Is this REALLY Camping?

The A, B and Baby C family loves camping. With Brandyn and I both growing up less than an hour from the Sierra mountains... and with both of our many years in Scouting... I think it in our blood. And it seems we've passed that love onto Andrew too... only... we all had a few different ideas.

Brandyn's idea of camping: pack minimal supplies in a large back pack... sleeping bag... a minimal amount of food... no tent or matches needed.

My idea of camping: a tent... a near by bathroom (with showers)... an iPod or boom box... deck of card/dice... good food... and a packed cooler full of beer!

Andrew's idea of camping: two diaper bags, 10 onesies, 4 pairs of pajamas, two baby carriers, a container of formula, a white noise machine, a baby monitor... a variety of toys... and a pack n' play.

How did we combine all our ideas... at Lair of the Bear! (Believe it or not... you don't have to be a Cal Berkeley Alum to attend!). The camp is what Brandyn calls... luxury camping... and what I call... perfect. They have preset tents/cabin... clean bathrooms with showers... a "mess hall" with three meals a day (prepared and cleaned up after by someone else!)... games (pin pong, shuffle board, tennis, etc)... activities (including pottery, tie-dye, lanyards, etc.)... and a great/entertaining campfire (complete with the Cal Fight Song!).

We went courtesy of my parents and were accompanied by my brother and his family! We all had a great time! Especially Andrew - who just loves being outside, watching the trees and the chipmunks!

I'm Andrew's Mommy...

Why is it that when a woman has a baby... all of a sudden... her name disappears and its all about the baby! Before I had one of my own... I thought this loss of identity thing was ridiculous!!!

And now... I have to admit - I'm guilty!!! About a month ago... I introduced myself as "Andrew's Mommy" (and cringed as I heard the words coming out of my mouth). And about a week and a half ago we were camping (more on that later)... it was a family camp - with loads of other kiddos - babies included. I met a nice women about my age, with a little girl about Andrew's age, and we chatted for a little bit. Our conversations went something like this...

"Oh, what a cute little girl. How old is she?"
"What's her name?"
"How's she doing/sleeping at camp?"
"Nice talking to you."

No, I did NOT ask her name. No, I did NOT ask where she lived. No, I did NOT ask if SHE was having fun camping, etc., etc., etc. Did I think that she had nothing else to talk about besides her baby? Or have I forgotten how to talk about anything else besides... BABIES!

Further evidence to support my below theory that I am obsessed with everything Mommy. Time to find a new hobby!!

Mommy is my new hobby...

I've found a new hobby... and its everything... MOMMY. Seriously, I'm obsessed. I find myself running around soaking up ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I can find on being a mom. While I'm still working on keeping the ME in my life... I've found a new hobby to add to that list.

Last three books I read:
- Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay
- It Sucked and Then I Cried
- I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids (Currently Reading)

Last movie I watched:
- How to Photograph Your Baby

Last three podcasts I listened to:
- Manic Mommies
- New Moms, New Babies
- Pregtastic

Whooooo's gonna get CHOPPED!!

The other night... Brandyn and I were watching a Food Network Marathon of "Chopped." The show invites 3 chefs to prepare "surprise" ingredients... and "chop" one person each round until at the end of four rounds there's one winner! Anyway, the SHOW is not the point of my post. We were watching TV and playing with Andrew. I turned to Brandyn and said "I wonder who's gonna get chopped?" and I motioned an ax sign with my "chopping" hand slamming down into other hand. Out of now where... Andrew started laughing hysterically, which of course, made Brandyn and I laugh hysterically too!! This game continued to entertain us for at least the next 20 min!! (We caught the "end" of the fun on video. The video is a *little* long... I'm still working on my editing skills!!).



Unfortunately... my attempt to recreate this game on the following days... did not garner the same response! Guess you had to "be there"!

How to Photograph Your Baby

Some people have heard me go on and on about the various podcasts that I LOVE to listen to on my commute to work. One of my favorites is "New Moms, New Babies" (a spin off of my other favorite, Pregtastic). A recent episode of New Moms, New Babies featured guest photographer Nick Kelsh. Nick, a famous baby and family photographer, gave lots of easy tips for armatures on how to take great pictures of your baby - without a fancy camera... or being a professional. At the end of the episode, there was a contest, to win a copy of Nick's DVD "How to photograph your baby." I entered... and I WON!! One week later... THIS arrived in the mail!!

The DVD really provides all kinds of great tips from... get closer to the baby... to turn off your flash... to change the ISO setting (sounds confusing... its not, trust me!!)

So... using Nick's tips... I set out this afternoon to get a few pictures of Andrew!

CLOSE.




























FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE






















And a few of my favorites.

What do you think???

(P.S. Let me know if you wanna borrow the DVD... not ONLY was it VERY informative... but it was funny to boot!).