Driver

Bath

Have cold, no insects

Yesterday on NPR's All Things Considered I heard a story that really made me sad. The thought of pretty little song birds starving had me up last night. Apparently migratory birds in the midwest are starving due to the cold snap. I found this guy's blog, which has some photos and interesting info on the topic.

If you have snow now, please put out some food for these little birds!

Mrs. Doubtfire

Mrs. Doubtfire is our new babysitter, or nanny, or surrogate great aunt or something.
She came for two hours today while I raced through two sets of client proofs.

She's 65, wears glasses, drives a van, and has 16 grandchildren.

She says words like Cutey Patootey and knows all the children's books we have almost by heart.

I was never a serious babysitter as a kid, tween or any other age so I was totally unprepared for what a serious babysitter, nanny, surrogate aunt with 16 grandchildren expects from a mother.

She expected things, things I did not provide or even mention. oops.
Through the office vents I could tell she was running out of tricks around minute 30.

Come to learn, the location of food, milk, diapers, wipes, are pretty important things to know. (relax, I had just fed, changed, napped and nursed him).

Mrs. Doubtfire is coming again tomorrow. :)

Happy Easter, Spring, Passover, What-Have-You

Just an impromptu Xander portrait as we raced out the door to Bainbridge Island yesterday. Too bad we left his shoes on and that the backdrop didn't extend out to cover the carpet--I have the cats to thank for that. They peed and pooped on it when someone accidentally left the cat door locked while parking a motorcycle in the garage. At least they went on the paper backdrop instead of the carpet.

Scary Gym

My gym is scary.
It's a super pish posh place and almost everyone working out is employed by The Empire.
That said, it's a good thing I don't go too often because the level of swank-i-tude creeps me out. (Example: They have a monthly magazine that gets mailed out to all members. There are quite possibly 35 advertisements for cosmetic dentistry, 49 for laser treatments, 17 plastic surgery clinics, and a handful of diamond jewelers)
I've made a point to wear 'non-workout' attire when I work out--it's my own form of gym rebellion. Today, I wore maternity gauchos (no, I'm not pregnant) and a t-shirt that says "I'm a Super-Duper Programmer" (Alex refuses to wear it) and grey tennis shoes with bright white socks.

Another random bit: We had to introduce ourselves in the class I'm taking and tell where we worked. After awhile I felt like I was in a twelve step program. After 20 or so "Hi I'm Joe and I work at Microsoft".

Old School

Hey, Look! It's Me

I'm a mom on the block at TheFamilyGroove.com

1. Yes, I did write the blurb
2. No, it wasn't my idea to right about blossoms, it was the groovy peoples'
3. I'm wearing goggles not because it's the latest in grooviness, but because they are my onion chopping protective gear

Some Shots

Lego City

Chuck, Charlie, Poppy, Dad

Baby Sloth

I'm not much of a tv watcher but youtube, well... it's my new favorite haunt (ya, I know, I'm totally behind the times).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vakWAogvl90&mode=related&search=

Attack of the Xander

HELP!!!

He's mobile!!! Just yesterday he was rocking, reaching and grabbing. Today he's crawling, scooting and standing up on all fours, like a dog.

He's also taken to pulling himself up on his crib and standing.

I can't put him in our bed to nap by himself anymore. I went upstairs today and he was sitting up in bed. When he saw me he laughed.

He's also decided he likes to bob up and down to music.

His third tooth came through yesterday.

Today he went to day care at the gym while I sat in the sauna. He loved it. I snuck in to see what he was doing. He looked at me blankly and then turned away to resume his squealing and jumping 'en exersaucer'.

Lord help me.

The Many Faces of Xander

Boys always get the lashes



A tribute to Zoolander


Braving new terrain to get at some dirty socks.


Mobile and Damn Proud



Hohum

Belly, with hopes for Bellies

I did my first maternity shoot and added a new gallery of some of these images to my website. Yes, it's the same woman over and over again--good thing she's so cute.

I have a few more of these shoots booked so hopefully I can diversify the gallery.

