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.

The one question you must ask your pediatrician...

Its flu season. A fact most of us moms know first-hand! The majority of my mommy friends and all their precious little ones are either combating it or recovering from it. I for one, am recovering from round 2 of that indiscriminating virus. My kids are resilient and have bounced back as if nothing ever happened, as kids do. But in the throes of illness they were washed up on our couch, completely motionless (a devastating thing for toddlers), clutching in each hand puke buckets and kleenex boxes.

I am not one to run my kids in to their doctor at the first sniffle, as normally I tend to hold to the "ride it out" policy. But inevitably, either severity or duration of symptoms scares me into the clinic of our gentle doctor. Generally it is the nagging "what if's" that send me to our pediatrician, for there are so many complications of childhood illness that mimic common symptoms- like pneumonia. When I go to our pediatrician, I don't come asking for a magic potion cure, for I am fully aware that childhood illnesse is a fact of life, and most come and go with the proper TLC. All I REALLY want is reassurance. REASSURANCE that my child is doing ok, and that he is suffering no serious complications; add a dose of advice on how to treat his symptoms and I am re-charged and ready to head home and tackle my baby's illness head on. But I just want to know that I am doing the right things to care for my son and preventing further stress on his system.

Yet, I am now discovering with alarm that my doctor doesn't see me the same way. Somehow he, and many other doctors like him, think us moms go to them for a miracle, an instant cure for our baby's illnesses. The evening news has been calling doctors out more on this topic, and the FDA is starting to take notice too.

Here's the one question each of us moms needs to ask our doctor when our little ones fall ill:

IS IT A BACTERIAL OR VIRAL INFECTION? The difference between bacteria & virus is dramatic in the sense that antibiotics are engineered to treat bacterial infections, but can do nothing to treat viruses. WHY THEN are so many doctors prescribing antibiotics for viruses? Nearly all strains of the influenza, bronchitis, and many others are viral infections and can only be treated symptomatically, not with antibiotics. Yet our doctor thought it was necessary to prescribe antibiotics both times when we had the flu and then bronchitis. I didn't really bat an eye the first time, just taking it in good faith that our doctor had our kids best interest in mind- who am I to challenge a professional? Yet virus round two for us was bronchitis accompanied by mild diarreha. Once again antibiotics were prescribed, along with appropriate prescriptions to treat some of the symptoms of bronchitis. The prescriptions for the symptoms were certainly necessary and did the job, but the antibiotic prescribed did a number on Donovan's already stressed digestive system, thus dramatically increasing the severity of his nausea & diarreha. His bad reaction to the drug caused me to do a little research, and what I found was very disturbing. More and more doctors feel compelled by our society's dependance on prescription drugs to prescribe drugs even when they know full well they are not necessary in all cases, such as when treating viral infections.

I took Donovan off of the antibiotic and within hours his reaction subsided and he began to come around. The actual bronchitis symptoms had subsided within the first two doses of the symptom prescriptions, but we spent an entire weekend battling the side-effects of the anitbiotic before it dawned on us that the drug itself was the culprit making DJ sicker! Reading further the list of complications and side effect from the antibiotic I was even more alarmed. There is so much that can go wrong for my little one, why would any doctor prescribe such a drug if there admitedly is no need?

I for one am going to start asking- is it a virus or bacteria that is making my child sick? From here on out, I will challenge my doctor in any future decisions to prescribe antibiotics for viruses, for while I am all for healing, I don't believe in the etherial magic potion, and I am certianly not willing to take any unneccessary risks with my child's health. Its hard enough to have sick little ones, but moms, trust your insticts and stick to your guns, and educate yourselves, for our healthcare system is flawed, and it is up to us mothers to make sure our child is getting the best healthcare possible.

On this day last year....

March 10, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EBOM!!!

As luck (if thats what you call it) would have it, we were all sick with nasty colds/bronchitis on poor little Avery Jude's FIRST BIRTHDAY, but that didn't stop us from celebrating at least a little bit. Yes, folks, that is an oatmeal cream pie with a candle in it. Praise God the little tike will be too young to remember how pitiful his 365th day of life was, but we will make it up to him soon with a real bash! Thats a promise! He really could have cared less though, he was thrilled that mommy let him get so close to a burning object, and even more so that he could pulverize a cookie without any interference. Its the simple things in life, right? We sang to Avery several times throughout the day, and by the end he was humming bits of the song to himself! Why can't we all treat birthdays with such innocent enthusiasm??? (Don't ask Daddy who is dreading turning 30 in just as many days:)

One happy One Year Old. Mission Accomplished.

Time flies when you are painting your house!

