My New Life

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned NieNie before, on this blog or my other one... plus, she has thousands of followers already so you've probably heard of her. I just came across this video. I love the way it was done. If you haven't checked out her blog before, do it now. Even before she had her accident, I knew I wanted to be a mother the way she is.

Hey Folks, long time no see.

This morning was so weird. Every once in a while it happens, I can't wake up. In my dream I'm trying so hard to open my eyes and I just can't! It goes on for an hour at least. Do you ever get that where you actually can't wake up? Lucky I have Trent cause he took care of Ila til it was time for her nap and he had to leave for work. Now, Ila has an especially fun day ahead of her since I feel bad for neglecting her.
Remember how I talked about Ila playing in our bed to give us time to wake up? Well... I took way too much advantage of that this morning and now I feel bad. She was whining and crying for my attention and probably thought I was ignoring her, but really I couldn't wake up! Trent eventually gave in. (We have this little thing we do where we see who will give in first when it comes to getting out of bed to take care of Ila... is that bad? we don't let it go on too long... and if Trent has to get up for work of course I take care of her, that's why I don't have a job... and mostly it's only on weekends... and... stop judging me... leave me alone... I feel bad now. Hey, you know what? She woke up at 5:42 this morning. What do you want from me?)

On a lighter note...
Ila's crawling. and has been, for at least a month. That's how long it's been folks, since we talked last I mean. I'm sorry. She also climbs the stairs.
She wants to walk too. She pulls her self to standing on everything, tries to balance with only one hand, then just plops her butt back down when she's ready. Sometimes I picture myself doing that and it seems like it would really hurt!
She has officially entered the stage of I-want-whatever-you-are-eating-and-I-will-scream-at-you-until-you-share.
Yesterday, she started waving her hand and clicking her tongue, not at the same time, just... you know what I mean. Geesh.
Boy, I am on one today.
She is still the happiest baby around. She smiles and will go to anybody that will have her. She still eats anything I give her. She's tried many things that don't come in baby food jars, some good: asparagus, watermelon, strawberries (crap, are babies not supposed to have strawberries?) pretty much anything I stick in one of those socks she can suck on. (I don't give Ila anything out of a baby food jar that's sweet... I don't want her to know that's an option. I think she would eat well anyway but I'm not taking chances.) And, some not so good (these pretty much make my above gameplan irrelevant): cotton candy, various muffins, angel food cake, frosting, whipcream.
Ila has a top tooth now, that dang thing gave her a runny nose for, like, a month and she still seems to have it, I think it's because the other one is coming in soon. Which is why you aren't getting a picture today, I haven't take many cause I don't wanna photoshop out the snot.
I update my photography blog pretty well, sometimes with pictures of Ila so add that one to your reader if you haven't already. www.cheriehoganphotography.com
That's all, folks.

Disneyland

Way, way, way back at the beginning of March, we packed up, and headed to southern California. We spent a day at Balboa Island, and 2 days at Disneyland. We had so much fun! If you look closely at these images, you will see the only 2 photos I was in the whole time.

As is tradition, while on Balboa island, we took a stroll and looked at all the tiny multi million dollar homes, checked out the shops, and got Balboa bars, my favorite part!

Disneyland was awesome! It wasn't busy at all, plus we had perfect weather. It's my favorite place ever and for years I've looked forward to the opportunity to take Trent there, then, not only did he come but so did Ila! Ila LOVED the Merry-go-round! We rode a few times in a row and the whole time she had a giant smile on her face.

The first day Ila did great, we had to force her to take naps by blindfolding her... if you've never tried blindfolding your baby when they need to sleep but there are a million things going on around them so they can't, try it. It works great for Ila. Anyways, the second day, she was so pooped! She seriously just sat slumped over in her stroller and we didn't hear a peep out of her all day. Except for when she saw the goats and sheep, she loved petting them! Well, no, she loved ripping their hair (fur?) out. Oh wait, I found another one I'm in! We had to attend this Star Wars show 3 times because my brothers wanted to be picked to go to Jedi training and take on Darth Vadar and red face horn head guy. Obviously I don't watch StarWars too much. Below is Kash with his Jedi Master (I think they call him that?) about to face Darth Vader on the left. And Kash saves the day!! And I've almost forgot to mention the best part of our trip! While everyone was lined up on the sides of Main Street waiting for the parade to start, my little brother Cooper, who's 2, walked out into the road, whipped it out and started peeing. We were laughing so hard!

