Time heals all wounds. At the time of the hurts, though, it seems like it will never end. When we suffered the miscarriage, I went into a bit of a haze, not really living, but more of a shell of my former self. I had a lot of self doubt. But then, I picked up my camera again and it felt like reconnecting to a long lost friend. I started shooting more and more pictures. Instead of focusing on making a baby, I decided to take on a newer project. We officially launched 13bfoto a few short months later and before I knew it, we had bookings! Not just portraits, but bridals, engagements, and weddings. And I had lots to learn (still do)!

Last year on this very day, Don and I were headed off to East Texas to shoot our very first wedding together. I didn't know it, but soon our lives would be forever changed and we'd make some amazing friends who would later become like family. Thank you so very much Vickie for bringing such bright goodness into our lives. We are so very blessed to call you our friend! (and thank you for trusting us with such important days too!)

We were shooting Vickie's son Matt...

and his bride Destinee...

for their special day at the East Texas Arboretum. The backdrop couldn't have been more amazing!

Congratulations to Destinee and Matt, who celebrate their first wedding anniversary tomorrow! I can't believe it has been an entire year!

Happy Birthday to Destinee's mom Blanch!

And a few short months later in June, we were headed off to Mexico to photograph Vickie's other son Joey and his bride Stephanie. Congratulations to them because they will be expecting their first daughter soon!

Fast forward to now and we are anxiously awaiting the project that I took on this year: a baby girl. I get teary-eyed at the thought, for all of the reasons, but especially because I remember the looks on the faces of the mothers to their children. One day I'll also get that look too. But for now, I'm going to enjoy the dress up time, the imaginative play, and all that comes with being the parent to an infant. The Lord has truly blessed me and I'm ever so grateful for everything and all the lovely people in my life! Thank you all for supporting me and believing in me!

Oh and yes, we still do photography too! :D

Winner! Winner! PLUS A GIVEAWAY!

Remember when I wrote about cloth diapering? Well, shortly thereafter, Charlie Banana was running a sale on their value packs, so I ordered 2. This next dozen will grow with Tesla from when she's born to when she's done with diapers. Because I ordered at that time, I was entered for a chance to win a $500 Grand Prize or $250 Second Prize. I secretly hoped to win, but like most online contests, I wasn't that optimistic.

A week after I placed my order, I received the diapers. They came from Hong Kong!!!! This is the first international item I received, ever. I felt special.

Immediately upon receiving them, I washed all of my cloth diapers in preparation of Tesla's arrival.

After they were dry, I resized them to the extra small size and packed them away ready to be used soon enough. Well, today, I received an email. I thought it might've been a joke until I checked their Facebook page:

Wheee!! (Sorry for the poor capture and my awesome drawing. I'm using a new capture tool and still learning it.) Talk about a super score and not at all an April Fool's Day joke. I was so very, very excited!

I'm making my wish list of everything that I would like, BUT because I like to share the wealth, I'll be giving away 2 ONE SIZE DIAPERS of the winners choice (up to a $40 value)! Bianca, how do I win? Great that you asked, I'm so happy. Here are three easy ways to enter: Be sure to enter a comment for each entry on my actual blog, not via Facebook. Winner will be chosen using Random.org. Be sure to leave your email address so I may contact you if you win.

1. Enter a comment here stating which diapers you would like to win. 
2. Tweet or FB about this contest & link your post.
3. Follow my blog and/or twitter (biasia)...if you already follow, state it.

Contest will end April 4 in the afternoon sometime. Good luck! Thank you again to Charlie Banana!

Everyday Food

I was a subscriber to Everyday Food for a couple of years. I loved getting it each month and planning out my menus. I figured it saved us quite a bit of money because I was able to not only menu plan, but cook items that were in season. Score, right! Well, they increased the price of the magazine and I just wasn't comfortable with spending the money any more because after a couple of years, I kept forgetting about the magazine and not utilizing it.

