shameless photo of me with my son

I think the title of this post is pretty self-explanatory...

a perfect day (before we were 4)

I meant to post these photos weeks ago but then, you know, I went and had a baby and my plans kinda fell by the wayside.

These shots were taken on one of those perfect days, a few weeks before I gave birth. Joe, Nina, and I hopped in the car and took a drive to the coast. The weather was perfect, the beach was nearly empty, and a good time was had by all.

I

a week after i met my son

Those of you who read this blog may remember my post about getting pregnant. Well, on February 23rd at 10:46 in the morning, Hugo Oliver Barboza made his way into this world.

I took these photos a week and half ago and have tried, repeatedly, in the limited free time I have to write a post that accurately sums up how I feel about my son and about this crazy, emotional, sleep-deprived time. But, unfortunately, words totally escape me right now. I am about as un-articulate as it comes, my friends.
So, instead, I've decided to give you some bullet points:

•This whole parenthood thing? This thing where you love your child in the most indescribable way? Yeah. I get that now. The love is huge and all-encompassing.

•All those things that Joe and I did for YEARS and didn't think twice about-- going on dates, leaving town spontaneously, staying in bed for as long as we wanted, getting at least 8 hours of sleep, having ample amounts of down time-- well, I can honestly say that we totally took those things for granted. And I NEVER. WILL. AGAIN.

•Breast feeding is one of the hardest, most frustrating things I have ever done. I keep getting told it gets easier, so I'm holding on to that and praying it's true.

•Pre-baby, I never understood how parents of newborns seemed to be so short on time. Now I get it.

•When your hormones crash a few days after giving birth, you can expect you will cry about EVERYTHING. I cried because I wasn't pregnant anymore (WTF?!) I cried because I loved my son so much. I cried because my doctor had been so nice to me during the birth. I cried because Hugo was only a few days old and yet time was already passing too quickly. I cried because I felt so completely and enormously vulnerable. I cried because the sky was blue, (not really, but you get the point.)

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later.
Enjoy the photos in the meantime...

xo

 

our 2013 cross country adventure

First off, I want to thank everyone who emailed and commented regarding my last post. Your words meant and support have meant a lot.
I am currently almost 18 weeks along, (due 2/19/14) and feeling pretty good most of the time. I still have my freak-out moments, but they're less frequent.
Joe and I are still kind of pinching ourselves that this is happening. We're having all the conversations that I am sure most parents-to-be have, and making lots of plans for the future.
We cannot wait to welcome our little boy into the world early next year. (Yes, it's a boy!!)

In the meantime, however, we are spending all of September on the road with our first child, Miss Nina Simone. You can see her below and how thoroughly thrilled she was at the prospect of riding in the car for this month-long adventure.


Road trips, as I've mentioned many times before, are pretty much Joe's and my favorite thing, and we've taken several of them. In fact, we plan on introducing our son to them as soon as it's feasible, but we realize that may take a little time. So, this trip is kind of our last hurrah before becoming parents.

We left Seattle on 8/31, and basically drove for the next 7 days. I needed to get to Vermont by September 6th because I had a shoot on the 7th. Despite the many hours of driving, though, Joe and I managed to fit in hikes and exercise almost every day.

Missoula, Montana....


Wisonsin...


Minnesota...


I hate to sound like a broken record, but Vermont is pretty much my favorite place on the planet, outside of Washington State. I fell in love with it back in 2009, and have been back a number of times since, including last fall when I started shooting Rowan Jacobsen's book about apples.
This time around, I completed the last of the shooting for that book (which will come out Fall of 2014, published by Bloomsbury) and I did some other shoots for an awesome catering company, Bon Temps Gourmet, which I will be writing about soon in a separate post.

Joe and I spent a whole week in Vermont, and it was truly a restorative getaway. We spent almost every morning hiking in the woods, which was absolutely magical, and did a lot of reading, resting, and visiting with friends. It was heaven.



The woods where we hiked...


The location of one of my shoots: Scott Farm (where they filmed The Cider House Rules.)


After Vermont, we went to Bar Harbor, Maine, specifically because of it's proximity the gorgeous Acadia National Park, where we spent a day hiking. I'd like to mention that it's SO refreshing to find a national park that actually allows dogs on it's trails. Most don't.
Nina sends her thanks!


Now we are in Portland, Maine, which is a very quaint city located on the water. We're here for a couple nights and then off to the Catskills.


I'm planning on checking back in more regularly now, so please come back and visit soon!