So who wants to go back with us??

My little Monster

Yesterday was the first time I've ever referred to my baby as a Little Monster.
Every morning she wakes Trent and I up talking in her crib. One of us goes and gets her, puts her in our bed with the other one then goes and makes a bottle. She drinks her bottle then will whisper to herself or crawl all over us for up to a half hour so we can take time to wake up... I know, we're lucky.
Yesterday started off like any other day, but once I got up, if I put Ila down for a second she would start screaming at me... loud, angry screams. Never crying. Just ugly screams at the top of her lungs. It would startle me every time, she was just mad. She didn't want to eat, she didn't really want to play, if I gave her a toy, she would scream at her toy. I noticed she was drooling a lot too, so I thought maybe she was teething. I gave her Tylenol, but it didn't really seem to help. Finally, she seemed to be getting tired, so I laid her down like normal, and of course she screamed at me. And she kept screaming. I went back in (not a single tear on her face) and picked her up and rocked her to sleep, grateful for the silence.
Once she woke up, the rest of the day seemed to follow about the same pattern. Unless we were outside, she was not a very happy camper.
When Trent was home, it was his turn. He called me in because sure enough, he'd discover another tooth. So there was a reason for the madness.
By 6 o'clock, we were glad to put her in bed, even though she usually doesn't go down til 7:30 or 8.
This morning was the same as all mornings, although she woke up at 5. After she had her bottle, she laid herself down across my rib cage and we stared at each other. She would play with my hair, or lovingly stroke my face and neck. I was so happy to have my little princess back.
Since we got out of bed, today is following the same pattern as yesterday. Angry screams. I'm blaming it on the tooth.
I put her down for a nap and came across this blog. I felt sick. My eyes welled up a little and I got to stop reading cause I heard my baby. I'm glad she's awake now and sitting in my lap as I finish typing this even though the yelling at me will resume shortly. She's healthy, and (normally) happy, and that's all that matters.

6 month update

Ila is now almost 7 months old! Here are her stats for her 6 month check up:

Weight 15 lbs 10 oz 25-50%

Height: 27 3/4 inches 97%!!

Head: don't remember cause who cares except that it was in the 50%, so, perfect!

Ila continues to be the perfect baby, since she has now been in our lives nearly 7 months, these are the things we know about her:

• she sleeps through the night, and if she does wake up puts herself back to sleep.
• Will eat anything. Even if she makes a funny face at first, she's willing to keep eating until she gets used to it.
• Will go to anybody... will smile at everybody.
• Is sitting up and is this close to crawling! She gets onto her hands and knees from her butt and I can just see the wheels turning, trying to figure out how to coordinate her limbs so that they will work together and get her places.
• Also, she quite possibly could be a genius. When it was time for shots at her appointment, I'm not even kidding you, she recognized the shot lady!! She's only ever seen her at her 4 month and 2 month appointment when it was time for shots. When she walked in, Ila looked at me with a trembling chin, and wouldn't let me put her down, she held onto me like a little monkey! When I set her down, she wouldn't lay back, she was doing the pilates move and started to do her "you hurt my feelings" cry. It was so sad! While she got the shots, she just continued to cry that same cry, right until I picked her up, she buried her little face in my shoulder and held me tight and stopped crying.
• She's a little actress. She loves fake coughing, fake stretching, fake falling over, and of course fake crying. Anything for a little attention.
• She loves anything that isn't a toy i.e. remote controls, cell phones, paper, (oh does she love paper!) cords, etc.
• She love love loves her sippy cup, from the first time she tried it!
• She loves facial hair, if you rub her hand against your facial hair she laughs so hard!

There is just about a million things I Could say about our sweet girl but you're probably already bored. Here is a small sampling of the gazillion pictures I've taken of her as of late: (I took these the other morning in my bed)

6 months new

Ila's 6 months old now, actually she's about 6 1/2 months but as you know, I haven't gotten around to blogging lately. Anyway, we just got back from California (we went to Disneyland... yay!) and I gotta post about that too so hopefully you'll hear more from me soon. For right now, here is a sneak peek of Ila's 6 month photoshoot. We started taking pictures for about 10 minutes then she face planted on the tile so we took a break. Then the last 2 weeks she's had a runny nose and I didn't wanna have to photoshop out a red nose and rosy cheeks, and snot. So we'll being finishing those up once it's over. Enjoy.

