dirt

Boy, n:. a noise with dirt on it

Beach trip on July 7th

My sister was visiting from Utah for 4th of July and decided she wanted to go to the beach on the Saturday before the 4th. For anyone who has never done this and wants to... DON'T. After a VERY long car ride there... after a VERY long wait in traffic at the beach... we had a VERY long car ride back home (without going to the beach) because there wasn't any parking and it wasn't worth the 3 mile walk to the beach. So.... she decided she wanted to go the next Saturday (crazy)... so we all said we'd go with. Well, I think the "parking Gods" were on our side, because we found a spot that was the second closest to the beach, within 2 minutes of getting there.

My WONDERFUL new purchase... this wagon is AMAZING!!

(In the wagon I had 4 beach umbrellas, 4-5 beach chairs, a backpack, a few towels, a small cooler, a few pairs of shoes, and a 2 year old!)

Connor LOVES the sand! He calls the beach a "big sandbox"

pouring sand onto Auntie Ya-Ya's blanket :)

Bethany (my sister) and her boyfriend (Jon) getting some sun! :)

Of course we remembered everything but sand toys (got left by the back door)... but luckily a lady was walking around selling some. Soooo worth the $5 :)

As you will see, most pictures are of Connor running AWAY from my sister. Everything is "I'll do it myself" and he thought he could swim...

I wish we went to the beach more than 1 time a year. It's just far away and a major task to take a 2 year old. Hopefully once he's a little older we'll go more often! :)

4th of July - 2011

I'm just amazed every year at how much our little guy grows!!

We went to a park in our city this year again to watch fireworks. They have a few bands perform and have food booths set up and then a firework show at night. Connor was surprisingly good at staying on a blanket for hours!

As long as he has some cars, he's good to go :)

He looked at the camera and smiled because I DIDN'T take it!

Connor loves his Auntie Ya-Ya

and his Auntie Kate!

Our "family" picture :( Aaron was at work and when he finally got there, I forgot to take a family picture :(

My sister, Bethany (R) and her friend Beth (L)

My sister, Katie and her husband, Nathan

Connor LOVES his flags!!

Three Dog Night performed...

I was trying to get a picture of him watching fireworks... but he did this when he realized I was taking a picture :(

We had LOTS of fun and can't wait to do it again next year!!! :)

Two and a half Years!

A little bit about Connor James at 2 1/2:

He repeats EVERYTHING we've said while he's playing with his toys. Yesterday after Aaron left to go get us Del Taco for lunch, I hear Connor having his car say "yeah... Daddy's getting me tacos" to his other car. Last week in Utah, he was playing with my sisters Russian nesting dolls and one started crying, and the other said "it's ok. I'm sorry." He'll also say sorry to any of us if someone is hurt or upset, even if it wasn't his fault :)

He LOVES his cousin Chloe. He asks every other day if she can come over and play! Plus, ALL girls are "Chloe." He also has a color book with different things on each page, and on the "blue" page there's a blue bow and he always says "for Chloe!"

He love trains and race cars (not just cars... they are ALL race cars). He loves Lightning McQueen and now loves watching Cars (I tried before and he wouldn't sit through it). When we went to Utah, he saw my sisters blue car (a ford focus) and said "wow... Ya-Ya has a blue race car" and begged all week to go for a drive!

One of his favorite/most often spoken phrases "You're too loud. Quiet!" (usually when he's in trouble and I'm telling him what he needs to do. Another one is "I'm sorry." :)

He NEVER stops talking. Full and complete sentences too! He does all his practicing with his cars. They have full conversations with each other all the time :)

Favorite foods: Pizza, yogurt, applesauce, blue berries, strawberries, corn & cheese. And basically anything mushed up (baby food style) or casserole style. He doesn't like to have to chew his food for a long time!

When he's in trouble and I say "1... 2..." he starts to cry and says "No... no 3... 4..."

Everything is "I do it myself!" (more like "mysels"). Sometimes it drives me crazy because it takes triple the time to get things done... but I know he's learning so I usually let him do it :)

I've noticed normally with kids, they say the "th" of words with a "f" instead. But Connor does his "th" with an "s". He also does his "f" with an "s". (example= Bath is Bas, Myself if mysels, thank you is sank you, off is oss, etc.)

Although we're still struggling with naps/sleep/lack of sleep... we've kind of worked it all out. He usually goes to bed around 7:30-8pm and wakes up between 6:30-7:00am. I try not to let him nap, and most days he doesn't, but there is NO WAY I can stop him from sleeping if we go on a car ride between 2-6pm.

His new thing is throwing things. He will randomly throw what he's holding (toys, cell phone, his drink, etc.) and he doesn't just toss it, but throws it clear across the room. This drives me crazy and if anyone has any advice on how to stop this, PLEASE let me know! :)

He is the joy in my life. I don't know what I would do without this little boy to get me through my days. He makes me laugh, he makes me cry. He's so thoughtful and loving and kind. When I'm sad or upset, he says "I'm sorry mommy!" and gives me a hug (even when he had nothing to apologize for). He's wonderful and we love him so much!! :)

***for anyone who is looking for a photographer/studio in Utah...

A review of Fotofly in Draper, Utah

A while back on Facebook, I found a photography studio called Fotofly. After viewing pictures from their blog and facebook page for over 2 hours, I was in love. I absolutely loved their style.

