Well, the questions has been asked by many, where the heck have I been? I’ve been here. Nope, I haven’t been traveling or anything. I don’t have exciting news or fun adventures to talk about. I’ve been at home enjoying the brief calm before the storm (aka August and September, they’re going to be brutal). I’ve been swimming with Reese in our pool, hitting the gym every day doing my sister Kellee’s weightlifting workout exercises she showed me on her visit out in addition to my Triathlon training. Did I mention I’m doing ANOTHER Triathlon? Yes, I’m crazy, and so very excited to do it with my friend Elena since it will be her first.

In addition to all of that I have also been doing a whole lot of this:

and this:

and some of this:

and this:

To say that I’ve been spending a lot of time at my computer would be an understatement.

With the release of the iPhone 3G tomorrow, Apple is also releasing new iPhone/iPod Touch software and the App Store.  Aside from a lot of other cool stuff, iPhones can now have third-party applications on them.  So what does that mean?

Have you ever wished your cell-phone had a whole bunch of other stuff on it, like a tip calculator, a to-do list, etc.?  Wouldn’t it be cool if you could pick and choose from thousands of applications so your phone does what *you* want it do instead of whatever the creators wanted it to do?  Well, Apple solved that problem with the App Store.  Developers can create their own applications and you can easily and quickly get whichever ones you want on your own iPhone.

Use Facebook or Myspace a lot?  Would you like to have an application on your phone to use your accounts?  Have you ever been at an electronics store and wanted to know how highly rated a TV was and how expensive it was online?  Wouldn’t it be cool if you could look them up with a simple application on your phone?  Thankfully, now you can if you have an iPhone.

But the best of all, at least for me, is that now I can take a photo on my phone and send it straight to my favorite online photo sharing service with SmugShot.  I can add captions, keywords, select specific galleries, etc.  And it’s free to download and use.

That’s hot.  And speaking of which, 500+ applications were released today with the new App Store, and guess which app is the hottest right now in the store?

Things sure are changing around here these days. Just when I start to get comfortable in a routine with Reese we hit a growth spurt or a transition and things change again. Here’s what’s new:

* Reese stood for the first time yesterday for over a minute without holding onto anything. Of course I placed her on her feet and gave her something (my iPhone) to hold so she would be distracted from trying to sit down immediately, which is what she usually does. She is definitely in no hurry to start stomping along on her own though, so I think we’ve got awhile before Reese will really be a “toddler”.

* Reese has always been a pretty good eater with finger foods and I was just starting to count my lucky stars that she seemed to eat any fruit or veggie I dared put in front of her (did I ever mention that she doesn’t have any interest in eating grain products like bread, crackers, or even cheerios?) Dum Dum Dum…

The picky eating stage has set in. I had hoped it would never happen to my sweet girl, but it has. Foods that she would once stuff with both hands into her mouth at alarming rates now gets thrown off her tray in disgust. I am beside myself trying to figure out what to feed this child. She can’t live on fruit alone! So far the winning foods are: bananas, watermelon, peaches, peas, avacados, raisins, toast and almost any other member of the fruit family. The losers include: scrambled eggs, PB&J sandwiches, veggie patties, spaghetti, pasta, cheerios, beans, and the list goes on…The worst is that sometimes she will scarf something I make the first time, so I get all excited that I have found something new she will eat, then she won’t ever eat that meal again.

I’m frustrated.

*We are also going through some really rough sleep issues. Reese has been weird about naps for about 2 weeks now. She will go down for a morning nap and act tired when I put her down for her afternoon nap but then she just cries the whole time. Or she won’t take her morning nap and then she is so tired by the time her afternoon nap rolls around she won’t sleep.

So I figured she is ready to go down to one nap a day right? I thought she was a little young for that, but all the signs were pointing that way. After the last two days I’m pretty sure that’s not the case either. She has been a mess! She is cranky and tired and she cries at the drop of the hat. I don’t know what to do, honestly. Any pieces of advice? I’m pretty sure she’s not teething, and she’s not sick. Argggh!

