Costa Rica - Day 3

The highlight of day 3 was walking down the beach to the local surf shop. For Brody any day that involves a shoulder ride is a good day.





The whole gang. (minus mom and dad, they decided to ride bikes there)






Then Jared asked me "Is there drool running down my neck?" Um, yes.




It was the start of low tide so there was this super thin layer of water that the kids were playing in. It looked like a big mirror.




These little guys were totally zonked out, it was so cute. When I look at this picture it's just so crazy to think that Jared and Sean were best friends in high school, before we met. Who would have known 10 years later they'd be walking down the beach holding their little boys, who are cousins!?




The surf shop had the cutest chocolate lab, Loca. Brody was a fan.




One of his favorite tricks - sticking his belly out. He's pretty much obsessed with his belly button. It was hilarious until he realized that everyone has a belly button. Fighting with a 13 month old who's trying to lift up your shirt = not so hilarious.




I think he's been shopping with me too much. Haha.




There you go, that's more like it.





Obsessed.




A little walk down from the surf shop was this little hotel (I think 6 rooms) and cafe where we grabbed some lunch. And entertainment.




I LOVE how kid friendly everything was in Costa Rica. While we waited for our food Brody checked out the little lap pool and hammocks. Best. idea. ever.




Then it was back to the house.






Low tide is my favorite.

Costa Rica - Day 2

I told you the bugs were huge. HUGE. These grasshoppers disappeared during the day but at night 5 or 6 of them would show up on the windows and scare the crap out of us. They were literally as big as your head. We were eating outside one night and one flew right into Kellye's hair, we all ran into the house screaming. The ladies that cooked for us were getting a kick out of it, then proceeded to tell us that the same thing happened to another girl but a barb from it's leg flew into her eye. WHAT!? We ate inside the next night. :)




Day 2 was mostly a pool/beach day - relaxing, hanging out, getting used to wearing a swimsuit in the middle of winter. I packed a bunch of swim trunks for Brody but when we saw this little wet suit at the surf shop we knew it was the perfect thing! I mean, putting sunscreen on Jared is an ordeal in itself, trying to wrestle two boys that don't want anything to do with it? Forget it! Next year I'm getting Jared a matching one.










Nothing too exciting, I love those kind of days. No watch, no schedule, no makeup. (maybe could have used a little makeup :)








Brody's thing lately is that he's WAY more interested in anything that is not a toy vs. actual toys. Cup in the pool? Huge hit. Empty (I swear it was empty) can of Coke Light = major fun. This kid is weird, but I love him.




Especially his chubby feet. He could sit and splash all day if we let him.



So the house that Melissa found was perfect for us. It actually was a boutique hotel that someone turned into a rental house. There was the main part of the house when you walk in - living area, kitchen, dining area - then a main large bedroom upstairs. On each side of the house were two separate rooms, four total, with their own bathrooms and deck that connected to the pool. This made it nice since we're such a big bunch, especially when it came to nap time for Brody. Put him in the pack-n-play and sit on the deck and read a magazine. Tanning during nap time - yes, please!!

The only interesting thing about the house was......the pit. I'm assuming at one point it was some kind of central fireplace for the hotel but the current owners decided to make it a seating area, that we affectionately named and created a gang sign for. So here we are in the pit, keepin' it real.




Pretty much every day ended down at the beach.

Costa Rica - Day 1

This was my view as we flew from Houston to Costa Rica. Volcano!

We've flown with Brody a few times and have had really good luck, this time he was a little more squirmy and ready to get there. So there were lots of goldfish, lots of iPad, and lots of Hulk.





When we landed it was the craziest thing. I don't think I've exited a normal 747 onto the tarmac before, and I know for sure I've never waited for customs and baggage claim in a giant open air shed before. And I liked it! So did Landry. :)





What was also surprising (I think I should have expected) was that it was hot. Like HOT hot. I mean Texas in mid-January isn't super cold, I think we were in the 40's, but going from that to 80 is a jump. Needless to say we were all ready to bust out the swimsuits in the airport parking lot, especially since our driver was a tad late.




Honey keeping Brody entertained. (see his red little cheeks!? It was hot! Hence the no pants.)




Now daddy's turn.




Will chatting it up with the driver. Will got back from serving his mission in Chile last fall so he was our resident translator. Thank goodness for Will!!




Monkeys!!! On the side of the road right before we got to the house.




Our home for the week. Melissa, travel agent extraordinaire, found the perfect place. If anyone needs help booking straight up awesomeness give her a call, she can do no wrong.




Ahhhh, the light. Every afternoon there was this warm golden glow coming from the ocean through the trees. I wanted to bottle it and bring it back with me.




Landry and Jason both worn out from the trip.




Things that initially surprised me when we got there: it's the jungle, for real! Monkeys, giant bugs, huge trees and plants, amazing colors, and crazy looking birds - real jungle. Another thing - we didn't meet one rude or impatient person the entire time. Everyone is SO NICE. The town we stayed in is SUPER small so everyone knows everyone - the lady who owned the surf shop was also our excursion arranger, tour guide, masseuse, and emergency medical contact (which we actually needed when my mom got an ulcer on the inside of her eyelid day 4 - yikes!). No worries, she got some good drugs and woke up feeling better.

I didn't know what to expect when we got there but I immediately fell in love with everything about Costa Rica - the people, the food, the weather, and that LIGHT! Oh, that light.