However, I did save a years worth and they are on my shelf in the kitchen next to my other recipe books. Tiny post-it flags peeking out over the tops and edges where I bookmarked my favorite recipes. I recently found myself going back to my Everyday Food zines in search of recipes. I know many of you are all fancy with your iPads and other electronic devices that hold your recipes, but I'm still old fashioned in that sense. I LOVE recipe books, especially the ones from the women's group at churches. Yeah, those are awesome! I digress. I like holding things in my hands and seeing the page of what I'm making. I particularly like Everyday Food because when usually include a list of what to buy for a weeks worth of meals. Makes my life a lot easier.

Sidenote: I do visit their blog for inspiration on the food dishes as well. This will be especially helpful when we have a new mouth to feed in the house! Less thinking about and more doing, with proven tasty meals!

Anyway, I received an offer to come back to them for a year for only $10!! Score. I quickly filled out the information and signed up. Bonus that I now have access to their online recipe index from 2003-2010. WOW! Not so great that I wasn't paying attention to the auto-fill box. I'm now known as Bianca Last name. hilarious!

Whatever, I'm still excited to get my magazine! I can't wait.

**I was not compensated for this review of Everyday Food. I just like their product and this review is my own opinion.**

HDMR: Love & Other Drugs, Life As We Know It, & Due Date

I've watched an inordinate amount of movies lately, but I will narrow down this HDMR to some movies that I told myself I was going to wait to watch until after I had the baby, but 'eh, we all know that sometimes I have the patience of a gnat. I guess all of these movies could be classified as "chick flicks" maybe? Who knows. Anyway, on with the reviews...

Love & Other Drugs
Ok, this movie is centered around two highly attractive people, both of whom spend the first part of the movie in various undress. And then it takes a spin and well, it got entirely too serious. I was in the mood for a mindless comedy with fun and whimsy. Well, it kinda started out that way. Very cliche, but like I said, it started to take itself way too seriously. Maybe that's what it was meant to do, I'm not exactly sure. However, there were also gaps in the character development and too many details that I wanted to know, but they went unanswered. If the movie was just the first half and kept its momentum that way, then I suppose I would get something that was like A Lot Like Love or the upcoming Friends with Benefits. Oh well. It was ok, I guess it was worth the "free" rental, but honestly, when I had to get up, I didn't pause the movie. I just wasn't that engaged. I rate this a jello pudding snack.

Life As We Know It
First off, this movie WILL pull at your heartstrings if you are a parent. At some point or another, you wonder "what if" when you have a child. Who will they live with and who will raise them in the event you and your partner separate. This movie does a really great job of putting that question front and center...and be sure to let those people know that they are in your "what if" plan. I like Katherine Heigl. I didn't like her and then I did, and then I really liked her in Knocked Up. She plays type-A so well! Josh Duhamel is his typical adorable self, not deviating far from his typical roles. However, Josh Lucas was channeling that awesomeness from Sweet Home Alabama. *sigh* There were some believable real-life parts in this film (and some over-the-top overacting), which every new parent can relate to. You know the ones I'm talking about, where your life has switched from everything that you remember it being, but then nature takes over and you are immediately reminded why you've made those sacrifices. I enjoyed this movie. Not enough to buy it, but I did enjoy it very much. I rate this devil's food ice cream cake.

Due Date
I rented this movie for two reasons: Robert Downey Jr. & Zach Galifianakis. I love them both and I was curious to see how their on-screen chemistry would be. I found myself feeling sorry for Zach's character and having that uncomfortable laughter. Kinda how it was during The Hangover, but multiplied by 5. It was just awkward. Robert Downey Jr. played his character like a typical straight edge type-A executive. Most scenes were uncomfortable because of circumstances surrounding the way it was set-up. Especially if you've ever been the victim of gross exaggeration and miscommunication. There was one scene that was absolutely hysterical, though! Don and I were both gasping for air because we were laughing so hard. Basically, RDJr is trying to get back to his pregnant wife for the birth of his first child. ZG acts as someone who gets in his way of getting back. You will also see the likes of Jamie Foxx and Juliette Lewis, who both do a fun job. It's worth a rental, sure. If just for the random dog and his "talent." I rate this some homemade upside down pineapple cake.

