Battery Operated

Well, we are deep in the midst of my mission to potty-train Donovan, and so far he has been pretty easy. Using the time-tested award method (ok, bribery), he has been making it to the potty more often than not. Thank you, M&M's.

Now for the funny part. The other day he had gone to the potty only ten minutes before and already he was running through the house chanting, "don't pee, don't pee".....thats his way of announcing his need for the potty. I was amused since he had just gone, but who am I to stand in the way of a potty-trained man? So I helped him rush to the potty, throw on the "big boy seat" and plop him on the pot. And then he sat....and sat....and sat. Nothing happened. I was of course not surprised, but what did get me was what he said next.....

"I can't turn it on." I smirked, and I asked, "what do you mean?" He said, "I can't turn ON my PEE." He was so matter of fact that I really had to hold back a giggle....then came the zinger: "Mommy, I think I need some batteries!" Oh, then the laughter could be held back no longer, and he watched me in total perplexity as I struggled to regain composure.

I guess in his world, everything runs on batteries, so of course why not HIM?

I tell ya one thing though, he may not be battery operated, but his mom is, and her batteries are LOW!!!!

PS: Mothers of boys, do not leave your cup of life-giving morning coffee unattended while you go to answer the phone. For when you return to write your blog and take a sip of that life giving coffee, you shall spit it out for the taste will be unexplainably rancid. Lo and behold, the empty sippy cup sitting next to it that once contained apple juice, and now look again to see how your half cup of coffee is now full again.

OH BOYS.

Photographer Needs Assistance (AND Assistants!)

I can photograph anyone, anywhere, under any conditions- from frenzied, teary bride to self-conscious senior, to family of six on a hot & humid beach. BUT I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME PHOTOGRAPH MY OWN CHILDREN.

I decided to start now in August to try to capture that one pic of the boys TOGETHER that will be suitable for our cherished Christmas card. It KNEW very well that it could take me from now until December to achieve that too!

But I am excited to see what that one great priceless image will turn out to be, so I bravely took the boys out (on my own) early yesterday morning to our beautiful historic Heritage Park AND to the beach. I expected it to be a challenge but boy was I in for it as I found myself more than just short handed! I would set the boys up for a pose and before I could back up and even lift my camera to my eye they were either scrambling away or pulling eachother's hair & limbs! When they scrambled, they scrambled.....and mind you I had them shirtless and barefoot for the sake of art, but that didn't stop them from runny down a rocky garden trail or climbing garden trelises (see pics to prove it)!

When I finally did get them to sit still they PURPOSELY made every effort to focus on every other thing around them BUT me...and forget about smiling- it was a day of the orphan look:) I think Donovan's look would serve Abercrombie well, but he is definitely no Gap-boy:)

Now, I had predicted that this would all be the case, but a girl can dream, and I decided to take the risk! Of course I had pumped & coached Donovan about for it all for several days before, and bribed them both like crazy...........but in all reality I need more than two hands for this job!

Nevertheless, I did manage to get some cute artsy frames out of the 200 that I took, but not a single one of them together with anything resembling cuteness or innocence on their ornry faces!!

We DID have a good time though, especially at the beach, and though we came home soggy and tired, the pics below were well worth it....but that prize Christmas card shot will have to come from another brave effort....next time with a few helpers in tow:)

See these images and more of my latest work at www.bellezzaphotography.com

Touchdown!

First off, sorry for the lack of blogs- but summer it taking its toll on this momma, especially getting ready for the move, then add nine puppies and two toddler....I'm in a tailspin! But here's one to pacify those of you who are pining for an update.

Joe & I were invited by Joe's brother Sam to take the boys to a Corpus Christi Sharks Arena Football game on Saturday. Always a little hesitant about such outings, we were excited, but didn't know how long the boys would hold up, or if they would even be interested. We were lured by the promo that the first 1000 kids get free jerseys, so we took the bait. Lets just say that as it turns out these boys are definite football FANS! I think that Donovan might even fall into the SUPERFAN category. We got there and HOUR before they even opened the doors (sans Joey- he was stuck behind dealing with a frustrating install of our new dishwasher, he showed up in the 2nd quarter). The boys behaved well in the line (I was the one crumbling holding Avery all that time!!). Finally we got in, got all our free loot- the noisemakers, the foam #1 pointy finger, and those sought after JERSEYS. Donovan was wearing his instantly, and Avery tried but it rather swallowed him so we put it aside:).

