Picturing My Dreams

I always knew that I loved the camera. Ever since I was little, I loved to take pictures, but as the subject not the photographer. My mom had an amazing camera and took amazing pictures with it... I guess you can say it runs int he family. If you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would always answer, model. As a teenager I tried to force my path in life down that road but as fate would have it, it would steer me in another direction. I decided that sports was way more important and better for my self-esteem (seeing as how I never evolved into a 6ft. Brazilian beauty). Running lead me to Brad, Brad lead me to college, college lead me to teaching, and teaching lead me into motherhood...well Brad helped with that too. And so there I was at home with my little angel. Sure I was busy but not career busy. I found myself with time to dabble in some hobbies I had swept under the rug during my days of studying and lesson planning. As a graduation gift, my mom bought me my very first Canon 40D...in other words the mega beast of photography. I took it out of the box and started shooting. I quickly discovered that being behind the camera was what I really loved. Setting the scene and styling the shoot is where my creativity comes alive. I started out taking pictures of Mayley (she has a photo shoot for every month of her life! LOL) Then I moved on to some friends who allowed me to take photos of them. My dreams have always involved a camera and somehow my path in life has lead me yet again to photography (my mom being part of that path). The next step in my journey is coming up quickly now. I have stumbled upon the opportunity to do some real photo shoots from baby and children to maternity. I am so excited and a little nervous. Excited for the opportunity and to invest in a flash and some editing soft wear, nervous to trust my ability and have confidence in myself. Wish me luck in this part of my journey where my dreams involve pictures and my pictures involve dreams.

*Here are a few of my favorites

Always My Baby

I Let a huge sigh of air leave my body tonight as I was lying bed. Concerned, Brad nudged me as if to ask what was wrong. I couldn't help but create tears in response. My little girl, my baby, she turned 1. 12 months of memories came flooding through me so quickly that I could not even try to hold back my emotions. I had to let it out. I couldn't stop thinking about the day she was born. August 21, 2008 My little Mayley Drew was born at 7:50 AM after an excruciating but quick labor. She was a healthy 7lbs.14oz and 18.5 in. long. She was a miracle and was instantly the great love of our lives. For the first few months of her life I would stare at her and imagine what she would look like, what her personality would be like, if she would be walking all at the age of 1. I couldn't wait for that day to come. In a blink of the eye it is here...she is 1. She looks like Brad and acts like me, she is walking, and she is full of life. Although I miss her as an infant, I am enjoying all the new things she does everyday. She is always amazing us and making us laugh and smile. I continue to look forward to how she will be the next year and I know that when that year comes I will be a little sad when I reflect on the past. She might not be my infant anymore who stares at me when I hold her for a feeding but she will always be baby who hugs me and gives me kisses and one day will say, "I love you mom."

Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes and for making Mayley's 1st b-day party a special one. Despite the rain, wind, and practically in California location, it is a day I will never forget and one I hope you all remember. She had her cake and she ate it too!

A Summer Full of Firsts!

This summer seems to be flying by...I guess that is a good thing because that means we are keeping busy. This summer has brought us so many wonderful things and so many firsts for all of us. It is definitely a summer I will never forget.

After a nice long week off Brad started his new job and he likes it! Thank God :) However, he still has to journey out the the lake every day in his truck that has no air. I know...I know we are going to buy him a new one this weekend. His very first brand new truck!

I will be finishing my summer school class on Thursday!!! yay! It has been a hard 5 weeks of work but its finally over and I can relax without having to worry about any papers to write. I still have about 5 more classes to go. They start back up in August and if i stick to the plan I will graduate next summer. The first person in my family to go to college and get a masters!

