I don’t want to put any pressure on Brayden or anything, but if he wants to go to that other school across town he will have to pay for college on his own.  I took lots of picture for blackmail to remember our trip.  If Brayden is anything like me he will not like UCLA just to spite me.  That’s something I would have done to my parents.

After a stop at the campus store to stock up on all of our UCLA gear, we stopped at Bruin Walk.  This is where Chuck and I would eat lunch together when we were both on campus.  Blossom would eat lunch on the grass behind us.  And another fun fact, the scene in Legally Blonde where Elle is at Harvard and they are sitting on the lawn in a circle introducing themselves, that was filmed on that lawn as well.  I got to meet Reese Witherspoon while they were filming.  Love her!

F 2.8, 1/500, ISO 250

I love how little he looks in front of all the big buildings

F2.8, 1/5000, ISO 250

Taking a milk break in front of Royce Hall.  Because when he goes to UCLA milk is the only thing he better be drinking!

F2.8, 1/5000, ISO 250

F2.8, 1/5000, ISO 250

F 7.1, 1/1600, ISO 250

I really wanted to name Brayden, Brayden Bruin.  Chuck wouldn’t let me.  I wish we would have.  How cool would that have been?  Then even if he wanted to go to USC there’s no way they would let him in!

F 2.8, 1/500, ISO 250

Just a week and a half until football season starts!  It’s the happiest time of year (as long as we are winning!).

My friend Christie shard the 3 Day Potty Training method with me.  It’s worked pretty well.  We had some regression on the morning of Day 3.  On Day 3 we were both tired and had major cabin fever, which I think played a role in the major accidents we had.  The afternoon of Day 3 were good and so far Day 4 has been great.

I may have started a little early.  But, my boy is stubborn and I thought it would only get worse as he gets older.  With my schedule it’s really hard to find 3 full days when I can be home all day so we just went for it.  Plus, we have a new nanny starting next week and, to be totally honest, I want new carpets.  Totally selfish, I know.  But, there is no way I’m getting new carpets until this kid is potty trained!

I have a great picture of B on the potty (see!  I said it again!), but I’m choosing not to blog it.  I’m going to give the kid some privacy.  Don’t get me wrong, I totally texted it to the Grandparents, but the whole world doesn’t need to see it.  Here’s a more blogable picture of my happy boy playing in the pool this morning.  We’re finally getting warm weather in Orange County!  Yeah!  Hope your weekend is great!

F 2.0, 1/4000, ISO 125

Today you are officially closer to being a big 3 year old rather than a 2 year old.  In your own words, “That’s crazy!”.

I know I say this every single month, but I am continually amazed with how smart you are.  I know every mom thinks this.  That there kid is the smartest kid in the world.  But, you really just might be.  It’s hard for me to comprehend that only two and a half years ago you were this little blob who couldn’t do anything besides cry, eat, and poop (and you did all 3 of those things a lot!).  And now you are this boy.  A really funny and smart boy who can articulate thoughts and has a huge personality.  You are a person.  And it’s so weird to me that this person was the same alien in my stomach that constantly had the hiccups and made me eat so much I would cry.

You are a little sponge that just soaks everything in.  Sometimes it takes awhile.  But, then one day, you will randomly just start taking about things that I had been trying to teach you.  You have a puzzle of the United States (because your Mama loves geography!) and you know that Aunt Connie lives in Washington, Uncle Don is from Maine, President Obama lives in the White House, and that you live in California.  You can almost spell your whole name.  When we were at story time making your name tag I asked you to spell your name as I wrote it.  You said, “B R A Y D”.  That totally impressed the little old lady librarian.    Speaking of story time, you love it.  On Wednesdays we go to two story times.  One at the library and then we go straight over to the book store for a second story time.  I’ve started buying you the Disney story books and you love them.  We read one before bed every night.  Your favorite is Dumbo (you don’t like it when Mrs. Jumbo gets angry) and also Peter Pan and Alice and Wonderland.  You don’t like Jungle Book.

You also continue to get more and more funny.  Your knock knock jokes are the best:

You:  Knock, knock.

Me:  Who’s there?

You:  Brayden.

Me:  Brayden who?

You:  Brayden Mama Dada!  Hahahahaha!

We think it’s so funny because you think you’re so funny.  We try to teach you real knock knock jokes, but you don’t think they are as funny as your knock knock jokes.  Then there are your random sayings like, “Aw, shucks!” and we have no idea where you get them from.

My favorite thing you said to me this month was when I told you that I love you so much and you responded with, “I love you so much too, Mama!”.

At the wedding that I shot this past weekend the mother of the bride gave an amazing speech.  That groom had gone through a lot in his life and his mom realized one day that he had lost the sparkle from his eyes and it made her so sad.  He got the sparkle back when he fell in love with his bride.  I know life isn’t going to be perfect, Brayden, and that’s what will shape you to become the man that you will be.  But, I hope you never have to lose the sparkle that you have in your eyes.  I love it so much and I will do everything in my power to see that it never, ever goes away.

Love,

Mama

This morning I watched Brayden’s BFF, Dakota, for a couple of hours while her mom ran to the dentist.  Brayden is one day older than Dakota and when they were babies they looked so much alike.  White hair, big blue eyes, and pale skin.  So, they are practically twins.  Except they were born to different parents.  A day apart.  And they aren’t related at all.  So, I guess they are nothing like twins.  But, whatever.  You get my point.

This was my first time watching two 2 year olds by myself.  I got a little dose of what it would be like to have two kids.  Brayden got put in time out 3 times in the first 45 minutes because he didn’t want to share his toys (you see how carefully he’s watching Dakota’s every move in the picture above?).  After that they had a lot of fun.  Dakota was a doll.  I really want a girl.  But, what if I end up with another crazy boy like Brayden?  Scary!

*** I used my Canon 16 – 35 lens for both of these shots.

Most of the time I get pictures like this…

But, sometimes I get gems like this.  And they make my heart happy.

You don’t even want to know what lengths I have to go to get him to smile for me!

All images taken at 2.0, 1/320, ISO 1250

I feel it’s so important as a photographer to be in front of the camera every once in a while to really remember how awkward and unnerving it can be.  To know what it feels like to have a 2 year old melt down when you just want to capture your family being happy.  To remember what it feels like to wake up in the middle of the night with anticipation for your shoot.  It’s so easy for it to just be a “job” for us and forget that the shoots we do for our clients can be a once a year, every couple of years, or even a once in a lifetime experience for them.  What can you do to make this an incredible, easy, and fun experience for them?

Here are a few of my favorite images.  To see the rest visit the awesome Trista Lerit’s blog!

Red Skirt:  Wings Hawaii - Bought this skirt in Maui.  Everything in the shop is handmade by the four girls who own the store.  It’s made out of vintage material and it has pockets!

Yellow Dress:  Brass Plum – Nordstrom

Green Shoes:  Steve Madden

Black Shoes:  Christian Louboutin

But it was totally worth it (maybe not ruining the Christian Louboutins.  Hopefully those can be fixed!).  I can’t wait to see the pictures.  For now, here’s a sneak peek of our shoot.  B is taking an i touch break with our amazing photographer, Trista Lerit!

Happy 5 year anniversary to us!  Thank you for being my best friend, my number one fan, my baby daddy, and the love of my life.  Thank you for caring for me, knowing what I need before I even know I need it, and for putting up with me  Thank you for loving me, for choosing me, and for stopping to tie your shoe on that bridge in Kaanapali 12 years and 364 days ago.

143,

Drewbie

Wedding Pictures:  Steve Hoffman