Shutterbug Mama

So after Rudden's birthday party, we high-tailed it back home to get ready for Ted's show w/ the Tim Lowly Ensemble that night. They were playing at the Dawghaus Café, a new eatery/venue right on the lakefront off of Sheridan and Grandville in Berger Park (which also happens to have our favorite playground in the city).

I was especially excited about this show because my friend Sarah and her daughter Eleanor were going to be at the show, as Sarah's husband Ben was opening up for Tim's band under the moniker Ribbons of Song. With the awesome playground right next to the venue and the lovely lakefront as the backdrop and the weather totally cooperating by 7pm, I knew we'd have a good time. And Cadence was totally psyched about playing with Eleanor again.

And here's Eleanor playing on the playground next to the cafe. She's one spunky kid — super creative and funny and cute and smart.

Here's Eleanor sharing her milkshake with Cadence. Note the worried look on her face. Needless to say, I had to get Cadence her own smoothie after that.

I took some photos under the streetlights that line the trail next to the lakeshore, and I'm kind of surprised at how much I like them.

I don't do too much night photography any more now that I'm usually home trying to get a toddler to sleep after it gets dark. I used to love doing nighttime street photography with my little Nikon back in the day, and I'm starting to remember why.

There was this one big super bright light illuminating the stage, and it was perfect for shooting with my superfast 50mm lens.

There WAS this one really, really loud cricket, but I thought it added to the charm and ambience of the evening.

Oh, and there was this big beautiful spider web right behind Tim. Spiders are awesome, even though I'm scared to death of the ones living in our home.

After the show, a bunch of folks (but not Sarah and Ben and Eleanor, who were all pooped) came back to our place for homebrews. We drank beer and talked until a little after 1 am. Man, what a long day.

Oh, Cadence didn't go to bed until midnight, and then she woke up at 4am whimpering and contorting her body in pain. It was either gas or constipation (probably the latter, as she pooped in the morning). I was so desperate for sleep that I finally ended up somehow upside down on the bed with her on top of me, tummy to tummy. I didn't get out of bed until close to 9:30 the next morning.

On Sunday, we went to church and then came home so Cadence could nap for a bit. As soon as she woke up, we had to run out the door again, this time to Tim and Sherrie's house where he and Ben and Ryan and Jan (Tales from Tuckaway) were playing a house show.

Cadence and Eleanor got pretty raucous, and Tim was recording the shows, so Sarah and I were mostly outside with the girls.

We did go inside for a bit between sets. Here's Sarah, Eleanor's mama, sitting in Tim and Sherrie's living room.

At one point, Eleanor's dad Ben threw out lollipops at folks in the living room. Cadence, being the deprived child that she is, didn't know what they were until she saw people putting them in their mouths. She then started begging for her own "popsicle." I relented, but explained to her that this was a special treat, and like Christmas, would come around only about once a year.

And here are the two girls, sharing a chair and toasting lollipops. It doesn't get any better than this, they're thinking, I'm sure.

Alas, soon after, we had to say goodbye to Eleanor, who had gone sans nap all day and finally collapsed in her mama's arms right about when they were going to be heading back to Grand Rapids. We miss you already!!!

OK. That's about it. We went out for the best tilapia tacos on the planet with Hilary, Katie, Matt and Ethan afterwards and didn't get home until close to 9pm.

So minus the sleeping and napping, we had pretty much been going nonstop from Saturday morning 6:15am until bedtime Sunday night.

It sure was fun, though.

Labels: friends.who.rock, grand.rapids.REPRESENT, photos, ribbons.of.song, this.busy.life, tim.lowly.ensemble

So I started a post to fill y'all in on the weekend, but you know what? I give up. I'm hopelessly behind as it is. There was way too much going on. Can I post some photos and a few remarks instead? Oh wait. It's my blog. I can do whatever the heck I want. I mean, I know that, in theory. I guess I just wanted to be polite...Anyhoo, bring on the photos!

