Goin' out with Mama!

Every once in a while, when the stars align, Stacey and I get to go out WITH OUT the kids! It's pretty exciting, and Thursday night was no exception. With empty car seats in the back, Z & I with one of our trusty dusty babysitters we headed down to Silverlake to the old Spaceland (now Satellite) to celebrate my best friend, Michael Brown's Birthday!

We saw this awesome band, The Album Leaf, who blew my mind. I don't know if you know this, but I have a little music blood in me. Before I started kindergarden I took piano lessons. I hated it then, little did I know I would later regret begging my mom to let me stop taking them. Now I have an acoustic guitar that I like to play whenever I get a chance. I don't remember the last time I saw a band live, so knowing how hard it is to play the guitar and sing, and what talent it takes to produce good music, I was entranced.

It's always nice to get out w/ the moms too. Even if it's not a romantic date with just the two of us, we love seeing our friends outside of the parent world! Granted we might be those proud parents who only talk about our children and show off pictures ... but what can ya do? We got to see a lot of our friends, some we hadn't seen in a long time. We cherish those moments with our pals.

These are just a few pictures I snapped with the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone. Love that camera! And one last one for the books - me and my beautiful wife! 

Aiiiight, have a good one! :)

The Girls And I Take A Walk! (And Zoe gets Shots!)

I know you all love seeing my face ramble about nothing at all. Let's be honest, the only reason you're here is to see how freakin' cute my children are. I understand that, and am totally cool with it. ;) So put the video on mute, fast forward (is that a term any more?) to the girls and enjoy!

Here's a link to that "controversial" video I was talking about. Here's the video! ;) LOOK AT THAT BEARD! FREAKIN' AWESOME!!


What do you think? Was I wrong/weird/in the clear for posting a video of my child getting shots? Speaking of which, you think she's loud in that video - good thing I didn't video yesterdays ... HOLY CRAP she has good lungs. She kinda knew what was going on too when we walked into the Dr's office... but she was cool. She's a trooper.

The girls are healthy and above average on their growth charts. We are very blessed to all be in good health. Eating right and exercising helps a lot!

Cheers!

-marc

Working from Home

Working from home with 2 babes is not the easiest task in the world. As a photographer / web designer I am lucky enough to be able to work from home and watch my children. The trick? Cordinating nap time!

Putting a 2 year old down for a nap is fairly easy at this point. She knows after lunch it's nap time. I, our 3 month old (TODAY 9/13) is another story. She eats, naps, and wants attention when she wants. We've got her on a great eating schedule (4 ounces every 2 hours) but her nap time comes whenever she decides. Every once in a while I get them to nap at the same time and I get a few hours, hopefully, to work.

Running our photography biz means answering phones and e-mails during the day, editing and uploading photos at night, and cranking out websites whenever I get a chance. Having 2 children does not hinder my ability to run a business, I just have to be very organized with my time. Hard, but not impossible.

One thing I really strive to better every day is giving the girls what they want and need. Sometimes it's important to get off the computer, not answer the phone, and really focus on the girls. Z knows what is going on in her world, and daddy's attention is the best gift I could ever give her. I love them, and want them to know they are loved every day, more than photography and more than web work. But they also have to know that if they want diapers and formula, and fun toys mom can't do it all on her own, daddy's gotta work a little bit too.

Now mix in laundry, keeping the house clean, making lunches, feeding I, and washing dishes and you've got one busy daddy!

Weekends are family time though. Unless a shoot comes in, (which is fun! not work) my weekends are focused on the family. Random mini vacations, park dates and lots of play time take up Saturdays and Sundays as we try to spend as much time with mom and not worry about work.

Now ... when do I blog??? :)

Cheers,

-marc

The Ragged Edge of Silence

If you have 25 minutes to spare, (even if you don't) check out this beautiful video. I admire this man, for taking a 17 year vow of silence and keeping with it! During that time he picked up a paint brush, a citar, and made changes in his world.

I consider myself a "Hot & Sweaty Man" just like his father did him. I'll do something, until I get "hot and sweaty" and then do something else. His silence helped him focus on what was important, and to stick with one objective for long than a few minutes. While I don't plan on going silent anytime soon (as much as I would love to!) I would love to find some way to focus better.

He says towards the end of the video:

"Where was I? I was in this place again, where I was 1 with everything; the planet, myself, grass, with the people, with the deer, and the little critters, all our relations... This is what is going to change the planet, as we understand that we are all the environment and that how we treat each other is really how we treat the environment and how that manifests in the physical world. It's easy to say that if we treated each other with love and respect that's how the environment would be treated. Sustainability is in our relationships with ourselves and each other and I believe sustainability is something that we're going to get to through appreciation of being silent and being at peace with each other."

What are you doing today to make the world a better place?

Cheers,
-marc


1 day & 3 hours left to get in on this deal! 

Kids' Birthday Parties!

Kid's birthday parties are a lot of fun. Tons of 2 and 3 year olds running around hyped up on cake and sugar, what's not to love?

This weekend we went to a birthday party for one of Z's friends, T. T's mom actually invited me to a "mommy group", which is an entirely other blog post. Anyway, it was T's 2nd birthday and there were probably 20 kiddos running around. And get this ... I was the only dad?! I mean - cool, yeah don't get me wrong. I was wearing my chest hair shirt and everything, but where were the other dads? It's not like the invite said "NO DADS!", or "Girls Only!". But, like usual, it was fun to play w/ Zoe and the bunnies so we just kinda kept to ourselves.

Stacey was there too, so we had a great time. 

Now it's time to go out on a much needed date with the beautiful wife. Which reminds me, I need to write a blog post about babysitting! Ohhh so much to say about babysitting.

We hope you're having a great weekend!

Much love!
-marc

p.s. since I posted this (On Friday) we attended ANOTHER grand party for a 2 year old and planned more of Z's! Hard to believe her 2nd year b-day is right around the corner!

p.s.s. I won't bug you too much with Blackwell Photography on here, but we just launched a great deal for actors today on Actor Q. Check it out and tell your friends in the Los Angeles area! Cheers!

Girls Night! + Dad

Yesterday was a fun day for our girls. We went for gymnastics in the morning (confused? keep reading) but we got to go see Mommy at work! The photo above is of Z and one of her best friends. Elmo and "Sasha". Sasha is holding Peary, Z's other best friend so this is one of Z's finer moments!

Just when we thought it could get any better, Z & I got invited to have dinner with the girls! I tagged along to supervise and make sure things didn't get out of hand, but all the girls friends were there! Mmm buddy, it was some good Thai food too! :)

So you thought we did Gymnastics Friday, huh? Or you try to call me out on NOT making my wife a home cooked meal Thursday evening, huh? ;) Well here's a little secret... Sometimes these blogs are scheduled well in advance to make my parenting & blogging life easy.

Nerd meets parent. Bring it on technology. Now excuse me, we have a birthday party to get ready to attend.

Cheers,
-marc

P.S. - Like the blog? Like our Blackwell Photography Facebook page too. It's one of the best ways to keep up with what we're doing in the photography world! If you haven't already, help a brotha out and show some love. Or schedule a shoot, I don't mind either way.

Gymnastics

Z is a master at gymnastics. We took our first class today and she totally rocked it.

I fell asleep for pretty much the entire class! HAHA! ;) 

Stupid ladder in the background ... who put that there?

Cheers,

-marc