Saturday, August 30, 2008

Ryder Approves Blog Post


Ryder Approves Blog Post, originally uploaded by Blue Ryder.

Singing Lullabies

In the two and a half years of Ryder's life, I've found it impossible to sing lullabies to him without crying. I can't ever sing one without my voice cracking, or my eyes tearing up. I've recently realized this when we cut out his evening bottles- we have to find a creative way to get him to bed- get him to wind down, and ready himself for sleep. We've come up with reading, of course...we let him pick out his bedtime story (usually two or three), and he walks to his bedroom with authority and not sleepiness, holding his books like a kid in school hallways heading to another classroom. But he's usually still so awake after a few stories, so I thought about songs that I could sing to him. But I just can't do it.

As I've mentioned before, I've tried. Here are some of the songs that I've attempted. Mind you, I've failed at completing all of them. Every single one. I thought it was hard when he was an infant because he was just so pure and innocent, and sweet. I would just get caught up in the song and in his face and body and toes that my voice would tremble. It's even harder now because when I try to sing a lullaby, he's staring right back at me with big, questioning eyes, sometimes smiling, when recognizing a song, sometimes saying, "mama no!!". Even when he says no, I still tear up. I don't know why.

1. Silent Night. I can just forget about this one.
2. I Give My Life for You (Miss Saigon)- I KNOW what you're going to say, this song might be a little overwhelming for a two year old, but still beautiful. Still makes me cry.
3. Hush Little Mermaid (Backyardigans)- just a pretty melody. Still cry.
4. You are My sunshine. I can sing this to him during the day, but at night as a lullaby, I just can't do it!!!
5. A wonderful World. Iz. Yup. Can't do this one either.
6. And the one that I really want to sing all the way through, but can't, is Tomorrow. Annie.

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow
There'll be sun!

Just thinkin' about
Tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!

When I'm stuck with a day
That's gray,
And lonely,
I just stick out my chin
And Grin,
And Say,
Oh!

The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!

Try singing that to your baby and not crying. And its just not the copious amounts of estrogen I'm on right now, either. I had problems singing lullabies to him from his first day of life. WHY??

Maybe I should try "sexy back". I'll let you know how that goes.

Friday, August 29, 2008

I Miss the Little Dude

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

And Goodnight!

You're My Best Friend



"When everything is wrong I'll come talk to you
You make things alright when I'm feeling blue

You are such a blessing and I wont be messing
With the one thing that brings light to all of my darkness

You're my best friend
and I love you, and I love you
Yes I do

There is no other one who can take your place
I feel happy inside when I see your face
I hope you believe me
Cause I speak sincerely
and I mean it when I tell you that I need you

You're my best friend
and I love you, and I love you
Yes I do

I'm here right beside you
I will never leave you
and I feel the pain you feel when you start crying

You're my best friend
and I love you, and I love you
Yes I do

You're my best friend
and I love you, and I love you
Yes I do
Yes I do...
Yes I do"

I need you to sing this with me!  We'll just close our eyes, and picture all of us together, and rock out.  I'm having surgery tomorrow.  Remember that whole heart shaped uterus thing?  Well, I'm getting rid of it.  No no, not the uterus, just the piece of the heart that is hanging down making my womb an inhospitable place for making babies.  And I'm nervous as all hell.  


The month of August has been crazy.  My day job has been crazy busy with various submissions that needed to go into federal agencies.  Throw in a week trip to Hawaii for a wedding, and then a weekend trip to NYC for M's conference shoot, and now surgery- well, it all has left me beside myself.   Beside myself in a good way, of course.  If I've ever really rocked out, its been this year. And its not even over yet.  It's just August.  I've built Jonas and Luna with the buddy of all buddies, I've gone to Italy and France, and felt love love love everywhere, Ryder got a big boy bed and we got rid of his nightly and morning bottles (FINALLY), Ryder went to NYC,  we saw a beautiful moon and rainbow in Hawaii, I suffocated and squeezed the shit out of my godson, and got harassed by Kevin.  All in all, a good year.  Its funny how a bit of your life flashes before your eyes when you know you're going to be put into a deep, paralyzing, immobile sleep for an hour.  I'm scared.  I need you to sing this song with me.  Will I wake up?  Will I see Ryder's and Scott's sweet faces again?  Will I see yours?  I know I'm being dramatic.  I'm a Leo.  Will we be able to have another baby?  Or will we adopt from Tibet?  

The take home message from this incoherent blog post is this:  Just LIVE.  Just LOVE.  Throw yourself into life and don't stop.  And don't forget to love along the way.   Sing this song with me.  It will make me happy.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Ryder in New York City



This is Ryder in a taxi cab (which are curiously exempt from the federal law mandating any infant or child to be in a car seat) after taking him shopping at FAO Schwartz. You can see him clutching the red FAO bag that holds his new toy. He's officially a big boy now, I think. He survived NYC. He actually enjoyed it and hated being inside our hotel room. He EVEN joined us for a nightcap at a local dive bar. Man. I can hear Jay screaming in my ear, "TILLY! (I've recently realized that he ALWAYS addresses me by shouting my name) You baby him. He needs to grow up and be a man".