Once we got our seats, we settled in to watch the visting players warm up on the field. Donovan & Avery watched in a mezmerized awe. When our Sharks entered the field for their warm up, the music cranked up and Donovan left his seat never to return. From that point on (with the exception of the lights-out-lazers-and-fog opening ceremony) Donovan was in the aisle dancing, clapping and shouting for the rest of the game. His little blue jersey down to his ankles, he was bee-bopping to all the hip hop & rock music that filled the stadium! I got it on video when he first began during the warmups, little did I know he would continue throughout the entire game!

He was so cute dancing non stop that he was even shown on the stadium Jumbo Screen
and got a big round of cheers and applause!

Avery enjoyed the first half and made it all the way to the 3rd quarter, but at that point he decided that it was far more fun to scale the stadium seating than to watch the game, so Joe and I spread out with two seats between us, holding them down with our knees so that Avery could enjoy this new jungle gym. Good thing he wore his bib overalls so that Joe and I could each hold a strap while Avery risked his life (as boys do 24/7/365).

I guess the boys were good luck charms, as our Sharks took a serous bite out of the visiting team, coming away with a win.

Below is the video of Donovan dancing during the warmups....I wish I had more because once the game picked up he was just hilarious! But by that time I was juggling popcorn, hotdogs & boys bopping eachother with those noise makers!

STORK DELIVERY CONFIRMATION

Okay, first of all, my apologies to my dedicated blog-watchers for the complete lack of updates this month. We hit a few life-snags that slowed us down a bit. Donovan poured Orange Juice in into the vent of our computer (directly on top of the hard drives) and I rushed it in to be professionelly cleaned only to learn that the owner of the shop has a bad habit of dissappearing for weeks at a time, and so I guess we were lucky to have gotten it back at the end of 2 weeks rather than 2 months. But for those two weeks I was completely lost and braindead without my computer! St. Anthony thanks for answering my prayers and bringing it back!

All is now back on track and this momma is ready to spill it all....

As you can see from the picture above, I motherhood has found me AGAIN, but this time by adoption the old-fashioned way...the stork STILL DELIVERS. Lets begin this tale of tails....

May 23rd, I am walking to our mailbox (a block away, a community safe-box) when I spot a little brown dog that from even my distance showed signs of a serious maternity crisis. Her belly was practically dragging with pups (she looked a lot like a pygmy goat:) and I could tell she was desperately searching for a place to whelp her pups. On closer inspection my suspicions were confirmed by her bloody discharge and I knew that time was short. So being the farm girl I will always be no matter how big a city I live in I did the only thing I knew to do, I scooped her up and carried her home. Her brown eyes glowed with relief. I was glad too, for the storm drains in our neighborhood were all open for repairs and I knew that cave-like holes would be attractive to her but dangerous.

I walked in the front door with my arms full and to my surprise Joe (talking on the phone) whispered at first "that dog is not staying in here" then I just said "she's having puppies" to which he surprisingly answered "Oh, ok." As if bringing in a whole family of dogs somehow was more acceptable than just one. I just kept walking through to the backyard, thanking God that I overcame that hurdle so easily.

I plopped her in our newly fenced kennel area and went back to get things to help her feel more at home.

May 24, 7:30am....Trying to beat the heat, I took both boys with me to the backyard to help me build a whelping box. Momma dog was holding those puppies in since the conditions were not right yet. So an hour later I had a deluxe box built that looked as if I had PLANNED for this.

