Michelle’s Proposal

13 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Family

I had the honor of photographing M’s engagement yesterday. I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this girl, so I was ecstatic to be able to take her photos. M works with Disney weddings, so the proposal was tricky. AJ wanted to propose at Disneyland because it’s a very special place for both of them, but where could he propose that M hadn’t seen before? This was going to take some special planning, so he asked M’s co-worker Traci if she had any ideas. Traci mentioned they were going to be doing some photos in the Dream Suite. She said she doubted she’d be able to sneak AJ in with a photographer, but she was going to see. AJ knew Michelle would love to have the wedding team there, and he knew it would be something different and special for M. It was tricky though, up until ten minutes before the proposal we still weren’t sure if we were going to be able to make it happen. Right before we were about to switch gears and propose in New Orleans instead, the stars aligned and everything worked out amazingly. It was only able to happen in the Dream Suite because of a number of things that came together, so we were really glad when it all worked out in the end.

P.S. She said yes. 😉

Picking up the flowers:

AJ was laughing because a man offered his daughters to him, in case Michelle said no. Yep, his daughters were mortified. 😉

Everyone wanted to know where he was going to propose and if they could watch:

Traci arrived and we all did a little happy dance.

Walking to New Orleans, it was SO WET!

Waiting to see if our plan would work:

Waiting some more in Club 33, because it was too wet to wait outside. Um, yeah. You don’t have to tell me twice (this is when I began to geek out).

At this point, we were not sure if he’d be able to propose in the Dream Suite, so we were getting ready to use Club 33 as our backup plan, but miraculously with a LOT of approval, pixie dust, and Disney Magic, it all came together. AJ hid in one room, I hid in another.

AJ waited anxiously for everyone to arrive:

The wedding team came into the suite for the event that had been previously planned, and suddenly, the clock struck 12:00 and “A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes” began to play.

That was our cue! I came out and snapped photos, and AJ came out to propose.

Michelle seeing AJ, she was very surprised:

Then she noticed I was there taking pictures:

We were all a crying mess:

Our work was done, and it was an amazing day. To make it even more special, our old manager from Fantasyland was there. We were told this probably would never be able to happen again, it was kind of crazy that we were able to get it to happen at all.

*sigh* I can’t believe my good friend is engaged! It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.

What looks like crazy on an ordinary day-

12 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Family

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-looks a lot like love if you catch it in the moonlight. ~Pearl Cleage

Singing their hearts out:

Taking a dinner break:

Fitting way more people at the table than it’s designed for, and having to use a piano bench as a chair:

Knowing who is most likely to drop food on the floor:

Making room for cookies (from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano’s Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar):

Dancing off the calories:

Sometimes happy things can come from sad things.

09 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family

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A month ago, our sweet cat Daphne disappeared. I guess I haven’t written about it because in the back of my mind I was hoping she’d come back. The last time I saw her, I was looking out the window and watching her leap around the grass as she chased a pesky hummingbird. Daphne was never like our other cats, who run a bit on the lazy side. Daphne loved to be outside and explore. We tried to keep her in for a while because she had a habit of wandering around the neighborhood, but she cried at the door for two months straight and we finally decided she was happiest when she could be outside.

The night she didn’t come back, we went looking everywhere. The next day we put up posters and walked around the neighborhood and went door to door. When she didn’t come back for breakfast the day after that, I went to the SPCA to make sure she wasn’t there. I came across a cat that I thought may have been her but it was hard to tell because we were in a dark room and she was in a cage. Little T was pointing and reacting to her though, and she looked just like Daphne. I called my roommate and she brought in a picture. The cat was on the euthanize list, and we were worried to go home and leave her alone so we were at the SPCA for a very long time. All of the markings matched Daphne’s picture exactly, but it was hard to tell because we weren’t allowed to hold her. The SPCA wasn’t going to let us take her, so we asked to talk to the manager and complained. We didn’t want to risk the chance that she was Daphne, and leave her to be euthanized. The SPCA finally agreed to let us bring her home after we had papers faxed from our vet and a photo identification was made by the SPCA. They put the cat in a box and we left the SPCA, nervous that we’d made a mistake.

