sleeping through the night

This morning I woke up about 6:15. The light was shining through the window and Asher was still asleep in his crib.

"Wow," I thought. "Asher slept totally through the night. He's been asleep since 7:30 last night!"

I was getting really excited when I heard him cry out and I went in to get him. I brought him back to bed to feed him. I was a little perplexed that only one of my breasts seemed full to bursting. After 11 hours without a feeding, I should be leaking all over, right? But I didn't give it much more thought.

When Jared woke up a few minutes later, I informed him of our son's superior sleeping. He got excited and said, "Oh he stayed asleep since 2 when I put him back in bed?"

"What do you mean? 2? He woke up at 2?"

"Yeah, he woke up and I brought him to you, you fed him, and then I put him back in his crib."

"Huh, I don't remember that AT ALL."

And I don't. I have absolutely no recollection of feeding him. None. I seriously thought he had slept 11 hours straight. And since I can't remember that means that he might as well have, right? I still apparently got a good 8 hours of sleep--2 am feeding or no.

I'll take it.

new photos

I just posted a look at my latest shoot over on my photo blog. Check it out!

http://redbeanphotography.blogspot.com

woo hoo!

Jared took his LAST exam EVER today! He's been studying for months for his comprehensive exams which are the last step of his PhD program before starting his dissertation. They basically consisted of showing up and writing a research paper out of his head in 4 hours. He did that 4 times plus he had 2 language exams-one in Greek and one in Hebrew. And he's done!!! Yay! I'm so excited to have my husband back and Asher is SO excited to have his daddy back. 

I'm so proud of you, babe!

funny face

A couple or three weeks ago Asher started doing this funny face which we find absolutely hilarious. Now I realize that those of you who aren't his parents might not find it quite as funny, but I had to share anyway since I finally got a picture of it yesterday. He had stopped doing it for a few days and I thought the phase was over, but he started it up again so I snapped away. 

First, here is a normal smile. 

And here is the crinkly face smile.

And the extreme crinkly face smile. 

Oh, it makes me laugh. It's way better in real life. He also does an unhappy version, which actually looks almost the same except he's complaining along with the face. What a goofy kid.

happy birthday, lauren!

My little sister is 24 years old today! 

Lauren is an amazing person. 

She is very kind and generous and loving. 

She is also stubborn and cynical and shy.

She has always kept me down to earth.

She is extremely talented and very well read.

She knows all sorts of trivia.

She is interested in the world around her.

She doesn't know how beautiful she is.

She is a wonderful friend and an even better sister.

She lives too far away and I miss her.

I hope she has a wonderful 24th birthday. I wish I could share it with her.

Happy Birthday, Lauren! I love you!

9 months in, 9 months out

In one of the books I read when I was pregnant the author proposed the idea that in addition to the 9 months of gestation humans require before birth, there is also a 9 month external gestation required before human babies are to the point of development that many other species reach at birth. It has something to do with our head size vs. pelvis size which makes it necessary for human babies to be born such helpless little things, while other animals are born and begin walking the same day. The author argued that parents should treat those 9 months after birth as a time to cuddle and hold and nurture and keep their babies near. And basically that it is not possible to spoil a baby. 

I found this idea to be so beautiful and have thought of it often over these past nine months of Asher's life. I have held him close and nurtured and nursed him. He has slept by my side, curling his little body into mine. We have spent every day together. And every night. He is secure in the knowledge that his mother is near. 

As the months have gone by, he's developed and grown as he should. And it seems everyday he can do something a little better or something else entirely new. He becomes more curious and more independent by the minute. Amazingly enough, the past few days I have noticed a marked difference in him. He wants me near, even crying when I leave the room, but he wants to explore more and more. I can see how he is beginning to need me just a little less. He nurses a bit less often. He no longer needs to be rocked to sleep. 

Fortunately, he is still my baby for awhile yet, not quite ready to be rid of me entirely. He doesn't like to be left alone even for a minute. He scoot/crawls over to me when he doesn't want to play with his toys anymore. He kisses my cheeks and lips with a big open slobbery mouth. He pats my face or pulls my hair to wake me up in the morning. He will happily stand against my legs as I sit on the couch. He holds me tight and lays his head on my chest when we take a shower together. There is still nothing better than mama's milk.

I am so blessed to be Asher's mother. I couldn't ask for a sweeter, happier, cuter, or more fun baby. I love him more everyday as I get to know him better every day and his little personality blooms. I can not imagine my life without him. Happy Nine Months, Asher Gabriel!

spring flowers

I did a shoot a couple weeks ago at the Coker Arboretum on UNC campus. 

I couldn't help but take a few photos of the beautiful flowers too. I love spring! 

And in case you don't like flowers...

introducing....