The Fence, The Fence!!

This past summer, Don started to put up our fence. In this video, I show a bit of our backyard. Don has recently started blogging, and wrote about the fence install in a bit more detail. Here is a video I captured of our backyard renovation. After watching this, I realized that I need to take a final video of our backyard update and plant my tomato plants (especially since our dove has made her return)! Anyway, here is a before video of our backyard (sorry for the wind):



Check out Don's blog over at The Competent Dad to read all about it. While you're there, you should become a follower! :D

Mom Was Progressive

As I'm just that little bit closer to Tesla's arrival, I'm doing all I can to be comfortable. One such suggestion was using a birthing ball (or an exercise ball). I've been balancing, sitting, bouncing, stretching, and resting on it. My hospital has a birth ball for me to use, so I've been looking up ways to utilize during birth. I love it! Seriously, I love the way my back has been feeling.

Anyway, I was talking to my mother and she told me one of her birth stories. I don't remember if it was during my sister's birth or for mine, but anyway, she said she was at the park playing with the kids (which is totally like my mom) and riding a hippity hop. Do you guys remember those things? I loved mine! She wasn't aware that she was in labor. She had an inkling something was going on, but disregarded it and continued playing. All that bouncing around on the ball helped to open her hips and with the descent of the baby.

Here I am years later, bouncing on my own ball, channeling my mom's laboring adventures. I think it is a pretty great connection.

March Loves

I was inspired by Elise's I love march. post, so I figured I'd do my own. Mine, you will notice, is quite a bit different from hers, but this is currently what I'm enjoying!

1. Bella Umbrella $129...first discovered at A Graceful Home. (Kristine has impeccable taste!)
2. BOB Revolution Duallie SE $629...gifted to me by my wonderful sister to help me Motivate it Forward!
3. Peach Cobbler $4-$8...I can't seem to get enough of this stuff. I seriously need to make a batch for myself. Oh and peaches, I have been loving me some peaches!
4. Red Mango Fro Yo $3-$5...I love their apricot and white peach flavors with 6 Cap'n Crunch, lots of blueberries, almonds, granola, and a few fruity gummy bears
5. Lily Pads Silicone Shields $20 or so...ok, so I haven't started using this yet, but I remember LOVING them the first go 'round that I have a pair packed in the hospital bag for the birth!

Do you all have anything that you are lovin' this month?

Maternity Pics with Tesla & Mari

The weather here has been quite delightful, so we've been spending quite a bit of time out and about walking. So much so that I've nearly logged 1000 calories burned just from the walks, so that's pretty amazing! Especially when you consider my goal of getting 400 a week. Overachiever much? No, not hardly. I guess you can just say I've been beyond stir crazy and needed to get out and soak up that awesome Vitamin D!

Well, one such walk, we actually brought the camera to grab some photos of the Sugarbean playing with Tesla...ok, not quite. Maybe some maternity photos for me. I know, I had some others made, but I really wanted Don to capture some of me.
Mari learned to sign I Love You a while back. Recently, though, she's asked me to "kiss" it with my own I love you. Here's an I love you kiss:

This is me in full on laugh...a rare candid moment captured, indeed:

This one was probably my favorite of the bunch. I would like to print it off larger and hang it in house. You can notice a kite flying just above my head. Also, isn't the Sugarbean's hair so long! I love it!

Here's a close-up of my belly. These were taken about two weeks ago, so I have dropped a bit and Tesla has grown some. If we have some time, we are going to try to get a couple more images this Saturday. We'll see. I hope we do because I don't have any with Don in them!

Those of you down South, are y'all doing anything fun to enjoy this amazing weather?