As soon as we walked outside and we could hear her meow (it was hard to clearly hear her in a room of meowing cats), we knew she wasn’t Daphne. We brought her home to check anyway, and when we took her out of the box and got a good look at her, we were certain it wasn’t Daphne. My roommate M and I looked at each other, we were having an I Love Lucy moment.

We didn’t want to take her back because she would have been euthanized. The plan was to find her another home, but when we got a good look at her we saw that she was really sick and malnourished. I’ve never seen such a sick animal. M had to nurse her back to health with vet visits, antibiotics, and other medicines. We were really worried about the new cat, but she got better and better as the days went on. M named her Boots, and she’s turned into the snuggliest cat we’ve ever seen. I think she’s happy to have food and to be taken care of. M was going to take Boots to be spayed, but then she discovered she was pregnant. We thought Boots was having a miscarriage a week ago and took her to the vet again, but the vet said she was healthy and was only having one really big kitten. We think only one kitten because she was so sick and malnourished.

Boots had her kitten at 3:00A.M. two nights ago. She wouldn’t let M leave her side. She wouldn’t even let M take her hand out of her box. M had to stay up the whole time and make sure she was okay. We haven’t taken a lot of pictures because we want to give Boots some space for a few days so she can bond with her baby, but you can expect cute snuggly adorable kitten pics coming soon. ^_^

We miss Daphne a lot. In fact, I dreamed we found her the other night and we were crying with happiness. A lot of people have said she was probably eaten by a coyote, but M and I like to imagine that she’s found a home with a nice lady who gives her Tuna every Sunday. Ugh, I miss her and I hope she’s okay, but I’m happy Boots and her baby are safe.

Moments I don’t want to forget…

05 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family

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When Little T:

Called all the animals at the zoo “doggies”.
Tried to sneak behind the baby gate and when he was caught red-handed, he looked at me and said, “uh oh….”
Carries a drum stick around like a security blanket.
Goes over to the cat water bowl so he can shout, “NO!” Because he knows he isn’t supposed to touch it.
When he comes walking back from the cat bowl after shouting, with a huge grin on his face while we all clap-because he loves the attention he gets from making the right choice.
When he enthusiastically spits and sputters all over the place, because that’s his favorite part of brushing his teeth.
How attached he became to a random giant plastic deer at Michael’s Craft Store, to the point where every time I’d try to put it back he’d lose it.
How he will grab my hand and remove it from the computer if I dare to use it instead of play with him. 😉
The way he decided during daddy’s football practice, that his little toy football wasn’t good enough and he absolutely needed a real football. Even though the football was way too big for him.
Escapes before bath time and gleefully runs around the house naked. Heh heh.

But most of all, I don’t want to forget that sleepy smile he has on his face, when he walks into the living room after Dada wakes him up and he sees me for the first time in the morning. It’s always a sweet way to start the day.

Disneyland After Dark

04 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Family, The Travels

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I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle:

It’s a Small World:

Before the parade:

During the parade:

Sitting with Grandma K:

Mesmerized by the band:

Taking a dance break:

Watching Fantasmic:

Staying up after bedtime:

shopping…

02 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family

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I go shopping once every 928374897248932748327 years. I’ve had to go a little more lately because I’m running out of clothes (they’re falling apart, that’s how old they are). I had to go yesterday because I have a big photography event coming up and I want to make a good impression. None of my own business clothes fit anymore (teehee), and so I needed to find something that was classy, professional, but sort of stylish and chic….all wrapped into one outfit. Erg, so overwhelming for the person who has had the same wardrobe since 1887.

I felt like Goldilocks and the Three Bears as I tried different things on.

