Doughnuts

Isaac had a craving for doughnuts this weekend...so here he & Hannah are making them on Sunday. I think of them more as beignets...in animal shapes... they were delish!

Hannah insisted on helping.


Daddy's instructing her

NEW LENS! yay! & updates...

My new 50mm f1.4 arrived in the mail Friday! Yay! I still haven't sent the 50mm f1.8 in yet to get fixed...but now I can.

It's been a crazy week! from getting in town Monday night, taking off all of the boards off of the windows of the house (Ike Ike Ike), to a loooong Bridal session block of time, Isaac's birthday Thursday (but we were travelling to College Station), leaving Hannah overnight with the Kimmels' (including her twin bed), to engagement session in College Station early Friday morning... (I'm finally blogging about this a week later...)

Here's a pic of Ike...it actually instilled fear in my heart watching it while I was in LA... waiting to see what would happen... Isaac being incovenienced (car shop drama & mandatory evacuation issued by the county)...and the destruction and disaster that Ike actually left in its path... :(

Here's when we were waiting and it was projected to hit Corpus...

It's a HUGE STORM! Almost the size of Texas!

Then it misses Corpus but hits Gaveston & Houston & leaves a ton of destruction.

source: www.nnvl.noaa.gov


I asked Isaac to take pics of the house all boarded up before he left (while Hannah & I were on the West Coast).




Here's some initial shots we took with the 1.4mm on Friday. Beautiful bokeh. All of the following are taken with the 1.4 - the focus takes awhile to get used to...need to be very exact. The following 2 are courtesy of Isaac! Isn't he getting good?



Here's when we picked up Hannah at the Kimmel's. Isaac disassembled her bed. He & John took it back to our place. Hannah & Stanley were getting in & out of the dog cage, so I had to take pics!


Even after Stanley left, Hannah stayed in and made herself comfortable.



This is a photo of the dog on the side...


Stanley's all happy & Hannah's at home...lounging...


This one is overexposed...and blurry...technically flawed...but still fun.

Weird

That was a weird random partial post that got reposted for Sept 7th. Hannah&Iwere in LA...so I've deleted it for those that read it (undeleted now).

She's so fussy now and totally thrown off from travelling. She's completely clingy and not wanting to nap.

I have lots to post, lots to do, and not enough time... one task at a time i guess....post more later.

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okay apparently ize posted it but it was and old post in his folder...but it's already been posted as a prior post from awhile back...

Dirt

As all kids don't grow without a little bit of dirt, I took Hannah outside to enjoy a few moments of fresh air. I really just needed to cut a few leaves off our basil plant for dinner, but I got carried away. As I looked up from my aggressive weeding program, I notice our dear sweet Hannah playing gleefully in the dirt. She happily sat on a potato mound. She dusted off the top of the mound with her sweeping arm moment that she is quite famour for at dinnertime. She put her hand to her mouth several times, which I know will just make DW cringe. Never boring with the mounds of dirt in the garden.

Labor day weekend...and other stuff...

Family came into town this weekend. It was fun. They arrived on Friday. Hannah's A-ma (my mom) came around noon by plane, and Hannah's grandpa (dh's dad) came around 4pm by truck.
Saturday the men went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Ize was really glad that hurricane Gustav didn't bring rain and bad weather our way. It was a good father-son outing. They had a good time fishing and brought home tons of FRESH shrimp, Fresh fish and shark.

While the men were fishing, A-ma, Hannah & I went around Corpus. We initially headed to the aquarium in the afternoon, but Hannah fell asleep in the car. After driving the scenic Ocean Drive route, visiting Sun Harvest (health food store) & the uber-tiny Asian store, we finally made it to the aquarium after Hannah woke up from her nap.

I took photos of the sea life...and the front lens element on my 50mm f1.8 fell out! Of all the other things to break this past week (the CF card, the reader, now the lens). I'd read reviews about that happening to this particular lens - since it is the cheapest in the Canon line-up. I guess it's time to upgrade to the 50mm 1.4 - can't afford the 50mm 1.2 yet.

I've been super busy with a bunch of photo shoots. One Friday morning, one Saturday morning, and one this past Tuesday morning...and totally behind on photo processing...
BUT today... our NEW COMPUTER FINALLY ARRIVED ! YAY!

It's BLAZINGLY fast compared to our old laptop. Though there are still a lot of set-up issues and other stuff to take care of. Photoshop is installed on it and it's sooo much faster! Next I need to buy lightroom.

