Chuck and I were born and raised in Anaheim.  We’ve had annual passes to Disneyland since we were kids.  We’ve probably both been hundreds of times.  We are spoiled rotten and go to Disneyland several times a month.  It’s one of the pros of living in Southern California along with 80 degree weather in February which most of the time outweighs the cons (EARTHQUAKES!, traffic, ridiculously high cost of living).  It’s just what we do when we are bored.  It’s so easy to go for a couple of hours, ride a few rides, grab dinner and head home.  Obviously B isn’t complaining!

While Chuck and I have pretty much done everything you can do at Disneyland, we both had a first this weekend.  We got to ride in the front car on the Monorail!  This was B’s first time too and he just loved it!  The weird and creepy kind people that were riding up front with us reminded us that you can’t do this at Disney World because “a whole bunch of people died on this thing”.  While that made me a little nervous the pure joy on Brayden’s face as he acted as our tour guide and pointed out the “cars”, “cups”, and several other things that I didn’t understand because I couldn’t make out his Branglish helped me forget about the dangers of the Monorail.  It’s such a little thing, but I’m glad we all got to experience this first together!  And in less than 2 weeks we will have a very short trip to Disney World!  I’m very excited to take Chuck because he has never been before.  Actually, he’s never even been to Florida before!  Should be fun!

I hate going to the post office.  Actually, I hated it before I had Brayden and could go by myself.  Now I absolutely loathe going to the post office with a toddler in tow.  Nothing about it is fun or easy.  The parking lot is a disaster and I always feel lucky when I come out of there unscathed.  The lines are just ridiculous at anytime of day it seems.  It’s just not a pleasant experience in general.  I found myself procrastinating shipping my packages because I hated going.

Now, I know I’m probably the last person on the earth to try this.  But, last week I started shipping my packages online and scheduling for my postman to pick them up at my front door.  And I think most of my packages actually got to their intended recipients.  It’s brilliant, I tell you!  I might actually enjoy shipping my packages now!  I have some of the priority mail flat rate boxes (which are free!), but the aren’t the most ideal sizes for shipping prints and the flat rate shipping prices are kind of pricey.  I’ve found that using my own boxes (which I recycle from my lab) is cheaper.  Then I just print out my postage online and schedule my pickup!  It’s easy peezy!

If you’re not already using it, you should.  It’s life changing!

I’ve received a few emails and comments about Brayden’s pictures on the train tracks.  I want to let everyone know that those are dead tracks.  No trains travel on them!  I may do a lot of crazy things to get a shot, but putting my child on real train tracks where real, big, fast trains travel is not one of them.  I would highly suggest that you do not put your two year old (or anyone else’s two year old) with suitcases and a birthday cake on real train tracks.  Seriously.  I was shooting an engagement session last year and we were shooting out in the middle of nowhere, but close to a train track.  The couple was probably 10 feet away from the track and out of nowhere comes a train.  I did not hear it.  I did not feel the ground rumble.  As I was taking those pictures I thought it would be cool to have the couple on the tracks.  Had they been on the tracks I honestly don’t know if the train would have seen them / us.  The whole thing really scared me!  It’s just not worth it!

Onto happier topics, I love what Kristen is doing over on her blog:

I’m totally guilty of blogging about the happier times and sugarcoating things a bit.  But, I think the better pictures come with happier times.  I mean, how many crying pictures can I really post?

Because there’s a lot of this that goes on in our house, trust me!  But I would rather post the pictures of the times when we are having fun!

Now, if you follow my tweets there isn’t anything sugarcoated over there!  In fact, I think I probably tweet to much.  I’m guilty of tweeting before I think.

Do you ever get random little dots in your pictures?  Especially when shooting pictures that have a blue sky as a background?  Those little dots and yuckiness means that you, my friend, have a dirty sensor!

I was scared to death to clean my sensor.  Instead of doing it myself I would drive it to the Canon repair center and have them do it for me.  This worked out great until they started charging to clean sensors.  I figured I should learn how to do it myself.  And you know what?  It’s not that hard.  And I think I do a better job then Canon does.  Here’s how you do it:

1)  Buy some sensor cleaning stuff.  I use the Sensor Swab Type 3 and the Eclipse cleaning solution.

2)  Take off your lens

3)  Turn your camera on and go to the “Clean Sensor” option in the menu.

4)  Lay the camera down flat so you can access the sensor.

5)  Put a couple of drops directly onto the sensor swab.

6)  Slide the swab firmly across the sensor.  Repeat in the opposite direction.

7)  Turn your camera off and you’re done!

And just in case you still need help here’s some guidance via You Tube.

To avoid getting dust on your sensor always change lenses as quickly as possible and hold the camera with your sensor pointing to the ground when you have the lens off.  If you have the sensor pointing to the sky you are more likely to have dust fall into it.  Good luck and don’t be scared!  I promise it’s not hard!

Remember the Clickin Moms contest I had awhile back?  So many of you were disappointed that you didn’t win.  Well, they are offering a 10% off discount for all new members!  Just enter in the discount code “FRIEND” at checkout.  Go check it out!

On Formspring someone asked me what my perfect day would be.  Yesterday was pretty much it.  Here is the formula for my perfect day:

1)  Chuck has random Tuesday off from work.  Chuck never gets random Tuesdays off from work.

