five

...that's the number of years we've been married. And this little, wooden box is how it all started. My gift from Choua? A weekend of quiet and solitude. He's taking Roan camping and fishing in WI. Honestly, it's exactly what I needed! Thank you, Love!

So why is my wedding band not on my ring finger? Oddly enough, it's the first time in almost two years that I've been able to get it off of that finger! And sadly, I never had to take it off when I was pregnant. I had gained so much weight that the band was a prisoner on my finger for two years. So for now, it goes back to where it came from...the little, wooden box.

Mind you, it's been over a week now that I've had it off of my finger and still you can see the imprint of it tightness on my finger. I've been freakishly afraid that if I put it back on, that I might never be able to get it off again without having it cut off...so I'll wait and hope that I can lose some more weight.

indian summer goofiness

Choua is in MN for the weekend so Roro and I spent the morning outdoors, doing yardwork and getting dirty...does it ever end? I realized that we haven't done a photoshoot in awhile. Nevermind that I have so much other stuff to do, but I had to do something to get out of my bitter mood so I chose the photoshoot.

I am always amazed that our child also inherited our mannerisms. This is Roro's goofy laugh. It's the same face that Choua has when he laughs. I've also seen it on Grandpa Y also.

Roro also has been doing this thing when I tell his sitter about cute and funny things he's done at home to see if he does the same things at school. He'll put his little hands over my mouth and say, "No talking". Hmmm...sounds a lot like his Daddy. Too bad, Mommy can't keep a secret.

I've been waiting to get this shot (below) for a couple of years now. You don't know how hard it is to get a shaky little flower in focus when your subject is only willing to do it for 2 seconds. He always picks flowers for me. It's cute.

I love his innocent look. It's so sweet!

He loves his popsicles. Oddly, popsicle is also his word for "octopus".

This is how I always want to remember Roro...happy, goofy, loving, and sweet. His teachers made a house visit on Friday and told me that he is social and seems so happy all of the time. It makes me unbelievably happy and proud.

in love with autumn

Just a few more days until we are officially into Autumn. It has always been my favorite time of year. I love the life it brings in all of its colors and the coolness of the breeze. I also love cuddling up and putting on layers.

In the past few weeks, our family has experienced quite a lot of changes. Choua started taking a college course at the local college and Roan started pre-school...or as he refers to it, "New School". In the same week, Roan also started soccer through the local community program. Mostly, he just runs around the gym and chases other kids. However, it gives Choua an extra hour to run while Roan is in class. And I started, slowly, but steadily, taking photos again and trying to build my portfolio.

It was so fun getting ready for school. We had been telling Roan that he will be going to a new school and that we needed to buy him a backpack. He got very excited and on the day we went to meet the teachers and the other children before school started, he looked up at me, from a far, and waved and said, "Bye, Mom". I told him I was staying and he said, "Go". Sometimes, I don't know how to handle Roan's independence. I don't know if I am a good or bad Mom.

We also got bus riding training that day. Roan was extra excited about riding on the bus. As we lined up to go outside, he grabbed my hand and ran to the front of the line and turned around when we got to the bus. Facing, the other kids in the class, he yells out, "Hey! Are you guys ready? Yay" while pumping his arms in the air.

One of the other moms asked me in class if he was my only child. She was surprised when I said No. She said he is so smart (he was very social and talkative that day) and friendly. Choua and I still don't know where he gets it from, since neither of us are that way.

BTW, I took the morning off to stalk the bus the first day of school and peeked in on the class. He seemed to love it all. I couldn't get pictures because I wanted him to start the process as he normally would and didn't want to confuse him so I only got some very bad camera phone pictures from like 100 yards away.

He's been riding the bus from his daycare to school for two weeks now. His daycare provider told me that he is still excited everyday. In fact, so much so that one day when he got on the bus, as happy as he is, the bus driver commented that he was so refreshing because most of the other little kids are sad, quiet and some are crying.

On the potty training front, after several months of unsuccessfully trying, Roan finally went #1 and #2 on the potty. He then started ignoring us when we would try. When we remind him that he can have a treat, he says, "Oh...no thanks" and runs away.

Last weekend, I told him that big boys go pee pee and poo poo on the toilet and that all of his friends at school do so also. I then asked him if he wanted diaper or underwear and to my surprise, he said underwear. We went the whole day with him successfully going on the toilet. I hope this continues.

congratulations!

A big congratulations to our friends, the S's! Welcome baby A! Can't wait to meet you!

**EDITED**


Cami was so done with me before I even started. Did I mention that two is a hard age to capture?

squeeal!

I just love her little squeal when she's excited and the way she says, "Pup pup" when she sees a puppy.

My sister asked me to take "formal" two year old photos (as if I were qualified) of my niece last weekend. It was a beautiful night and I have the sweetest little subject. ...BUT...what happened to my little willing subject? Suddenly, she didn't want to be photographed anymore. I've forgotten how hard it is to shoot two year olds.

This session confirmed for me that I am not ready to open up for business yet. It is hard to be a photographer.