Send bellies if you know any :)

Xander Foli, 6 Months Old

Light

On top of it all, I'm taking a 4 day (non-consecutive Saturdays) workshop at PCNW with Rosanne Olson. It's called Poetry of Light--good stuff.

On the subject of light, I found this little YouTube on light , which I quite like.

At Capacity

That's what I am--I can barely keep my head above water with photog stuff, which really isn't that much, but when you combine that responsibility with the boy, the husband, the cats, friends and the stuff I have to do (like going to the dentist and having all my silver fillings replaced-can you see?) ...... HELP!

NANNY NEEDED!!!

Victor Kofi Mallet, Entrepreneur

My brother-in-law, Victor, was featured on NPR's Marketplace. Check out the story here

Be sure to order some of his pickles online--they will rock your world.

Here's the link to S&C Gourmet Foods

My Momma, My Baby

Childrens Gallery Added

I changed my website to include a children's gallery. Check it out if you want to see some cute faces. http://www.christinamallet.com

Going Back

The house I grew up in is up for sale. My cousin saw it on the market and forwarded on the info. In a moment of nostalgia and 'wouldn't it be great', we decided to go see it--that was yesterday.

Off we went, to old skool Redmond, the Redmond before Microsoft, ticky tacky developments, and strip malls. The Redmond where my parents bought a house for 25K which is now selling for $459,000. The Redmond of bears, (yes, there really were bears) and endless walking trails loaded with blackberries and salmon berries. The Redmond where I sneaked a cigarette into the woods and was found by a buck with a huge rack who looked at me with great concern.

Okay, so I'm romanticizing true, but it really was great. Now, not so much.

The house my parents worked so hard to make an amazing home is now a dud that needs serious work. Examples of my parent's commitment to this house: My dad salvaged huge beams and bricks from the old Bon Marche store to make a giant hearth; they had custom pine cabinetry made for the kitchen and study. You get the idea.

The people that live there now have destroyed the place. They ripped out all the fruit trees, they burnt down the kitchen and put in new cabinets, they haven't painted or cleaned in years because they were too busy stinking the place up with cigarettes.

It would be a great 'Flip' but I'm too emotionally attached to consider doing that.
So, I've decided to leave my house to my memories.
Sometimes going back just isn't a good idea.

Kinder Klass

This past Saturday we attended our first kid class, Kindermusik.

Notes to self:
Don't ever be caught dead saying this sentence, as one proud father announced to the class, "SusieQ went tinkle in the potty."

When attending Kindermusik with the husband, maintain a firm grasp on the child so that when we are doing the required free style dancing to the song Skiter a dink a dink a dink, Skiter a dink a doo (or however the hell this song goes) I don't have to dance around by myself. Dancing like a dork when you have a baby in your hands is cool. Dancing like a dork solo, not so much.

If I employ a singing voice, god help us, even the most mundane tasks become fun, at least for kids. Cleaning up is even fun! So much so that I can't get the song "clean up clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do their share" out of my head.

There is a reason I avoided primary school teaching (my dirty secret: I have a masters in education [clearly $ well spent given what I'm doing now] and taught middle school for three years--proof is here) and singing all day and being cutsey wootsey is the reason. But I'm selfless now, right? It's not about me anymore, so I grin and bear it.

Old Skool Hoopty

Twins

A List

If you're a lawyer and I contact you to help me set up my LLC and you give me a quote, an expensive one, that includes things I don't want or need, and I ask to you remove these unwanted parts from your legal package, don't be lawyerish and insult me by telling me you don't do 'cafeteria' style business. Dude, you so give lawyers a bad name.

If you live in Seattle you should be wrapping your pipes and protecting your plants because the weather is so very frigid. People, it's 38 degrees outside, you want frigid?--move to Boston.

If your an animal lover, living in Seattle when it's 'frigid', you'll be happy to know that the weather and news people will tell you to protect your pets from the outdoors.

If you are going to spend thousands of dollars on studio equipment, have a baby in-tow, and want to deal with men who look at you like you're not a professional photographer but probably something along the lines of a scrapbooker, then I suggest this place.

If you want fast, reliable service and never have to deal with rude camera know-it-alls, then I suggest B&H.

