Photography website

So, we have been a little delinquent in updating this blog, but will continue to do so once in a while.  For those of you who follow our family blog, here is a link to my photography blog.  I have been doing some photography for family and friends and have really been enjoying it. 

Check out some of my posts at the link below:
http://kellihphotography.blogspot.com/

My website with all of my galleries is at this link:
http://kellihphotography.com/

Enjoy!

Christmas 2009 video

Here is a video of our Christmas in San Diego. We enjoyed having a quiet Christmas, but we did miss spending time with family. Hopefully next year!!!

Hope you enjoy the video.

Kelli

Mariah learning to swim

So, it has been a while since we posted an update and I just wanted to show a video of Mariah's swimming skills. She has been taking swimming lessons since August and is doing really well!!! She is learning to do "polar bears" now, which is basically what we use to call "dog paddling." She is doing a better job of swimming almost independently with just a little support from her instructor Tracy. It is amazing what they can learn at such young ages and she just loves it. So, we are in the dilemma now of trying to decide whether or not to renew for another 12 sessions. She has 3 left and of course, all of the progress is seen toward the end of the sessions which makes you want to renew and do more since she will progress even more :) She also just learned to slide along the side of the pool wall during this session, which is a safety skill to help the kids get to the steps so they can get out if they fall in the pool.

Check it out and see for yourself.

Okay, so we are a little behind on making videos...

So, Matt and I had wonderful plans of making videos of Mariah as she grows and changes to share with our family and friends who don't see her that often; however, the last one we posted was of Halloween. Now we are trying to get caught up and that is my goal for the summer since I won't be working again until late August.

The following video is of Mariah's 1st birthday, so although it is a little bit after the fact, we hope you enjoy the video of her cake eating madness :)

4 Wonderful Years!!!

So, tomorrow Matt and I have been married for 4 years. It has been an amazing 4 years and I can't believe how much life has changed in that 4 years. We have gone through so many changes together, which included moving from ND to Santa Clarita, CA, and from Santa Clarita to San Diego. We got our first dog together (even though I vowed to never be a pet person). Matt and I also welcomed our beautiful daughter into the world. Life has changed so much, but each day that we spend together seems to somehow be better than the last.

We are celebrating our Anniversary by going on a romantic getaway to Ojai, CA. Matt's Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Jon have graciously offered to watch Mariah and Nala for the weekend. We are very excited to have some time to ourselves, but I am sure that we will miss Mariah. This will be my first night away from her, but she will be in good hands and will be having tons of fun, I am sure.

Matt has truly been a blessing in my life and I could not imagine a better husband or father. Thank you for the amazing 4 years of marriage Matt. I love you very much!!! Happy 4th Anniversary.

Future DG

So, for those of you who don't know about the sorority that I was in, Delta Gamma's symbol is the anchor, therefore, I enjoy all things related to anchors. Right now, Old Navy has anchor clothing for girls in almost every color. Of course, when I saw that online, I had to rush out to the store to get her something and ended up buying her a navy blue shirt with pink anchors and two swimsuits with anchors on them. I could not decide between the two, and I decided, well we live in Southern California, the girl needs swimsuits, right?

I brought them home and had to have her model them to see if they fit, so here is the result:

Little Peanut

So, Matt and I took Mariah to the doctor yesterday for her 15 month check up. The little stinker only gained 1 oz over the last 3 months. She went from 18 lbs 6 oz to 18 lbs 7 oz; however, she grew 2 inches and is now 31 inches long. That puts her at the 2nd percentile for weight and 64th for height. I am not sure if she knows who her parents are, but I don't think either of us were ever at the 64th percentile for height :) It is crazy to think that over the last 15 months she has gained 13.5 lbs and grown 12 inches!!!

She has also gotten to be quite the girly girl lately. She has a couple of purses that she puts on her arm and carries around as she walks around the house. She has to hold her arm up by her face so that she makes sure to not drop the purses. Mariah also loves to carry her chapstick around and wear clicky, girly shoes. (She's also infatuated with carrying around wet wipes, as an odd aside)

In addition to acting quite girly, Mariah's personality is showing through quite a bit lately. She loves to laugh, chase Nala, and raise her eyebrows when something seems odd to her. Thankfully, instead of destroying everything 24/7, she's starting to catch on and pick up after herself. It's pretty cute when she tries to put the towel back on the rack or put her tub toys away; they can't be out of place. I can't imagine where that comes from...couldn't be either of her parents.