Okay...nuff photog stuff on Hannah's blog...

About Hannah....going back to Saturday. So...we discovered that Hannah DOES have a shrimp/shellfish allergy!!! DUH!!! I figured she probably DID...so I told everyone - "we're NOT going to feed Hannah any shrimp tonight."

Well...Ize & I headed to Wal-Mart for cocktail sauce, and we left Hannah with A-ma & Grandpa. A-ma tasted some of the freshly boiled shrimp and was so delighted at its wonderful taste that she gave some to Hannah....yes...she forgot...

It's funny b/c we were watching video that Grandpa Ted had taped of Hannah...and lo and behold, the "1st feeding of shrimp to Hannah" by A-ma is CAUGHT ON DIGITAL VIDEO! ...I won't dwell on it anymore b/c my mom already felt totally bad. She's getting really forgetful in her old age.

ANYWAYS...Hannah ended up breaking out with little red spots around her mouth and all over her back. We gave her 2 doses of Benadryl. One when I 1st noticed the spots on her mouth...and I asked mom, "did you fed her shrimp?" and then more Benadryl after her bath when there were a ton of spots on her back.

Monday on Labor day, Grandpa Ted made yummy omelettes and we went to the Lexington. It's a big ship. We watched the Fighter Pilot IMAX movie. It was pretty good. We did a lot of stuff this weekend...including watching Kung-fu Panda & 10,000 B.C.

We also went to ChuckECheese on Tuesday for a playdate...

I'm too tired to write anymore... photos to be posted later....

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1st round of photos - all SOOC b/c I don't wanna edit them:
A-ma has been Hannah's personal horse lately





oh...and the thing on her nose is her scab from when she fell down at the event thing last Wednesday (the night that I lost all the photos I took of the event). She was standing on the window sill and apparently she fell - hitting her nose in the process...I turned around and she was already on the floor crying...






Now these are from the aquarium:

Hannah's eating these dried anchovy things that my mom insisted on giving her...much to my dismay...sigh...(I sense a trend here)...





These at the end were all taken all manually...I had to make things work...manual focus (b/c of the busted front lens element) manual settings (b/c it's actually easier in constant indoor light)...and I was proud of myself for being able to focus...(b/c my eyes were actually dry and blurry...)

more photos to come....

Irritation...

I'm so annoyed right now! I was just trying to put my CF card into the CF card reader to download photos from tonight's party/event thing...and the CF card wouldn't go in! I look inside, and lo and behold, the pins are all crooked and bent! Hannah had stuck the car key into the CF card reader this afternoon, but I didn't realize it had done anything until tonight! AHHHH!!!

I've been trying to bend them back with a tweezer, but I dunno if it's going to work. And I have a bunch of photo shoots coming up this weekend. EEK!

She's been the little destroyer recently! Besides pooping in panties this morning (and also sometime last week)...wanting to nurse more than before...sucking me raw...being super clingy...fussy....not napping...not eating...

There's actually been a lot to post about - which I can't even remember anymore b/c I'm so irritated right now - so much that it motivated me to rant and rave on the blog b/c I have nowhere else to vent.

I've been busy with other things...the majority of which are Hannah related - redundant Hannah related things. And since she hasn't been napping...well...that goes my personal time.

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update:
so I tried to bend all the pins back into place. I stuck the CF card into the reader...and it registered that something was inside...but then it didn't read. So then I put the CF card back into the camera and tried to download that way. and it gave me an ERROR. the CF card wouldn't read!!!
the reader FRIED THE CARD. I am soooo super sad!!! I lost ALL of the images from tonight! Good thing it wasn't a paid shoot, but a "mingle"...and I was shooting for me...not anyone else...

BUT OH AM I SO ANNOYED!

Memories

Alright... I have a request...I may leave this up top for awhile... you can link to the original post from my musings blog here to leave a comment about me or you can leave a comment here if it's about Hannah or Isaac or me.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on this blog, leave one memory that you and I (or Hannah or Isaac) have had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me (us) a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. A nice walk down memory lane.

HAPPY 1.5 YEARS to Hannah!

Photo taken by daddy on Saturday evening at M&M's. Check out the BIG shoe.

Wow how time flies! Today marked her 18 months of life. And boy she's wiggly! This evening she was all over the house, all over the kitchen, into everything! Making dinner was difficult (for me - it's the 1st time I've made dinner in a long time since Hannah's been more into stuff. Ize's been making dinner.) Work called with some problems so Ize was working from home, and we also had a overnight guest: Eric is back in the states from Bahrain (just got in on the plane today).