*Reesey and I are home alot more these days except for our daily outing to the gym. So Reese has had a lot more opportunities to play by herself with her toys. Lately she has been obsessed with taking things out and putting things back into containers. Whether it be laundry, blocks, even shoes. She will sit forever with her bucket and picking up toys and putting them into the bucket one by one, then taking them out and putting them back in again. I love peeking in on her while she’s playing quietly by herself, it’s totally cute.

*Reese is catching onto a few of the baby signs I have been showing her for months. She knows “more” and “all done”, although she still needs to be prompted to use them sometimes instead of whining. She can also show you where her head is and where “mama’s head” is when asked.

* Did I mention the whining? Yes, there is a lot of whining these days. I think the babe is a bit frustrated that she can’t tell us what she wants. It’s annoying. When she wants what I’m eating/holding/using, she whines. When she wants me to pick her up she throws herself at my legs, and she whines. When she wants more food on her tray, she whines.

My ears hurt.

Things they be a-changin’. Some things for the better, umm…we’ll work on the rest.

This is a list that has taken me a few days to write. My sister-in-law wrote one, and I was truly moved by some of the things she shared that I never knew about her. I have been doing some deep reflection ever since because there are things about myself that I don’t like, but that I can’t or won’t change. This is who I am. I can’t apologize for that. It’s hard to share some of the things you don’t like about yourself, or some of the things you wish were different. I am not where I want to be. But maybe by facing these truths I will be able to work on these things and become the person I want to be.

I encourage you to write your own list. You never know what you might discover about yourself.

1. I am an extremely emotional person. Before having Reese I felt like I was on a constant roller coaster or up-days and down-days and I never knew when I woke up in the morning if I was going to feel normal. I like to think that Reese has made me (for the most part) permanently normal.

2. Sometimes I forget that I’m a mom now, and the restrictions that places on my life.

3. My guilty pleasure is curling up and watching episodes of Dawson’s Creek on DVD when Mark’s not around and I’ve had a rough day/week. I have (and I hate to admit this) all 6 seasons on DVD. For some reason it always stirs feelings inside of me that take me back to High School and how it felt to be 16.

4. Sometimes I don’t clean the bathroom for a month. I HATE cleaning the bathroom.

5. I’m so terrified that I am going to be an awful mom that sometimes I think I block it out entirely and I don’t try as hard as I should at being a better parent because I don’t like to do things that I can’t do well.

6. I used to be a dancer and I don’t think I’ve ever quite let that go. I still want to dance and I can’t accept that that period in my life is over. It makes me feel like a part of me has died. It’s sad.:(

7. I care what people think of me. A LOT.

8. I also am extremely envious of the people who don’t seem to care at all what other people think of them.

9. I like to think that my strengths are being outgoing, positive, and caring.

10. My weaknesses are probably being impatient, judgmental, and stubborn.

11. I have an extreme weakness for purchasing things that I think will make my home look nicer and more “homey”. It drives Mark crazy.

12. I wish I was musically talented. I especially wish I could sing.

13. I’m extremely jealous of my sisters. Each of them, for different reasons. I always feel like they have qualities and talents I wish I had.

14. The only person in the world that I tell everything to besides Mark is my best friend Elena. She’s the one person I have met in my life that I feel like I can share the horrible awful truths with and she won’t judge me.

15. No matter how hard I try I always seem to have dirt under my fingernails.

16. I buy lots of clothes that represent what I wish to wore on a day-to-day basis, and then I just end up in comfortable sweats every day with a closet full of hardly-worn clothes.

17. I wish I was a better photographer. I wish I had more time and energy to spend on learning how to become better.

18. I equate being in shape with being successful, loved and respected. Consciously I know that this is not true, but subconsciously I tend to blame failure in any one of these areas on my weight.

19. High School was one of the best times of my life. I sometimes look back on that time longingly and wish I was once again 16 and sneaking out of my house instead of 24 and going to bed at 8:30pm.

20. Yes, I did sneak out of my house when I was a teenager. I was a bit of a wild child.:)

21. Mark is unlike any guy I ever dated before, and he’s the perfect guy for me. I continue to be amazed at how good he is about loving and caring for me that way I need him to.

