Family of Three

Last summer, on the evening before moving away from California, we took family pictures on our favorite beach. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that we made time to capture our little family at that stage in our lives. Such happy memories! I never shared the pictures because of the great technology crash of Fall 2012, but wanted to share them now before we add another member to our family. I about died going through them again and seeing how much Jake has changed. He is such a big boy now!

Naturally, a few things went wrong that day, like Matt realizing as we were getting dressed right before walking out the door that his pants had been packed and sent to Utah and he only had non-matching shorts with him. So we had to run into a Macy's on the way there to buy pants, which put us just behind enough to hit traffic. Also, my bad hair day. And then where did the sun go? Plus, we thought taking pictures at the beach would be perfect for Jake since he loves the beach so much. However, we didn't take into account the fact that he loves playing at the beach, and more specifically in the water -- not being held and kept dry for pictures. Having Uncle Jordan and Aunt Coley along for the party helped a ton, and our photographer Jylare was wonderful. And in the end, it all worked out and we got beautiful pictures and once those were done, Jake still got to chase some birds and play in the water. And what better way to spend our final night than spending quality time together at our favorite beach? It was lovely.

We have this one on a big canvas in our family room and it makes me happy every day.

Look at that baby grin!!! It kills me.

I took this last one of Jake as the sun went down. My happy place? Right there.

Laguna

We lucked out with the most gorgeous afternoon in Laguna Beach. The plan was to take (belated) bridals/groomals of Nicole and Jordan at the beach where Jordan proposed and where we took their engagement pictures. We showed up at four and spent the next couple hours enjoying the beach and the beyond-beautiful light.

Unfortunately, Jordan and Nicole were busy spending those same hours on the 405 rather than in front of the camera. I'll be honest, it was painful watching all of that perfect photography light fade away without the happy couple. They finally made it right after the sun had officially gone down. It took a lot of creativity with the camera, but we were still able to get some really pretty pictures of the newlyweds. And there are two little teasers of those at the end of this post. :)

Jake found a seashell and started digging/drawing in the sand all on his own. So cute!

Matt + Ash + Jake + Baby Girl (no name yet, sorry!)

Tiny footprints in the sand.

My boys.

 Coley and Jordan:

Saturday in Santa Monica

We spent the most beautiful Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica last month. The temperature was in the 80's, the water was tolerable (for our toes, anyway), the company was perfect, and the baby was loving it.

After spending the morning in Malibu, we met up with the Rozsas for lunch at El Cholo, which is basically the only authentic Mexican restaurant I've ever truly loved. It was beyond delicious, as usual.

Then it was back to the beach! We headed straight over to the south side of the Santa Monica pier and set up shop. But suddenly, Jake wanted nothing to do with it. He's always been a beach lover and had been happily playing in the sand both the night before and that very morning, so his tearful pleas that we save him from the sand took us by complete surprise. It was so random and hilarious, because within five minutes of "rescuing" him, he was begging to be put back down so he could run up the sandy hill after a bird. I still don't get it.

Following his successful bird chasing adventures, Jake meandered down to the water and started walking out into the ocean. I swear, he'd just keep going and swim straight to Hawaii if we'd let him. We weren't really planning on playing in the water (it was February, after all) and hadn't dressed for the occasion, but Jake was all about it so Matt stood next to him and helped lift him over the waves when they rolled in. After a few minutes of that, though, Jake decided he could handle the waves all on his own. He'd stand there as the waves approached, then turn and run away squealing with joy just as they were about to get him. Then he'd laugh, turn around, run back to the water, and do it all again. Jake kept that up for nearly an hour and was the happiest baby in the world the entire time. It was the cutest thing ever.

Jake was doing everything in his little power to make sure his toes stayed out of the sand.

He wasn't quite over the sand episode...

... Until three minutes later, when he was. Who knows.

Jake giggled and watched as his feet sank into the wet sand.

Just look at the pure joy on that face!

Wet jeans. Very wet jeans. Good thing there was a change of clothes in the car, eh?

Jake's audience.

Um, do you see that face? He kills me.