1/31/2011 - Growing up

The little one spent some time chilling after getting his diaper change. He is changing so much already. More alert, more awake at times and getting bigger each day.

1/30/3011 - Brotherhood

Finny insisted on holding his brother. He is getting used to his new role. Really good at multitasking. Watching his DVD while cuddling is his newest trick.

1/29/2011 - Eyes wide open

Baby boy starting to get more alert. We caught him with his eyes open.

1/28/2011 - Peace

The first couple day after birth, the baby is so peaceful and sleepy. Nothing feels better than the weight and warmth of a sleeping baby!!

1/27/2011 - New Life

My 2nd son was born on the 1/27/2011 at 5:36 pm. He is beautiful and healthy and lovely. The most beautiful picture taken yet this year.

1/26/2011 - Toy Parade

From 1/25 thru 1/26

Finn is a total Virgo. He likes all of his toys and cars lined up in a specific way. Tonight we are spending the night with the grandparents to prepare for the early morning induction of baby number two. So, Finn has the run of their place with tons of different toys to play with. He enjoys taking all of the toys and perfectly lining them up on the couch. Today Harold the Helicopter leads the parade.

1/25/2011 - Butternut Love

From 1/25 thru 1/26

As of now, no baby yet, but lots of good cooking to be enjoyed. I got inspired to make my first Butternut Squash Bisque. It was pretty darn good if I may say so myself!!

1/24/2011 - Playdate with Baachan

Finn is savoring his last couple days of being the sole West Coast Grandson by spending some much needed quality time with the Baachan. I had to head to my final doctor's appt prior to the Induction on Thursday of this week. That boy has his grandparents wrapped around his little finger (as he should) and enjoyed infinite snacks, juice, toys and goodies. What a life! Enjoy it now kid, because baby brother is on his way and I have a sneaky suspicion that this child will inherit the same Kelsey charm.

1/23/2011 - I wish they all could be CA skies

Ahhh, gotta love the 60 degree January Sunday afternoons. The sky is blue, the sun is shining. Not a worry in the world. I realize how spoiled we are to experience springtime weather in January. And I will thank the universe each day for that!!

1/22/2011 - Backseat Driver

Finny woke up early enough from his 2 1/2 hour nap yesterday to still have daylight enough to play with my best friend outside. Their newest and latest Evil Knievel move is to ride on the back of moving vehicles while their friend is driving along. Dylan, being a little bit older and thus more adept can do some crazier moves, while Finn tends to get his feet dragged or run quickly behind the car while Dylan speeds around the carport area. The only way I can get a uniform expression out of them is to have them both stick their tongues out at me. Such cute little stinkers. I had to use my antimotion blur mode on the camera to be able to capture the moving tots otherwise it would have been a blurry mess!

1/21/2011 - Looks good enough to eat

So, in an effort to prepare for the imminent arrival of baby Liam, I decided to do some cooking today. In addition to the lovely oatmeal raisin and citrus chocolate chip scones featured here, I also made a delicious batch of homemade mac and cheese. It smelled and looked pretty fabulous. Unfortunately, I cannot partake in any of the treats above until the baby comes, but my hopes are that they will keep well in a freezer. My next endeavor, if I am feeling up to it, will be butternut squash and sage lasagna. It's a little bit intimidating of a recipe, but I just might get the nerve to do it!

1/20/2011 - Self Portrait

Today was the first time that I tried out the self timer. The family pictures being unsuccessful because of a hyper little toddler, I decided to try taking them of my burgeoning belly which is soon to be much smaller as soon as the little one decides when he would like to escape the comfort of my womb and adventure out into the world. Jesse was an amazing lighting tech for this.

1/19/2011 - Chuffing along

My inspiration came today from Finn's train setup. Mavis, my favorite engine was my cheery subject of the day. She chuffs along the track similarly to how we are chuffing along waiting for the baby's arrival. All aboard!!

1/18/2011 - In his father's eyes

Finny, Jesse and I had a spontaneous glasses photoshoot this morning. There were multiple hilarious and adorable shots, but this was probably my favorite!! Finn will look super handsome if he needs glasses someday! Everyone in the immediate family has them (I rarely wear mine).