Oh wait. I almost forgot to tell ya. I broke my main lens. The 18-55mm kit lens that came with my D40. I dunno what i done to it, but it won't focus any more. I guess I better send it in for repairs now, but I'm worried I won't have it back in time for Lauren's wedding. The Nikon repair folks are so SLOW...I could probably borrow one if I needed to, but still...My main lens! What am I gonna do for now? I've been using the 50mm mostly this weekend, but that means I have to use my D50, which has its drawbacks...*Sigh*...Anyhoo...Back to the photos...

Saturday late morning, after Cadence and I had already been up and busy about town for 5 hours, I met up with Carol (of Bokumbop), Janet (of HalfMama) and Geraly (of Mamazilla) and their lovely families and Glennia (of The Silent I) who was in town from Silicone Valley for BlogHer. These talented ladies write for Kimchi Mamas and Filipina Moms and various other blogs.

I don't think I've ever seen so many hapa kids running around together at once. I gotta say, they were pretty darn cute! Considering my tendency to suffer from social anxiety disorder, I had a great time and felt really comfortable with everyone. We'll have to do this more often!

After the meet-up, Cadence and I had to hurry home to clean and get ready to pick up Ted @ Trader Joe's so we could make (Cadence's favorite partner in crime) Rudden's 3rd Birthday party. As you can see, there was something buggy about this party. Rudden's mom Amy made those fabulous cupcakes!

And here's the birthday boy himself. Looking mighty serious for a party. I'm sure it only lasted a moment...

Oh, and look. Here's Cadence asleep at her best friend's birthday party. That's what she gets for refusing to nap in that tiny window of time we had at home before the party.

Wanna know how busy I was? I was so busy I couldn't find Cadence's swim suit and had to settle for a-bit-too-small swim diaper.

And here's Little Brother Jack, looking sweet and adorable as always. He LOVES when I point my camera at him!

Ok. I think that's about as far as I'm gonna get for now. More later folks!

Labels: friends, friends.who.rock, kimchi.mamas, photos, this.busy.life

I don't know how we got so lucky, but we've had two weekends in a row of absolutely gorgeous weather. It's like someome screwed up and programmed Chicago for Seattle's summer weather, instead of the usual 90 degrees+/80% humidity that is normally to be expected in July around here.

I'm almost afraid to write about it, lest Someone realizes the mistake and switches us back to our regularly scheduled programming. Hope you all are enjoying your summers!

Check out more Best Shots Monday at Tracey's Picture This.

Labels: best.shots.monday, cadence, i.heart.seattle, i.heart.summer, photos

#1--I think I've got photographer's block. As much as I love my new camera(s), I haven't been feeling all that inspired lately to take photos. And you know what? I'm kinda tired of taking photos of Cadence.

I mean, yeah, she's really cute and all, and it's not that I'm tired of HER (well, ok, sometimes I am). I just don't know if a kid actually needs that many photos taken of them. I'm not going to stop taking photos of Cadence, but I'll probably take less than I have been. And I'm hoping I'll gain a little inspiration to take photos of other stuff.

#2--I am totally digging the music of Feist these days. Oh Em Gee. Listening to her sing can feel like swimming in liquid chocolate one moment and then like having a screwdriver boring a hole through your heart the next. Totally hot stuff. Other bands I'm listening to are The New Pornagraphers, The Blow, Kings of Convenience, Grizzly Bear, and The Sea and Cake

#3--So we've already gotten through a month of summer. Goodness gracious, time is just whizzing by, and I feel like I barely have time to catch my breath. The end of summer will signal the arrival of Cadence's 3rd birthday. I better get ready to sing Happy Birthday over and over and over again, cuz she LOVES singing that song. I heard her singing Happy Birthday to her chair the other day, that's how much she loves that song.

And here's another random photo:

Labels: photos, three.thoughts.thursdays

I guess I haven't quite recovered from Pitchfork yet. I don't know what I was thinking when I bought tickets for the WHOLE. FLIPPIN'. WEEKEND. when I knew I'd have Cadence in tow by myself.

Actually, Ted did accompany me Friday night for Sonic Youth's performance of Daydream Nation. We met up w/ my friend Sarah S-B and her daughter Eleanor, who drove in from Grand Rapids. I'm bummed I didn't have my good camera with me cuz Eleanor was dressed up in a Superman outfit. It was totally awesome!