May 24, 7:30pm....We had been a our nephew's bday party only to come home and discover 5 puppies in every possible color all nursing blissfully with Momma Dog. I figured she was probably done, but 2 hours later 2 more puppies appeared in the box. By midnight there was another and when I awoke in the morning there were 10 all-told. One didn't make it through the night, probably got stuck behind one rotund female that stuck out like a sore thumb. Wow. 9 puppies. 5 females, 4 males.

May 25, Early morning flash flood downpour turns my deluxe puppy box into Noah's Ark and so I am rushing back and forth dodging lightning bolts with fistfulls of puppies to the shop for a much needed location change...and there they have stayed ever since, perfectly situated right by the doggy door which is great for Momma Dog.

LATER THAT SAME DAY: It finally dawns on Joey that we are puppy parents and he utters a single profound question: "Explain to me just how did we go from owning 2 dogs to 12???" I pleaded the 5th.

PRESENT DAY...the pups just opened up their eyes and ears and are now starting to play with one another. Joey walked in this morning with one in his hand and surprised me by saying with a bit of REAL enthusiasm, "Wow, Kateri, they are actually getting cute!" Okay, I know- for all of my husband's good qualities, he was completely deprived as a child from anything that had fur or 4 legs, so you have to understand that for him it is legitimately surprising to discover that a dog, which falls under the category of animal, can actually go through a cute stage. He will get a good education in doggy cuteness now! Then he decided to test the ingrained theory of puppy scents and buried his nose in the ball of fur and took a big whiff.......I think the puppy didn't look quite as cute after that, as he just made a funny face & handed her off.

As of now, we are keeping Momma Dog (I know, I know, she really needs a name!) AND pick of the litter pup. Donovan & Avery are already doing the groundbreaking pup socialization, by the time these lil guys are ready to go to new homes they will be very tolerant:)

Precious Moments

How to Melt a Mom

No money can buy this type of Mothers Day gift. I tried to read his poem out loud, but I only got to about the 4th line before I had to have Joe take over. Absolutely divine!

-A proud mom.

NANA COMES TO TOWN!!!!

What a splendid weekend it was for us all! Nana Bugos flew in for a relaxing Thurdsday through Monday visit. We had not seen eachother since Katherine's wedding in October, so this trip was long overdue! It was not a time for sightseeing or events, but rather a time for Nana to immerse herself in all things Donovan & Avery. She got a very real look at our munchkins in their natural habitat:) Since she was on a solo mission, it was the first time ever that she didn't have any rightfully jealous "son-uncles" to fight over her lap with the "grandbaby-nephews", and so she delighted this time in great games of hide and seek, and snuggles with napping babies. I of course enjoyed the time immensely, as it provided lots of priceless mother-daughter time, a great gift for both of us just before Mother's Day. Of course now we are all pining away at the distance between us, and the boys still wake up each morning and from each nap uttering the question, "were's Nana?" With that Donovan always answers himself, "Nana-airplane-whooosh-Oklahoma!" He gets it!
Hopefully we will stick to our plan of making sure Nana gets a solo visit at least once a year, for it was a priceless bonding experience for the boys and her!!! We love you Nana!!!

Splish splash...cuteness takes a bath

The only time the boys are ever really still enough for mommy to take as many pics as she wants is when they are contained in their aquatic paradise:) Today Avery was my muse.

Work In Progress

My business cards are in! Hooray! Designed from scratch by myself (of course). Now its time to get my name out there...
Studio equipment is on the way as well and I am already booking jobs like crazy. I get my first studio lights next week.
Keep a lookout for my website link...I am building the site now and hopefully within a week or so it will be ready for viewing. I am also broadening my venture by adding custom graphic design to it. Biz cards, postcards, advertising, brochures, announcements, notecards, digital hardcover albums, etc. Exciting stuff! Distance knows no bounds, as this is the digital age afterall, so while I may not be able to snap your picture across state lines, I certainly can design your letterhead!

Opportunistic CheeZe Whiz

Avery takes full advantage of his brother's mischief,
e ating all the shredded cheese he can stuff in his mouth before
Mommy comes in to clean it all up. As for how
and why the cheese ended up on the floor, that is something that
could only be explained by the logic of a two year old. Something
about an open bag of shredded Colby-Jack on the counter just begs
to be sprinkled on the kitchen floor.

