. My fridays were half days so I got off at noon. I pull into the driveway to find that Bryce was already home, which was odd considering he didnt get off work until 5pm. I walk in the door and Bryce had one of his hats with pieces of paper in it. 

"what is this?" i asked "just pick one" Bryce said.

ooooo I love suprises! I figured he had written down a handful of places to go out to lunch. I pull out a piece of paper and written on it was..."San Diego"

He then said "go get packed..it looks like we are going to San Diego"

So I run around the house, excited as can be, and get everything packed. Bryce hopped onto Priceline, named his own price, and we got a sweet 5 star hotel room in downtown San Diego. And off we went...

Not only do I love going on vacation. I love spontaneous vacations.

This last weekend I had a family shoot cancel for Saturday. It was a three day weekend for Bryce. We had nothing going on.  So i thought, how bout a little family vacation. We have never been on a family vacation just the three of us before. I talked to Bryce and we decided to take Bens to Sea World. We booked some cheap hotels on Priceline on Thursday, and we were on our way to Sea World early Friday morning. 

We got to Sea World around 11, and there was hardly anybody there. It started out sunny and beautiful and then we got a little drizzle towards the end of the day. Benson LOVED sea world. he loved all of the animals. His favorite? I think it was a tie between the dolphins and the native san diego pigeons which he loved to chase around. 

Yes. definitely the best first family vacation ever.

Saturday and Sunday of our little vacation was spent at Newport Beach. Where we ate at all of our favorite places, road our bikes along the beach and took Bensons 18 months portraits (post below).

18 months in Newport

 I really cant believe that our little boy is 18 months. Little stinker just keeps getting bigger and bigger. We decided to take some 18 months pictures of him in Newport. Here are a few of my favorites.

Benson thinks jumping is the coolest thing to do. he swears he gets both feet off the ground.

I was talking with a family on the beach while we were taking pictures, and the first thing the mother says to me is "he is the spitting image of his dad"

how could I not agree when there are pictures like the one above where they look like stinkin twins.

and then there are pictures, like the one below, with me and my adopted blonde haired boy.

We try many tactics during a photoshoot with Benson to try and get him to smile. Things like dancing, peek a boo, jumping, laughing, running, back flips you name it... for this next series of shots Bryce held up a gummy worm next to my lens. worked like a charm. I think the middle pic is my favorite from the whole shoot.