Being a photographer myself, Connor gets his pictures taken a lot. Literally every day, I have the camera out. So he has come to HATE having his picture taken. When I pull it out, he runs. He hates studios too. I try to get his picture done every 6 months in a studio, just in hopes that they can capture a few of him actually looking at the camera and smiling like a good little boy, lol. But he hates it. I have tried EVERY chain studio that there is. But as soon as we get in one, he wants to leave... as do I.

I'm not a snob or anything, but I have found something wrong with every studio that I go to. Sometimes it's stupid things that only bother me because I'm a photographer... but sometimes it's major things. One of my MAJOR pet peeves is an untrained photographer. I HATE when they can't think of any poses and don't really know what they're doing. Why pay money for them?! The second thing I hate is the quality of the photographs. I have actually had photographers take pictures that were not in focus and then try to tell me that it will come out better when they're printed. Also, the ones that are printed in studio usually are horrible.

So... after finding Fotofly, I HAD to try them out. Sadly, they are in Utah. But we go to Utah every 6 months or so, and when we were planning our trip a few months ago, I made an appointment (because they go FAST!). I was SOOOO excited to go, but I just kept thinking he was going to be horrible like normal. I could not have been more wrong. This was by far the best studio experience I have EVER had (and that's including even before I had Connor).

When we got there, everyone was so nice and greeted us right away. They have a little kids room, so Connor was able to play in there for a few minutes before our session. I was early, but they were right on time. The photographer (Daniel) came into the play room and sat down on the floor with Connor and started talking to him and getting to know him. Then he explained what his ideas were and asked if I had anything I specifically wanted. Then we went into the studio.

This studio is amazing. They have two separate rooms, and each wall is something different (blue wall, white wall, cement wall, floral fabrics, a corrugated metal type wall, red "barn" type wall, a blue door with steps and I think a yellow door... I'm sure I'm missing something else). And they don't have cheesy props. They have cool, modern pieces of furniture (bright colors).

Right away, I knew Connor was going to do good. He just clicked with Daniel. They were talking about Lightning McQueen and trains (Connor's favorites) and I knew Daniel was in! :) Connor listened to EVERYTHING Daniel told him to do (which is NOT normal for Connor) and Daniel was getting him to laugh, smile, be serious, etc. We got a WIDE variety of poses and backgrounds. Full body, close ups, laughing, serious, playful, etc. Anything and everything I could have wanted. Then at the end, he asked if there was anything else I wanted to do.

I NEVER once felt rushed. There was no checking his watch to make sure he was running on schedule. He was VERY well trained too. There was never a pause in the picture taking, trying to come up with another pose or something to do (which I have had many times at studios). He had the energy like no other. I would have been exhausted after what Connor put him through!

After the session, he told me it would be about 30 minutes to edit the pictures (which is a long time, but at least he was honest. Other studios say "oh it'll be just a moment" and then it's 20 minutes later and I'm still waiting). But the 30 minutes (which I think it ended up being less) was well worth it, because the pictures were amazing! (plus they had the playroom for Connor, so I wasn't having to entertain him and try to keep him in the studio while I waited). They had another person (not sure her name) show me the pictures. They were done in a slideshow with music and everything. I LOVED that there were 50+ pictures to chose from, not the normal 10-15 in chain studios. After viewing everything, she went over pricing.

Their pricing is AMAZING (I feel like I keep using that word describing them!). The basic price (which never changes) is $79. And it doesn't even matter how many people are in your family either. No "sitting fees" or anything like that. JUST $79 for ALL pictures on CD and the copyright to print whatever and where ever you want! And then if you want to print with them, it's ONLY $4 a sheet (you can also get 25% off sheets if you purchase within the first week, making them $3 a sheet. I LOVE that they give you a week too.... most places say you have to purchase what you want at the "discounted price" the first day, or you have to pay "full price" and a reordering fee later). They were not pushy either. I felt like I could have walked out of there only paying the $79 without anyone getting mad (I have had some mad photographers when I just bought the "introductory package"). I think they even say on the website that if you're unhappy with the pictures, you can leave and don't have to pay or get anything... but I highly doubt that would EVER happen because of how good they are! Oh, and tipping is also encouraged (which I totally did, because he was so worth it!) but it's not a must.

Any my final and favorite part.... you get your pictures right away. It only takes something like 2 minutes per page to print. AND they burn the CD and copyright release that day too. So you take EVERYTHING home with you when you leave. Plus no "shipping" or "processing" fees (as other studios have charged!

I told Aaron that he's a LUCKY man that we live in California, because if we lived in Utah, most of his paychecks would be going to Fotofly! I think I would be in there every month if I could (yes, I am that obsessed with pictures!). I heard all these great reviews before I went there, but I was still skeptical. After going there, I completely understand what EVERYONE is talking about! I will NEVER go to another studio again. Fotofly is my studio of choice! :) Now... I just have to convince my husband to let us go to Utah at least twice a year...

(I'm getting nothing for doing this review... they probably won't even see that I've done it... I'm just am trying to help out those I know in Utah. Make your appointment now!) :)