AVERY
The blog may have been on break, but the boys haven't slowed down for a second! In fact, Avery, in all actuallity, has gotten FASTER. He now speeds throughout the house on two feet like a pro, but he can't help getting knocked down often by his equally speedy and innocently careless big brother. My doesn't he look cute in his big boy jammies!!! A major milestone for Avery is that we finally had to break into the 12month size box of hand-me-downs! While 6-9 mo. still fit, they were getting a little snug, so we thought that even if some outfits were a little roomy for our tiny tot, too big would be more comfortable than too tight! Just in time too, for his 1 year birthday is this coming Saturday March 10th! What is a mommy to do when her babies keep growing up on her??? You don't have to answer that one, because Avery has a sense that his slot as baby might be filled at any time, so he has taken it upon himself to enforce the "birth control patrol." While mommy and daddy want a big family, Avery sees no room for expansion, and he won't let his parents come within 2 feet of eachother! Not kidding either...no matter where he is in the house, asleep or awake, his little lungs sound the alarm if his parents cross that carefully drawn 24 inch line. Avery hasn't learned that God is the one he needs to worry about in this situation! In all reality, there are no real baby "plans" in the works, but we certainly never relied on plans before. We have trusted in God all of this time to bless us according to his perfect design, but for the time being, every day of physical healing we get before the next pregnancy is important to ensure a healthy 9 months. So while Avery's plot is certainly comical if not a little cynical, daddy and I are reluctantly grateful for his stubbornness.

DONOVAN
And now for Donovan....our gifted musician and delightful parrot. Donovan has been 2 for quite some time now, but he is finally reaching that peak of all things predictably 2ish, and keeping us (ME!!) on my toes. His comedic side is certainly taking shape, and the best part is that he doesn't even realize it! He imitates everything, so often I don't realize that I am making a funny face over something until I look at Donovan and his face is scruched up in a perfect study of mine...so I have given up mirrors- who needs them when you can look at a way younger, cuter version of yourself?? He also loves to dress up like daddy and mommy- and then he will walk through the house imitating our routine actions with great alacrity. His best impression is of me in my heels, with a modified purse (a pillow with a string), and a set of keys or a phone if he can get his hands on them- and then he'll walk to you in his get-up and wave nonchalantly "bye" with a slight Texas twang, and turn to walk to the door with his pillow "purse" swinging on his shoulder. When he is not imitating my actions or repeating every other word (with a few added Ewok-like syllables), he is DRUMMING. No joke, this boy drums from sun up till sun down- and if he is taking a drum break, he is generally singing or dancing. He certainly has a musical inclination. He is singing all of his nursery school songs on key and to the proper tune now, even if he doesn't quite know the words...those he just fills in with similar sounding mumbo jumbo! He just adores baby brother Ebom (Avery), and lights up when they meet for the first time each morning. They spend all day together trying to establish a pecking order, something that is to be won- it is aparently not a birthright as I had assumed (Avery can really hold his own when he needs to!). He would snuggle with Avery more if he could, but neither understand that concept very well, so most well-intentioned hugs and other such loving gestures end up in WWF moves on the floor. Oh BOYS.

A turn of the page...

Fostering brotherly love and a love for reading....what a good productive day!

My Valentine

It finally happened...a creative thought actually made it out of my head and into fruition. After an endless swarm of rainy days and needy sickies, the rainbow finally came out over our house; a healthy family inside, and the sun shining brightly outside. And it just so happened that this all miraculously occured just before Valentine's day. I had to get valentines not only for Donovan's preschool class, but also for our ever-growing parish playgroup; so my frugal side kicked in and I was determined to do handmade valentines this year.

And so without any plan at all, Donovan and I set out to make thirty handprints with finger paint and from there go wherever our creativity destined. The first 20 handprints were made with careful toddler eagerness, and the last 10 needed a lot of careful bribery and a few redo's to boot. And then there they were, rows and rows of beautiful baby hands lined up to dry on our ironing board. And for 3 days, no more creativity came. Then it hit like a lightning bolt, and I was thrilled with the end result- it was all actually really easy to assemble and turned out so darn cute. Each handprint was cut out and set in a heart, then a bag of mini m&m's was tied inside the handprint as if to hold it; finally a cute little note was added to tie it all together. Super cute craft, great mommy/son fun, and everyone melted who recieved them (or at least their mother's did:)

Drummer Boy

Our Little Drummer Boy. This is a 24/7 occurance in our house! Donovan is eternally playing his drum, normally accompanied by boisterous singing- loudly, so as to hear himself over his drumming. You gotta love the passions of two year olds. The good thing, I always know right where he is. Sidenote- stock may soon be rising on Excedrin.

Which one melts your heart....its for the contest!!! (UPDATED VERSION)

Okay, so now to clear up the confusion on this previously bare bones post....

