Kenny

Doesn't he evoke memories of a certain South Park character? What's even more funny is that he sounds just like Kenny when he tries to talk.

Every year it takes a couple months for Jacob to adjust to the weather changes that come with the shift in seasons. This past November he was still insisting on leaving the house in a t-shirt and shorts. When he finally got the hang of dressing weather appropriate, this is the extreme form it took. Come summer, it'll be easy to spot Jacob at the playground: He'll be the kid sporting winter boots and a flannel shirt.

The Portraits

Back in November (or maybe it was December - I can't even remember, but I do know that Jeff got us the pictures REAL fast) we got our portraits taken by Zach's friend, Jeff. It had been a few years since we even had portraits taken, but Zach re-did Jeff's basement last year and turned it into a swanky photo studio. Zach had always wanted to take me there to see his work so we had some photos taken while we were there.

We hadn't planned to get so many prints, but they all came out so good that we couldn't pass them up! And again, we're not the kind of people to cover our walls with pictures of ourselves, but this'll probably be the last time for a while that we get official portraits done.

I was a little hesitant to post pictures of the photos in their frames because I'm intimidated by Jeff's superior photography and professionalism and I didn't want him to see the kitschy Target frames that some of the photos ended up in. But it's Sabine and she's so friggin cute that there's a good chance one won't even notice the heart bubbles and pastel lines.

Here are the only frames I originally intended to use - Pottery Barn. I knew exactly what I wanted in them and how I wanted the photos arranged so they'd balance, but Zach had a problem with the way I had one frame going vertical and the other horizontal. Somehow I don't think Jeff would disapprove so I convinced Zach. But there was one detail that neither Zach nor I could get over: The background in Jacob's photo is black and it throws off the balance. We had no choice to leave it though because we didn't notice that detail until we had the prints in hand and next to each other.

These last photos are awesome! Well, the family shot isn't really awesome, but I actually like the way I look in it! So we got a print. The one of the kids smooching is the best! I have to take credit for that one though, I've been training them to kiss for the camera.

And there you have the partial reason why we don't really get portraits done - it's just not worth the obsessing about every little detail I can't help but put into the process. But seriously, if you're in the market for portraits, or a wedding photographer, or a nice on-site photo shoot, or whatever, I'll send you Jeff's info and website.

Halloween

Here's another in a long line of belated blog reports: Halloween 2009 - Dorothy, Pooh and Tigger.

Though Pooh was being quite uncooperative when it
came time for the photos.

Pooh also insisted on constantly removing her socks
and shoes in the carseat.

And here's some of the family on one of
our many, many stops that night.

Overall it was a miserable, cold, sopping wet, rainy Halloween and I was so glad when it was over!

The Annual Thanksgiving Picture

Each year for Thanksgiving we go to Zach's Dad's house. And each year we take a photo of the four men, three sets of fathers and sons: Jacob, Zach, Zach's father, and Zach's grandfather. We've just got a new computer and I don't have all my photos on the new one, so I've pulled these from my flickr page. I guess I don't have the first couple years on flickr, but I do have them somewhere. I think it's pretty cool to see all of them, in the same spot year after year.

A few things are clear from these photos. The most obvious thing being that having kids has clearly kicked the shit out of Zach and me. We look at pictures from just a few years ago and it looks like we're ten years younger in them. Also, one can see that seriousness does not run in the family. Each year it's a little harder to get Jacob to behave for the picture, to just stand there for 30 seconds and act normal. This year I thought he was tall enough to finally stand for the photo, but you'll see below how well that worked out. The jokester quality is also observed in 'Pop', Zach's dad. Every year there's a photo with him grabbing at Jacob, trying to mess him up.

Anyway, Happy New Year. This is one of the aforementioned posts I said I'd get to before the end of the year. Did not happen, unless, do you think it's still 2009 somewhere in the world?

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009