The Many Faces of Maya

I posted these on my photography blog earlier today, but I just love them so much! I took her out in the yard with me to practice this afternoon while Nikos took his "nap" (I say "nap" because he just sat on his bed and sang for an hour and a half before I admitted defeat). Her little expressions crack me up! And I can't get enough of that sweet face!

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

Since Gus is demolishing the bathroom today, we thought it would be a good idea for me to take the kiddos with me up to my parents' house for the day-- which is where I am right now! They are both currently asleep (ahhh, silence!), but have had a lot of fun together. And my parents' house has a lot of great natural light, even on a rainy day like today. So... Lots of pictures to share! :)

A few from today

I am finding it harder and harder to post, between working, chasing after two mobile children, and attempting to build a photography business. On the flip side, I find that I am taking more and more pictures of my kiddos-- and that's not a bad thing! Here are a few from today. :)

Master Bath: Before Pics

On Demolition Eve, I figured I would post some pictures of our master bathroom in its current state of yuckiness. By the end of next week, we should have something pretty nice (though still very tiny)... I can't wait to post the "after" pictures!

Without further ado... This is what it looks like now (note that it is mostly empty in preparation for the demo, and that there is a beach ball in the bath tub. This is where we hide it from Nikos, haha!)

I. LOVE. These. Kids.

sighhh... :) Maya was eating Cheerios, so Nikos had to sit near her and have some, too. But then he wanted her high chair to be RIGHT next to him. And they proceeded to crack each other up for, oh, at least ten minutes. It was beyond adorable!! ♥

And I do my little turn on the catwalk...

hehe! Gus took Nikos up to Orange County for the night, so it was just me and my darling baby girl this afternoon. And since she was wide awake, and there were no toddlers around to mess with my set-up, I decided it was time for a PHOTO SHOOT! Yippee!! Anyway, I had a blast, though my model got tired of posing pretty quickly. Still, I got a few good shots! How could I not, with such a pretty little girl? :)

Mommy and Nikos: Day at the Zoo!

Today, my boy and I went to the zoo together, and had a BLAST! Seriously, it was so much fun. And because it was just the two of us (and a lightweight single stroller), we covered some serious ground. We saw bears, elephants, llamas, meerkats, orangutans, hippos, gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, okapis... You name it, we pretty much saw it! Nikos had a few funny moments. He ADORED the llamas, as usual. He waved to them, said "hi" to them, and tried (unsuccessfully) to climb into their enclosure. Haha! The kid likes llamas! Then he had a little freak-out by the bears. A big spectacled bear was lumbering around the enclosure, so I lifted Nikos up to see. He went from wanting to see bears to wanting to be as far away from them as humanly possible! He kept saying "Bears gonna get me! Bears gonna get me!" Poor guy!

He was, however, fine with the pandas. Maybe he doesn't consider them bears?? Anyway, the new baby was out in the enclosure, and he was a cutie. Nikos kept saying, "Baby panda is seeping. Is taking a nap!" ♥ He was also funny at the gorilla exhibit. He was DYING to see the gorillas... He talked about them all morning! But when we got there, he was way more interested in the bronze gorilla statues than in the real variety. Except he was also afraid of the statues. He couldn't pull himself away from them, but he refused to get too close or (heaven forbid!) TOUCH one! It cracked me up! And not five minutes later, he was climbing all over the bronze hippo statue. I guess I shouldn't tell him how deadly hippos can be... ;)
After that, we went to grab a bite to eat at one of the zoo eateries. Now, Nikos has been sitting in "big boy chairs" for months now, but he took one look at the plastic highchairs and HAD to sit in one. Silly kid! Anyway, he had a hot dog and some apple juice, and we had an excellent discussion about the various babies sitting at different tables nearby. He kept reiterating that Maya was "at Bonnie's house," which was too adorable!And the sign of a successful zoo visit: on the way home, my little guy simply couldn't keep his eyes open any more. It wasn't even naptime yet! But aside from a brief, half-waking when we got home, he's been asleep ever since...

Whoa! A New Trick!

Just like that!

This kid woke up from her afternoon nap screaming. I walked into her room to see that she had pulled herself up in her crib. I brought her to the living room, and she continued to repeat her new trick over and over again! Look out, world!

Her brother thinks it's pretty cool, too! :)

And, just for fun... Bunny ears!

Mommy and Maya Day

Just looking at this picture makes me want to go wake her up from her nap and play some more! But alas, that is probably not the best idea. :)

Anyway, today was Nikos' day at daycare, which gave me lots of quality time to spend with my girl. We ran errands and went shopping (I bought her the cutest Easter dress, and it was 50% off!). And after that, I took her to a park (not our usual one) and let her crawl around on the grass and explore. I attempted to take her picture, but the light was pretty harsh. The one above was taken in the shade on the bridge that goes over the little creek. She loved looking through the slats at the trickling water down below. Such fun!

At any rate, we had a good time. We were limited by feedings and nap schedules, but we made the most of it. Tomorrow, I think I will take Nikos to the zoo! I can't wait! :)

Proof I Exist

What? Three posts in one day?? Unheard of!

Anyway, one of my mommy friends just emailed me this picture she took of us on Monday. That brings the grand total to, oh, three?? (I'm referring to pictures of the kids that I am actually in) This is what happens when I am always behind the camera. I DO exist! :)

Rub-a-dub-dub!