Mayley is growing like a weed. She is over 20lbs. and is 30 inches long! She is so tall. Her latest firsts are saying as well as singing "ugh oh" and she says mama, dada, num num, baba, and various other noises. She loves to cruz around the house and stand up everywhere. She finally stood up a few weeks ago all by herself but does not do it very often. Everyone keeps saying she will walk soon...now I say "ugh oh!" She enjoys eating baby food and real food and loves even more to spit out and smile. She has been throughing her peas off the side and then clapping. LOL

But I can handle it becasue I am nice and rested now. My little angel is sleeping through the night, from about 8 to 4, bottle, then again until 7 or 8. Lately she has been sleeping all the way through from 8-7 but I know that won't last. LOL She even takes two to three naps a day. We have a great routine going and we stick to it. It makes life much better.

She can also clap her hands, wave, and give kisses if you ask. It is the cutest thing in the world! Her favorite game is when Brad or I says, "I'm gunna get you!" and she takes off crawling and screaming as fast as she can while we chase after her groaning in pain from crawling on our knees. Ouch! Another favorite of hers is swimming. She is such a water bug. She loves to splash! She even tries to swim in the bathtub. I think she could spend all day swimming if we let her.

Another first for Mayley will be going on her very first road trip to California. We will be going to My best friends wedding in the middle of July. I can't wait to take her to the beach! She will also be going on her very first plain ride in August to see her great grandma (my gramma Lou) and all her great uncles and aunts and cousins. When we get back to Vegas she gets to meet Brad's bother and family for the very first time. It will be so neat for her to meet her three first cousins...they all look alike and are all little so they will have so much together. Then after all that Mayley will be celebrating her first birthday on August 21st! Talk about a busy first year of life!

Like I said before, this summer is packed full of firsts and we are keeping busy. For some reason a lot more work comes with firsts...I wonder what it will be like when number two comes along? Hmmmm.

Moving on up!

For those of you who don't already know, Brad has been interviewing with an engineering company called EMA for the last month. Yes, the whole month. It started with an informal lunch interview, then he had to fly out to Arizona where he he interviewed with four diffeent poeple for the whole day, then he had a 20 minute phone interview with the VP and finally he had to write a essay. I guess they want to know if he can write. Geez what a process! But it was worth it. Brad was officially hired as the project engineer for that company and starts in June. This company was looking for young new talent to eventually take over the old guys at this company. It is a possibility that Brad will move up vrey far in this company one day! Yay Brad, finally a job he might not be bored with...might.

March Madness and More

March was such a busy month for us. Mayley started crawling....and everywhere! In the same week she figured out how to pull herself up in her crib and now she loves to stand in front of the window and be the neighborhood watch. Every morning when she wakes up, she is standing in her crib with a huge smile on her face just waiting for me to come and get her. Makes my day every day. :) Mayley also got her first two teeth on the bottom. Teething was a nightmare!!! We only got a two week break and then she started teething again. It looks like the ones on top might be coming in soon. In April, we got to visit the Easter bunny. She tried to pull of his neck tie and eat it...I think she liked him. On Easter she received three stuffed bunnies from us, Uncle Drew, Great Grandma and Grampa, and a huge Easter basket from grams and grams...she's not spoiled. She also started eating like a monster this month. She can put back two step two packages of Gerber baby food and then have a bottle! She loves peas still..well she loves everything.I even started giving her those little puffs and she loves those things too. She also holding her own bottle. She can hold it, but then gives up...too much work I guess. This month Mayley also started to take baths in the big tub...she likes that too. She loves to splash! Speaking of splashing. The other day the weather was so nice we all went to the pool and Mayley got her first taste of pool water..no really she drank the water. But overall she loved being in the pool and was splashing away! And lastly I have been trying to be brave and when Mayley wakes up at her usual 2 AM time I have been letting her cry it out. She only cried for about ten minutes and then went back to sleep. I am finally after 8 months getting her to sleep from 8-4:45. She gets her bottle then and goes back to sleep until 6:30-7. I feel so much better! So worth it. So let me take a breath now....it has been a crazy two months and I'm sure it will get even crazier.

