A Eureka Moment

I'm a mom of a three year old so I have bad days. Especially when he is sick and doesn't stop whining. Illness are drawn out longer and are more exhausted with him at 3 than they were at 2. So this morning after a night of Erik crying because he had a cough we couldn't control I decided I needed to go for a walk. Actually I have been feeling the urge to exercise for a week or now so. It is that "moment" I have been waiting for when I am motivated to exercise instead of just thinking I have to exercise. I have been waiting for my Eureka moment ever since Elliot was born.

Well this morning after breaking up a few fights, realizing Erik could go to school, but his mood was too unpredictable if he cough and had to stay home, I really just needed a break. A break with two children is just impossible, there is no alone time, no me time and you are at the mercy of their moods. This is why I have found it so hard to exercise because I don't know how to fit me into this equation. This morning I decided it was time to take matter into my own hands and by 8:30 I loaded everyone into my car and headed to the bike path.

I came prepared with books, cars, trains, anything to keep them entertained so I could power walk for an hour or so. I have tried this in the past, but always with limited success. Erik always wants to walk and will never stay in the stroller, in the old days he would drag his feet on the stroller hindering my progress. So today I put my phone in the stroller in case of emergencies and started walking; then Erik grabbed my phone.

Eureka! That is when I realized I could do this. Erik can play games while I walk and the problem is solved. The games are educational and he is learning how to spell and read so I don't mind him doing this and skipping tv in the morning. Elliot is content to just sit back for the ride and never complains. So today I got to walk for a full hour and even when I let Erik out to burn off energy he kept up and behaved. I really needed a break on the exercise front. So I decided every single day I am going to do this and get into a routine with the boys. We will head to the bike path around 8 and finish up at 9 allowing us to head to preschool or music class or any other activity we have planned in the morning. For me it is a time to clear my head and start my day with endorphins, my favorite way.

Well today towards the end of the walk Erik started taking pictures with my iPhone. As a photographer you can imagine how I encourage him to take pictures. I even had my mom get him a camera for his 3rd birthday so he can take pictures on his own. Anyway since I can't post my own images I thought it would be fun to post Erik's interpretation of our walk this morning. All images come from Erik's perspective.

  

Landscape Photography

When I first started taking pictures I was intimated by people so I started with landscapes. I took many pictures over and over of gorgeous landscapes, but couldn't seem to get very excited or passionate about landscapes. I think to be a really good landscape photographer you have to invest in good wide angle lenses, carry a tripod around everywhere and really be willing to hike and make the extra effort it takes to get that amazing picture. I just didn't seem to have that type of commitment. I HATE bringing a tripod along with me and my landscapes were never what I wanted them to be. Once I started getting brave enough to photograph people my landscapes were long forgotten.

A couple weekends ago I went on a girls trip to Napa and it was crush season. What that means it that the grapes were full on the vines and it was very very green and gorgeous. This landscape photography is more up my alley. I taste wine, look down below and capture an image. It doesn't take much effort. I do have a couple images I took with the idea of doing some HDR images, but I'll save that for a later date. For now I'll stick with the simple stuff.

The challenge with taking landscapes while I am on vacation is that I don't like to travel with a lot of equipment. I just take along my 50mm lens so I can put it in my purse for freedom and just pull it out when I am inspired or see an exceptionally good portrait. These images are what I can pull off with no tripod and a 50mm lens and a little bit of Lightroom magic.

Then there are the "natural" close ups I was a lot more interested in creating. Give me a shallow depth of field and and an interesting subject and I'll know exactly what my vision is and how I will create it.

I did mention that I bring out my camera for really good portraits or when I have an inspiring background and beautiful subjects. This mother/daughter portrait is probably my favorite from the whole trip.

Down, but not forgotten

Today I had a minor setback. While I was photographing the adorable 11 week old, Oliver, my camera just stopped working. This kid was too cute for word. We waited until he was napped and fed to make sure he delivered the goods. Whether it was his temperament or sleep or food, he gave us lots of smiles and looked at me which is not always easy at this age.

Then in the middle of my photographer flow, my camera got a terrible error and stopped working. I switch batteries, lenses, everything, but it just wouldn't work. I had to cut my photo session short which is embarrassing when you are with a client, but she understood. I immediately drove to the camera repair shop. It looks like my motherboard went out. I know I have a digital camera, but I don't exactly think in terms of motherboard for a camera.