Baby Shower

In the past two days, I've painfully noticed just how pregnant I am. I'm not complaining just stating a fact. Let me paint a story for you. Imagine waking up for your day and you stretch, but then all of a sudden your leg cramps up and you try to bend over to rub it, but realize that your belly is larger than a basketball and somehow during the night you have gained 30 pounds. The cramp starts to get worse and actually passes on to your foot. You get creative and use pillows or lingering stuffed animals that your small daughter has placed in your bed as leverage. But then you need to go to the bathroom and just getting up is proving to be a task that you don't remember requiring a warm-up. Out of breath, you are upright, you stand to walk and your legs feel like jelly and there's small pain in your side. Kinda like that pins and needles tingle you get when one of your limbs has fallen asleep. But you walk because all of a sudden, you haven't had to pee more in your life than you have in that one moment. You continue to walk and it feels like a giant bowling ball is in between your legs and for whatever reason, you are doing your very best to not drop it. All that to say, I'm enjoying every single minute of it!

Anyway, we threw our very good friend a baby shower. She has elected to not know the sex of the child, which made it that much sweeter! Don't you just love that beautiful baby bump?

Here's a preview of the baby's nursery:

I love throwing a good party, especially a shower. The food was super yummy!

Here's the cake. It wasn't until after I cut into it that I discovered it was an ice cream cake. This is funny because I had left it out to "thaw" because I thought it was a regular cake that had been refrigerated. Ooopsie!

You would have thought I might have guessed something was wonky by the corner fail when my hand squished it. But yeah, I didn't know. That cake sure was divine!

We didn't really want to play too many shower-y games, but we did play a baby shower word scramble. This seemed like something that everyone could do without embarrassing the mom-to-be. If you are interested, I'd be happy to share it with you!

Here's some of the awesome gifts she received:

And look, she likes the the homemade boutique blanket I made for her:

Isn't she beautiful?

Congratulations Cam! Can't wait to meet your blessing!

Motivate It Forward

What once started out as a half dream turned into a reality. It started with my Mom. When I had Mari, the seed was planted and I participated in our first race. Don had noticed that I'd been logging quite a few miles with our regular travel system stroller, so he purchased an adequate jogging stroller with lots of gadgets that I would enjoy. I was particularly fond of the built-in speakers, which would connect to any of my music devices or any video player to enable sound. Since I was still a budding runner, I didn't know much difference between what differentiated the different jogging strollers. I just knew they were a lot easier to maneuver and run with than the travel system stroller.

Then one day, I went for a run with my friend and I had immediate stroller envy. Hers was extremely lightweight and seemed to fly! I'd seen these in the race and had been drawn to them. I remember later researching them when I got home and completely dismissed the thought because quite frankly, the price point put it waaaay out of our budget.

Fast forward a year and we bought a bike trailer, the Trek GoBug to be exact. They offered a stroller conversion kit, but we didn't purchase it online when we bought the trailer. We figured we would get to that later. Well, later came and during that time, Trek quit making the bike trailer and the conversion kit! Here we are on the brink of another child, and we find ourselves not only short a double stroller, but also with a single jogging stroller and two children. hmmm...

Again, keeping finances in mind, I'd searched for something that would be adequate. Mari isn't much on riding in a stroller any more, but she will ride when I run longer distances. I already have my first post-baby 5K scheduled, so all I needed was the right gear. Not to worry because worst case scenario, I'd use the ol' travel system to walk and Don would push Mari in the jogger. This, of course, saddened me a bit, especially because this was mine and Mari's race. We'd done it together every year.

And then my sister's generosity totally took me by surprise and to say that I was humbled with gratitude is an understatement. Meet BOB, our Cadillac of joggers. This stroller is nearly everything I wanted. I need to purchase the tray for the handlebar, but everything else is EXACTLY what I wanted. Lightweight, folds compact, fixed wheel, with the option for a swivel, dual sun shades and recliner, easy brake, adjustable handlebars, and not too loud of a color. (Bonus that Don/Tesla added some nifty running socks for both me and Tesla...SCORE!)

Sam believes in me. She's a fantastic big sister and one of my biggest supporters in anything that I do. I run. She runs, swims, and bikes. She has encourage me to add swimming and biking. I have  agreed to do a triathlon in September with her, but for those first few months, I will be concentrating on running. With BOB, Mari & Tesla in tow, it won't be long before I find my stride again.

Thanks Sam! I love you! I hope I can continue MOTIVATING IT FORWARD.