Happy 4 Month Birthday Ryenne!

These were taken on the 5th - her 4 month birthday! She was such a good girl and gave me beautiful smiles!

Today we went swimming over at Martin and Debbies house and had dinner and hung out. Ryenne just loves being in their pool. So cute.

Movin On Up!

Ryenne is movin on up... in diaper size that is! Hard to believe my little Ryenne Pepper now fits into size 3 diapers!!! I can't wait to find out what she weighs on the 12th.

She's turning 4 months old on Thursday. Gosh time sure flies!

We had an amazing moment yesterday - I was singing her Twinkle Twinkle and she started singing with me. It was so awesome. I just hugged her so tight. I'm still amazed that she's finally here with us and so thankful. Being a mom to her is definitely my greatest accomplishment in life for sure. I'm in awe of her all the time - sometimes she just takes my breath away - as corny as that sounds.

I took her to the beach the other day and she went swimming in the ocean for the first time. She loved it! It was a beautiful calm late afternoon, and she also liked putting her hands in the sand.

She's starting to realize more and more what her hands can do. She can pet Chico and Dexter, and she takes major interest in them when they're sitting next to us on the couch. She even grabbed Chico's tail!

I'm so excited to bring her to the mainland next month. Take pictures in the snow, have her meet her Great Grandparents.... it'll be so much fun! Can't wait!

My Daddy's Car is Faster than Your Daddy's Car!

Ryenne and I went to the Maui SCCA meet with Peter on Sunday so we could watch him race his car (against the clock). Whoa was it fun!! She liked all the action and was a very good girl! Peter got to race 5 times, he got faster each time. It was a lot of fun cheering him on. Plus he looked pretty darn cute in that racing helmet and Mickey Mouse T-Shirt.

Happy Birthday Taylor!!!

A little late in posting...

Happy First Birthday Taylor Nicole!! We had a great time at your birthday party! Thanks to Uncle James for taking our family picture!



Here's Ryenne showing Uncle Shaun a pouty face!

Do you like my hat??

Aunt Alice May got Ryenne this beautiful hat. It fits her now and she loves it!

Ryenne's Beautiful Dress

Thanks mom for making Ry this beautiful dress! As you can see, she really likes it too!

Happy Birthday Pop!!

Today is my dad's birthday and a very special day. It was one year ago that my little Ryenne Pepper was 'implanted'. I think my dad was my good luck charm because it was his birthday and he was with me since Peter had to work. We had a great time just hanging out. LOVE YOU DAD!

Got some really cute pictures of Ry today, but she's been very clingy and I need to prepare my presentation for my clients coming over tomorrow. I'll post 'em tomorrow.

What the heck is up with movie previews??

Today I was watching tv and this preview for the movie "The Grudge 2" came on. Holy heck it scared the sh*t out of me! And I'm a grown up person!

I just don't think it's right that movie previews can be so scary and be televised during the day when small kids can see it. Comedies, romance, sure... show it in the daytime. But something that is frightening shouldn't be shown when kids can see it. I'm not saying don't advertise the movie, just please keep the scary clips away!! If I wanted to see scary stuff I would go to the moview - BUT I DON'T! So please just don't show it!!

Ok... now off to bed. Hopefully I don't have bad dreams cause that thing looks SCARY!

Holy Macro Lens Batman!

I had been wanting a macro lens for a while to get detailed ring shots at weddings. So we bought one and Peter was tinkering around with it while I was feeding Ryenne.

Ok... I don't mean to brag or anything, but don't I have the most beautiful engagement ring ever??

We had QUITE a day today. Me and Patrick (my brother in law for all you who haven't met him) took Ryenne and Landon to town today. Poor Landon had to have his shots and Pat didn't want to go alone. Lets just say the two of them had a yelling, crying, and screaming contest on the way. Those two got some lungs on them!

Didn't take any Ryenne pics today. But will soon in the beautiful dress that my mom made for Ryenne. Of course I had her in it and was gonna take a picture, but she puked all over it.

Daddy's Girl

Ryenne has such a handsome daddy!!

Big Smiles!

Smiling after I tickled her. I'm just loving all the faces she's been giving me. I wake up to her beautiful smile every morning.

Sitting on the Couch

Ryenne sat upright on the couch today - leaning against a pillow of course. But isn't she just so cute??

The Sweetest Furball Ever

I just love this picture of my sweet Ryenne in the bathtub - this was inspired by her furry ears. =)

Being cute tonight!

Went out and bought the new Canon 5D - amazing!!

Ryenne was eing cute as usual today. Here she is smiling at daddy. More later - it's late!!

Crib Time!

I call this one "I'm a Drool For You"

Lookin so cute trying to roll over.

Ms Cutie Pants

Wonderment

Ryenne is playing (briefly) on her little play mat. Glad I got in a shot while she was still happy!!