So waiting for the repair estimate that will come later today, but it looks like my photography is put on hiatus for the week. I am in a hurry to get it back because I have a mini photo shoot next week with 4 different clients. I might be renting my camera that weekend. So for now my blog will not be forgotten, but will be neglected. I sure I will think of lots of cool posts or look in my photo archives for some other ideas.

First day of school

I have been anticipating this moment since Elliot was born, seriously. I love taking Erik to mommy & me classes and watching him interact with children his own age. He has done that since he was 4 months old and to this day, he still goes to a mommy & me class. Unfortunately Elliot has had to wait a bit. He is 17 months old and although we went to a multi-age class when he was 6 months old he really hasn't had the full affect. So today was a big day for me, both my boys are finally in school.

In true Heather fashion I started the day excited and put the boys in their cutest and my favorite outfits. We took a picture before we loaded the car to get the boys to school.

The drop off with Erik was rather undramatic. I didn't even come close to crying to getting sad, I was just excited to get to spend time alone with Elliot. Both Carl and I dropped Erik off and he instantly ran into the classroom. There was no long good-bye, big hugs or anything. He was gone. So many friends have told me how they cried at this moment, but I am excited for Erik and excited for myself. I was more giddy than sad.

Since I took pictures of Erik's first day of preschool I thought I would do the same for Elliot. His first mommy & me class was something I was completely unsure about with Elliot. See we have playdates very often with 10-12 kids so he is use to rather large groups of children. During those playdates he usually clings to me and doesn't wander off too much. This is why I had concerns about this class, I thought he would be rather clingy. As usual Elliot just surprised me.

The way the class works is that half the class goes to discussion and the other half stays and watches a "partners" child. So today I had a super easy girl who was a great independent player, stuck by Elliot and I and responded well when I asked her not to do things. I couldn't have asked for a better little girl to watch. Never cried once over her mommy. This gave me a good opportunity to take pictures.

We started off the class with a lot of outdoor play. He went to all his comfort zones and played with toys that were very similar to what we have at home.

 

Then we headed inside and did a little quieter play. Elliot is really into puzzles lately and sat instantly by the puzzle. I was watching the little girl and taking pictures so I didn't notice at first, but he pretty much put all the shapes in the correct spot, but couldn't figure out how to get it in the hole. I was impressed that he was able to match up the shapes.

Then one of the teacher aides noticed he liked to put things together and gave him the clothes pins which he thought was truly fun. I have been meaning to do this myself, so I am glad he got to play with these in class.

Then he did some playing with other kids, well some independent play with other kids around. That seems to be what happens the most at this age.

Then Elliot did something that completely shocked and surprised me, but it was one of those "aw" moments I will never forget. He picked up the baby doll and started holding it and carrying it. While he was playing with it and looking at its face, he gave it a HUGE kiss. Then a HUGE hug. It almost made me cry to see him be such a sweet loving boy.

After the first discussion and play time, it is circle time. I just knew my Elliot who loves singing and music would LOVE circle time. He clapped at all the songs, did all the motions since it was all songs we usually sing at home and had a HUGE smile on his face the entire time. He was so happy I brought him to that circle. Its impossible to take pictures during circle time so I don't have any right now.

After circle time the kids have a snack and I was a little unsure how this would go. Technically Elliot is too young for this class, by a few months, but it was the only one that worked with our schedule so I thought he might "fail" at snack. Honestly he did a lot better than some of the older kids. He sat, ate his snack and drank out of his cup better than his brother did at this age. Just one minor spill and he was fine. I was so proud of my little guy.

After snack it was mommy's turn to go to discussion was I was a little uneasy about this with Elliot. Erik never had a problem and never cried or anything when I left him. Although Elliot has had sitters and knows mommy leaves and comes back I just didn't know how he would react in this new situation. I thought for sure he would freak out and they would have to call me back into the classroom. Again Elliot surprised me. He was totally content and happy, and there were a lot of crying kids in the classroom, but my leaving never phased him.