We love watching her grow and learn everyday and could not ask for a better daughter.

Home Sweet Home

Well, after a 6 month process of putting an offer on a townhome, getting outbid on the offer, outbidding that offer, waiting for the bank to approve the offer, and then waiting for the bank and escrow company to close the deal, we are FINALLY homeowners. It has been a long wait and has really tested our patience, but we are very excited to finally be working on our own home and getting ready to move in soon. The picture above is what our current place that we are renting looks like on the outside, but that is pretty much what the new place looks like as well. It was dark so I couldn't take exterior pics this evening.

So, the details on our new place are that it is in the same townhome complex that we currently live in, so we get to continue to use our wonderful facilities including pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, fitness center, indoor racquetball court, etc, etc. It is a 1300 sq foot one-level townhome with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2 car garage.

This is a picture of the entry way, living room, and off to the right is the 3rd bedroom/den.Here is the dining room/kitchen and sliding doors that go out to our patio.


More living room/dining room.This is a picture of Mariah's/Guest bathroom.

Master Bedroom pics.
Master bathroom.

Mariah has a bedroom too, but it was too difficult to take a picture of it. I will take pics once her furniture is in there and post those.

Also, wanted to post this pic of Mariah hanging out on the couch at our old house watching Mickey Mouse club and eating a snack. She looks so grown up in this pic, I can't hardly believe it.

Milestones

So, I just wanted to update everyone that Mariah is finally walking!!! Matt and I were getting a little concerned as we expect her to be above average :) She started taking a couple of steps on Tuesday when I picked her up from our neighbor's after work and now she is taking 10 steps or so back and forth between us. Now when people say, "Is she walking yet?" as that seems to be the common question lately, we can finally say that she is.

She is so cute when she does it too as she is all smiles. It is very exciting, but a little sad at the same time. I see all these little babies out and about and I realize that she was like that just a short time ago, but now she is in the toddler stage. Everyone says time flies when you have a child, but you don't realize it until you watch your 5 pound little baby who is so dependent on you change into a little girl overnight. Tear :(

We will post some video soon, so that you can all enjoy her walking as well.

We are still waiting on closing on the house and keys, which is getting kind of annoying, but I guess we are learning patience through this whole ordeal.

Changes

So, we are hoping to close on our condo/townhome on Tuesday. This has been quite the process for us since we have had an offer on the place since July. It was a "short sale," which is apparently defined as a really long sale. We are very excited, but the thought of all the work that will be coming up in the next few weeks with painting, moving, working full time, and taking care of a 14 month old just makes me exhausted thinking about it. We are buying a place in the same complex that we live in right now, so the move is essentially down the street, but it is still a lot of work. We will post pictures as soon as we get our keys :)

Also, we felt another earthquake tonight. It was centered about an hour and a half from here, but we could feel it nonetheless. The California sunshine and beaches really entice you to move here, but when you feel the ground shake beneath your feet, it kind of makes you want to move back to blizzard-country :) However, Matt thinks earthquakes are exciting. Nala and I disagree, but I am not sure what Mariah thinks about them as she really doesn't seem to notice. This is the 4th earthquake that I have felt since moving to San Diego in June of 2007. When we lived in L.A. for 2 years, I didn't feel a single earthquake. All in all, earthquakes are not my favorite thing and instantly raise my blood pressure.