22. Mark is smarter than me. A LOT smarter than me.

23. I can’t go on a vacation and leave the house messy. I think about it the whole time we are vacationing and it bugs me.

24. When I get into bed at night I can’t sleep if all the covers are a messy pile on top of me. I have to smooth out the covers and pull them up to my chin and then fold them neatly over before I can sleep.

25. Sometimes while driving in the car listening to the radio I totally break down in tears listening to certain songs. Like “Jesus take the Wheel” or “You’re Gonna Miss This”. I’m a basket case. Country music is emotional ok?!

26. Marrying into Mark’s family has completely change my life.

27. I HATE awkward silences. So if you ever think I talk too much, it’s just because I can’t stand the silence!

28. I also tend to gossip. It’s something I hate about myself and I’m trying to work on.

29. I knew since Mark and I got married that I wanted to name our first daughter Reese.

30. I am a horrible cook.

31. I also hate to cook. I still like to imagine that someday when I kids are older I will cook dinner every night for our family, but I just don’t see how that will happen right now.

32. I’m horrible with money. I like to work hard and then not worry about how much things cost.

33. My first pregnancy and birth was traumatizing for me and I feel scared to do it again.

34. I’m also scared to be a mother to more than just Reese. I don’t feel like I’m a great mom and it scares me to have another child when I don’t even feel like I’m doing a great job with the one I have.

35. I cannot sit for hours on the couch watching TV unless I have an activity like folding laundry or stuffing envelopes. I can’t sit still for that long.

36. I have not cut my hair in over a year.

37. I whiten my teeth in photos of me in photoshop because I am embarrassed of my less-than-white smile.

38. I’m proud that I am a woman-of-many-talents. I like to think that I am capable of doing many things and/or picking things up easily.

39. I love living in California.

40. Someday I desperately want to live in a small beach town in a beautiful home on the beach so I can look out my widow and see the ocean and Mark and I can walk on the beach together every day.

41. I love freshly laundered towels and sheets. I also really love using dryer sheets to make fresh laundry smell even better but Mark hates it because he says dryer sheets are such a waste of money.:)

42. I love to read. My favorite book is “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamont, and I have read it at least 10 times.

43. I am horribly disorganized.

44. I really like my green eyes. They are one of my few features that I would never change if given the chance.

45. I desperately want to be “that mom” when our kids get older. You know-the one who is so fun and everyone wants to hang out at our house and the mom who still looks good and is cool?

46. When my girls are teenagers I badly want to be able to share clothes with them.

47. I am a working mom because I am afraid that I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t.

48. I am also a working mom because I need to feel valued and important outside my home.

49. I don’t make a lot of plans for the future like family traditions I want us to observe, rules I want to place for our kids, or anything like that. I get overwhelmed easily and just avoid thinking about those things because it’s more than I want to deal with right now.

50. Competing in my first Triathlon was the first time in a long time that I felt proud of myself.

51. I like to buy books, not just borrow them or check them out from the library. Then I read them over and over until the pages are dirty from eating while reading, and wrinkly from reading while taking a bubble bath.

52. I light scented candles around my house when I want the house to feel homey.

53. I have a really hard time saying “no”.

54. I like to think that I eat healthy.

55. I look forward to the times of the day when Reese is napping and I get to be alone.

56. I also love to walk into Reese’s room when she wakes up from a nap and she is standing in her crib smiling through her pacifier at me.

57. I don’t think I put my family first enough.

58. I LOVE to go out to restaurants to eat.

59. I am NOT a morning person. In fact, if you wake me before 8am I am liable to bite your head off.

60. I’m terrified of having a disgustingly messy house when people stop by unexpectedly.

61. I love to write. When I was a teenager I used to keep tons of notebook full of my feelings and thoughts. I also have faithfully kept journals since I was 13 and I like to flip through them sometimes and remember how things used to be.

62. I am a person who hates change. I spend a great deal of time looking back on the past and wishing things could be that way again rather than being excited for the future.

63. Having a boring life really frightens me. I want my life to be filled with excitement, growth, and adventures.

64. I want to compete in a triathlon after the birth of each of my children.

65. I desperately want to go to Europe someday and I regret that it was something Mark and I did not do before starting our family.