We then went to pick Erik up from school. He did a running hug again and was so happy to see me. Preschool is almost worth it for moments like that. Then we had a quick talk with his teacher, I wanted to see how he did on his official first day. She actually asked me about his oral fixation, no surprise there, and we came up with a mutual plan on how to address it. He did three art projects and a lot of playing. I don't have all the details yet, hoping to hear more after nap, but he seemed to enjoy himself and really liked it. He definitely likes his teacher and talks about her all the time.

A Blast From The Past

When Erik was in his toddler years he loved to line things up. Wherever he was he found a way to line things, but his most popular spot was going outside in our old house and using the drive way.

Yesterday I was just hanging out with the boys killing time before we headed out to dinner with some friends. I look at the train table and saw this.

It took me a while to figure it out. At first I thought he was just lining up the cars to play along the track like this brother. Elliot often learns things faster using his brother as an example. Then I started really looking at his work and figured out that he was stacking his cars like his brother use to do. Its funny because Carl and I were just talking about differences in Elliot and we both noticed a brain explosion that happened over the weekend. Then its Monday and here is the evidence of his progress. Its funny how you turn around and your kids just surprise you like that.

One successful excursion

My kids are sick of my house. Between the two of them we have been sick for 9 days now and although Elliot isn't 100% he is healthy enough to go and play, meet friends, and join life again. Today we had big plans to go visit my friend Christine and her son Enzo who is Elliot age and play at Huntington Beach. Unfortunately both Enzo and Chris got sick so our plans were cancelled as of late yesterday. Then I thought I would go spend time with Grandma and Aunt Chrissy who haven't seen the boys in ages, but they had plans that didn't work with our schedule so our plans were foiled again. Now I have with two healthy boys and nothing to do, but I knew they needed out of the house.

I have had this gift card from Ann Taylor for almost 6 months now and I have been to the Loft store in the local mall and can never seem to find anything I want. The prices are too high and the style just didn't suit me. I am heading to Napa this weekend and would love some new clothes for the trip so I decided a visit to the Factory store in Camarillo would be worth it. Then I decided to make my shopping trip a success it would be a good idea to stop at the beach first and burn off some energy. So our adventure was decided upon by 8:30 and put into action around 10. I am spontaneous like that.

Well I decided since traffic seemed to be good on the 101, the best beach to visit was Zuma. So we got off and headed down Kanan Road. This is Erik very first trip down Kanan, Elliot was sleeping so he missed out. I told Erik to watch for the view because this road was going to be pretty. Appropriately he got excited about every "mound" he saw which were the hills and got excited about the view. He LOVED driving down Kanan and I will definitely take him there again. Worth it just for his reaction during that trip.

Now comes the hard part, the beach. Here I am with no swim suits, but a change of clothes, its 66 degrees and I am by myself with the two boys at the beach. I even forgot their sand toys! I did have insight enough to bring a blanket and lunch. So the first thing we did was each lunch on the blanket. Elliot looked at the waves and people. This was really his very first time at the beach. He went when he was 5 months old, but that doesn't count.

I took some pictures because I figured this is the only time we would sit still, and I was right. We did talk and Erik ate 1.5 peanut butter sandwiches. I had no idea he was so hungry.

After the boys pigged out on peanut butter sandwiches, juice boxes and apples we headed to the beach. Just a note, I broke my no juice before 2 year old rule today with Elliot. He probably won't get juice again, but I figured it wasn't worth the fight today with him due to his crying and mood before we left.

So the water was fun and interesting. Elliot was afraid and didn't want to touch it. I held him while Erik played in the waves. Erik would run out when the wave was going out and then run back in when it came towards us. He loved that game and had so much fun. He was sad when I made him stop. Also I did dip Elliot's feet in once, but he didn't like it and then got mad. He actually crawled away onto the sand and sat there playing while Erik played in the waves due to his fear.

In all we spent about 30 minutes at the beach until each kid wanted to go in a different directions and I got too stressed. I think if I bring the blanket closer to the beach and bring sand toys next time I will be able to stay longer and enjoy myself more. I am thinking of going back this week sometime actually.

After our little trial run at the beach we hit the road and drove along Malibu to Camarillo. If you have never taken that drive please do, it gorgeous and peaceful. Even Erik and Elliot were enjoying themselves talking about the rocks and ocean and just giggling the entire ride to Camarillo.

