But, here is the caviat. The night before our session, Asher had a terrible time sleeping (as did we) and was incredibly fussy the next day. When she arrived to the shoot, (with an adorable gift in hand for Asher no less), Amaren confidently went about cheering him up, managing to snap some really fantastic photos of our little one, including the ones below!

If you are in Portland and have a newborn baby or kids of ANY age, this gal is seriously the baby/kid whisperer and has such a talent of snapping shots that really show off their personalities. If you’re not convinced by the photos above, you MUST visit her website: http://amarencolosi.photoshelter.com/

We plan to continue photo sessions with Amaren through many stages of Asher’s development and I hope to share them with you here!

Now, go schedule your session!

…and home to this lovely little family!

The only one missing in this photo is their adorable son who was at his kindergarten class when this photo was taken.

We headed east to Bend for a few days, where Josh and old pal Gernot played in the snow up on Mt. Bachelor while Aspasia, the kids and I all caught up and played in town.

On our last morning before leaving them, we took a little hike up Pilot Butte on a perfectly sunny day, where we could see all of the surrounding mountains.

It was really nice to get some fresh air and sunshine! And so great to have Asher meet our long time friends.

Today, the three of us took a little winter walk in Powell Butte.

I just loved the way the marsh looks in the winter time with the wheat color grasses.

Josh got to get his new shoes muddied up the way hiking boots should be.

It looks like the parks department will be spreading bark mulch along the trail soon. We enjoyed taking in the scent of the ground bark. Musky earth!

Through Orchard Loop trail.
We are so lucky that we don’t have to leave the city to be in places like this!

I hope all of your holidays were lovely and that you enjoyed time with close friends and family!

The five of us took a trip down south to see Josh’s family (Josh, Asher, Belle and I in one car and my brother in his own). Sterling enjoyed telling people, “That’s why I drove my own car,” any time Josh or I gave one another a hard time about something.” My brother has always been a fan of his freedom.

Christmas Eve and Christmas were full of fun moments with wonderful people and delicious food!

We are journeying into 2012 with humbled anticipation of all the wonder that life brings. I don’t think we could have picked a better way to welcome the new year than at our friend’s Ali and Holly’s festive house amongst good company.

It was a lovely, mellow evening. Their house has the best feel to it. Every time I am there, I feel like I’ve escaped to a nice cabin in some relaxing locale. They’re decorating style mimics the warm and welcoming personalities that each of them exude. Thanks for hosting you two and for sharing your fine bubbly!

On New Years Day, going with Texas family tradition, my dad (Pop Pops) brought over some Black Eyed Pea stew for good luck to share with family and friends. Here’s hoping that is what the new year will bring! Lots of luck…..and JOY and ABUNDANCE!

For two whole hours we snuck away while Asher was in good hands back at home.  We wined and dined at Olympic Provisions in SE Portland.

It was delicious!

It was the perfect way to spend the evening together. I felt like we were on a first date. We spent the whole time talking about our hopes and dreams and recalled how much we have been through together already in only nine short years.

I have been thinking a bit about what I’d like my theme words for 2012 to be. For 2011, I chose BELIEVE and CREATE, and I certainly feel that those words became our life this year. For this upcoming year, I am calling on JOY and ABUNDANCE. Does it seem silly to try to manifest something I already feel so much of already?

Perhaps maintaining JOY and ABUNDANCE and being open to continued blessings in our lives is what I am after.

Photo by BMAC Photography (2006)

Happy Anniversary Josh!

We’ve been together nearly a decade now, and in that time you have been a loving, caring husband to me over the past five years (you even married me twice to prove it) and now I have the joy of watching you be an involved and nurturing father.

I look forward to a lifetime of wonderful, loving moments together!

