Lawyer Mama

Project Turtle: Los Angeles

I travel a lot. It seems to be happening more and more frequently and the boys don't like it.  But they do get excited when I send them photos of what I'm doing on my trusty iPhone.  In return, they tell me good night via video every evening.

This isn't a unique problem, but I wanted some way to keep my boys connected to me and to all of their relatives across the country.  That's where Project Turtle came in.  I bought four identical turtles.  One stays at home with the boys in Chesapeake, one travels with me, they've given one to Uncle B for his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, and we're going to send the last one to their cousins in Montana.  The whole idea is for everyone to share photos of what they're doing and where they go with Turtle.

I really wanted to take Turtle to the White House Twitter Town Hall for his inaugural trip, but I forgot him.  Bad Mommy!  So Turtle had his first real break out on my trip to LA last week for Blue Star Families.  I really wish I'd had the presence of mind to ask one of the royals for a photo with Turtle, but I was floored to even have the chance to speak with them about military families.  So, the turtle had to settle for a picture up on the podium where the Duke of Cambridge spoke in front of 30x60 foot American and UK flags.

Without further ado, I give you Project Turtle: Los Angeles:

On the balcony of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. I tweeted a similar picture I took on my cell phone and the hotel retweeted me. Love it when they're paying attention!

At the Santa Monica Pier:

At the Hiring Our Heroes set up at Sony Pictures:

  I'm not sure if the boys were impressed with the turtle on the podium where the Duke would be speaking. But they loved the giant flags!

Checking out Operation Honor Cards at Sony Pictures:

I'm not sure what's next for Project Turtle, but I'll keep you posted!

 

Operation: Love Reunited - The USS Winston Churchill Comes Home

Homecomings. 

They mean something different to each of us.  You may think of football and tiaras or traveling to see relatives for the holidays, but for military families a homecoming is so much more.  Yesterday, the USS Winston Churchill, a destroyer that is part of the Truman Carrier Strike Group, came home to Norfolk after a 7 month deployment.  The weather was bitterly cold.  (Well, it was bitterly cold for Norfolk!)  But the piers and heated tents were still crowded with families carrying signs, flags and a lot of nervous anticipation.

Asthe owner of my own business, military homecomings can be a pit of a pain.  The schedules are always changing; I basically have to block out an entire day for one homecoming photoshoot because I can't risk the time changing to interfere with another appointment. I have to drive 30 to 45 minutes to Norfolk or Virginia Beach, fight the crowds, find parking and wait in the cold or heat. (For the record, I think the heat in July is worse!) And, because I do these sessions for free for military families through Operation: Love Reunited, I don't make any money.

But I take every homecoming session I can.

Read the rest of this post and see the photos on LightHearted Photography, the Blog.

How Things Change in Five Years

My Kids Hated the White House Egg Roll

Tens of thousands of parents and grandparents sign up for the lottery for tickets for the annual White House Easter egg roll. All of us are dying to dress our kids up and parade them around on the White House lawn, with photo ops aplenty.  I mean who doesn't want a photo of their child merrily rolling an egg with the White House in the background?  The memories, I was sure, would be priceless as well.

I got lucky.  I'm a member of Blue Star Families, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and empowering military families.  And, as part of a military family, we got tickets to the White House for the egg roll.  We were headed to the egg roll, along with 30,000 other people, split into groups of 6,000 people for each of 5 time slots.

I was thrilled!

I carefully planned my boys' outfits.  They had to be cute, but not matching (my husband's rule) and comfortable for play.  Of course, I planned my own outfit with care as well.  We arrived at the security entrance on the ellipse shortly before our scheduled 11am time. And then we waited in line, in the hot sun with no shade, with 2 small children for more than an hour.  We weren't just in line, we were bunched up in a crowd of hot, sweaty, cranky people.

Read the rest of this post on the D.C. Metro Moms Blog....

Happy Holidays Flashback: 2006

In 2007 I was boring.  I bought boxed cards.  But in 2006, we had the whole family on our holiday cards.  This is the one and only time since we had children that T and I have made an appearance on our holiday card. 

In November of 2006, when these photos were taken, I had been blogging for about 3 months!  Holden was 10 months old and Hollis had just turned 2.  And yes, that is still some very scary math for me.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays Flashback: 2008

Yesterday, I happened to mention that I designed and ordered holiday cards in 2008 but failed to actually send them out!  Several people have asked if they could see it, so I figured what the heck!  Why not?

So here you go.  The never-before-seen N_____ Family 2008 Holiday Card!

The outside, front and back:

(Click to enlarge)

...and the inside:

I think I'll make that my signature phrase:

"Embrace the naughty."

Happy holidays!

Happy Holidays!