Sadly, it feels like that is just around the corner.

Ohana Means Family.



I love weddings.

I love how they bring everyone together, from so many different places, into one space to celebrate one couple.  The power of the love felt is just overwhelming- and I find myself crying at weddings no matter what.  The vibe of friends and family in love is impossible to write about, and I wish I could.  But I can't possibly begin to, so I'll just say this:  Thank you, Nikki and Neil for bringing us all together.  Ian, The Sherp, ForeversleuthingfortastyplacestoeatPolly, Beefcake, the Mench, The Chipmunk, Ono, and the infamous B.O.B and his lil bro.  It was great to see old friends like Rhee, and Sri, and Roy- just madness, really.  All there.  Just soakin it all in.  I miss you guys.  

I love rainbows too.


Saturday, August 23, 2008

From Palm Trees to Concrete!


From Palm Trees to Concrete!, originally uploaded by Blue Ryder.

Standing in line at Magnolia's for the yummy yummy cupcakes!

Monday, August 18, 2008

I Love My Birthday...


I Love My Birthday..., originally uploaded by Blue Ryder.

And I'm usually not a big birthday fan. But this is good. Very good.

My Birthday Rules!


My Birthday Rules!, originally uploaded by Blue Ryder.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Under the Same Moon

Even though we're here in Hawaii, this is the same moon that you'll see wherever you are...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ready...


Ready..., originally uploaded by Blue Ryder.

For the beach!!!!

Monday, August 11, 2008

I Love the Olympics



And Michael Phelps.  This shot was taken after the Men's 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay..they kicked ass, and it was the first time the freakishly tall husband and I literally jumped off of the couch rooting for the US, screaming "GOGOGOOGOGOGGOOGOGOGOGOOOO!!"  This win coming after the French talking smack..he really is just amazing to watch.  

This post comes after foreversleuthingfortastyplacestoeatpolly and I texting back and forth about how much we love watching these games.  Or any of the Olympic games for that matter. She and I could and would sit there all day long in front of the telly, watching the little Chinese girls in gymnastics, or of course, my boyfriend- Michael Phelps.  He's just sooo cute!!  He reminds me of a goofy high school boyfriend.  I dunno.  Its just me.  I could watch him ALL DAY LONG!!   His body is nice too.  

Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Little Howard County Fair



We took the little Lover boy to the fair yesterday! The weather was amazing- low to mid 80's with no humidity, and a nice breeze..it was the PERFECT day to be outside with the husband and the boy, and the camera. Just a stunningly gorgeous day. The Howard County Fair was the perfect size for us, not too big, so not too packed, with perfect little kiddy rides and a petting zoo. Not to mention the usual fair fare- the funnel cake, the lemonade, the hot italian sausages and the fries. And BUNNY rabbits. Hope everyone enjoyed their Saturdays too- as we begin the countdown for Hawaii...

Howard County Fair on Flickr

And PS: I love Michael Phelps.

And PSS: We chinese occupy 1/5th of the world. That's alot of chinamen.

And PSSS: 11:40pm- and the 4 x100 Men's Freestyle Relay....holy shit.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Straight Up d700...



So I did it! I dropped a load, and bought the d700. We went out to do test shots with it today, and you can check them all out on Flickr. This camera is IT for me. It's nice to be able to play with the ISO and white balance so easily, and the image quality is substantially better (in my eyes) then that of the d50. What a huge jump for me- and I'm back to square one as far as learning everything that this little (or not so little) baby can do. I didn't use a spit of photoshop in any of these images, so you can only imagine the final product when I'm done. I'm in L.O.V.E. I'm not afraid to shoot in low light anymore! Read: my living room, any nursery, a hospital room (without having to use the pop up flash with a white card over it), the back den in any house, a dimly lit corner table at a wedding...1600 ISO on the d50 was just maxed out. We're talking 6400 ISO with good picture quality to spare. YUMMY!!!

I was also going to call this post 3-2-1...because those are the ages of the little models! It's just unbelievable to me that Izzy is three, Ryder is 2, and Liv is 1. To see them running, jumping, playing, smiling, pushing, shoving, hitting, and fighting is just sooo endearing, I wonder what they'll be like next year...or the year after that...or the year after that. They're beautiful kids, inside and out, and I'm super lucky to be able to watch them all grow right before my eyes...

Enjoy!

d700 Pics on Flickr

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Well Then, Now its Settled....

I was thinking about buying the Nikon D300 today.  I almost bought it.  But I had wanted the Nikon D700 since they had made the announcement of its release earlier in July.  So, back and forth I went for the last month between the two- trying to decide which would be the better purchase for me.  The D700 is a grand more...and it's a hefty amount of change to spend- but after the research that I'd done, all facts point to the D700 being the better camera for me.  It has everything that I want in a camera- particularly the ability to shoot in low light situations, and HELLO- full frame.   I wish I had the ability to technically explain all of this, but I can't- so, instead...I give you this:  The real reason why you too, should buy a D700......



Unbelievable.