Tonight when I was bathing her & brushing her teeth I noticed 3 more teeth coming in. Since brushing her teeth is more of a battle now...I don't always get a good view of her mouth. (plus daddy's been bathing her the past couple of nights)

She LOVED being in nursery today! And as for mom & dad - well we were both teaching different classes today - so it was actually a relief to have her in nursery. I did peek in briefly after I was done with my "one-woman show" for combined jr/sr primary sharing/singing time today (I was the only one from the presidency there - rest of presidency gone, chorister gone and lots of teachers were gone).

When I poked my head in, Hannah was extremely happy & smiling. She let out a squeal of delight when she saw me, but continued playing with the other kiddos and happily eating her string cheese. It was really cute.

So I didn't take ANY photos today - sadly. b/c we've been really busy this weekend (what's new) AND super duper sleep deprived too. Our neighbors Mario & Madeleine got married on Friday, so I photographed their wedding at the Courthouse. We watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies at their place in the evening too. They also had a family shoot on Saturday and we ended up eating dinner & hanging out. Isaac practiced riding on the Ripstick and got the hang of it. Hannah really enjoyed hanging out with all the kids, the aunties, and the 2 dogs (Kilo & Zipper).

We're off to Houston again - for a week - this time for daddy's work. It felt like we were just there...I feel like I've been travelling a bunch and it's sorta tiring. Hannah's bag from the Austin trip wasn't even totally unpacked yet - I left a bunch of stuff in there that she didn't need.

Travelling with Hannah takes lots of preparation! We need to make sure we have foods she can eat, lots of changes of clothes (in case she has runny accidents), her epi-pen, diapers, bath items, toys, books, anything else to occupy her.

It's also a thing of mine that I like to have the house clean before I leave on a "more extended" trip. It's more sanitary - so that all surfaces, kitchen, bath are disinfected so stuff doesn't grow while we're gone. In my head I think creepy crawlies come out when we're not there...and microscopic things grow when you're not looking. Plus it's always nice to come home to a clean house - who likes coming home from a long trip to a messy house? It's not always possible to get things perfect the way I like it before each trip, but I try.

Photo update - these are from 2 Saturdays ago on Aug 2nd.

Here I think her left eye was still recovering from a mosquito bite that made her totally swell up.


In her forward facing carseat. I really took a long time in transitioning her to her new carseat and the forward facing position, but she LOVES her carseat now. She always looks forward to sitting in it. And I keep the small water bottle in the car for her to drink from. In these recent road trips, I've transferred small amounts of water into the water bottle so she can drink.


We went to Lowe's to buy Hannah a doorknob with a lock & key. She really enjoyed the doorknob section.






I like these b/c I was holding her hand while taking the photo and the view's pretty cool.

Some photos from 2 weekends ago in Houston

These were taking on the grounds of the Houston Temple. I think Hannah looks absolutely adorable and my hubby is dashing! (it was July 25th). So the original post is here if you want to link to it. If you want to see more photos of what I've been photographing & actually posting, click here.

We do have a TON of Hannah photos...just not posted. TRUST ME - a TON.

Countdown to 18-months!

Hannah turns 18-months this coming Sunday!!!
We're 5 days away...and counting down...
it's a big milestone! (which reminds me I haven't scheduled her 18-month check-up).

The exciting thing is that she gets to attend nursery during church! Yay! I'm sure Elder's Quorum is is excited so that they can actually listen to the lesson without Hannah wandering around making toddler noises on the podium. Daddy's excited too b/c he won't have to watch her all through the block of church - since mommy's usually doing something in Primary.

Developmentally she's where she needs to be and is like a huge sponge. It always amazes me how much she's learned and can understand! Just off the top of my head:

She loves going over body parts (her own & other people's)...and gets really excited. She has down eyes, ears, mouth, nose, head, hair, elbow, hand, fingers, toes, belly button, knees. Though on knees she still sometimes wants to point to her ankles. Today we went over eyebrows and ankles and reviewed all the other ones. If we go over too many though, I think she just gets excited and starts pointing to all different parts all over the place.

Her comprehension of directions is there - it's all a matter of if she wants to follow or not. She can get things for us that we ask for (fetch), she loves to play ball. She'll sit, stand, lay down, dance. (At this stage they really are akin to dogs/pets in terms of obedience & following directions.) lol.