Many Reasons to Give Thanks

Our family has so many reasons to be thankful. We have a wonderful family, live in a gorgeous city, and have friends and family who care about us. Kelli and I love the Holidays for many reasons, but being able to reflect on the many positives in our lives at any given time has to top the list. We recently found out that our bid for a townhouse we've been looking at for over 5 months was finally accepted. If all goes according to plan, we should close just after the first of the year! It's going to be a crazy holiday season, but we're very thankful for the many blessings bestowed upon us and are excited for the next adventure.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we were fortunate enough to have my Uncle's family visit for 2 days. Even though it took them twice as long to get here (LA traffic, always unpredictable) we enjoyed their company immensely and had a great time eating lots of food, playing games, going bowling, and catching up on things. Their visit just made us even more excited to see our family in ND in just a few weeks! Until then, take care-

The Rest of the Pictures...

If you want to check out the rest of our family pictures and Mariah's pictures, you can go to www.amandaprince.com, then click on the main site, then client lounge, and Mariah is the password. Amanda did an amazing job!!! We are meeting with her tomorrow to order and we have no idea how to choose.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Obsessions

I've been dealing with Kelli and Mariah's obsessions lately.

Kelli checks her email every 5 minutes to see if our pictures are ready yet, and has been doing this since last week Tuesday. Hopefully they'll be done soon because I already have to buy a new mouse as she's worn out our current one. (The truth is Mariah dropped it, but saying Kelli wore it out sounds better)

Mariah, on the other hand, is obsessed with making bath time as difficult as possible for me. The past 3 times I've given her a bath, she's dirtied the water. The other night, she went 4 times in one night. That's 4 times I had to fill the tub, drain and disinfect the tub and toys, and start the process over again. Luckily Kelli has been able to help out, but this process is getting old really fast. I think she has something against the way I give baths. It's funny what unconditional love makes you do...over and over again. Take care -

Small Shaker

Kelli and I awoke last night to what sounded like a train in the near distance and then a small rolling earthquake. It was nothing big, but still not something we're used to.

On Friday and Saturday, we were able to welcome the SigEp Regional Director into our home. I helped him and some other local volunteers with a membership review at a San Diego chapter. His visit brought back many memories of my time on the road, the challenges I faced, and the experience I gained during that year. I wish him the best of luck during the rest of his adventure and can't wait to share even more "stories from the road" in the future.

On a sad note, our thoughts and prayers are with those in LA who have lost their homes or had to be evacuated. The fires in SoCal are the most ominous natural disaster I have ever witnessed. The power of mother nature and the feeling of helplessness are overwhelming. There must be a reason for it all, but it's really hard to find a positive to attach to fires that burn and melt everything in sight. I think it's the uncertainty of the direction and pace of the fires that is so disturbing.

Take care -

The Weekend

This past weekend was somewhat uneventful, but after running around so much last weekend, it was nice to be able to sit at home, relax, and play with Mariah and Nala.

The weekend started off fantastic as my company decided to provide everyone with iPhones! Even though I'm a huge Mac guy, I was somewhat skeptical of the iPhone. How wrong I was. It's truly a amazing little device. As with everything, it's not perfect, but I have no doubt that Apple will continue to improve upon an already spectacular product. I spent much of Friday night and Saturday morning playing around with it.

Sunday was another great day as it rained most of the day. I wrote about this before, but because we get rain so rarely, we simply love basking in the peaceful sounds and smells of the rain. It makes us both miss the summers in ND, but definitely not the winters. In stark contrast however, my Mom sent pictures of the 12 inches of snow they received...I'll keep the sunny days and rare rainfall :)

The only negative about the rainfall was the fact that the weatherstripping on my sunroof has a leak. I discovered it a few weeks ago after going through a car wash and getting a wet lap on the way to a business meeting. Perfect timing. The problem hasn't solved itself and I'm going to have to get it fixed very soon. Maybe it's a good thing it doesn't rain that often.

Tonight we're heading to the Gaslamp district to have dinner with one of our friends. Mariah loves people watching at busy restaurants (On the Border is now her new favorite) so hopefully it will be fun for everyone.

I'm still working on Mariah's 1st Birthday video. Ok, I actually have only barely started, but I will try to get it finished somewhat soon.