66. I think I have “fat lady” arms and I hate them.

67. I don’t like people who complain a lot.

68. I am a bit of a show-off. It stems from my insecurity. I feel the need to prove to people that I’m fun/accomplished/talented/special.

69. I love sushi. I mean I REALLY LOVE SUSHI!

70. I’m afraid of dying before Mark and him falling in love again with another woman.

71. Someday I would love to go back to school to be a registered nurse.

72. I want to be an amazing quilter someday, like my mom.

73. I’m afraid that I won’t know what to do with my children when they are older. I am scared that I won’t know how be a cool mom, or how to talk to them and listen to them in a way that will make them want to tell me their secrets.

74. When I was 13 I joined a performing company called Starmakers that changed my life forever. It was in this dance company that I got my first boyfriend, my first kiss, I made the best girlfriends of my teenage years that I still keep in touch with, I learned about the birds and the bees from our awesome director, and I fell in love with dancing.

75. My dream is to one day have my own performing company like Starmakers where I would take an ordinary group of misfit middle school students and turn them into amazing performers and help them grow up along the way.

76. I really love the beach. I love standing on the beach with my feet near the water so that every time a wave comes in the water touches my feet and then recedes back and my feet slowly sink deeper in the sand with every wave.

77. I’m terrified of failing at life.

78. I am totally claustrophobic. So much so that I can’t sleep in confining clothing or even hooded sweatshirts. I hate sitting in either the middle or window seats on airplanes. And when I watch scenes in movies where the actor is in confining places it totally freaks me out.

79. Oddly enough though, I love sleeping when it’s cold in my room and I have layers of blankets piled on top of me. I always sleep so deeply that way.

80. I hate when the different foods on my dinner plate touch. I’m serious. I won’t eat the parts that touch unless they go together-like bread and mashed potatoes, but I can’t stand it when the juice from my fruit salad touches my mashed potatoes.

81. I give up on things when they get too overwhelming. I have stated before that I’m a bit of a quitter and the reason is usually because I’m not willing to put in the effort, especially if I think I will fail. I only like to do things that I can excel at, and that I am interested in.

82. I hate public speaking. Surprising huh? While I love to talk and will usually be the loudest person in the room, put me in front of everyone listening with a microphone in my hand and I freeze.

83. I really love the color turquoise. My eye is always drawn to clothes, bags, artwork, and home furnishings that color. I just love it.

84. I  love to play board and card games as opposed to Mark who really loves to play video games. I don’t really love playing video games and Mark don’t love board games so much. It’s a bit frustrating since neither of us want to play the other’s games.

85. I deeply loath spiders. I should have never seen the movie “Arachnophobia”. Scared the crap out of me.

86. I still cry every time I see “Father of the Bride”.

87. I am afraid that Reese will be less intelligent/developed in the future because I don’t spend time every day with her singing the ABC’s and playing with blocks and reading to her.

88. I am obsessed with Pottery Barn. I would pretty much deck our entire house out in Pottery Barn if we were rich. My dream house is bright and airy with a big great room, and large jetted tub in the master bath, and warm toffee colored leather couches from Pottery Barn. Mark makes fun of the way I pour over the Pottry Barn catalog whenever it comes in the mail.

89. If I could have any super power it would be telepathy. I always wish I knew what people really thought. On the other hand, having that power, you may find out things you wish you didn’t know.

90. I hate my freckles. I REALLY REALLY hate my freckles.

91. I generally make friends easily, but I rarely make “best friends”.

92. My favorite vacation ever was going on a cruise to Mexico with my sister Kellee and her boyfriend and Mark. We had a blast and it was great to feel so glamorous and fancy going on a cruise.

93. Sometimes I wish Mark and I had no TV or computer and we just came home in the evenings and spent time together without any electronics.

94. My favorite memories would have to be 1) the first time I heard Reese cry and I broke down in tears, 2) my first Valentines day with Mark, and 3) Senior Dinner Dance in High School.

95. I almost never leave the house without make up on. Before having Reese I would have never even considered it, but since having a baby I have become a bit more lax in the primping department.