Brian Head

Our trip to Brian Head was soooooooooo much fun! Of course I called my mom only 15 min. after dropping her off...give me a break, I couldn't help it. :) Our friends Dom and Juisele came with us and we got to stay in one of his clients cabin. This was not just any cabin, it was a three level fully furnished cabin with a bar, 3 bed, 3 bath, four wheelers, big screens...the works. AMAZING! Anyway, We basically went to celebrate Brad's 28th b-day, yes 28! OLD MAN hahahahah. The weather was absolutely perfect, I even got burnt! We had a great time carving the mountain, riding in the park and well just letting loose...except Brad and I kept wondering about Mayley. Once a parent always a parent, even on vacation. Below are some silly pics I took and an even sillier video of me trying to jump and then crashing.


Brad and I

Me riding over a car

The four of us

Hanging right outside our cabin

I took all these grat pics and then realized later I had my camera in black and white mode :( I was so mad!

ALright ALright!!!

I keep getting yelled at to update my blog so I am :) Between Myspace and Facebook and this I have a lot of updating to do! I hate technology...jk. Well sometimes. Anyway, Mayley is doing so good. She almost crawling...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! She is able to get up on her knees and rock and she has taken a crawl step but then she falls on her face :( but she tries so hard. As much as I try she does not want to sit up. I guess on her own terms she will. She is also now eating stage 2 food she loves peas, sweet potatos, and the mix of apples and blueberries. She hates carrots now!

Brad and I and some friends are going to Brian Head this weekend for his birthday (March 14) and this will be the first time we are leaving Mayley. We are so excited to go but a little nervous to leave our little peanut. I know she will be in good hands with grandma Jill and grandpa Cary but we will miss her. It will be three whole days. I swear we have packed everything she owns to take over there...you can never be to prepared right? I can see it now, me on the chair lift, phone in hand calling my mom to see how Mayley is. hahahahah My friends keep telling me the more kids you have the less worried you become about them. I guess they tend to get a little more neglected than the first child...hahahahah

Brad is still searching every day for a new job. He is so bored at his job and would love to find something new, exciting, and challenging. He is so desperate to do something hands on that his sister-in-law Kelly sent him a b-day card that when you open it it sings. Well it was broken from traveling all the way from the Netherlands, that he got out his fancy engineering tools and rewired the darn thing to work...and it did! LOL Poor guy. So pray he finds something good, he deserves it.

I just met with my advisor and we mapped out the rest of my masters program and if I stick to the plan I will graduate with my MS as a Reading Specialist next Summer!!!! Yay!

6 Month Update

Mayley had her 6 month check-up and is weighing in at 16.9 lbs. and 27 in. Her last check-up she weighd 15lbs. and was 25 in. so she is growing nice and healthy! The Dr. said it is time to baby proof the house because pretty soon she will be crawling...we think she will run before she crawls by the way she moves in her walker. She also gets to start eating more baby food, so far she really likes peas, carrots and sweet potatos. She always makes makes a sour face at the fruit but she keeps on opening her mouth for more so I guess she likes it all so far. The only things she does not like are squah and pears, those made her tummy hurt. Other than that she is SUFFERING or I guess we are LOL from teething! She hasn't gotten any yet but boy does she chew on everything and anything...always accompanied by screaming and crying. Oh the joys of pareting! She hasn't sat up yet but she is working on it.



Mayley and I have been going to Gymboree on Wednesdays to the level 1 class. It is so much and she gets to interact with two other little babies, both boys who are only weeks old. I will be moving her up to level 2 pretty soon...she's over level 1, she is ready to learn harder stuff. I think I enjoy the class more than her right now. I get to get out of the house and talk to other moms which is nice. Also my mom finally finished her conferenced so she is is excited to spend more time with her grand daughter...and so am I LOL Her other Grandma Ellen has been coming over on Fridays to babysit while Brad and I play soccer.



As for Brad, he is loving every moment of being a dad. I always new he would be good at it but watching him is amazing. He loves her so much and loves to see her grow and learn. He thinks she is already good at math! hahahahah go figure engineer. I don't know about that but I do know that she loves to chew on his nose...I'm just saying.