I wish I had more photos to share with you of actual performances, but trying to keep up with Cadence prevented me from taking too many photos. Here's Iron and Wine on stage. Dang, Sam Beam's hair is getting long. I think Cadence's little buddy Rudden, who was there with his family, asked if that was Jesus. Ha ha!

That's right, folks. I went to a weekend-long festival of some of the best indie music out there, and I took photos of toddlers.

Can you blame me, though, when they're this adorable?

I have to say, I love this photo of Rudden as he reacts to the music of metal band Mastadon.

I did get to spend time with my friends Caleb and Kathy Maskell, who flew in from New Haven, CT for the festival. They hadn't seen Cadence for a year and a half, so I was glad they got a chance to see her budding personality.

I have some other photos on Ted's camera, but since I've been using my new cameras, I've misplaced the reader for the type of memory card it uses, so I haven't been able to get those photos onto a computer yet. They're probably no good. I did take one of Neko Case a woman who was filling in for Neko Case* as she played with The New Pornagraphers, whose set kicked some major booty. I've been enjoying their new album, so it was totally cool to hear some of the songs live.
*(Thanks to Caleb for the clarification. We were wondering why that woman looked nothing like Neko Case.)

Anyhoo, I'm totally out of steam. I'm extremely busy at work, and I'm helping plan a bachelorette party for Ted's sister next month in addition to getting all the other wedding details ready (shoes for Cadence, outfit for me, camera equipment, etc.) so you'll have to excuse me if I just post random photos every once in a while like this one:

Labels: live.music, music.festivals, photos, this.busy.life

Thanks for all your well wishes! My headache did go away, and I think I did fine on the exam (it's pass/fail). Cadence and I are going to Pitchfork Music Festival this weekend, so it's gonna be busy. Thank goodness it's not so hot here.

Yesterday's weather was absolutely beautiful! I got to take some photos after my exam. I just got a polarizing filter, which I should've gotten when I first got my camera. It makes your sky shots so much better!

Anyhoo, the lineup at Pitchfork is amazing. Ok, I gotta hustle if I'm gonna make Califone. Which it looks like I'm gonna miss now cuz Cadence was napping. Oh well. There's still Voxtrot, Grizzly Bear, Iron and Wine, Cat Power and more! And that's just today!

Labels: i.heart.chicago, music, photos

That's right. I've got a migraine. Hopefully the cafe au lait Ted made me, in combo w/ some pain killers, will chase it away. I think it's due to some intense studying I've been doing for a work-related exam I'm taking on Friday. If anyone has any wisdom to impart on Base Pay Structures, please send 'em my way.

So instead of sharing my deep thoughts, I am participating in Tracey's Thursday Theme, which is HEAT, something a good portion of our country has been experiencing in waves lately. Things have cooled down in our neck of the woods the past couple of days, but Sunday was a scorcher. I thought it would be a good idea to cool Cadence off with some water play. Unfortunately, I was too lazy to run out to actually buy a bonafide kiddie pool.

Luckily, we had just the right sized storage container that could do the job. It was perfect for Cadence and some of her rubber friends.

Cadence liked her "swimming pool" just fine.

There was lots of splashing going on, fer sure.

She liked it so much, in fact, that she got quite pruny.

Go see how other folks are dealling w/ the heat on Tracey's Picture This.

Labels: around.the.house, cadence, photos, three.thoughts.thursdays, thursday.theme

And I'm lovin' it! Yeah, I'm starting to actually like the D50, as long as there's lots of light and Cadence cooperates. Of course, it's just the Magic Lens (50mm f/1.8) that I'm using on it.

Here's Cadence playing All Aboard the Ducky Train with her dad's skateboard. Great. Now I have Ernie singing the Rubber Ducky Song in my head. Do you have any idea how hard it is to erase a Sesame Street voice from your head once it gets started??? I better turn on some music...

So our friends Jenn and John and their daughter Ada came over for dinner on Saturday. They live close enough to stroll over, and it's a shame that this was our first time having them for dinner, considering we've lived in our place for over 1 1/2 years now.

Cadence was so excited about Ada coming over. She asked me all day for Ada and got so cranky and impatient I finally told her to take a nap (at 4pm) and that when she woke up Ada would be here. Luckily, that's exactly what happened, or I'm sure there would've been hell to pay had Cadence awakened to no Ada.