Bring your chips to the table...

So last tuesday I was the proud momma who floated out of pre-school with my brilliant tot in hand, after hearing the report that he has been "the best of the boys" in class this year. I know, I know...it is a slightly backhanded compliment, as it implies that he will never be teacher's pet due to the inexplicable difficulties imposed by his gender. But trust me moms, those of you who have boys, understand that such a compliment if one to be proud of!

Yet Thursday afternoon was a slightly different story.

I was taken aside for the first time.

Ms. Libby asked to speak to me a moment. {Gulp} And I smilingly bbliged, dreading what was to come next. She began by asking, "would you be opposed to putting potato chips in Donovan's lunch box from now on?" Relieved but baffled I responded with "Of course not, but why?"

Well apparently my "best of the boys" decided that there was a definite unfairness to the lunchbox allotments, and during lunchtime took it upon himself to rob every one of his 9 classmates of their unprotected potato chips until he finally had to be removed from the table. I really had to stifle my laughter at this all-to-easy-to-picture image. The poor teacher felt bad, telling me she was worried I would be opposed to putting chips in my child's lunch, as I always seemed to stock his lunch box on the healthy side. But what she doesn't know is that while my child's lunch box might be full of fresh veggies, fruits & cheese every time, it doesn't mean that our home is devoid of junkfood by any means. (If Daddy packed lunches around here she would have had a much different opinion!!!) The most hilarious thing was that I really had been priding myself on Donovan's lunches, in the competitive way that us moms undoubtedly do, making sure that I was healthy but appealing to my finicky toddler....but all the while trying to keep up with the Joneses. -Which is silly since no parents ever see the kids lunches anyway! But its one of the many motherly mental hangups I have.

So tomorrow morning Donovan will get a pleasant surprise in his lunch, as next to his strawberries and carrot sticks will be a crisp bag of potato chips. Hopefully his poor classmates can eat their lunch in peace again.

Sugar and spice....

Okay, I admit...for the one millionth time I paid the price for turning my back on my darling duo. Yesterday I was sewing curtains. I had begun during naptime, but still had one to finish after they awoke, so I loaded them up with graham crackers and milk and a good movie and thought I had bought myself enough time to finish my project. Ahem, think again mommy!

I came to the kitchen with my nearly finished curtain, for I needed to make sure that my measurements were accurate....and well, I might have walked right out without noticing anything if Donovan hadn't tipped me off with his tell tale high-pitched repetition of "hi!". I stopped dead in my tracks, and began to look around for the disaster area I knew existed. (this is his thing- his guilty conscience always comes through in this dead giveaway attention grabber- he will literally say hi and wave at you until you discover what he has done!)

Then I saw it. First I noticed the jars of spices that were on the counter- these were my BULK spices to boot...not my little jars but the big ones! I knew that I hadn't used any of these spices that day, so their presence was certainly suspicious. I turned on the light and there it was: the

MOUND. A nice sized pile of spicey-spices: chili powder, cumin, fajita seasoning, garlic powder and cream of tarter for good measure. The jars were either empty or nearly so. And the stovetop burner bore the brunt of the spice dump. My reaction? A frown to stifle my smile, and I turned tail to go grab my most trusted tools of motherhood: the hand vac and my camera. What more can a girl do?

So I vacuumed up the pile, and had to take off the stovetop burner and cover in the process. Lo and behold, I discovered pile #2, which I guess came before pile #1, as it was poured directly into that central hole in the burner, and it was about twice the size of the first pile...which was a relief, because now at least all of the spices could be accounted for, as I knew the first pile was too small to account for the depleted and empty jars.

Then I went to the sink to wash my hands and there was spice dump #3, this was more of a scattered pile, evenly coating the pots and pans and leaving a nice gritty film over the water. Lovely.