Now here is the risky part, shopping with two boys. I have a system though. I feed Elliot and let Erik play with my iPhone and that seems to keep both of them happy. I also don't go into more than 2 clothing stores and if I want to try anything on I bring it in all at once so there is only a single visit to the dressing room. Well the visit to the Ann Taylor Factory store was a complete success. Everything was on sale and I bought so many thing, way more than my gift card, but I am set for the season. I would have take pictures, but Erik had my iPhone!

After that we headed to the Disney store on impulse and I found both the boys costumes. Their costumes are a surprise, but Erik was so excited and talked about it the entire ride home. Then to top off a successful day of shopping and beach, both the boys passed out in the car and then did an easy transfer to bed. I am one lucky mama today. There was a single casulity today, "sticker" Doc Hudson was left somewhere at the outlets. I am not looking forward to that conversation when Erik wakes up.

Note: I left my camera sitting on my kitchen counter today so all pictures were taken with my iPhone. I am actually amazed at how clear they are for all the beach shots. Very good for a phone.

Back to the baseball field

Ever since I was a teenager when I thought of photography I thought in stories. I would picture an image in my head and figure out how that told of the story of what I was trying to say. Although I wanted to be a journalist from the time I was 10 years old and read "Sweet Valley High" novels, I quickly realized soon after high school that my talents were more in the visual field.

So today when I realized we needed to go back to the baseball field, the entire time I am there I am thinking of my story. It is probably why I like blogging so much, I always have stories, but have never been very good at tell them. My blog gives me a way to incorporate words and visualization, the combination of the two which I am much better at.

So today was suppose to be Erik's first day of preschool since we had to miss the official first day on Tuesday. I had even been priming him up for the day telling him on Wednesday he would be going and trying to get him mentally ready. This morning after I got up and looked at his snotty nose and heard his congested cough I realized that preschool would have to be postponed yet again. I might have sent him if it wasn't his first day, but Carl and I both agreed that he should be feeling a bit better on his first full day of preschool.

I have been stuck in the house with the kids since Monday and I realized that although Erik and Elliot couldn't go in public, they needed an outing. I decided since it was overcast and cool, it was a perfect baseball field morning. I gave Erik a breathing treatment so he could make it up the hill, snorked Elliot so he could breath better, dressed the boys in cool weather clothes, thank goodness their jackets still fit, and headed up the hill.

The hill ride has changed over that last year and I still haven't perfected it. Both my boys love to be pushed in a stroller, but I like using my BOB because it glides super easy. So I took turns. Erik walked for a long time, then Elliot had to walk. Erik got a piggy back ride and Elliot strode. Whatever it took to get us up that hill, but we made it and no one was grumpy.

We got there around snack time so we sat on the grass and ate for a little bit. Actually Erik was the one who sat down first, I think the hill really wore him out, but I just go with it most of the time so sitting is a good time for a meal.

Then I realized rather quickly that this was my first time alone with both the boys at the baseball field with Elliot walking and it presented new, but interesting challenges. Like, Elliot obsessing about the hill leaving the baseball field. As a moth to a flame, no matter how many times I turned Elliot around he went right back.

We also made our journey with new friends since Lightin McQueen and Matter seem to have to go everywhere we go lately.

Then we started our usual circle around the park. We stopped at our usual spots, the "puddle" was dry, but interesting to explore.

We made new discoveries. Wildlife and vegetation is rather interesting if you don't get to see it all that often. Its also great when you have a brother to share with and laugh about it too.

Then we headed over to the actual baseball field.  This is where the magic happened. I just stood back, became observer and let the kids take over. There was nothing going to happen except them getting super dirty and I was around for any climbing escapades. The magic of imagination when there is little to play with is priceless. It also comes with a lot of laughing and imitation in our family.

Who needs a tumble tots class when you have a good old fashion baseball field to climb on and practice your balance.

This is the face that is all too familiar in our house this week and a face I was hoping would be gone by today.

Definitely a good trip to the baseball field, illness and all. The interesting fact is that Erik refused to leave the house today, but I put on Elliot's shoes and he was clambering to get outside. I almost listened to Erik, when I realized that Elliot had just as strong of an opinion as Erik and he was voicing it. So we all headed out. As we were walking down the hill leaving the baseball field, Erik said to me "That was a lot of fun, can we come back tomorrow?"  Kind of summed up our visit today.