96. I love wearing high heeled shoes. It makes me feel sexy.

97. I was Mark’s fist kiss, and his first real girlfriend. How cool is that?

98. I wish I spent more time on the gospel aspect of my life. It should take more of a priority and I don’t put in the effort to make it such.

99. I worry about what kind of role model Mark and I will be to our children.

100. I love my life. I don’t want to sound conceited or prideful, but I truly am happy with my life. I feel so lucky and blessed.

My little sister is getting married. It’s strange. For 4 years now my older sister and I have been the only siblings in my family who are married. It wasn’t weird for me to see by older sister get married, it just seems like what older sisters do. But having my younger sister get married is a bit weird for me. In my mind she is eternally the age she was when I left home-15. And even though consciously I know that she is an adult of 22 now with a career and living away from home, my immediate reaction when I found out she was getting married was “no way, you are far too young”! Ummm, she’s 2 years older than I was when I married Mark. I worry that she hasn’t known him long enough. Ummm, she’s known him just as long as I knew Mark when we got engaged.

I guess I just hate change, even when that change is something that makes my little sister so happy. As you saw in an earlier post, they came to visit us last weekend. It was good for me to see how in love they are, and how happy they make eachother. It has calmed my fears a lot. I still hate to let go of my little sister, but I have to remember that I’m not losing a sister, I’m gaining a fun bother-in-law.

While I am thrilled that my photography business is taking flight, it has also taken on a life of it’s own it seems. June has been pretty hectic so far with two engagement shoots alone this last week. I’m up to my ears in photos to edit for the two happy couples and an on a pretty tight deadline so they can send out initiations. It’s been crazy, but so worth it. Photography is something that completes me. I love it. I don’t know what I would do if it were not a part of my life.

One cute bride-to-be is my sweet sister Kellee who you may remember from this post last year. She and her fiance Jared came play with us this weekend and get in some engagement photos while they were out (which is another post entirely). We had a blast with them and did a bunch of the same things we did last time she visited-a day in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf, a day at the beach in Carmel with Cibo, and some yummy Bay Area cuisine. We also took a bunch of non-engagement photos and played a little bit of Guitar Hero for Mark’s sanity.

Reese did AMAZING this weekend. I was a tad worried about Reese not wanting to let Kellee or Jared hold her without crying and reaching out for me every chance she got. It’s so sad when we are visiting family because she won’t let others play with her or shower her with affection. I desperately want this separation anxiety phase to be over. It’s been over 6 months now and I’m so over it! Anyways, back to this weekend-all my fears about Reese not wanting Kellee or Jared to hold her turned out to be completely unnecessary. She was fine. More than fine, she LOVES her Aunt Kellee and Jared. She also did so well without her afternoon naps both on Friday and Saturday. I was happily surprised (of course we paid for it after K&J left with 3 days of very cranky overtired baby, or maybe she just missed her favorite Aunt and Uncle-to-be?).

Brace yourselves for the remainder of this post being a very picture-heavy experience…

As I mentioned before, Kellee visited us last year almost the exact same weekend. So I thought I would compare photos. This was then:

And this is now…Can you believe how much Reese has changed?!

We spent Friday at Fisherman’s wharf eating clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls and listening to the sea lions bark. Reese kept squirming every time I propped her on the banister over the water, she wanted to dive right in. I guess that’s what we get for having a swimming pool in our backyard, this girl has no fear of the water!

Jared took over the photographer duities for part of the day so I actually got to be IN some of the photos for once! He also got some great shots of Reese including this one:

Cibo was of course thrilled ecstatic wiggling-so-hard-his-tail-nearly-fell-off happy to go to the beach. He has never been as good as the other dogs at fetching balls we throw out into the water, but after falling in love with swimming in our pool as of late, he was fetching balls from the water quite willingly.

He also had fun with his new best friend Jared, who seemed just about as thrilled to be at the beach as he was.

And this time around, instead of sleeping the day away in the stroller and the bjorn, Reese had a blast crawling in the sand and standing with her tootsies in the water. Unfortunately the water was a bit too cold to do much more than that:(.