And then after asking for Ada all day, Cadence proceeded to call her "Hay-na" (Helena) all evening. Go figure. Anyhoo, I hope we have Ada and her mom and dad over BEFORE another 1 1/2 years have elapsed.

Oh, and go see other folks' Best Shots Monday at Tracey's Picture This!

Labels: best.shots.monday, cadence, friends, friends.who.rock, photos

So my D50 body that I bought just for my 50mm f/1.8 lens? I think I'm finally getting used to it. It's still clunky compared to my D40. I've only taken probably less than 700 photos on it, compared to almost 9,000 on my D40, so maybe it's just a matter of practice before I'm feeling more at home with it.

I did get to do a little photoshoot with the D50 on Wednesday of my cousins Ben and Rachel's baby daughter Eden, who is now 4 months old. We went over to their place for a 4th of July BBQ. Cadence loves going to see Baby Eden. She still gets jealous when one of us holds her, but not as much as she used to. She even told Ted, as we were getting out of the car, that he could hold Baby Eden.

The more time I spend with Eden, the more I miss that itty bitty baby stage. And Eden isn't so itty bitty any more already! Ted and I were looking through some old photos last night of Cadence at around 4 months old. It's been so long since we could actually say she was chubby that I was surprised to see her chunkiness.

I know y'all are thinking we're totally gonna have another one with all this baby talk, but that's not true. Yes, Ted and I joke about it casually, with just a little hint of yearning in our voices. Would we be happy if we happened to get pregnant right now? I think so. Are we going out of our way to get pregnant? Uh, no.

Fact is, I don't know if I'll even be able to get pregnant again. My doctor had told me in my 20s that I would need fertility treatment to get pregnant. Apparently, Ted was fertility treatment enough. But now, I don't know…I've only had a few periods since Cadence was born. Yes, I'm still nursing, but only a couple times a day, and I don't think that would be enough to keep most women from ovulating again.

It may just be that Cadence is my one miracle baby and that I'll never get another chance to give birth again. I have mixed feelings about this, but you know, as much as I bitch and moan about what a handful Cadence is, she really is a totally kickass kid, and I can't believe how incredibly blessed I am to have the privilege of being her mama. So if it turns out that she is my only child, she's the best only I could have ever asked for, and I'm thankful for that.

Labels: baby.fever, cadence, family, i.heart.nikon, photography, photos

Sorry, folks, but I haven't had a thought worth sharing in a while, and I'm so behind on photos--and let's face it; this site is about the photos (mainly of Cadence) and not about me--so Three Thoughts Thursday will have to resume next week. Hopefully, I'll be thinking again by then.

Ted's dad flew us to Madison on Saturday afternoon, which saved us quite a bit of driving. And Cadence totally loves flying with her grandpa, so it was a special treat.

Cadence was totally chatty and excited as she enjoyed her in-flight snack of canteloupe and grapes that Grandma had packed for her, until we put the headset on her so she could hear us talking to each other. Then she totally froze and barely even blinked after that. I guess hearing our voices almost inside her head freaked her out. She just held onto Grandma's hand the whole time, staring straight ahead of her. When we took the headset off as we were landing, she just resumed chattering away, almost as if we'd turned her off and on again. Weird...

My cousin Casey, who had driven up earlier, picked us up at the Madison airport. We headed downtown to our hotel, the Madison Concourse and Governor's Club, which ended up being a block from the capitol and all the fun and excitement on State Street near the UW campus.

We grabbed some dinner at State Street Brats, and that's where Cadence began her hunger strike against food with any nutritional value for the entire weekend. She wouldn't eat anything but fries there, and things didn't get much better for the remainder of the vacation.

After dinner, we walked over to UW's Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota to watch the Rhythm and Boom fireworks across the Lake. Apparently, half the town also congregated on the Terrace to see the fireworks, and it was so crowded you literally had to watch where you were walking so you wouldn't step on people's fingers.

The fireworks were okay, I guess, but I once attended the Celebration of Light in Vancouver, which is the largest fireworks competition in the world, and that kind of spoiled fireworks for me from then on. Chicago also has fireworks a couple times a week because of Navy Pier, so I guess I'm just a bit jaded.