Take care -

Beautiful Pictures

Well, Matt, Mariah, and I headed to a park in Carlsbad, CA on Saturday to meet up with the photographer that did Mariah's pictures when she was just 2 weeks old. The pictures she did were just amazing then and we couldn't wait to see what she could do with our little cutie now. So, she posted our Sneak Peak on her blog and the 4 pictures are just amazing. I don't know how we will ever choose when we get to see the entire gallery. If you would like to check them out, you can go to www.amandaprince.com and then click on the blog link. You may have to scroll down a little bit to the entry titled "The Birthday Girl." Also, if you would like to check out her newborn pics, they are the second set of pictures that come up on her slideshow on her website.

A Reflection on Change and Hope

"Most of life is outside the government sector," says David Boaz of the Cato Institute. "Most change in America doesn't come from politicians. It comes from people inventing things and creating. The telephone, the telegraph, the computer, all those things didn't come from government. Our world is going to get better and better, as long as we keep the politicians from screwing it up."

I truly believe in the American dream and that our country's greatness comes from those who work hard to achieve their dream and are rewarded (not only financially) when they're successful. Our country was not founded upon welfare and handouts. Rather, we are a society founded on the ideal that free individuals should be able to pursue our highest ambitions so long as they're in line with the rules we've set in place. No matter how many constraints are placed upon success, our country will always be a nation "conceived in liberty"* and break off the shackles that restrain success.

Our morality always has and always will continue to guide our endeavors for liberty while at the same time providing for those less fortunate. It's our founding principles, not the hope that we will change them, that makes America exceptional and makes me proud everyday to live in this country.

Take care-

*Abraham Lincoln - Gettysburg Address

Great Day

Today is truly a great day. 1 year ago, our precious daughter was born. We thank God everyday for bringing her into our lives. She's truly the greatest gift anyone could ever ask for. Mariah we love you very much and are looking forward to many more fun years and birthdays!

As everyone knows, it's also election day. That's important as well and if you know me, I love politics, but won't get into that at this moment. Because, even more important than following every twist and turn of the election is the fact that it's raining today! San Diego may have the most perfect weather in the nation, but that also makes it the most boring weather. I watch the weather every morning to see if it will be 70 and sunny or 78 and sunny knowing that the answer really won't make a difference in what I choose to wear that day. However, last night and today we finally received something different...RAIN! I miss the weather in ND (spring, summer, and fall...not winter) where you could start a round of golf at 11 am when it's sunny and 70 and by the end of the round it could be sleeting with a 45 mph wind. Great stuff.

For today, Kelli and I are extremely happy that it's peacefully raining giving us a little variety. But most of all, we are beside ourselves with joy that 1 year ago, our beautiful daughter was born. Mariah, you've impacted our lives more than you'll ever know...thank you God for giving us such a perfect gift.

The Beginning of Mariah's Fall

Well, we created a blog. It's obviously the cool thing to do, but probably so last year :)

Kelli and I often discuss how much we love San Diego, but how much we also miss our family. So, I'm using this blog to hopefully bridge the distance between us all. I've finally started making videos to send back home and they're getting to be too large to send via email. Therefore, sharing videos will be one of the main purposes of this blog. I'm hoping that it will also improve my lack of extemporaneous writing skills.

Most of all, we want our family and friends to be a part of Mariah's life. You've influenced us both greatly and we can only hope that she has the same great childhood surrounded by family and friends.

I've included a video of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch and Mariah's first Halloween. The Pumpkin Patch is located outside San Diego in the hills/desert. Unfortunately, it was 95 degrees that day, not exactly the fall, Pumpkin Patch weather one would hope for. Mariah can't say no, so she wore her long sleeve Halloween shirt. At the farm, there were tons of pumpkins, obviously, and some carnival games for the kids. It was mostly a photo op for both us and our neighbors. The girls got tired after only a few hours, so we packed up and headed back toward the coast where it was much cooler.

The other half of the video is Mariah's first Halloween. Kelli took her to a shopping center where you can donate canned goods and in return some of the stores gave away candy. This seemed to work out better as Mariah wouldn't really understand the "Trick or Treating" concept. She had more fun playing with the fountain because her mean parents won't give her the candy. Poor deprived child.

Hopefully this proves to be a good medium for communication and keeping everyone caught up on what's happening with Mariah and Nala.

Take Care -