1/17/2011 - Living on the dietary edge

So, as with my first pregnancy, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Though for the most part, it is not so bad, (less weight gain, healthier eating for the baby) there are definitely some challenges to GD. Mostly, I can't indulge in certain foods that are too "carby". So it's been about 3 months since I had pizza, pasta or ice cream. Tonight, I felt like living on the edge and we ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza. I made sure just to have one slice ... didn't eat the crust ... ran around the house for about 20 minutes afterwards doing house cleaning to burn off some of the blood sugars!! And I passed my blood sugar test with a 124 (need to be under 130). Though it was rather high, it still was low enough to be within range. Oh pizza how I loved you and how worth it you were!! I'll see you in 2 to 3 weeks when the kid finally arrives!!

1/16/2011 - Seriously Cute

When dealing with toddlers, I find it is rather challenging to get both to have the right expression at the right time. All I wanted was for them both to give me a little smile, but the best I got was the "don't mess with me" staredown. Even with the serious looks, I find them both irresistably cute!!

1/15/2011 - The path less travelled

We ventured out for a family picnic near Lake Chabot. Following a lovely and yummy picnic lunch, we took a stroll through the walking path. Crazy that in the middle of January in CA you can walk around in a tank top and actually feel rather warm. It was about 69 degrees and sunny. Such a perfect day and a lovely walk with a chance to get out and take some nature pics. Jesse tends to have a better eye for this, so I definitely used his suggestions to get some cool nature shots. This is definitely a departure from my norm for photography. I am someone that prefers to take photos of people and less so of inanimate objects. It's been a fun little challenge.

1/14/2011 - Animal Magnetism

Jesse gave me an assignment today. I took Finny and my nephew to the Oakland Zoo today. Jesse requested that I take some animal facial expression pics. These are two of the many pics taken today. Not surprisingly, animals are even harder to direct than a 2 year old toddler.

1/13/2011 - Manual Focus

The hubby gave me an assignment to actually use the manual focus feature on the camera to take a picture of my sole winning game(as of now) of words with friends on my ipod. Never manually focused a camera before, but I don't think it's too bad.

1/12/2011 - Preppy New Do

Finn's Auntie Kim gave his a haircut the other day and after his bath tonight, he let me comb it. Such a handsome boy.

1/11/2011 - Fatherhood

We had such an eventful day today, that I didn't get to take too many pics. We got our 36 weeks ultrasound of Baby Kelsey #2. He is quite the looker. Looks so much like his papa. Eagerly awaiting his arrival in the next 2 1/2 weeks!! This is my attempt to get a papa/Finny pic. Instead I got the back of Finn's head and a Jesse looking elsewhere. They are the two boys that I love the most in the world. That makes this pic perfect for me.

1/10/2011 - CA Dreaming

Love this shot of Finn. He looks so wide-eyed and dreamy. This was an interesting photo session. Trying to capture the same expression in two toddlers was virtually impossible. When Finn looked smiley, Kai looked tired or sad and vice versa. Love this pic of Finny though. Super angelic!

1/9/2011 - Dad Gum, now that's a closeup.

One of Finn's many current obsessions is Pixar Cars. He has amassed quite a collection of Pixar toys, large and small. This is a closeup of his Mater Tow Truck. It farts and makes hilarious comments about bad gas. Rather tasteless, but slightly funny. I figured that Finn has already been featured so much, that I would do an ode to my lovely child without actually featuring another pic of him. Getting used to take pics with the macro feature on the camera. This pic came after multiple blurry blurry photos. I'll figure it out sooner or later.

1/8/2011 - Indoor vs Outdoor lighting

Jesse is teaching me about white balancing. Outdoor natural light tends to make things look a little whiter, while indoor light tends to make things look a little more yellow. Kinda cool!

1/7/2011 - Korean Celebration Feast

Celebrating my last day of work, first day of maternity leave with delicious Korean food. Love the small plates. Beautiful colors and delectable flavors. If only photos could have the same scents and flavors.Virtually impossible for this rookie photographer to capture.