This one was too matronly:

This one was too fancy:

But this one was just right:

It got the stamp of approval from five different people who I’d been texting photos to. Iphones are great. You don’t have to drag friends along on shopping trips, instead you can text them pictures until your little fingers are sore.

That’s what I’ve been up to over here. I have an event that I’m volunteering to photograph with Disney. It could be a wonderful way to help get my photography business up and running. I’ve been waking up at five every morning so I have a few hours to work while Little T is sleeping, and spending all of his naps working too. Our house is a disaster zone, but hopefully the mess and crazy schedule will pay off in the end. Cross your fingers for me.

Thanksgiving Happenings

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family, The Travels

≈ 3 Comments

Fall leaves:

Taking lots of walks:

Enjoying the sights on our walks:

Finding Vegan treats at Charlottes Bakery:

Two words~ Grandma’s cookies:

Watching family play with Little T:

Going to see some Christmas Lights at the Zoo:

Enjoying good Thanksgiving food:

Not being the only ones who enjoyed good Thanksgiving food:

thankful for one of the worst days…

21 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

failed adoption

I don’t know why this has been on my mind lately, but it’s probably because everyone has been writing on the blogosphere about what they’re thankful for. It’s probably odd that my mind wanders to our failed adoption when I think about being thankful, but that day had so many different possible endings, and I’m so thankful it ended the way it did.

Imagine our tension, as Big T and I sat in a labor room of a strange town for nine hours with the hostile extended family of a woman who’d asked us to parent her baby. The extended family wanted the mother to go through with an adoption because her current children were in and out of the foster care system. They were worn out from having to pick up the pieces that were broken from addiction. They were hostile because they hadn’t expected the mother to pick a couple of vegans, and voiced that we shouldn’t be allowed to adopt because any child we’d raise would die from a lack of protein. Things got more awkward when the family left the room and the mother began asking us for money, which we absolutely would not give. Big T and I were stuck in there, unable to leave, and had no way to communicate besides sending frantic texts to each other trying to figure out what to do. Do we figure out a way to leave? Or do we wait to make sure the baby is going to be okay? A few minutes before the baby was about to be born, the mother went into a panic because she was nervous that she did, in fact, know who the father was. She said the father was probably her ex who was in jail. She must have read the concern on our face, because she changed her tune and assured us that the guy in prison couldn’t be the father because she’d had six miscarriages from him and was certain he couldn’t get her pregnant. *sigh*

We wound up walking away from the situation, although I doubt the mother would have placed with us if we’d stayed. Her family was really unhappy with our lifestyle. It would have been better if they could have found parents they were more comfortable with or decided to parent themselves. I do wish they hadn’t been so mean to us, but it is what it is. I think the mother wound up deciding to parent and took her baby home. I still don’t know if she was trying to manipulate us the whole time in order to get money to fund her pregnancy. I’ll probably never know. I think about her a lot though, and wonder if she and her children are okay. I hope she was able to get help, find a job, move in with her grandma, ditch the boyfriend, and be a great momma to her family. I don’t know though, addiction is hard to overcome, and after seeing her family interact it didn’t seem like she would have the support she needed.

The day after that awful experience, I sat sobbing on a curb outside of Graceland, with the Heartbreak hotel sign behind me in the distance. We couldn’t get an early flight home and didn’t want to sit in the condo we’d rented with a bunch of unused baby stuff, so we went to Graceland instead. I cried the whole time and was too sad to care about what I must have looked like. While we were in Memphis, my best friend M cleared the baby stuff out of our home in California, and I gave my mother (who’d flown out to meet us) our car seat so we didn’t have to explain to everyone in the airport why it was empty. It sucked. My best friend M had a bag of tortilla chips waiting for me in the car at the airport, because she knew what I needed when I was down.

