Flying Solo

Yesterday I officially shot my first wedding solo- and it was such a wonderful learning experience. Joe and Emily are just about the sweetest couple out there and we were really lucky to have such beautiful (but slightly hot) day! Here are a couple pictures of the day, and then I'm headed off to bed- WOW, shooting weddings really takes a lot out of you! My legs are so sore today it's not even funny! If you want to check out the rest of the "preview pictures" I uploaded feel free... http://picasaweb.google.com/lmditore/EmilyJoeSWedding

Clark's kickin' it old school!

After getting the hang of the super easy bum genius cloth diapers- we decided to try the old school ones! They're nice and breathable in the hot summer months and look so darn cute on his little bum- plus, less laundry is always ok in my book-

Cute Boys

I know I say it over and over again, but I really can't believe how fast this first year is flying by. Clark is HUGE now, and I know he's not going to get any smaller. Sometimes it really seems like yesterday he was a tiny little peanut that wanted nothing more than snuggles, and now he's this independent crawler that is completely content exploring everything and will only allow me to cuddle him right before bed. I know the years are going to continue to keep flying by so we're just trying to enjoy each moment and each stage because if we just blink our eyes- he's onto bigger and better things...

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup-

Rich and I made an old fave for lunch the other day and decided to let Clark try it too and as you can see by the pictures he was in LOVE. The cutest part is he would take a little bite of his grilled cheese and then feed me too, seriously.

Welcome to the World baby Lola!

Yesterday morning little Lola Rose Hernandez was welcomed into the world. Parents and baby are doing beautifully- Congrats to the new family, we're SO happy for you guys and can't wait to meet your new little blessing!!!

we've been MIA!

SO sorry about not posting in a long time! Between my camera breaking and my laptop getting sick it's been somewhat of a challenge- so I'll make up for lost time and try to post some fun pictures this week... Here's a snapshot of Clark, clearly he's mad that I haven't updated in a while!

I just can't resist another one...

Oh, wait- we're back up again? Ok, it's all good!

Thanks!!!

Grandma, Grandpa & Great Grandma... my new jammies outta this world!

Coming to a PBK near you-

July 24th Pottery Barn Kids will have Star Wars bedding and you know who's all over that... Thankfully they don't make it in "king" size so it'll have to go in Clark's room not ours :)

Rock Band

Friday night we got together a good group of our friends for a little Rock Band party. For those of you not super familiar it's a game through XBox or the Wii where there are "instruments" and you actually get to play the song (and sing!) which is pretty dorky and fun. The evening was a blast! A few of the more spirited guests went in costume and there was even an afro present... and that afro left little chunks around the house- reminders of a fun night. So once all the wine and beer bottles were put away and our house looked nice again a little piece of afro would spring into the mix and make me laugh. That afternoon when I thought I had tackled all those rogue chunks I was changing Clark's diaper and noticed some afro in between his toes. Nice.

Beth came by earlier than all the other guests to hang with the little guy, which was so nice for us to be able to straighten up a little before everybody arrived! This is actually taken with my "old" Nikon D80. The lens was broken and it took me several tries to even get the picture this focused in manual- so needless to say there weren't any pictures of us actually playing Rock Band although rumors of a video are out there... Luckily we had the 4 year insurance on my lovely camera, and due to some miscommunication at the store we were given a brand new one, and didn't have to wait for it to be shipped off and damaged out. Perfect. I have no idea if I could tolerate it being gone again for a couple weeks!

The Ball Pit

After the fun time at the Magic House we decided it would be fun for Clark to play in a ball pit in his own home... SO, we borrowed one from his cousins to try out and he went nuts, as you can see from these pictures!

He actually threw this ball, although I think it was a total accident- still what an arm! Taking after his daddy already...

Mr. November

So one of my favorite bands of all times came out with this shirt recently and I had to order it. Mr. November was the first song of theirs I fell for (thanks Heather Black!) and it's so approperate in this context. Sorry Jeter, there's a new Mr. November this year :) And as a bonus, all the proceeds go towards funding his campaign- If you're interested in one for yourself check out The National's website: http://www.americanmary.com/ Great band, great song, great shirt!

Splash Pool

The park right by our house has a fantastic large splashing pool for the little ones to play in during these hot summer months- a wonderful little urban oasis. Clark loved every second of it too. All he wanted to do was crawl around though and it made the tops of his feet a little raw so next time we head back we're going to have to get some kind of aqua socks for him! And for our little splasher the small fountains were a hit. Although he looks very serious in these pictures he was having a blast. He would put his face right in the center of the fountain, pull back, flap his arms around all excited and then stick his face in it all over again!

Clark getting his feet wet. If you can see the large grassy area through the pavilion that's where the Tower Grove farmers market is on saturdays-

Splashing is very serious business!

SIX teeth!

So the little guy broke though yet another tooth- He's been drooling like crazy and chewing on everything so it was no surprise when number six made it's debut. In honor of the mouth full of teeth Clark already has I picked up this nifty thing at Whole Foods- hilarious rubber tipped finger tooth brush and "yummy" organic strawberry banana edible tooth paste. Nice. The funniest thing is he really LOVES getting them brushed and giggles the whole time...

The Magic House

Here in St. Louis we are super lucky to have a couple of the top 10 children's attractions in the country right in our backyard... This weekend we took Clark to the Magic House for the first time and he was in love (so were we!) He was entertained for HOURS which is a lot to say about a 9 month old-



Look at that little face!



Clark loved playing with the big kids in the large lego pit!

Growing boy!

Clark is in love... with HIMSELF!

Ok guys, I'll be over here-

Clark loved the ball pit so much he actually started to cry when we took him out!

The brilliant thing about this photo is he was actually checking out a little girl :)

Hold on guys- that can't be right!

Peek-a-boo!