Photo fetish

You may be wondering about my fondness of photographer blogs. I have an addiction- looking at beautiful photos. I have always loved taking photos. My Grandpa gave me my first Polaroid when I was 4 years old. I still have all the first photos I took of him in his garden, the “yard of the month” sign, and a puzzle he put together. I remember being 7or 8 and hogging my mom’s 110 film camera (I think that’s what it was called) at every event possible. It’s too bad nobody ever steered me toward the school newspaper or yearbook. Then I might have realized that I could actually make a career out of something really fun.

I met Farrah Braniff when Lien was a baby; we were in a mom’s playgroup together. She took Lily’s 2-week portraits- stunning!

Morris Malakoff was my sis-in-law’s wedding photographer last summer. His photos were so beautiful and unique that I asked him to do our family photos last December.

We just had our first session with Dwo. He’s is a student at UT and the younger brother of a friend of mine from high school.

Under the Sea

I think Lien will be a doctor or engineer because she understands the way thing relate beyond her years.

Today we were in the car coming home from swimming, listening to the Little Mermaid soundtrack:

Lien- Mermaids can't eat or drink anything.
Me- Why is that sweetheart?
Lien- Because they don't have bottoms, so they can't poop. If they can't poop they can't eat.

Very good point!

It's official...

For the first time in four years I am not nursing or pregnant. I think only another mother who has been pregnant, nursed a baby, gotten pregnant while still nursing (poor Mai got cut off cold turkey) and nursed again would understand the monumental significance of this week, especially since I don't plan on getting pregnant again! Lily has been fully weaned for a week and couldn't care less. It's always nice when something goes better than you thought it would.

My tirade

This is the only stay-at-home tirade you’ll get from me. I wrote it in response to an article someone sent to me:

I’m so tired of hearing “I have to work" if I know someone's husband makes more than mine.

Why can’t women who work outside of their homes be more honest and say something like, “I work to maintain the lifestyle I’ve chosen for myself”. I have to work to live in a certain neighborhood, take a nice vacation every year. I have to work so we can afford to eat at restaurants, buy a new car every few years, have a pool or big screen TV, go to sporting events and concerts, have a lawn or maid service, give expensive gifts for holidays and birthdays, have an expensive hobby like golf or boating, etc, etc, etc. Or, “I work because I love my job and being with my child 24/7 is tedious and exhausting and would drive me crazy.”

Being a stay-at-home is not a luxury; it is a sacrifice. Very few SAHMs I know have money to burn. I don’t eat out, I don’t go on vacation, I don’t even have caller ID. (Actually I eat out one time a year- my anniversary, unless my parents take us to lunch and it’s their treat.) I always accept the offer of hand-me-downs and buy all of my children’s clothes on clearance or second hand on eBay. I don’t get to go to the bathroom by myself, take a lunch break, listen to popular music in the car (usually it’s a Disney soundtrack), or read a book on the bus on the way to work like I used to. I have to deal with tantrums and vomit on the carpet and try my best to stay calm cool and collected.

I do get mentally challenged- beyond having to simultaneously get one child to Karate in the middle of the other’s bedtime, or remember who gets what antibiotic at what time when all three are sick. I’m on the board of the HOA. I plan events and do fundraising for my girls’ schools. I connect with other well-educated mommies whom have also made the choice and sacrifice to stay at home. We talk about politics, religion, sports and the economy (in addition to bedtime, pooping habits and how to get our kids to eat more veggies) while pushing our kids on the swings or refereeing an argument over who had the toy broom first.

I wish ALL women would just say, “I’M DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR ME.”I know there are women who MUST work because their husbands don’t make enough money to support a family (example: firemen, police officers, teachers, or any public service), or they don’t have husbands. BUT, if you work because you like the lifestyle it affords you or because you are passionate about what you do, be honest, own it, and don’t apologize for it. Don’t start a conversation (or blog post) with, “I have to work.”

Tramp Stamp

Please do not get mad at me or make nasty comments if that term offends you. I didn’t make it up – I heard it on Dr 90210. A woman was having one remover via laser.

My 5 year old knows what a “Tramp stamp” is- sort of. She’s knows it’s a tattoo on your lower back that peeks out of your shirt, but she can’t figure out what it has to do with a dog (Lady and the Tramp). I’ve only had a conversation about that particular term with my mom one time that I can remember- obviously Lien’s listening even when I think she’s not. Last weekend my mom bought Lien a fake tattoo in a vending machine at a restaurant and Lien told her, “You have to put it on my arm, I don’t want a tramp stamp on my back.” (As if my mother would have actually considered putting it on my child’s back.) At least she didn’t tell some random stranger, "I see your tramp stamp” the way he told a woman “Your belly is so big”- and the woman wasn’t pregnant.

Everyone else is doing it

Okay, I'll do it, I'll start blogging. It's not that I believe anyone is that interested in my daily life, but my girls do and say funny things that I do want to remember some day.

Yesterday we took family photos with a student photographer- Dwo Law. You would have no idea this guy is a "student." So far I've only seen three of the photos, but they were amazing (click Dwo's name to see them yourself). I'll post a few when I get my photo CD.

When the girls do something funny or sweet, I'll let you know!