The whole thing was crazy znd I still can’t make sense of it. My point though, is that I’m so glad it all went down the way it did. If we hadn’t been contacted because of the mother, we’d still be waiting to go through with an international adoption and never would have pursued a domestic adoption. I’d go through that horrible day a million times over again if it meant we’d have Little T at the end. Parenting Little T is simply the best thing that’s ever happened to us. And for Little T, I am grateful. So grateful.

SoCo Farmers’ Market {Farm to Food Truck Challenge}

20 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by Momma J in Photography, The Adventures of Little T, The Family, The Travels, vegan

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Tags

seabirds, socal family events, socal farmers market, vegan food

Yesterday we drove to Costa Mesa to see the Farm to Food Truck Challenge, hosted by the SoCo Certified Farmers’ Market. On the drive over, Big T, Grandma G and I had a serious talk with Little T. We said, “listen, Little T. Just because they’re going to have lots of amazing gourmet food trucks, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to try everything.” Little T just smiled, knowing that Momma J and Big T are defenseless against good food. Let me just say that being proven wrong by Little T tasted mighty delicious.

From their website:

A farmers’ market inspired cooking competition. Top gourmet food truck chefs will compete against each other to create the best dish using locally grown farm fresh ingredients.

If you’re a foodie, you have to go to this event. I’d suggest getting there a little before the challenge starts so you have time to browse the food trucks and purchase some tasty treats while you wait for the chefs to cook their meals for the competition. When we first arrived, we were happy to see that Seabirds was there. They’re a vegan gourmet food truck that made an appearance on the Food Network in season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race.

I asked what they recommended, and they said we had to try their macaroni and cheese. Um, yeah. It was the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had. In my life.

Seabirds Mac and Cheese

We also tried out their Tempeh Tacos and Beer Battered Avocado Tacos, because we couldn’t just try one! Big T said it was like his tongue was riding a flavor train, all the way to yumsville.

We were too full to eat anything else after that…Okay, okay, so we found room for three of Seabird’s cupcakes.

Tempeh Tacos and Beer Battered Avocado Tacos from Seabirds

Our non veg fellow foodie friends had a freshly made waffle with ice cream from the Waffles de Liege food cart.

While we waited for the competition to start, Little T listened to the music from The Tyler Steel Co. We purchased two of their CD’s (they let us choose the price of their CD’s because they’re awesome like Radiohead) and we listened to their CD for the rest of the day. Little T was especially mesmerized by the drummer.

Little T also had a handmade strawberry lemonade pop.

For the competition, they gave the food truck chefs a list of ingredients they had to use. Once they got the list, they lined up, had to shop for the food at the Farmer’s Market, and then had 60 minutes to prepare their dish.

The Competition Begins

And they're off!

It was fun to watch the Chefs run around the market and quickly pick out the food they needed for their dishes.

While the chefs cooked, Little T said he had something he needed to do. Next thing we knew, we found him hanging out with all the cheerleaders. He kept trying to run off with their pom poms.

He also tried out some new shades:

It was awesome when the competition began. We loved seeing all of the entries as they were presented to the judges.

The Judges

Little T clapped along as they announced the winners!

First Place:

Slapfish
-Lobster doughnut with leek and apple
-Seared Scallop with lemon almond butter and brussel leaf salad
-Santa Barbara Black Cod with a beet-pomegranate slaw

Second Place: Seabirds Food Truck

Third Place:

Taco Maria

Once the competition was over, we decided we needed some more food (hah). So we drove to The Camp and ate at Native Foods.

Little T shook his head at us and said we were ridiculous, while the rest of us patted our full bellies. Mmmmm, what a tasty day it was.

Happenings

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by Momma J in The Family

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Two Christmas card photos sessions:

Little T taking a trip to Auntie M’s room with his new backpack:

All dressed up for a wedding:

Little T loves the drums, which makes me think that our house is destined to be loud.

I finally got my order in for my wedding show booth. At first we were excited, then we were realized we were the owners of a gigantic photo of our friends kissing. Akward?