Ila's new pacifier

This morning, I had Ila in the bath. She had been splashing in the water for a couple minutes faced away from me, I said, "Come on baby, time to get out." She turned her face toward me and this is what I found:

(Trent went and got the camera... I didn't leave her alone in there) She still didn't spit it out for a couple minutes after I had her out. She's such a funny girl!

Family Pictures

On Ila's 5 month birthday, we went and took some family pictures. With the tripod, we only got one with all 3 of us in it that actually turned out, and we aren't even looking at the camera! Enjoy...

He doesn't get older... he just gets better lookin!

I would not be able to keep a straight face...

I will blog again... eventually

Bob Loblaw

Well... things have finally settled down for me so I can get back to updating this thing! Here's what's been going on:

• We went to Utah for Christmas, and though I did do a few photo sessions while I was there, I really didn't take many pictures of us! But that's how it always is, right?


• While in Utah, I shot my first wedding! It was such a great experience for me and I still can't figure out why Meggan wanted me to do it over a more experienced photographer but we got tons of great pictures, which I hope she loves!


• This year marks the first that Trent and I have ever stayed up until midnight on New Years Eve! I know, sad. And originally we were gonna uphold that tradition, but then we went to my dads for some New Years Eve feast of king crab and steak. We had so much fun playing games that the time just got away and before we knew it, it was midnight! I don't know if it was staying up until midnight or what but this is the first year I've ever felt driven to set some goals for the new year.


• Trent's truck has been broken down sorta, well, it's been running crappy so he's been using my car for work and I'm going stir crazy! I told him if I don't have my car back soon, I'm gonna be "part of the crew, part of the ship"... like on Pirates of the Carribean.


• In case you don't facebook with me and you haven't heard, the photography website is officially up! http://www.cheriehoganphotography.com/. Please check it out! And leave some love cause I feel like I'm talking to nobody! I've been so busy doing free sessions, I decided to start charging a little... so for now my sessions are only $75. This includes 1 to 2 hours shooting, clothing change if you want, on location or at your house, the time I spend editing, and your 25 best high res images on a disc. However you will get more than 25 images, each image will be edited in color, black and white, and a number of vintage processes. If you know anybody that may be interested, please send them my way. This is a great deal for the price! Also, I will be offering free sessions from time to time, so watch for those. I go to Utah every 6 weeks or so and will be available then! *End Shameless Plug*


• Christmas Eve was very eventful for us. On this day, for the first time, Ila blew raspberries, laughed, played with her feet, and SAT UP on her own! It was very eventful , I don't know what was in her bottle that day! Since then, she occasionally sits up on her own but still doesn't have the balance quite down so I have to be there in case she falls over. We also have a heck of a time getting her to laugh, she maybe has done the actual giggle 2 or 3 times since, which is surprising since she is such a happy baby! And she loves blowing the raspberries as I'm putting her spoon full of food in her mouth, she loves to tease me. The first thing she tried besides rice cereal was green beans and she loved them! She has also tried squash, peas and sweet potatoes and although they have been well received, nothing gets her as excited as those green beans! I'm gonna wait probably another month or so before she gets anything sweet cause i DO NOT want a picky eater, I just can't deal with that!


• And for the grand finale and cause posts are so boring without a picture, please enjoy this one:

I took some photos of her sitting up, i was bummed cause this one didn't get her whole body (I had to work fast) but I loved her sweet innocent face in it!

This is my sister in law and Trent's brother Shane and their little boy Jaxon. We got lots of good ones, and I'm not just talkin about these 2:

Oh yes, this one is much better.

Look for your disc in the mail! :)

Gettin there

You can look for your disc in the mail this week...

Doesn't this one make you wanna go lay in the grass?

LOVE this one...

My photoblog is almost finished then this one can be all about

us again. :)

What I've been working on...

For those of you that are waiting to get your pictures back from me... here's a little teaser...