This is Monica, Rudy and their little Emilio.  Monica and Rudy are great friends of mine, and they are definitely on my list of favorites!  Hanging out with them is a guarantee good time!  I’ve known Monica since the 4th grade, and I feel honored to  call her my “friend.”  Monica has truly been an amazing friend for 28 years and we have shared loads of great memories with each other.   We took a trip out to Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, and it was such a beautiful location, I could have photographed them there all day! Here are some of my favs!

Can my niece be any sweeter!  I visualized pictures of her compltely bare, but it was a bit chilly outside so I had to cover her up –bummer! I’m so proud to be this little chiquita bannana’s aunt.  I’m in love, so, so in love with my new little niece Mia.  Her skin is “as soft as a babies bottom” and I can’t wait to see her and my new little one Natalia be best buds, their only weeks apart –so exciting!

My plan had always been to “home-school” my preschooler, but when my third child arrived just 7 weeks ago, my son Julian decided it was time for him to go to preschool.  This was a huge surprise to me, I have been trying to convince him to go to school for the past year, and he’s had no interest.  So I quickly signed him up, and spent the first day of school with him, on the second day he told me to leave within 5 minutes of being there, I was shocked that he asked me to leave, I thought for sure this would be a difficult transition.  I called my husband and sobbed like a baby, but it was a  cry of pure happiness that he was fine with me leaving, I was so happy that I wasn’t going to have to watch my son cry, chase after me or reach out for me as I walked out the door.  I went through this with my daughter, and if your a mom, you know how painful this is.   1 hour later the director of the school called me to tell me that Julian cried an hour after I left –ugghhh I knew it was too good to be true!  Day three came along and Julian begged me to stay, so I did cause I couldn’t leave, I just couldn’t get myself to do it.  Day four came along and I decided I would give Julian his baby sisters knitted shoe and spray my perfume on it, I put it in his pocket and told him to smell it whenever he felt like he missed me.  I told him this was a reminder that I was close by and I would be back in no time to pick him up, he was excited and promised me he wouldn’t cry.  So I put my brave mommy hat on, dropped him off, gave him a big hug and a big kiss and said goodbye.  And yes it happened, my fear became a reality, he pouted his lips, looked at me with those puppy eyes, let out a huge cry and ran after me as the teacher pulled him away to comfort him.  It wasn’t easy, I cried just thinking about how sad and cofused he must have felt, I feared that he would feel lost at recess time, I feared that no one would play with him, and I pictured him looking for me at that moment….  But I had to be strong and  convince myself that he would be fine.  The director called and told me that although he was crying here and there, he was participating with the class and making friends.  I returned early to the school with my binoculars in hand, yes, I took binoculars!  I had to see for myself how he was doing, I was pleasantly surprised, he was playing and looked happy.  When I picked him up he told me he liked it, but still made a pouty face and told me he missed me.   ”Juliam, my little stud muffin:”  I took these photos of you because I wanted to remember what you looked like on the first day of this HUGE milestone of yours.  As you can see from the photos you we’re very eager and excited to start school.  I especially want to remember that I gave you your baby sisters knitted shoe (which will now adorn your scrap book).  I want to remember what you wore on your first day of preschool, cause you insisted on wearing your grey “fancy” sweater, you also insisted on wearing as you call it your black “gleather jacket,”  but there I had to draw the line!  This is why I LOOOVE photography, because I took the time to snap these photos I will never forget…       

When I met Devon, I was blown away by her beauty, but even more so blown away by her beautiful personality, she is super sweet, kind and so caring.  Devon and her husband Todd came across to me as simply genuinly goooood people! Devon is an avid dog lover, and I admire her hard work in saving, and raising money for senior Basset Hounds across America.  You can help the cause by shopping at http://www.bassethoundtown.com/mainstreet/store2/items/view.php?item_id=221.  Devon also recently launched a new business, and I’m super excited for her, it’s called “Show me the Money Baby,” it’s a company dedicated to making it easy for parents to sell their baby and kids items they no longer need and make extra money, with locations in Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ, you can check out her site at:  http://www.showmethemoneybaby.com

Then there’s Ryder was a ball of fire! he was super fast on his feet, and had tons of fun chasing him around the beach.  He has such a gorgeous face, and I can’t wait to photograph him again! 

This is Payton, I photographed her when she was only 2 months old, and it was so much fun to photograph her now at 6 months, she sits up now and she smiles now, but it’s not just your average smile,  you could see her smile a mile away!  SHE IS SOOOOO PRECIOUS!

It’s been 5 weeks since I gave birth to my new baby girl Natalia Ava.  She was born on January 27, 6.5 pounds, 19 inches long.  I thought by now I would have 5,000 photos of her —dang I was wrong!  My recovery was tough, and even tougher because I had two other little bunnies to pay attention to….  Natalia has been experiencing some colic issues, so I’ve had lots of sleepless nights!  I’m finally feeling back to normal now and am eager to get back to work and take those 5,000 pictures of Natalia that I envisioned.  Here are some photos I’ve taken of her so far.

Here is a photo of her just 4 days old:

Here I am holding Natalia for the first time –I swear she’s saying “mommy, is that you?!”

This is my gorgeous grandmother with her at the hospital.  My grandmother is amazing and every time I think of her I am overwhelmed with happiness that I have been blessed with such a wonderful “abuelita.”  She’s kind, humble, generous, caring, she loves to hug me, kiss me, and she reminds me every time I see her or on the phone how much she loves me.   She’s my mother’s, mother, and everything I just described about her is exactly who my mother is, and I am truly lucky to have them both.  My grandmother came to stay with me on week three, she did everything for me, she cooked, cleaned, insisted on serving me breakfast, cleaned out every kitchen drawer, reorganized them, cleaned out my pantry and organized it, I could go on and on….   She insisted I sit and just relax and hold Natalia and enjoy her.  Abuelita TE AMO CON TODO MI CORAZON!!!  

This is my beautiful mother with Natalia at the hospital –she’s also the bomb-diggity!  She’s as amazing as my grandmother is times 10! She took care of me on week two, she too did everything for me, and even served me breakfast in bed.  She also pointed out everything I was doing wrong with Natalia —haha, but those are mammas for ya!   I have two other sisters, and we are all having children at the same time, so my mother splits her self up in three all week long, and somehow manages to help us all.  Mom:  Daughters live by example and because you have been the true meaning of what a mother should be, I too will be the greatest mother to my girls, because that’s what you have taught me.   Thank you for being such an amazing mother, I feel so grateful, so blessed and so incredibly happy to call you my mother.

Here I am with my wonderful husband.  Yes I’m wearing make-up –isn’t that normal after giving birth?! and yes, I bring my own robe to the hospital cause I hate that ugly robe the hospital provides –don’t you do that too!?  hahaha! 

My family is now complete, I can officially say that the “Pregnancy chapter” in my life has come to an end.   My husband and I have decided ”FO SHOW” we are happy and content with our three bunnies, instead of the TEN we used to talk about having! Here are my three bunnies, Nevaeh, Natalia Ava and Julian, my kids gave me 5.2 seconds to take this photo and then they ran off –uggh! my son looks so upset, but it’s the only three shot I was able to get.  Dang it! Part two coming soon! 

Natalia Ava 2-3  weeks old.

YA  BABY “DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING! THAT’S MY GIRL!

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