She's been singing. Yes. Singing. And with RHYTHM. Mostly different sounds & stuff that she makes up. But... Saturday morning Isaac was humming the theme of "In Hall of the Mountain King" from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite. Later we noticed Hannah humming the same rhythm walking around the house. We were both like, "is she really humming what we think she's humming?" And sure enough she was! Isaac looked for the Grieg CD and we put the music on in the car for Hannah's enjoyment. We still find her humming the same theme around the house.

She also loves "drumming." She'll drum on her little wood table with her hands, and she keeps the beat with whatever music is on. She's actually quite good at keeping the beat. Of course she still loves "dancing" - she wiggles her body back and forth to the music. Really cute. She also continues her "vogue-ing" thing with her arms and hands (which I really can't figure out where she got it from). We sometimes will blast the music in her room and dance around. She still likes to spin around and around too.

She's gotten a lot better at falling asleep quickly on her own. Daddy's been putting her down more and more (since mommy's also been working more). Except for last week, we regressed a little since we were travelling. Daddy was out of town - out east. Hannah & I went to Austin. We visited friends and I attended a seminar (read post here).
Basically Hannah ended up sleeping with me all week (or I ended up sleeping with Hannah all week).

Potty training and weaning basically AREN'T happening. With all the stuff that's been going on in my life, I haven't been very diligent with pushing the issue on those two items. Hannah KNOWS she's supposed to sit on the toilet to pee and poop. She will poop on the toilet if I remember to take her (sometimes fighting it though by running away). But mostly she knows and refuses to go head to the bathroom when she needs to pee and poop.

She knows to get her own sippy or ask for a drink when she's thirsty by signing and making the drink noise. She knows to ask to nurse by signing and saying "ne, ne." She knows to ask for food my signing and making sounds. She shakes her head furiously when she doesn't want something. She signs "done" when she wants to stop whatever she's doing. She understands when it's bathtime and she'll sign for bath and walk towards the bathroom. She knows to get her diaper and lay down to put it on. She knows she needs toilet paper & wet wipes to wipe. She loves taking pieces of toilet paper and wiping (even when she hasn't gone potty.) This girl KNOWS. BUT when it comes to the potty...basically she's not wanting to. She'll eventually sit when I take her to the bathroom, but she's just not vountarily going to the toilet. I haven't been pushing the issue too much (comparatively).

Other things she's OBSESSED over now (since our Houston & Austin trips):
keys & locks, doorknobs (opening & closing doors), light switches, shoes.

In Houston she discovered the novelty of keys and locks with a filing cabinet. She has really great dexterity. She can put the key in, turn it, take it out, etc. In Austin, Chaliese told me that Hannah went with her to the mailbox, observed, then when she had a chance to get the keys, found the exact golden key, and put it in the correct mail box.

In Austin at Julia's, Hannah discovered she could open door knobs. Julia has the long handle doorknobs. Hannah was on her tippy-toes and reached up and realized she could open and close the doors. It made for a noisy night b/c she refused to stop. She kept on opening and closing the bedroom door where we were staying. She also did it with the bathroom door and the closet door (the layout had them all facing each other)...and it continued into the next day.

Of course there's the light switches. She loves turning them on and off. In Austin she wanted me to hold her so she can turn them on and off - got tiring and old - she's not light anymore (haha light). At home, I've given her the stool and let her climb up to turn on/off the lights in the studio to her little hearts content. At first she fussed to play with the bathroom switches. I let her, but then she was playing with the water too, so that didn't last long - we changed locations.

Oh..and shoes...she still loves shoes. what kid doesn't? She will put on all sorts of shoes and walk around. She especially loves her shiny black Sunday shoes. She likes to put them on in the house. New shoes are her next favorite. Anything new to her, she wants to put it on. She always wants to go outside too. After putting on shoes, she wants to go outside. And what kid her age doesn't like strollers? She loves pushing them. She also enjoys riding in them. She likes bikes... the neighborhood kids have a couple of small bikes that she likes to ride on. There are also play electric cars she likes to ride and wagon cars.

She says "Thank you!" I didn't realize that's what Hannah was saying until Chaliese pointed it out. I started to pay more attention, and SURE ENOUGH, she says it after you give her something or at other times when "Thank You" is appropriate (her's sounds like "deau diu"). I guess all of our "thank you Hannah" after she does something for us has been paying off.

Last thing before I close this super long post. She put peas down her shirt the other day. Random. She was just dropping peas down the front of her onesie faster than she was eating them. For some reason she was fascinated by it. Hopefully it's not going to become a habit.