I've sent out all of my holiday cards!  This is a first for me.  Last year I designed and ordered cards.  Never sent them.  I actually thought about sending them out in July, but I lost my motivation rather quickly.

This year I swore that I would send out cards and that the boys would sit still for some decent photos!  Well... at least the first part of that happened.  I got some shots of the boys in their adorable little tuxes at my brother's wedding in October.  Holden was less than cooperative.

However, since most people have gotten our card by now, I think it's safe to reveal it on the blog.  Happy Holidays!

Looking at the World a Little Differently

In photography, sometimes the details are everything.  A scene that could be boring, at best, can be rendered intriguing if you look at things a little...differently.

Over the last year, my life has changed dramatically.  I quit my full time job at a law firm; started my own photography business; got through a major depressive episode; oh and almost destroyed my marriage.  Yeah, there was that too.

We're working on it and I'm working on me.  But I need to stop focusing on what I haven't done and haven't accomplished in my 37 years and focus on what I have.  I need to stop caring what other people think and figure out what I care about.

I have two beautiful little boys who adore me. I have a family and a husband that loves me.  I have friends that challenge me to think, to feel, to help and support others. 

I have amazing friends.

If there's one thing I've learned in the last year, it's who my real friends are.  My real friends didn't cut and run during the hard times.  My real friends stayed and listened and offered their support.  Do I think that those who stayed are simply more open minded than others?  No.  I think that those people who really care about me were able look at things a little more objectively because of their love for me.

Another important thing I've learned over the last year is that I need to write and I need to take photographs.  When I don't, I become a bottled up, raging mess.

So in 2010, I'm going to make more of an effort to keep writing here and I've decided that I will take at least one photograph every day in 2010 to post on my photo blog.

I'll try to keep focusing on the details when the big picture - life - is just too much for me.  Sometimes the details remind me what's most important. 

Central Park Classic - A Photographic Sneak Peek

I have another sneak peek up on LightHearted Photography from the photo sessions I did in Central Park.

The day that I shot Cinderella and her family in the park, I had another photo session with an adorable family.  Jenn, Andrea (Cinderella's mom) and I have known each other since we were all pregnant with our October babies in 2004.  Mine decided he wanted to show up in September, but all of us have children within 2 1/2 weeks of each other.  I was thrilled when Andrea asked me to come up to New York and getting to meet Jenn as well made it even better.

Jenn, it was so much fun to take photos of your family, especially your darling girls in their adorable dresses.  There's just something irresistible about sisters.  And Central Park was, as always, amazing.

Enjoy your sneak peak!

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Be sure to see the rest of the sneak peek over at LightHearted Photography, the Blog! You can't see the full impact of this photo without seeing it's full size.

Herding Cats or Coaching T-Ball. Same thing, right?

We interrupt this DRAMA zone for a little update on the kidlets.

This evening when we asked Hollis to do something, he turned to us and said, in a perfect imitation of my slightly sarcastic tone, "That's really not necessary right now."  I could practically hear myself saying that to H&H!

What with Hollis's sarcastic rejoinders and the ability to write his own name, I've sort of forgotten that he's only been on this planet for 4 years.  Then I had a nice reminder this morning that those 4 year olds haven't yet learned all that stuff we take for granted.  Like what bases mean in baseball.

Today was H1's first t-ball practice.  Man, are they CUTE at this age!  But boy does their coach have a lot of patience. 

The first thing the coach had the t-ball kidlets do, was learn how to catch a ground ball with their gloves.  Or hands.  Or whatever.  So, of course, I had to whip out the camera to document the moment:

At least she had the attention of three of them.  But the girl in pink then headed off to the other side of the gym to play basketball and I think the girl between her and Elvis really had to pee.

After that, she let them try out the different positions and get in a little batting practice. 

For some reason Hollis instinctively adopted some attitude when batting, and turned his hat around.  My little rebel.

The first time someone hit the ball and started running, everyone in the "field" just stood there.  When the coach yelled out "GET THE BALL!" the runner detoured from his route to first base and retrieved his own ball.  He got quite a laugh from the fans in the stands, guaranteeing that his trick will be repeated.  You're welcome, coach!

The second time someone hit the ball (along the first base line), everyone went after it.  Including the short stop, the second base man, and Hollis at third base.  The resulting toddler scrum reminds us that we have to be ultra-specific with the pre-school set.

I'm not sure if anyone actually got the ball, but someone definitely has to go to the bathroom again.

After that, the coach had the kidlets run the bases because for some reason not everyone seemed to get that you actually had to touch the bases and that you had to run to all of them and not, say, start at second base. *cough*Hollis*cough

The one and only time H1 rounded first base.  Every other time he went straight for second base and then brought it home after jumping neatly over third base.

Well, we all know that organized sports for toddlers is an oxymoron.  Besides, it's not really about baseball.  It's all about the snacks.