My photography blog is now up and running!
I am currently still adding photos, but check it out and let me know what you think!

ALSO, I must give a HUGE shout out to my awesome logo designer Katharine Hansen. She was wonderful to work with and did an amazing job!

amazing!

I know this has been all over the news and internets this week, so you've probably already seen it, but in case you haven't, here it is. You MUST watch this and hear this woman sing. She is AMAZING! I seriously get goosebumps and a little teary eyed watching it. Embedding is disabled so you'll have to CLICK HERE to see it. Susan, you are certainly talented!

bullets of frivolity

• Yesterday I watched Nights at Rodanthe and Rachel Getting Married. The former was lame. The latter was excellent. And while we are talking movies, we also recently watched Slumdog Millionaire. Wow. So good and intense and good and has a happy ending, which I always like. 
  
• I bought my first pair of Uggs. I got the Tall Swell Boot. They don't look so "Uggish" but they are comfy. I got them on sale too. I figured I should have some boots since I'll be living in Utah next winter where it actually snows more than once or twice a year. And it's still snowing there in April! What the heck?! 
  
• Did you watch Idol last night? Doesn't Jennifer Hudson seem so nice?  And did Miley Cyrus sound kinda awful or was it just me? She looked great though. And...what do you think of the judge's saving Matt? Interesting twist. 
  
• I can't believe it's already Thursday. This week is going really fast.
  
• We had shrimp ramen last night with some edamame and carrots thrown in. Why is that stuff so good?
  
• I've been really into graham crackers and milk lately. Such a tasty snack. Asher also ate his first graham cracker this week. He liked it. 
  
• I'm really hoping there's a new Grey's Anatomy tonight. It's been too long. I need to know what's going on with Izzy.

Any of you had any frivolous thoughts lately?

more cherry blossoms

I finally edited the rest of my cherry blossom photos. 

What is it about pretty flowers that just make us happy? 

There is something especially magical about flowering trees. 

Don't you think?

photo sessions

Just a little reminder that I am moving from North Carolina to Utah the end of May, so if there are any North Carolina folks out there who would like me to photograph your children or family, let me know ASAP. I will probably only be able to do sessions through the first two weeks of May. My prices will remain VERY reasonable for students while I am still here in NC. Send me an email if you are interested! If not, that's ok too. I'm sure I'll be able to fill my time with packing and what not, right?

sarah and gary's wedding

I have to admit I was pretty nervous to photograph my first wedding. It's a lot of pressure to be entrusted with recording such a momentous occasion! But I ended up having a lot of fun, and I'm pleased with the photos. Sarah and Gary were really laid back which made it nice. So here's a little sampling of photos from their wedding day. They were married in the Raleigh Temple and then had a ring ceremony and a reception.

 

easter

It's the Monday after Easter which means one thing--time for post with pictures from Easter!

I was a lame mom and didn't do an Easter basket for Asher. He can't eat candy and he won't remember it anyway, so I didn't really see the point. Lame. We didn't decorate eggs or anything either. What we did do is go outside and take pictures in our Easter outfits. 

Thanks to my generous mother, I now have a darling dress that I can actually nurse in. It has  been almost 9 months since I wore a dress! It was nice. Asher's new clothes are courtesy of my mom as well. She's the best!

Jared offered to take some photos of me and Asher and they turned out well. Asher looked at the camera at least, even though he wouldn't smile.

And of course, what would a photo shoot be without some of our adorable boy.

Seriously, how cute are those shorts?

Going a bit cross-eyed looking at the grass.

Other Easter Sunday happenings included:
-Me singing in the ward choir after missing the last 3 practices. I managed to pull it off thanks to a great director, the fact that I am a soprano and therefore sing the melody, and being surrounded by singers who actually went to practice.
-Jared setting off the fire alarm in our apartment, which means the ENTIRE apartment building. Oops! The fish wasn't even burned, but got a little smoky and he forgot to turn on the hood fan. These detectors are quite sensitive. Dinner was delicious by the way! We just had to wait for the fire department to show up before we could eat it. Ah the memories!

sand... yum

The little playground next to our apartment is a giant sandbox. I often let Asher sit and stand in the sand. Yesterday, I didn't try very hard to keep him from eating it. I guess now that he is finally into food, he decided the sand looked especially good.


He was having so much fun... even his toes looked happy.

in memory

Cameron Merrill, Jared's step-brother, died this morning. He had cancer. He was young. I only met him once, when his dad married Jared's mom in October, but our hearts go out to all his family. I am sorry we didn't get the time here on earth to know him well, but I also know that someday we will. 

cheering me up

I still have tons of blossom photos to edit, but I wanted to get a happier post on here. So here is a little preview. These photos make me really happy. I love spring.