Then, last night, I took my brother to the Portland Cello Project’s holiday show to see friends, Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski of Blind Pilot perform (another band we LOVE) and we ended up falling for the music of Emily Wells after she performed a song titled Don’t Use Me Up from her upcoming album, Mama (being released in April 2012). Seems fitting that I would love the songs performed off her new album titled Mama, right? Her voice is intoxicating. Unfortunately, this video I found does not have the best sound quality, but if you are in Portland, you will have to catch her live at the Doug Fir on January 12th.

And, speaking of falling in love at first listen…when Blind Pilot first played their song, We are the Tide, which was released on their most recent album, I teared up by how beautiful both the song and lyrics were to me (and of course, the whole darn album is fantastic)! Take a listen if you haven’t already! It makes you want to hug everyone around you…even strangers.

Who are your most recent music crushes?

Friday was my first time trying to host a small dinner party (my brother’s b-day) since the little guy was born. I can’t say it was done with the finesse I once had, but I made it through alright and I think the birthday boy had a good time.

Asher decided not to sleep past 3AM so none of us got our “beauty rest” prior to the photo shoot we had scheduled for Saturday morning with talented photographer, Amaren Colosi. Despite a fussy baby, she managed to get some smiles in there. Here is a sneak preview!

photo by amaren colosi

That evening, we joined friends Ali & Holly for dinner at their house. That was a first for us to go on an evening adventure with Asher since trying to take him with us (unsuccessfully) to Chinese food a while back before we had a rhythm developed. Last night, he was an angel and despite not being at home, followed his now semi-normal bedtime routine. It was so fun to hang with old friends and just unwind.

Doesn’t this just look like a scene where good conversation had likely just taken place? It was!

Then our girl Celeste came to our home and cooked us breakfast this morning! I couldn’t have felt any more spoiled. To start things out, she sat down and carved a quick swan from an apple.

Then followed that up with her own *delicious* version of green eggs and ham!

We returned home not too long ago from my dad and Sandy’s new place where Josh helped my dad put together the same IKEA entertainment system that he built for our man cave. They did this while Sandy and I ogled Asher.

It’s good to be back in the world again!

Asher will be two months old on Monday and I never would have imagined that I would have to spend nights away from him this soon. Each time he and Josh leave for the night to head home, my eyes well up with tears and my heart aches a bit.

Being here for the week reminds me of how many things we have to be grateful for. Aside from this pesky infection, we are so very grateful for our health and the health of our entire family. On that note, we are grateful for all of our family! My dad and his wife, Sandy, who we were supposed to be spending Thanksgiving with today, are in the process of purchasing a home in Vancouver — just across the river, which they are supposed to close on next week. We are thrilled that although they travel for most of the year, they will be laying down some roots here and be able to see Asher as he grows!  We are planning to attend a delayed Thanksgiving at their new home sometime next week so we can all be together…perhaps it will be a bit of a housewarming celebration as well!

We continue to be so grateful for Sterling (my brother) who seems to do a solid for us at least once every week and we always hope to return the favors whenever possible. This week, he has been taking care of Belle while Josh and Asher are at the hospital with me during the days. Thanks buddy!

Beyond just our family, we are also so very thankful for our family of friends — who again and again flatter our hearts with incredible support and thoughtful gestures. For instance, on Josh’s first day back to work (which happened to fall on Halloween), my friend Gay came by with a carved pumpkin and candle saying that she thought maybe we didn’t have time to make one this year. She was right.

Another example of how gracious our friends are — last week, I got a call from my friend, Lucinda Henry (you remember her right? she was one of the graceful hosts for Asher’s baby shower). She wanted to stop by to drop off some homemade soup and a gift for Asher.

This picture above doesn’t do it justice, but she made Asher a globe night-light out of the goose. It is SO cool! We love it — thanks so much Cinda! Now at night when I nurse or change Asher in his room, I have the glow of a goose lighting the way!

Since all of the outlets in the nursery are hidden behind furniture, my stepfather-in-law installed a light switch on the cord so I could easily access the on/off switch.