2)  Brayden sleeps in past 7.

3)  Donuts for breakfast.

4)  A sunny and beautiful day with tempertures in the high 70’s.  And it’s February.

5)  Walking along the beach with my favorite guys.

6)  Brayden making me proud by being adventurous and trying new things.

7)  Randomly find a piece of art that I had been searching for at a store by the beach.  Buy said art.

 Head home before noon and get a full days work in while Chuck watches Brayden.

Okay, maybe the day would have been more perfect if I wouldn’t have had to work, but I think that’s pretty darn close to perfect.

I hope all of your Valentine’s and Presidents Days were great!  My wonderful husband surprised me with a night in Laguna Beach at my favorite hotel… with no baby!  It’s amazing what a night away can do to revitalize you!

Now, back to business.  Emily sent me this email:

My 5D won’t format my biggest card and I’ve tried all I can to fix it with no avail- so I am in looking to buy a new card. Do you have any advice? Are certain cards better than others? Thanks Drew!

My cards are SanDisk and I’ve never (knock on wood) had a problem with them.  I always buy whatever the newest version is.  The last cards I bought were the Extreme IV and I love them.  As long as you stick with a major brand (SanDisk and Lexar are two of the biggest brands) you should be okay.

I personally only shoot on 4GB cards.  The reason I don’t use an 8, 16, or 32 GB card is because what happens if you lose it?  Or if it gets corrupted?  You lose that many more images, right?  It may be more convenient, but at least if something happens to one of my 4GB cards at a wedding (knock on wood again please!) I only lose 200 something images (if I’m shooting RAW) versus half of a wedding with a 32 GB card.  Even if don’t shoot weddings I think it’s a good idea to not shoot on a large card for that same reason.

Happy Tuesday!

Dear Brayden,

2 years ago today, after a very long and painful labor, we met at exactly 3:30pm for the first time.  4 days past due and you had no intentions of coming out so the doctor had to force you out.  When the doctor held you up over the curtain for the first time and your Daddy and I saw you we both cried, but later admitted to each other that we thought you were an albino baby.  Your hair was as white as your skin and you had bright blue eyes.  Regardless, we loved you because you were ours.

2 years ago today you were a stranger.  I could only dream of what your voice would sound like when you said, “Mama”.  I could only imagine what you would look like when you took your first steps.  I could never comprehend how proud I would be every time you learn a new word, when you blew out the candles of your 2nd birthday cake, when you said, “Love Mama” for the first time, and all your other little accomplishments.  I would have never guessed how much joy and happiness you could bring to me.

2 years ago today I wasn’t sure I could do it.  I still have days that I’m not sure I can do it.  But, I hope you know how much I try to be the best mom possible.  I love making you laugh so hard that your face turns red.  I love tickling you so hard that you giggle and say, “No, Mama!  No!”.  I love that I’m the only one who can understand your “Branglish”.  I love that I get just as excited as you (okay, maybe more excited) when we get stuck at a train crossing.  I love getting to discover new things with you.

2 years ago today I knew I loved you, but I could have never imagined how much more I could love you today.  Brayden, I love you so much and am so proud of the boy you are.  I can’t wait to see how much you change and grow over the next year.  But, please don’t grow up too fast.  These past two years have flown by.  I’d just like you to stay my baby for a little bit longer.

Love,

Mama

I was going to try to take credit for this outfit, but I can’t.  I would never pick out something this cool.  The outfit was a birthday present the very stylish Trista Lerit.  Trista has been buying Brayden designer duds since before he was even born.  Thanks Trista!

And a big special thanks to my hubby who helped me take these pictures during the Super Bowl  He’s so awesome!

And with Brayden’s birthday it also means that’s it’s the 1 year anniversary of Mom*tog!  192 posts, 2372 comments, over 350,000 hits, and countless new friends.  It’s been a great year!  Thanks for the support.  Thanks for reading.  Thanks for the fun!  I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store!

And as a Happy Birthday / Happy Anniversary gift the UNposing Guide is 25% off until Sunday at midnight!  Enter in the code “Anniversary” at checkout.

Last week we found out that Brayden’s pre preschool class was having a Valentine’s Day party.  His very first Valentine’s Day party!  His teacher requested that we bring something with a Valentine’s Day theme, but preferably healthy.  If it were up to me I would have brought cupcakes or brownies (yum!).  But, I wanted to be a good mom and adhere to the rules.  Of course I panicked yesterday because I still hadn’t thought of anything.  What’s a girl to do?  Twitter it!  My friend Kimmie suggested that I make these.  Um, cute!  So, I showed my husband a picture and told him to make them  Because, I’m just not good with things like this.  However, I did cut up the oranges!  And I tried to skewer them, but I stabbed myself twice and called it quits.  Here is the end result:

They were a hit!  Brayden’s teacher, Miss Heidi, loved them and so did all the parents!  First Valentine’s Day party = success!

I’ve gotten a few requests about how I made the tissue poms for Brayden’s birthday party.  I was going to do my own tutorial, but then I thought my friend, Martha, could probably teach you better.  Here’s her tutorial.  That Martha is pretty crafty.

I bought my tissue paper from Paper Mart because I knew I wanted a lot, but you can also buy the smaller packs from Target or Michaels or wherever.

Good luck to you!  They are a little difficult to figure out at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s easy as pie