You know what they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade......and while I couldn't bring myself to do anything but pitch the spices, I DID take the opportunity to clean out my grimey stovetop burners, and felt quite satisfied in the result. This is the way I have accomplished many of those odd-job household chores lately, by providing disaster relief on the heels of my little darling terrors! By the way...Avery was completely innocent in this one...he is far too short to reach the counter top, and he didn't even have a single fleck of spice on him surprisingly enough- but he did enjoy watching me vacuum:)

And yes, if you were wondering, I did finish my curtains, and they certainly were worth the trouble they got me in! Just a little trim to add to the double set and a good ironing and they will be done...that I'll do during next naptime:)

One thing I have been pondering...if girls are sugar and spice and everything nice....does this prove that boys are "chili and paprika mommy's-gonna-freaka?"

The Celebration at last! Good thing our birthday boy can't count, because this party is
a month belated! (because the flu came in and threw quite a bash, interrupting our earlier plans!)
So the Easter gathering became a joint birthday party venture for our deserving one year old! By this time
Avery was primed for the action, after having a few practice runs at home...he wasted no time
getting his hands in that cake!

Ressurrection Day!

The annual Easter morning A.M. sugar high. The boys only
made it as far as their Easter baskets....the plastic eggs scattered in plain sight were of no appeal compared with the goodies in the baskets! Better luck next year, Mr. E. Bunny... this year it was mommy who gathered all the eggs!

The Birth of Bellezza

BELLEZZA PHOTOGRAPHY

Your Moment, Made Timeless

Kateri Reyes, Photographer

My newest venture will surely be a labor of love, and while this new baby of mine is not a living thing, its purpose will be to make living things live on forever, captured and frozen in timeless visual memories. For a very early birthday present my loving husband purchased for me quite and extensive professional camera set, and so it is the beginning of my enterprise venture: Bellezza Photography. Bridal/Wedding photography is my first love and will therefore be the forefront of my business, but additionally I will do portraiture, commercial & artistic still photography. So step on up all you locals who want to get a good deal while it lasts, for this rookie is building a portfolio now and giving deep discounts to those who will be the guinea pigs!

These wedding photos below are from my little cracker jack camera, so just imagine what this eye can find with a pro cam!

From Roomies to Mommies

Kateri & Avery (12 mo), Erinn & Catherine (9 mo) My dear friend and former college roommate, Erinn Barker-Folts came down from New York for a family visit, and dropped in on her former roomie to exchange glimpses of babies and swap stories of married/mommy life. A brief visit to be sure, but wonderful nonetheless! As you can see, I am not lying when I say that most babies dwarf Avery by 9 months, as little Catherine clearly demonstrates. But small he may be he certainly isn't shy around the girls, for he was quite smitten with Catherine. Time flew by with all our talking, but one thing never changes...we can still sqeeze in an amazing amount of words per minute...even with babies competing!

A wince and a smile...

Lets just say thats its a monday, in the worst possible ways. But what could spread cheer than a few glimpses of the cutest faces in the south? Even though for me, THEY are in large part the reason why this monday is so manic, it does my soul good to see them in their finer moments. (rather than catching Donovan swimming in a gallon of apple juice on the kitchen floor that he saw fit to pour for himself into an imaginary cup. When I discovered him he was actually proud, singing his song "pick-up, pick-up" (from him it sounds like peek-up, peek-up!), swishing a sopping towel through the river of sticky liquid, spreading it far and wide. Or Avery grinding bananas into the welcome mat, and popping up every 3 minutes holding his cheeks and crying because those mean molars are making their debut in his tiny mouth. The real icing on the cake though was that my computer crashed and my loving husband (without telling me anything) took it upon himself to restore the computer to a point one year ago, thus irreverably erasing several months of photos and documents. Good morning....too bad its April 2nd, because I was really looking forward to the "April Fools!" punchline in that one!

For all of you other moms who are enjoying the traumas that may be occuring this morning, or any other, here is a wince and a smile passed on to you, and some cute pics to make you laugh. Go hug your kids, and your husband too- and remember, us moms are all in this together.