My lil Skinny Dipper

She loves swimming! I think she was mad because I pulled her out of the water for the picture! hahaha (don't mind my sunburn!)

Some Updates

I'm a little lazy to load in the newest set of pictures off the camera. It's 11:15pm and I'm just taking a moment to myself to work on some clients pictures and unwind a little.

Ryenne has rolled over on her own once. She was actually really pissed off about it! hahaha - She was in her crib and was very mad that I put her their. She rolled over and since she hates tummy time, it made her even more mad to be on her stomach! But it was a milestone nonetheless!

We had such a wonderful day today. Leizl and Steven came over and me, Peter, Ryenne, and Leizl and Steve got breakfast and went swimming in Martin's pool. Ryenne just loved it. She went skinny dipping and kick-kicked around and loved the water as usual. It's so awesome how much she loves the water. We'll make plenty of beach trips for sure!

I'm a little bummed because I don't get to see my mom before she goes to the mainland tomorrow. She'll be gone for a little over a month. So Ryenne will be a whole month older and lots bigger I'm sure!

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!!

Ryenne & Landon's Baptismal

Ryenne and her handsome cousin Landon AKA "DonDon" had their blessing/baptismal on Saturday morning. It was a lovely, HOT, day at the beach followed by a fabulous breakfast!

In Memory Of Chris

The world is less one beautiful person today. One of my clients, Chris Carter passed this morning. He and his lovely wife Erin were married in April. Peter and I had the privelege of photographing their wedding - just the two of them and the two of us. They were seriously one of the most in love couples I have ever met.

We're very sad to hear of his passing, and send Erin and both of their families our deepest, sincerest sympathies.

It's amazing how fragile life is. Someone once told me before I was married, "Never go to sleep upset with your spouse. You never know what's ahead.". Although this can be taken as a bit morbid, it's so true. And I've put it into practice ever since. Life is too short to be upset, to hold grudges, to fight. Kiss and hug your loved ones daily and always make sure you tell them how very much you love them!

My big girl...

Here's my beautiful lil girl smiling so big! And her Johnny Jump-Up which I put up for her today and she LOVED! She had so much fun putting her feet on the floor - and she figured out how to turn herself all the way around.

Peter took me out to Vino tonight to celebrate my 26th birthday. It was on Monday but he is off tonight so it was so nice going out to celebrate! I had the most awesome scallops and pasta and nice glass of wine. Mmmm!

Foxxy Grandparents

For Aunty Aura!!! Here's Ryenne with her foxxy grandparents! =)

We have a water baby!

Gosh sorry it's taken me a while to post. It's been a BUSY week!

We took Ryenne into Martin & Debbie's pool the other day. She LOVED it! They had bought her a little bathing suit, and although it's marked 12 months, it fits her, and she just loved being in the water. Such a good girl - so now I know on a HOT day she won't mind going into the water. Yay!

Here's a funny story for you all... on Monday I had a photo shoot in Paia for a senior girl. Her mom wanted me to bring Ryenne and Peter along to hang out. So I'm on the beach, and I hear, "Help! Mariah!" and I come running... Ryenne had made a HUGE doodoo all over Peter. There was no way that wipes were gonna do the trick, so I asked my client if I could use her sink to hose Ryenne down. I'm sure that's a memory they'll take home with them... hahaha

Yesterday was my first wedding back to work. It was great, but definitely it was hard being away from Ryenne for 8 hours. We have another one tomorrow, and then a couple weeks off.

I Forgot!

What a dork I am... I forgot to post her weight! She is a healthy 12lbs and 8oz! Growing nice and big...

Time for Shots... ouch!

Yesterday Ryenne had her first set of shots. Poor baby was already upset because she hadn't made doodoo in a while, and then she got poked and prodded for her check-up and last had her shots. I was so glad the nurse was fast, but still, she cried her head off. I was even tearing up watching her. It looked like she was in so much pain.

She cried herself to sleep, and she looked so darn cute I just had to take a picture of her.

She had a fever all day and was pretty fussy, but she sure felt better after she was able to make doodoo. Sorry... I guess only a mother can be excited for her baby when they make doodoo! haha

She's doing much better today. Woke up with a beautiful smile...

I got a smile!!

Ryenne has been smiling for a while, but it's always at a time when I can't quite grab the camera. I guess cause usually she's smiling right before she's about to eat! LOL

She loves bathtime, so since Peter was off work, he was able to take a picture of her beautiful smiling face. The smile turned upside-down though when bathtime was over.

Ryenne is 9 weeks old!

Gosh another week already? Seems only yesterday I was reporting that Ryenne is 2 weeks old. LOL. Boy how time flies!!

