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!"