How do you bathe two small children when your husband is out of town? Why, you throw them both into the same tub, of course! Maya is just now to the point where I feel confident that she won't slip and bonk her head, or get smooshed by her brother. And you know what? They both LOVE it! Looks like we have a new routine! :)

Nikos and Mommy Day

I don't think I mentioned it, but I am on vacation this week! And since Gus is out of town on a business trip, we devised a little plan to make things easier. We are still paying for one kiddo to go to daycare this week, but I am alternating kids. This way, I get to spend some quality one-on-one time with my babies. It's been so nice!

Anyway, yesterday was Maya's day, which we spent running errands and going to see the doctor. For Nikos' day, we went to the beach! He was SO excited to go, and has been talking about it for days! However, it's been a while since his last visit and, well, he decided that the waves were a little scary. He walked on the sand for a bit, allowed me to take exactly one (1) picture of him, and then started shrieking, "Water's gonna get me! Water's gonna get me!" Poor guy! He really did enjoy the rest of our time there, though my back didn't. I told him he was getting heavy, and he disagreed ("Nooo, I NOT heavy!" haha!). Anyway, here is the one picture I DID get, of a somewhat uncertain-looking little boy. And then another picture I got of the beach (Tourmaline Surf Park in La Jolla-- very pretty!).


There were tons of surfers out, too, and they were fun to watch. I guess they couldn't resist getting out in this weather! I wish I could have taken more pictures, but it proved to be too difficult while lugging around a thirty-pound toddler.

After our trip to the beach, we went to have "lunch in a restaurant!!" That's what Nikos always says whenever we go out to eat. :) We had a very elegant and nutritious (ha!) lunch at Jack-in-the-Box, and were joined by some woman conducting surveys on the food. Since we had ordered two items from her list, we got to complete two of the brief surveys-- earning two $10 gift cards! That was pretty cool, for five minutes of talking about the food. Anyway, Nikos loved it, as he always does. This kid loves dining out, anywhere! We had great conversations, and then he started dipping his fingers in the ketchup and licking them off. Gross! That's how I knew it was time to leave...

We still had some time before his nap, so I decided to surprise him and stop at our neighborhood park on the way home. He had a blast, and provided lots of entertainment to a sweet little 21-month-old girl who was also playing there. I think he was making up for his shyness at the beach. He ran like a madman between all the various playthings, shrieking with happiness. Such a silly boy. Love that kid!


After we were done, we drove home, rinsed off our feet together in the bathtub, changed his diaper, and then he declared that he needed a nap (right on schedule!). He's sleeping now, and I'll be getting Maya from daycare in an hour. All in all, it's been a pretty great day! :)

Double Ear Infection

That's what the doctor said today, when I brought Maya in.

Poor baby! She was sick (like the rest of us), and seemed to get better... But over the past few days, her appetite disappeared, she was whimpering a little in her sleep, and waking throughout the night. Last night, she had a low-grade fever, but responded well to some ibuprofen. And when she woke up this morning with copious amounts of yellow snot (sorry... it's an important detail), I knew I had to bring her in.

The doctor took one look in her right ear and immediately announced that it was bright pink-- definitely infected. Her left ear was also pink, but not quite so bad. She wrote us a prescription for some antibiotics, which we picked up after a brief trip to Target.

Anyway, it's funny. She has still been pretty darn happy for someone with a double ear infection! Either she has a high pain tolerance, or else she is just an incredibly happy child to begin with. I ran into someone I knew while at Target, and she had never met Maya before. Her first comment was that she was "such a beautiful, happy little girl." With a double ear infection!! Funny kid. She's sleeping well now, so hopefully the antibiotics are doing their job. We have a follow-up appointment next week. Fingers crossed that the infections are good and gone by then!

Fun Times!

We've had a busy few days away from home, so it's nice to finally sit down with a glass of wine to write about it!

Yesterday morning, Gus left on a business trip and the kids and I made the three-hour drive up to see my brother and his wife. They bought a home last summer, but had been neck-deep in home improvement projects ever since-- so we hadn't seen the place yet! It's still a work-in-progress, but they've made some huge strides recently... They removed the popcorn ceiling and resurfaced it, installed can lights, and recently had hardwood flooring installed throughout the main living spaces (not the bedrooms). It's going to be SO nice when they are done-- I can't wait to see it! In the meantime, we had a sort of adventuresome visit, with the kids each sleeping in their own doorless and floorless bedroom (they were confined to Pack N Plays, though, so the lack of a floor wasn't an issue). I slept on an air mattress in what will eventually become their dining room. But it was fun to visit with them, and Nikos was over the moon to spend time with his aunt and uncle (and his "cousin" Buddy the cat)!


This morning, once we were all ready, we set out for Pasadena to meet up with a bunch of girls from my online mommy's group. It was SO much fun! Really, these girls (and their kids) are all such nice people. I feel really lucky to have met them, even if they are my "internet friends" (I realize how weird that sounds). We met at one girl's house, rented a bounce house for the kids, ordered some pizza, and just generally had a great time hanging out together. We are talking about planning a get-together just for us mommies sometime soon... I think it sounds fantastic! Anyway, here are a few pictures from our day!





Finally... One of the other moms who came is a professional photographer (maternity, newborns, and children... my dream job!). In addition to letting me pick her brain about various business-related things, she also brought a stand and some seamless paper backgrounds for me (and a few other moms) to practice with. It was AWESOME! I got a few great pics of Maya, even though she was half-asleep. My favorite is the one of the little boy, Leo, running in to give her a smooch. That was completely unplanned!:)



It's been a fun few days, but I am wiped out-- mostly from all the driving and from having to be a single parent. I hope everyone sleeps well tonight!