I love the picture of Gary and the goose above with the classic look Gary gives after he does something he thinks is pretty cool. That’s why we call him the Cool Dude…which brings me to the very entertaining topic of what all of the grandparents in the family want Asher to call them…the whole thing started when my mom requested the name Glammy back when I was pregnant. Yes, GLAMMY. As in glamorous grammy. ANYWAY, that’s where things began. Then my mother in-law decided she’d like to be Gigi. Okay. Doable. It was at this point that I just started asking everyone what they wanted to be called, assuming they were all somehow philosophically opposed to the title of Grandma and Grandpa. I have to say that Asher already has his work cut out for him because he has four sets of grandparents since our biological parents are all divided up.

Please enjoy the list below:

Josh = Papa

Me = Mama

My Dad = Pop Pops

My Stepmom = Grandma Sandy

My Mom = Glammy K

Josh’s Dad = Grandpa Oz (thanks for keeping it simple

Josh’s Stepmom = Grandma Colleen

Josh’s Mom = Gigi

Josh’s Stepdad = Cool Dude

LOL. Yes, COOL DUDE! I know he said it as a joke, but I really want that one to stick because I’d love Asher one day to say to people, “We’re going to Gigi and Cool Dude’s house for the weekend.”  In all reality though, Asher will create his very own names for all of them. Perhaps everyone will simply be Grandma and Grandpa. Who knows. A friend’s two-year-old son calls his grandmother “Oxygen Gramma” because she uses oxygen. That’s just the way kids see things. Plain and simple.  Remember that old show, “Kids Say the Darndest Things”? There is a reason for that title.

ANYWAY, it is because of Cool Dude that my kitchen didn’t burn down last week when I left some bread on broil for far too long and started a fire. He truly lived up to the name. When it all happened, he was holding Asher in the living room while I was in the kitchen yelling all sorts of profanities to declare that I had caused the fire. And, the calm, COOL DUDE who is a retired Fire Captain came walking toward the kitchen and said in the most slow and relaxed voice (as flames are visible behind me) says “Sweetheart, you take the baby out of here, I’ll take care of the fire.” So Asher and I went into another part of the house that was not smokey while Gary, eh-hem, I mean Cool Dude took care of the fire. He then educated Josh and I on what to do in different fire scenarios. Since we were just cooking bread, the best thing to do was to turn off the oven and not open the oven door. If it were a grease fire (stove top or oven), we should always call for help because if it were to get sucked up into the cooking vent (which we actually don’t have), then it can get ugly. I’m sure this is common knowledge for most people but I needed the refresher course.

That’s what the bread looked like by the time Gary placed it outside so the house would not be too smokey. Boy was I grateful that this happened when I was not alone with Asher. I think I would have just gone outside and called the fire department because I wouldn’t have wanted to put him in any danger. GO COOL DUDE! We love you!

Oh, and before I “over and out” this blog post, I have to give props to our friend Tiffany, who has been such an enormous help on making sure we have everything we need for Ash, and then some! Aside from bringing over a swing, bouncy chair, a play gym and a bassinet, she also hand-made about a dozen burp clothes and a beautiful car seat cover that we get SO many compliments on:

It’s so great because in its lifted position, it keeps the sun out of Asher’s eyes, and then we can lower it when walking through the rain or when he is asleep and we are at a cafe or something of the sort. It works out really well. I think Tiff Schiff needs to go into business making these covers!

Okay. I’m ready to sign off. Thanks for letting me ramble for a bit. It’s allowed me to escape for a while and feel at home. The crying babies in the rooms around me also make me feel at home in a weird way. The one next door I have nicknamed “The Kazoo” because he/she (not sure) sincerely sounds just like a kazoo when it cries.

Thank you all again for your kind thoughts and healthy vibes for a quick recovery! I am working on it and hope to be able to head home tomorrow.

Over and out.

…through the bright colors of change…

…taking notice of any surprises lingering where you’d least expect them…

…choosing footsteps carefully as we navigate each new moment moving forward.