I have a seriously cute baby....and I would even go so far as to say that others may agree with me. So, when this proud momma was watching Regis an Kelly a few weeks ago, I decided that this year we would have a great shot at the Live's Beautiful Baby Contest. And so there arose the next dilemma. This is really all about first impressions, since each contestant can only enter one single photo to show off their beautiful baby. Avery has a distictly different look depending on whether he is smiling or serious, and so I originally posted those two pics to give Nana Bugos a chance to weigh in on this potentially life-altering decision. However, Nana Bugos' internet was down, so she could only advise me that Avery had a heart melting serious face, so sight unseen she went for the Calvin Klein model look:). That same day as I was about to mail the entry, the mailbox yeilded an opportunity for the smiley face photo to have a chance at fame as well. Babytalk Magazine is starting it's search for the Good Morning America/Babytalk Beautiful Baby contest. Needless to say, I have become THAT MOM that enters her baby in cutie competitions. But what can I say, there is a certain thrill in the unknown of such things, and basically that thrill is just what a stay at home mom needs sometimes. I know that over 10,000 other moms think they have the cutest baby ever, and were also seeking that "thrill"...but we will see next week on Regis & Kelly who the winner(s) are.

I am tivo-ing all of the Regis & Kelly episodes so that I don't miss that chance that they will at least show Avery's pic on the air. I will update on that if it happens!

Thanks for your patience as the blog came to a standstill while I helped Joe recover from his surgey and then came down with the influenza (DJ too) and had to battle that. We are all finally healthy and I am back to blogging!!

Top 10 of 2006

Taking a que from pop-culture, I decided that this first month of the new year, it was appropriate to look back at the most infamous sayings of our household from 2006, as spoken by our eloquent toddler. I am sure that next year we will showcase actual "phrases" rather than a series of one-syllable words, but afterall, timeless simplicity was all the rage in 2006.

Top Ten

1. No.
2. Don't Fall!
3. Ebom. (this is what Donovan calls Avery)
4. fix it!
5. Spop! (stop)
6. Where's Aunt Pappi? (his favorite Aunt Patsy) 7. I got a bump
8. ME!
9. OOOh nooo
10. Again!!!

See for yourself- there's no stopping him now!!!

HE WALKS!!!

The Rescuers

Okay, bear with me as I am blogging backwards on this one, but it was so cute I couldn't resist.

Joe's nephew Sam & his fiance Nadia routinely steal one or both of our kiddos for exciting outings. Why? We don't know if it is because they are "practicing" for parenthood or just because they are gluttons for punishment, but either way, the kids are thrilled to enjoy such adventures with these youthful & willing caretakers, while Joe & I are thrilled at the "time off" it affords us! Here is a handful of such events as they occured in the past few months!

Early December brought an exciting outing for Donovan as when Sammy & Nadia whisked him off for an afternoon of pure delight watching Disney's Monsters Inc. On Ice. Needless to say, this 2 year old was ENTHRALLED! He kept telling Nadia & Sammy to "sshhhh!" during in the show...he didn't want to miss a second of the performance, and he meant business!

Nadia & Donovan Watchin the show!!

Sammy & Donovan

Afterwords we all met up at the park for a long play session with the boys. We stayed there for the typical amount of time one spends with boys when they are running free: until someone gets hurt or falls exhausted asleep:) But for the hour and a half before Avery zonked out in a swing and Donovan's grand finale bloody fat lip, Sammy & Joe took turns chasing him pell mell through the maze of wooden structures & jungle gyms! We all enjoyed the outing and the special time with Sam & Nadia- its great practice for their future!! Not to mention our kids look WAY more like they belong to them:)

* * *

Just two weeks ago we all met up together for a fun afternoon courtside, cheering on the Corpus Christi A&M Islanders men's basketball team. Donovan is a huge basketball fan, so he was all about the game. Sitting like a man in the stadium seat, he cheered and booed and yelled "GO!" at all the right moments- no coaching needed for this tiny sports buff. He could have cared less about all of the junk food daddy kept bringing up- no way, Donovan was there to watch the GAME....oh, and the cheerleaders got a lot of his attention as well:) Mommy wants to think that it was just becasuse they were flipping and jumping and climbing up on eachother and jumping off of immense heights....all of the things Donovan dreams of and generally attempts, but with much less success! Anyway, it was a great time for all of us...even Avery got into it! -But at half time Avery finally gave in and fell asleep in Nadia's arms, where he remained for the second half. We must be good luck charms- cuz the Islanders WON! Next home game in 2 weeks!

* * *

AND FOR THE PRESENT!!!! A worn out mommy and daddy have battled to survive this past week with Joe recovering post-op. With Joe down for the count and as dependant as the kids while he heals, Sam & Nadia swooped in to our rescue and gave us the day off!!!! Wow- and what a day it was!!! While this mommy & daddy lounged around, watched movie, went for a (very s-l-o-w) walk, and shared an abnormally quiet dinner together, Sam & Nadia immersed themselves in the world of little people. They started at the Texas State Aquarium, and once Donovan had thoroughly doused himself in the "hands on" tidal pools, they changed clothes and locations for the games and pizza of Gatti-Town! Finally they returned with both kids exhausted and begging for bedtime! Mission Accomplished.

Thank you Sam & Nadia for the time out for the kids and the time off for us!!!