I've started work again. This morning was my first photo shoot and I left her with Peter for about 3.5 hours. It was the longest I've ever been without her. And all I could do was think of her the entire time! But of course, she had a great time hanging out with her Daddy and ate nicely when I got home. He'll have her again this evening and tomorrow morning, as I have three sessions in only two days! Wow!

Off to go edit images... gotta squeeze as much work as I can into the few work hours that I have...

A Couple More Pics

8 Weeks & Growing!!

Well, I'm a little late in posting her 8 week pictures. We moved back to Napili on Monday (when she turned 8 weeks!). I am SO GLAD that we hired movers to move everything over.

But still, even with the movers, it was a lot of hard work. And again, my mom came to my rescue to help me out (THANKS MOM!).

We're now in our old place, and it feels so much like home. There are so many little things that were nice to have again. Ryenne is loving our big old fashioned sink for her bath. I think she already wants to swim!

The past few days have been a little rough on me. Ryenne is fussy pretty much the entire day and it makes it hard for me to get anything done. But still, with every cry and tear, I think she's just the sweetest baby.

We had a great visit with Auntie Anita and Cousin Aaron yesterday. I did Aaron's senior portraits and it was nice getting back into the photo groove. I have 2 portrait sessions next week and a busy week after that as well. And then Ryenne has her 2 month doctor appointment also! Wow... gonna be so busy!

Whoa Marlin!

Congratulations to my bro Nick and Tyler, Pat & Kai on the amazing Marlin they caught today!!

7 Weeks Old!

Here's a picture of Ryenne having "Tummy Time". She doesn't like being on her tummy very much. She gets cranky after a few minutes.

She has now starting liking her swing, which has been great because I can actually cook for myself! WooHoo! She continues to say "A-Goo" in the sweetest voice and smiles at me and Peter a lot.

She's starting sleeping a tiny, tiny bit more at night. I haven't felt as fatigued, but let's just say I'm still tired!!!

She just woke up...gotta go!!

Goin Back to Napili

So we're going back to Napili! I'm excited to have a bit more time with Peter (and a little more sleep since he can watch Ryenne more - hehe)

I'm gonna be small kine bummed to be far away from my family again. Sometimes it seems like the West Side is a whole different island. But I really think it's the right thing to do.

I have been cleaning/organizing like a mad woman over the past two days. I'm in purge mode - getting rid of anything that we don't need. I already have about 7 garbage bags full of donatables and I haven't even gone through half the house yet! Once I get all of that out of the way, I can start packing things that need to go into storage - I rented a storage unit. And then we can move all the remaining things back to Napili. My strategy is to keep things simple. I am tired of being surrounded by tons of clutter. After going through so many things, I have come to realize that Peter can be somewhat of a pack-rat. hehehe. I know he'll read this and say, "I am not!" - but yes you are! =)

Ryenne is going to wake up anytime now... gonna rest for a few minutes. =)

6 Week Old Cutie Pie

Our First Date!

Peter and I had our first date night without Ryenne on Saturday night! We went out to Vino in Kapalua and had some excellent Italian food. Of course, pretty much the only thing we could talk about was Ryenne. It felt different not having her with me, even though it was only for an hour or so.

Having difficulties renting our condo out. People are taking applications, but I haven't gotten any in the fax or mail. Our house in Haiku is still a while off, since we're not selling the condo. So I'm really torn as to whether to stay in Haiku or move back to Napili. If we stay in Haiku, we have the beautiful scenery, Peter has a cover for his car, my parents are here, and there's a great restaurant down the street BUT, Peter is gone so much that I feel like I'm all by myself all day and night. When he finally gets home from work, he's tired and goes to bed.

If we go back to Napili, we'll have our beautiful condo, but the yard is small for the dogs, the neighbors are on the other side of the wall, BUT we'd save tons of money on gas and Peter would be home more. It's a really hard decision to make. We're both on the fence on this one.

Ryenne is 6 weeks old today. She is saying "A-Goo" and smiling a lot. It's the most awesome thing ever. Every week I'm seeing more and more of her little personality coming out. It's so amazing. I'll take a picture of her later to post.

5 Weeks Old!

Little Miss Monkeybuns is 5 weeks old! I tell ya, the weeks are just flying by. She is growing like a little weed. She's started smiling and cooing. I just love it. She stares at me and I like to make her smile. Won't be long before I'll get a little laugh too.

I took her and my mom to the bridal fair on Saturday. It was a LONG day, but she was such a good girl. Not too much fussing. I was so proud of her.

Breastfeeding is FINALLY getting to be the way it should be. We had a full day of it being pretty rough when I decided to take the breast shield away from her. We had gone to town and I had forgotten it and then when she got hungry she wouldn't latch on. I didn't want that to ever happen again - so we went through a day of complete breastfeeding battles before she got the hint that the breast shield wasn't coming back! So now she's latching on like a normal baby and it's going so much better. Huge sigh of relief for me!