We are so glad Uncle Jared and Aunt Kellee came to visit. Reesey misses you guys already!

Family

My sister-in-law Kellee and her fiancee Jared came to visit us this past weekend.  It was really nice of them to come out, especially since they are busy preparing for their wedding.  Meghan gets a bit lonely living so far from her family.

Unfortunately, I had to work some very late nights last week to ship SmugMug’s new product (more on that later) and I was tired and cranky most of the weekend.  Sorry Kellee and Jared!  The highlight for me though was doing one of my favorite things: a visit to the beach in Carmel.

Carmel is a nice little town just south of Monterey with a great beach and some very overpriced shopping.  It’s not quite a tourist trap yet, though it is surely heading that direction.  We go primarily because it is very dog-friendly.  Dogs are allowed off leash at the beach and many restaurants allow you to dine with your dog at the table (and even have a separate dog menu with delicacies like Houndburgers).  You may recognize this video we took on a visit last year to Carmel.

After a few hours of baking in the sun, I was walking Cibo down a side street near our car when I heard a too-loud whisper ahead, “Mommy, someone is coming!  Do you think he will be the first customer?”  It turns out that this cute little girl was selling lemonade and had not seen much business.  I’m generally a very frugal person, but the whole situation was cute enough that I would have paid $20.00 for a glass of lemonade.

SmugVault

So what was I working on last week for SmugMug?  I was testing our new product!  We call it SmugVault and it’s simply awesome for photographers who want to archive their photos in formats other than JPEG.  It’s also truly an innovative product, as none of our competitors offer anything similar.  I’m very, very excited about it.

Soccer

I think I was born loving soccer.  Watching, playing, and studying (yes I used to own a book on soccer strategy and yes, I am a gigantic nerd) it has been my passion for as long as I can remember.  I haven’t been able to play much for a long time, but fortunately ESPN has been showing Euro 2008 in high definition for the past few weeks. Basically, it comes along every four years right in between World Cups and is only just behind that tournament in terms of talent and excitement.

I’m sure Meghan, Kellee and Jared think I’m a nutcase watching me devour every bit of those games.  I’m sure nobody reading this blog cares much, but I just need to rant about one thing and get it off my chest.

Acting.  Flopping.  Hollywood-level performances.  In the past ten or so years, it has become completely out of control.  Anyone who has watched high level soccer has seen it: one player bumps into another and somehow sends him flying only to roll on the ground in extreme agony.  After the referee blows his whistle and gives away a yellow card for what must have been a terrible foul, the actor quickly rises to his feet and jogs off to get open for a pass.   It’s really a tragedy because it is ruining the great sport I love.  It happens as many as 30 or 40 times a game.

To illustrate it, here is a lovely video of the very worst offender, Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal:

Even with that pixellated video, you can clearly see that a slight breeze could knock Ronaldo over if he thinks the referee will penalize the wind.  The defender, having dealt with Ronaldo’s acting all game, steps on his foot as he goes by (the whistle has already been blown at this point).

Ronaldo happens to be one of the most talented players in the world, when he’s not rolling around grabbing his shin after his foot gets stepped on.  (The video doesn’t show it, but he jumps right up afterwards and is just fine).  He literally does this at least five times a game.  Every game.

And the sad thing is that it works.  It’s bad for soccer.  It’s bad for the fans.  It’s bad for the referees.  It’s bad for the players.  Right now, only the fans are really doing anything about it.  They boo players when they flop and sometimes even try to get their clubs to fire offending players.

But the coaches, players and more importantly the referees haven’t shown any initiative in getting the problem solved.  Why, after watching replays of the pathetic diving, do they not fine players and teams?  Why not suspend players who repeatedly fake injuries and fouls?  I can understand not wanting to have instant replay slowing down the flow of the game, but why not examine closely the high definition footage after the game and hand down penalties?

I lived in Italy for two years and love the Italian people.  But I hate their soccer team with a passion.  They, along with Portugal, are far and away the worst offenders when it comes to flopping.  So I’m quite happy that both have been eliminated from the tournament.

As a bonus, a parody video of Italian soccer players: