The New Place..

     Though I've had this blog for a few months now I've realized it hasn't really lived up to its name. There are a couple bits about being a hippy and a few about being a mama, but the photographer part has thus far been largely overlooked. We moved into a new house this month and despite moving, unpacking and extended visits from both of my parents, I did manage to take a few shots of our new place: 

Lunch time with Gemma. She loves eating almost as much as she loves her mama <3. 

      Something I thought was interesting about my choices of shots to take and post is that they all are centered on Gemma.  And here I thought that motherhood didn't change me very much. What I think I've discovered is that perhaps it didn't change me per se, but rather it altered my perceptions what's important, interesting and thus worth photographing. Just the way I view the world. No big. 

   Almost every room in the house has these pine board walls like the one pictured above. This place has such quirky, summer-camp kind of charm. I love it. 

    

    Something I am sure my grandmother and mother will laugh at: I am SO excited about line drying Gemma's cloth diapers. I remember days not to long ago where the idea of line drying diapers and being genuinely happy about it would be completely out of the question. Life is funny like that,  isn't it?

     Gemma loves exploring and being outside. I am really enjoying sitting outside on our back patio and drinking tea, watching her run around and grow into being a big kid. Crazy.

     My homage to Van Gogh. I love this photo. Justin is glad to have a yard and garage/ man cave to tinker in. The yard is his empty canvas and we love to talk about what kind of veggies we are going to plant in our garden-in-progress this fall.  

Gemma's battle wounds from her long days of exploring.

I always want to remember her being so tiny and excited about everything. 

     I am sure I will get around to taking more photos of the actual house, but I am getting the feeling that the house itself isn't the important part. The feeling we get thinking that our little family has a place to grow and live is what I really want to capture. 

Veggies and Soccer moms

I've had three days off in a row and I promised myself (and some curious others) that I would write a new blog post. Which is all really flattering, really, that other people want to know more about me and my life. Or maybe they just want to see more pictures of Gemma? Either way, here we go:

I always had this idea in my head that I would be a certain kind of person when I "grew up" and had kids. I would stay at home, raise my brood, bake cookies and ferry my children hither and yon to their various extracurricular engagements. I would always carry wipes for my children's small public messes, extra undies, and snacks galore. My husband and I would live in a tract home and have stainless steel appliances. Pretty lofty goals, right? So far none of these events have come close to happening (except the cookies.) First of all, I'm not a stay at home mom, Justin and I don't own a home or enjoy joint ownership of a fabulous double-sided, stainless steel fridge and/or oven, and we're not married. Of all these imaginings and might-have-beens, the one that is the most shocking in its failure to appear is the fact that I'm not this glorious beacon of preparedness and maternal energy that I imagined myself to become someday. Maybe I'm just a victim of the media, because I am finding that the image of the perfect mom is akin to the airbrushed supermodel body: it is just an illusion. And what's great about that is that I know it is an illusion, unattainable...but the worrier/type A in me keeps me from totally giving up on the idea, and once in awhile, I find some pretty good, convenient solutions to mommy-ing on the go.

For example, I always envied those moms who could remember to bring snacks with them everywhere, like my Aunt Suzy whom in my childhood was a resourceful, crafty, ever prepared, domestic goddess. Bored? I have games to play and crafts to craft in the cupboard! Hungry? I have a granola bar, fruit snacks AND a juice in my purse! Wow! However, these easy, convenient snacks are not exactly in-line with our lifestyle. Individual wrappers, HFCS, gluten, red #40...a self proclaimed hippie's worst nightmare. So I found these instead: http://thesilico.com/. Re-useable, BPA and phthalate-free squeezy tubes. Fill 'em with some organic kefir or homemade fruit and veggie mash and stuff it in your purse to stave off the public tantrum your toddler will throw when she's hungry. I can't wait for them to get here!

We also started juicing this week, so I'm sure Gemma's sippy cup will be filled with some fresh veggie juice too. I'll let you know if I find any recipes that are particularly toddler friendly.

In the end, all it really took to satiate my need to feel like a good mom was probably what amounts to $5 worth of food-safe plastic. Which I know is silly because at this age Gemma doesn't care about sili-squeezes, granola bars, crafts or soccer at this point. Even as I'm writing this she's trying to play peek-a-boo with me from behind the computer screen. So before she grows up and realizes that I'm just Mama and not June Cleaver/ Soccer mom hybrid, I'm going to go play.

In brief...

It turns out that blogging takes a bit more thought and time than I originally planned. Blogs don't write themselves, babies don't raise themselves and paychecks unfortunately do not earn themselves. This is a typical behavior of mine- I'm always seeing how many things I can juggle at once: it keeps life interesting (to say the least!)
Luckily, Blogspot has an iPhone app, so I am now able to blog on-the-fly. Which is ironic because right now I am actually in bed, getting ready to fall asleep after a long and beautiful day. I'll leave you tonight with this picture taken earlier today at Crystal Cove State park...it perfectly captures today's mood: fresh and sweet.