Below are some pictures I just took of her

Its Getting Hot in Here!

As cold as it is outside, things were heating up in our house. Mayley had her first fever :( She woke up one morning with a temperature of 100.5 and she was not a happy camper all day. So naturally we gave her Tylenol every four hours and were hopeful that it would go away. After a long night of holding her and comforting her she finally fell asleep and so did we. The next morning she woke up with that pesky fever again. Since I'm a first time mommy I freaked out and took her to the Dr. I had an appointment at 10:30 and had to sit on the sick side with all these coughing, snotty nosed, fever, fluish kids. Oh joy! I finally got in an hour later. The Doc checked her out and said she was super healthy and just had a little fever bug and to continue doing what I was already doing. Of course the fever went away later that day. Yeah! no more worrying...except now Brad and I are sick thanks to me going to the docters office to get Mayley better. Hahahaha Oh well what can you do? Cough cough, sneeze, blowing nose...excuse me. Instead of leaving you mith my cold bug, I'll leave you with a Mayley bug.

Red Rock

Last weekend we decided to venture out to Red Rock Canyon to go on a little hike. This would be Mayley's very first hike...not that she herself would be hiking, more like Brad wearing her up the trail. We chose a nice little 1 mile trail (something easy for Mayley ;). So with Mayley strapped to Brad plus a backpack and I strapped with a camera and diaper bag we trecked off on our adventure. (I'm sure we looked like the typical overprotective family tourists!) Anyway, It was around 60 degrees and really windy...brrrrrr. Mayley was such a trooper, she enjoyed sticking her tongue out to taste the cold air and was taking in all the sights. We almost made it to the end of the trail but had to stop and feed Mayley. I guess all that hiking made her hungry. Well we decided to turn around because the wind picked up and Mayley's nose was turning red from the cold. On the way down I spotted some Big Horn Sheep with my hawk eye vision and snapped a few shots. It was amazing! We had a great time and it was such a treat to get out of all the craziness of Vegas. We can't wait to go back again. Plus Mayley slept like a "rock" after all that hiking and site seeing.

Many Firsts for Mayley

First off we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2009 and this year Mayley will turn 1! SLOW DOWN!! They were right when they said she would grow up fast. She is already 4.5 months old weighing in at 15 lbs. and is 25 in. long. She is in the 75% for height and weight! What can I say she is well fed! LOL We just had our first Christmas together as a family. We of course went out and bought her all kinds of clothes and toys and both sets of grandparents spoiled her rotten (all of which Mayley had no interest in except for the wrapping paper...but we expected that) it was fun anyway. Shortly after we celebrated New Years with a bang!! Yeah right...I could hardly stay awake to watch the countdown and as soon as was over I went straight for the bed. So sad I know but that is the life of new parents. But waking up the next day brought a big smile to my face because I was excited knowing this year there would be so many firsts for Mayley and she has already experienced some.

Mayley finally learned to roll over! However apparently she does it backwards. She rolls from her back to tummy and then gets really mad when she can't figure out how to roll back over again. She is a Callihan though so I know she will figure it out and soon. She also got her very first taste of food. She has tasted rice cereal and carrots. She likes them both but favors the carrots. She is still trying to perfect the art of eating but she is getting much better at getting the food in her mouth then on the rest of her body. She also began using the bouncer we have. Mayley loves that thing and she is so strong I feel like she might bounce right out of it, it is a riot to watch. She also began laughing too although she doesn't do it all the time but when she does it is the cutest thing in the world. We also had our first hike to Red Rock Canyon! She slept for most of it but she's a trooper :) We can't wait for what else is to come. This has been an amazing experience so far for us and we are so in love with our little girl.

We hope all is well with everyone!! P.S. Brad passed his Professional Engineering test!!!

First time on grass, First carrots, First time in Bumbo chair