So grateful!

Ben is such a happy baby! Steve and I have been so blessed with Benjamin. Everyone comments on how happy and calm he is. And since I have no idea really what other babies are like, I'll take their word for it! He continues to amaze me. It's strange, when I was reading (and still am) those baby books and seeing what the phases are, it's so amazing to me when he actually reaches that phase! I kinda go "Wow...picking up food!" or "Wow...he's crying a little more for mommy just like the book says he will at this age..imagine that!"

These photos of him are so important to me. I don't want to miss a moment of it!! Even moments like these...Taken on July 24, 2011

And these....My little boogie man! Taken on August 21, 2011

Boarding fun!

Lately I've been obsessed with storyboards! Usually, I'll pick out a few shots that I've taken and single them out. Now, I'm totally into grouping them together for a storyboard! There's just something special about seeing a group of shots together that really make a story(board!)

Here are some recent ones...

My sleeping (sweaty) baby! I just received my new 100mm 2.8 lens and I was testing it out! 

Taken on August 14, 2011.

Here Ben was just learning and discovering his new toy all by himself! Usually his dad and I put toys that go in the center of the spinning toy-thing (haha) but on this day, he did it all on his own! It seems like such a small feat, but to me it was amazing! 

Here was a Cheerio that stuck to his chin after lunch for sooo long!! Haha...I quickly grabbed my camera before it fell off!! Taken on August 17, 2011.

These pics were actually taken by Ben's dad Steve. Ben is exactly 9 months old :)

Taken by me on the next day August 25, 2011. Ben has 6 teeth and is VERY proud of them! He is so intrigued by these new things too! During the day he loves to grind them...eek! When I took these he had a horrible heat rash and it freaked me out so much I stayed home from work just in case! Hey, I'm a new mommy!

I love these storyboards! But most importantly, I love the stories :)

On a "photography side note," I'm now on my second photography workshop! I've completed Shooting 101 in June, and now I'm currently taking Shooting 201! It's amazing that I can actually SEE my improvements. I've been making myself get critiques (okay, only one so far) but I'm doing it! Along with posting in the Picture Share sections of the forum. Sharing helps build so much confidence since you tend to think that NO ONE thinks your stuff is decent and an affirmation is always nice. I've also signed up for Natural Light 101 for September and I'm really looking forward to this class! Now all I have to do is get out there and do some more shooting!!

Skip and hop!

Since I'm just starting this blog now, I'll be "flashing back" to Ben in younger months (he's 9 months old now) and mixing it up with the here and now!

Several months ago I joined an AMAZING photography community called Clickin' Moms. This website has helped me leaps and bounds!!! I still have a long way to go, but wow, I know with the help of these amazing women, I'll get my photography skills to where I want them to be! I've taken tutorials and currently, I'm in the middle of one right now! I'm in the Shooting: 201 course. Shooting 101 was such an amazing eye-opener that I had to take the follow-up course and I also plan to take Natural Light: 101.

Since Clickin' Moms was the first photography forum I belonged to, I wanted to see what other forums were out there for me to gain more knowledge! So last week I joined The Bloom Forum! I'm just starting to get my feet wet in that forum, but I think I'm gonna like it there too.

I can be really really shy and insecure about my photos, so I had to promise myself that I would MAKE myself get critiqued and participate in challenges! My first photo challenge was the theme "Flight."

Here was my submission taken on August 15, 2010:

I don't think it was too bad, but I know I have a long way to go and learn! I'm really hoping to sharpen my composition skills because I know I'm lacking in that area.

Ben's firsts...

Bringing Benji home for the first time was nerve wrecking! But thank goodness for all that researching I did! Not only was I all stocked up on diapers and wipes (I am just now catching up to my pre-baby buying diaper stash!) thanks to Amazon's amazing deals! We had everything we needed...and then some! My sister threw me an amazing baby shower where I got everything I needed!

Now all there is left to do is wait for Ben's firsts....

One-day-old Ben's first Thanksgiving (in the hospital!)

Notice my amazing Photoshopping skills! (haha!) I love that vignette!

Ben's first Christmas!

Ben's first visit with Santa Clause!