Cadence LOVED being on the Terrace, and she basically did not stop running--and by running, I mean RUNNING--around until we left for the hotel some time after 11pm. Meanwhile, Ted and Casey had ordered two pitchers of beer and were taking their sweet time drinking them. The Union sells beer only to members, which Casey happens to be, and they sell pretty damn good beer. I was so anxious for the boys to be done with their beer that I actually had a glass myself, just to speed things along.

After two-and-a-half hours of sprinting, Cadence finally fell asleep in her stroller on our walk over to the hotel. We didn't even bother chaning her into her PJs. Goodness gracious, that girl knows how to party.

So remember that little itty bitty bit of beer I had to hurry things along on the Terrace? Well, it came back to smite me the next morning. I woke up hung over with an imminent migraine. Although I managed to take Cadence swimming in the hotel pool for a little bit, by the time we were eating breakfast (it was actually more like lunchtime by then), I was in so much pain and sick to my stomach. I knew that I had an appointment with the porcelin god and that there was no way in hell I could go on the New Glarus brewery tour which we'd planned for that afternoon.

Casey and Ted dropped me and Cadence off at the hotel (after I purchased a very large bottle of Excedrin), and I somehow managed to subscribe to the Disney Channel-On-Demand before rushing to the bathroom and taking care of business. It was pretty nasty. Somebody remind me to never eat potatoes when I know I'm gonna throw up in the near future.

I was sick the rest of the day. I closed all the blinds and let Cadence watch Little Einstein and Disney Clubhouse, which she was very happy about as she'd never seen those programs before.

My head was still in so much pain that I didn't even go out for dinner, even though it was a gorgeous day outside and I was starving since I'd been cooped up in the hotel room all day. Casey and Ted came back from their brewery tour, which they were able to enjoy since they didn't have to chase Cadence around. I did make them take her for dinner though, just to get her unglued from the tube. I, on the other hand, stayed in and ordered room service. I also stayed away from alcohol for the rest of the trip.

I did manage to drag myself out of the hotel room once the sun went down (I'm extremely photophobic when a migraine is plaguing me). We walked down State Street, and Cadence was as crazy as ever, running amok. Luckily, there is no car traffic on State Street, so I wasn't as stressed out about Cadence getting flattened by a vehicle.

We went to The Chocolate Shoppe, which is where our favorite Chicago ice cream shop, Sweet Occasions, gets their ice cream. Yeah, cuz Cadence NEEDS sugar. Really, folks, we don't even give this girl juice. I have no idea why she always acts like she's got high fructose corn syrup running through her veins.

I gotta say, Cadence LOVES vacations. Clean sheets and fluffy pillows galore and TELEVISION! Elevators! Swimming pools! New territory to explore and run and run and run around in! What's not to love? Me, on the other hand? I've pretty much had it with vacations until Cadence is old enough to walk down a street unchaperoned. Can someone please tell me when that will be? Is 4 years old too young? How about 3? I suppose I should work on her potty learning first...Don't even go there, people...

We checked out of the hotel on Monday morning and stopped at the Henry Vilas Zoo before driving back w/ Casey to Ted's parents' house. And thus ended my Madison getaway.

I guess I'm a little annoyed that the bulk of my vacation was spent in bed hiding from the sun. And I hear that New Glarus is a really cute town that I would've really loved, so I totally missed that too. Oh well. I'll just have to remember to steer clear of the beer next time. Sheesh.

It was a real relief to get back to Ted's parents' house. We stayed overnight there, and it was actually like another little vacation. Ted's mom is a great cook, and Cadence could care less about me when there's Grandma, Grandpa AND Sniper the cat to play with.

We even got to visit the neighbors' horses, one of whom just had a baby a month ago. I've never had much contact with horses, having grown up in the city, but I've always been fascinated by them. I think they are absolutely beautiful creatures, and Cadence agrees.

I guess it's inevitable now that Cadence will one day want a horse of her own. We'll just have to move to a farm or something.

Alright, I'm getting really tired of posting, so I'll just have to continue some other time.

Labels: family, photos, vacation