Frijolito

Brody's new nickname, "little bean". He was a BIG fan of Costa Rica. It helps that he was already a big fan of a) being naked and b) anything water related, but I think the amazing black beans and rasta music were the clenchers.

Just a few, more from the whole trip coming soon.

*lindsey, these are for you. :)

Off the grid

Tomorrow morning we're Costa Rica bound so if you send me an email or leave a message we'll talk next week. :) That's if we don't get eaten by crocodiles or fall off the zip line, I'm just hoping Jared keeps all of his limbs intact. The temptation could be too much though.

This was my entertainment today as I packed. Yes, he is wearing what look to be homeless clothes since his bags are already packed. And yes, it does look like he was mauled by a dog since he had an unfortunate run-in with a sippy cup a few days ago. Falling onto it while running. But he is the cutest homeless sippy cup victim I've ever seen, that's for sure. :)

What we have been up to....

Holy shmoley, I can't believe it's been over a month of non-blogging. It's been toooooo long friends. It's been a month of busy-ness, mayhem, madness, and all kinds of fun. Here it is in a nutshell:

• Holiday sessions and orders galore (busiest holiday season TO DATE)
• Visiting Jared's family in San Diego for a week
• Refinishing awesome furniture finds from Goodwill 
• Making a quilt from scratch (with the help/patience of my awesome mom)
• Making a quiet book from scratch (with the encouragement/peer pressure of my much-more-talented-when-it-comes-to-sewing mom)
• Spending Christmas and New Year's with my family in Tyler
• Brody catching a horrendous stomach bug in Tyler
• All of us catching the horrendous stomach bug once back home

But probably the coolest thing we did during the past month was meeting the AMAZING Bobbi and Mike during our turn on the other side of the camera - our 2010 family pictures. Let me just say it gave me a whole new appreciation for my clients - the whole "What to wear!!????!!?" dilemma!? Sheesh, I broke out in a sweat just thinking about it. Add to that the anticipation/nervous excitement of meeting THE BOBBI AND MIKE and my eyeballs about exploded. So exciting, so much fun, so perfect. We are doing this every year.  

I'll post some faves when we get them all but for now there is a sneak peek up on their blog - click HERE. 

As for this month we are catching our breath, leaving Saturday for a week in Costa Rica, finishing a few pieces of furniture still waiting for last coats of paint, posting many, many, many favorites from recent sessions, and getting galleries up for the remaining friends/family sessions still waiting to be done (I love you for being so patient!). And planning a wedding for my sister, Paige, who just got engaged!! Woohoo!

So 2011 is going to be exciting - new nephew AND new brother-in-law. (Did I tell you Melissa's having a boy? I love that there's going to be a little gang of boy cousins.) This is going to be fun. As fun as a chocolate donut food fight. :)






PS - How crazy is it that Bobbi and Mike's session before ours was with Sarah Q and her adorable fam. Sarah is the one who took these and these when I told Jared I was pregnant!

Sweet little ones...

There's just nothing sweeter than a newborn. Ohhhhhh, I love them. And there's going to be another one in the fam come next summer! No, it's not me. My sister, Melissa, is pregnant!!! Oh man, I'm so excited. I can't wait - they are going to have the most tall, gorgeous, supermodel children. And I'll be photographing them every step of the way. :)

Here's another supermodel in the making. Sweet Kendall, she's as perfect as they come.

Birthday week

Looking back through all the pictures from the past year it's crazy to see how much Brody's changed! I love the chubbiness of his cheeks and wrists in the first two months. He was the cutest little roly poly, these days he's getting tall but still has the best chunky buns and thighs. He usually plays with his toys in a squat position so I think he's pretty proud of them. They may be big, but they're strong! I'm afraid he comes by them rightfully, on his mother's side. Haha.

Happy Birthday my doodles....

I think I'm in denial, today my little munchkin is one. Has it really been a year already? I can't believe it. And then again, I can't remember what life was like without him. A year ago today Jared and I were dancing around the hospital room to Jay-Z on my iPod "labor mix" trying to get my contractions to progress, and just a year later we have a walking, talking one year old with 16 teeth (whole story coming on that, who breaks 8 TEETH in ONE WEEKEND!?). But the truth is if I could have a pack of Brodys I would in a heart beat, he is such a happy, sweet little boy. I can't believe he's already one, wow.

So far one year old is the most fun age ever. I am so loving watching him run around and play. (The whole crawling to walking thing wasn't nearly as traumatic as sitting to crawling. The increased destruction is only marginal.) So far his favorite things are books, balls, anything with wheels, his toy phone, and eating paper. I hope he grows out of the last one. He is babbling like crazy and has a few favorite words - mama (currently his name for both Jared and me), ball, bird, mum-mum (his favorite snack), and bo-bo (his bunny he sleeps with). It seems like he's doing something new every few days.

So, in honor of Jacox tradition I've decided to declare this "birthday week" and do a few posts with pictures from his first year and some of the cute things we love about him. Here are few to kick things off...

Happy birthday sweet boy, we love you more than words can say.

I am buried alive...

... in pictures of beautiful people. Just how I like to be buried. :) I think there are 12 sessions on my desktop  waiting to be edited, and 9 more to be added to that before Thanksgiving. I have a feeling that there will have to be a diet dr. pepper intervention of sorts after this holiday season. :)

This is Mary Jane. She is an opera singer, loves traveling and tall heels, will be moving to Paris with her husband next year, and is one of the nicest, funniest people I have ever met. Is it fair that she is stunningly beautiful to boot? Stunning.