I wish we caught his first smile on camera, but I was so busy enjoying Ben and hoping that it was indeed a smile (and not gas!) that I didn't think of my camera. 

Ben smiling at two months old

Sometimes living in the moment is the most important thing!

Ben's first shots! January 24, 2011

I cried on this day more than he did! I never thought I'd be one of those moms, but WOW, once I saw him scream a silent scream and then burst into tears, I couldn't help it! The thought that he had NEVER felt anything like that before in his short life of 2 months crushed me! But he was such a trooper! The very second I lifted him off the table and into my arms he stopped crying, me on the other hand...it was a couple of minutes after lol!!

First Valentine's Day!

First St. Paddy's Day!

First Easter!

(He's gonna hate me for those bunny ears!!!)

My first Mother's Day!!

First tooth comes in!

Well, here we GO!

This is my very first post! Now, I'm not the best writer or a very good photographer. At all. But, I'm starting this blog and really, really hope I can keep it up, with the hope that one day my son Benjamin (and future kids after him?) will be able to see a chronicle of our little family! 

I also want to document my journey with photography. I'm just starting to shoot in manual mode and my hope is to one day be confidant in my photos.  :)

Now, Benji is just shy of 9 months old, so this blog is a little delayed. But I can catch up! I'll just be doing a lot of flashbacks. :)

Back story. 

My husband Steve has a Pentax DSLR. At first I wasn't into it that much, I mean, yes, I LOVE photography as an art. But just as a spectator! I never really thought that I could ever produce images, not me. 

Then, a couple years ago it happened. I found The Pioneer Woman and I was hooked! The images she produced were amazing! And she made me think that I could do it too! (And, hello, along with some mighty fine recipes that she got me cooking as well!) I was grabbing at his camera every chance I got and he was very annoyed! haha!

I finally took the plunge and got my very own DLSR! A Nikon D90. It was glooooorious!! But...I stayed in auto mode. The thought of manual was wayyyy too far off for me to even consider! I had the mindset of, "This camera takes awesome photos in auto, why would you EVER go to manual?!" Even an old co-worker who's a professional photographer agreed with me. Lies, I say!! :)

So, fast forward a year or so and BAM! We're pregnant with our son Benjamin!

I was the most neurotic pregnant woman ever! I was so worried that motherhood wasn't something that would come naturally to me -- I. was. scared.

I researched my butt off! I think I read about 5 books on everything baby! It totally consumed me...and I was a total nut-case. And of course it rubbed off on Steve a little too. (fyi, this is the ONLY time he read any pregnancy/baby information haha!)

Now, don't get me wrong. I had a great pregnancy! I got sick, maybe, two times? No crazy swollen feet, no gestational diabetes, no crazy weight gain. But...no crazy cravings either! I kinda did want that. I wanted to HAVE to wake Steve up at 3:00 am to go to the store for that thing I HAD to have! But no. It's okay though, I'm a mellow kinda girl, and I love all kinds of cuisines! :)

I had the fortunate opportunity to take the last month off of work due to California's maternity leave benefit. It was great! I didn't have to wobble around the office in my giant state, but wobble around the apartment in the comfort of my pjs.

I wanted to get some nice maternity photos, but never really got around to them until the last minute. I wish I saw the amazing maternity shots that I know of now instead of these that we took ourselves with the camera timer! Oh, if I could have seen the potential beauty of maternity photography then. I was so self-conscious of my weight (even before pregnancy) that I didn't see the beauty in it. I just thought I was huge!

Oh well, this is what we got two days before I was admitted into the maternity ward. Something is better than nothing!

Taken on November 22, 2010 (two days before Ben was born!)

And then, BAM! Benjamin Aaron Brandt-Garma was born on November 24, 2010!! :D

Taken on November 23, 2010 (10:49 pm at night, just got admitted!):

Taken on November 24, 2010, 7:24 pm (21 hours of labor!...sorta):

One of the most amazing moments in my life is when the nurse finally put Ben's face up to mine right after his delivery and I said, "It's mommy." And he opened up his swollen, sleepy eyes so wide as if to say back to me, "Oh, there you are!"