Today we went on a family outing to Balboa Park. It was a beautiful, picture perfect day...literally :) So I took about 200 pictures and I just thought I would share our day with you! Enjoy!

Today has been slightly unproductive and thus provided me with ample time to mess around with my camera yet again. We started off our day with a family outing to breakfast. We hit up DZ Akins around 8:30am and haven't done a darn thing since. Chris has done a little editing for some lady and Livvy and I had our daily photo shoot. She was not too cooperative today and I ended up with a whole lot of sad, crying pictures. Eventually we had a little talk, she was able to pull herself together and get serious :) Here are some of the pictures I got...go ahead, laugh.

Our family cat, Mac, passed away shortly after Christmas last year. This was a very hard time for our family (Elder family), especially for my mom. Mac was unlike any other cat and was my mom's best friend. If you knew him, you knew he was beyond special, he was a lover, a healer and a member of our family. When he passed away from a sudden and tragic illness, my parents had him honored by placing his ashes in a beautiful wooden box. My mom also made a beautiful shadow box to keep his memory forever alive in our home. Not a day goes by where we don't all think of him. Christmas was Mac's favorite time of year. He absolutely loved the Christmas tree and always slept under it's branches. This year, my mom bought him his very own tree to stand tall over his ashes. We know it made him very happy. Here is a picture of his Christmas setup! We love and miss you Mac! Christmas just wasn't the same without you! Here is also a picture of him healthy and happy at Christmas time last year...so handsome!

Olivia got her highchair for Christmas and mommy set it up for her today. I thought she could start to join us for dinner at the table :) Well, she certainly thinks she is pretty darn cool sitting in her big girl chair. She literally hung out in it for about an hour. She, unfortunately, watched Oprah and would not take her eyes of the TV...hence the pictures with her looking away. Just thought I would share the pictures of her in her chair, thinking she is such a BIG girl! Oh and an update on my camera situation from earlier today...the 3rd camera SUCKS too! It has the same problem the 2nd camera did. I give up. Apparently I have beyond good vision that I can find all these flaws! Lord help me.

Seriously, I have the worst luck with expensive, important purchases. As mentioned in other posts, I got the Canon Digital Rebel XTi for Christmas and starting using it in early December. By the time Christmas rolled around, I was already onto my 2nd camera because the USB cable broke off in the the camera body the first time. Well, the day after Christmas, I noticed that my 2nd camera had dust all over the sensor that would not come off with the auto sensor cleaner in the camera! WTH is the point of the auto sensor cleaner if it won't clean the sensor?! So I call Canon technical support and they tell me to return this camera too and get a new one. So...I call 7 different Costcos and they are all sold out except one store. So I drive all the way there, exchange it for the last one in the store and what do you know??? When I get home, the camera appears to have been opened and possibly returned because the camera is missing all of the original tags that should be hanging from it! So, I am currently charging the battery to more than likely find that this camera is damaged or screwed up in some way. I am beginning to think I am crazy or just have HORRIBLE luck buying things. The camera appears to be undamaged, but with my luck...it is probably totally messed up. Wish me luck on my 3rd camera....hey 3rd time is the charm right? That's what happened with my Chanel sunglasses and now I have been wearing them for 3 years and they are still going strong!

Christmas ended up being a bit of a bummer due to Olivia suffering from a 3 day fever and a major bout of drooling and fist eating. It broke my heart to see her feeling so horrible! On Christmas eve she was a so lethargic and limp that I broke down in tears. Obviously this was her first illness, so it was hard on mommy! It is such a horrible feeling to not know what is making her feel so bad and to not be able to fix it for her! I ended up holding her in my arms for almost the entire 3 days. My poor baby! Now I know what love really is! I would have taken her pain and suffering from her in a heartbeat just to see her tiny smile again. I am so thankful to have my happy baby back! Here are a few pictures from our Christmas vacation in Santa Paula/Ventura. Enjoy!

Well, in about 15 minutes, Olivia and I will be on the road to Santa Paula yet again. At least we get Christmas this time! Dad (Chris) will meet us up there tomorrow cause he has to work. This trip is bittersweet because it is the last time we will be home for a while due to my return to work on January 2nd. This is a major source of sadness for us, especially me, and we must make the best of our special holiday time together! I never thought I would dread my return to work so much...but I do and it is far worse than I ever imagined! I wiil conclude this with a picture from last nights tummy time. I wouldn't want to disappoint our readers!

You Are a Snowman

Friendly and fun, you enjoy bringing holiday cheer to everyone you know!

Today is a VERY beautiful day and I decided to pack up the Bumbo seat, the baby and the camera (surprise, surprise!) and took a ton of pictures! She is so easy to take pictures of right now...she can't move and she always looks cute! These pics crack me up...Christmas in San Diego, sunshine and all! Enjoy our baby girl :)

Well, the Hazard wedding sure turned into a high school reunion with only the people you really want to see! It was like having all of our best friends in one big frat house...it was honestly great. I just wanted to share some of the pictures I took at the wedding. It truly was a special weekend and we were so happy to see all of our friends and family! Can't wait for the next wedding guys...who is next?!

Since purchasing my Canan Digital Rebel XTi, which was supposed to be my Christmas present, I have gone snapshot crazy! If you know me, you know that I have zero patience and that I don't care for surprises....so I started using my camera the second it arrived in my home! Over the weekend I was at a destination wedding in Palm Springs and I, of course, had my camera on my shoulder the entire time. It was at this event that I was titled the "Photo Mom"! I just can't help myself! I want to capture every moment with my friends and family...every second that I share with them is precious to me! I recently set up shop in my front yard and around the house...I took about a zillion pictures of Olivia. Here is the outcome! Enjoy my little model :)

I have been meaning to start a blog for a loooong time...it took having my beautiful baby girl to really inspire me. Olivia is the most precious thing on the planet and she amazes me with her cuteness everyday. She has been such a blessing in my life, I just can't help but want to share her with everyone...but only through a blog because I am far too selfish to share her in real life :) I never believed in luck, till the day we made her. Just look at our Christmas card...could there be a better present?!