More Porridge Please

Xander Foli stars as Oliver Twist

Bubbles

Vertigo, From Long Ago

From our hotel in Cambridge, Pre-Seattle, way back in October.

Happy New Year!

What do you expect the New Year will bring you?

For me, I expect:

1. That I'll continue to be tired ALL the time.
2. That putting on something clean, free of baby spit-up, will continue to be like dressing up and noteworthy enough to include in a blog post.

3. Photog work will continue to stream in.

4. That next year I'll have to get off my scroogey @$$ and decorate for the holidays and wrap xmas presents in the appropriate manner (I'm the world's sloppiest wrapper).

5. That Mallet 2.0 will be in the works.

6. That Xander will walk before he's one and continue to be the cutest child I've ever known.

Have any resolutions?

Mine are dull as cardboard but listing them here might force me to actually follow through.

1. Go outside once a day--baby cabin fever is hard to shake without leaving the house.

2. Exercise for at least 20 minutes a day--as much as I'd like to think carrying an 18lb pound baby around is a workout, it's not.

3. Cook something new once a week because the staples in the Mallet home are as bland this blog post.

Baby Rides Wild Turkey

See him here

Dental Spa

What a relaxing day I had at the dental spa. I mean really, what mom doesn't look forward to sitting in the dentist's chair for a good 40 minutes, interruption free? Staring at the light of above and being taken care of, oh how relaxing.

Tootsies

Tooting My Own Horn

Check out Christina Mallet Photography's new online digs at The Elite Photographer's Network, aka Photograpik.org

Toot Toot

Photos by Chloe

My niece Chloe is hanging out with us since she's out of school for the holidays.

She's quite the photographer-all photos by her.

Rank

Not the funky kind but the SEO kind.
So Google and Live now hear this, really loudly, www.christinamallet.com

oh and also Christina Mallet

and I can't forget Christina Mallet Photography

The Baby Formerly Known as Zander

is now called Xander--same sound, different spelling. Like Puff Daddy and Prince, he's been reinvented.

Reason: When discussing baby names I wanted to name the boy Alexander and call him Xander. Alex didn't want to Jr. the boy so he wanted Zander.

I won.

Live!

Christina Mallet Photography ! I'm official! Check out my business website and pass it along, please :)

http://christinamallet.com

Frustration & Anger

The woes of rolling over


Fashion victim

Baby Lean

Technicolour

When the Papa remarked on the 'BRIGHTness' our lives have taken on in parenthood, he wasn't joking. Too bad the web's colour space is sRGB--if you could see it in its RGB glory you'd shudder. I could convert it but I'm too lazy and you get the point anyway, right?

Photogs, please excuse the very-hot-on-camera-blast.

Us

No Photo Trend

Noticing a trend in recent blog posts, namely no photos? That's because our keyboard broke in the move--Thank you to our wonderful 'professional' moving/packing people. What does it take to be a professional packer anyway?

What do 10 lb dumbbells, motorcycle tie-downs, a nursing pillow, baby clothes and a lamp have in common? Nothing, other than they were all thrown together in one box.

More photos soon, in addition to my business website which I'm hoping to launch by this weekend.

Soup du jour

Just yesterday, I wondered "What exactly is the difference between baby spit-up and throw-up?" Today I got my answer, while playing air-plane with Zander (picture me laying down with him extended high above).

When a 98.6 degree milk-and-stomach-acid-soup hits you in the face you'll know the difference. When it happens again, no more than 10 minutes later (some of us are a little denser and slow on the uptake than we should be) and you shrug it off and just rub it into your outfit, the one you've worn two days in a row and already has a variety of spit-up incidents on it, you'll know you're deep in the throws (bad play on word) of motherhood.

Undercover Mother

Should you wish to take your baby for a walk in Volunteer Park, go before dusk--I learned the hard way.

See, 'The Park' has always been a 'same-sex-love-and-get-your-high-on'
sort of place, but this is when the sun goes down. Who would have thought that 3:30pm was the official start to happy hour?

I think my disguise as 'mother' kept me from seeing the worst of it. I was likely mistaken for an undercover cop as I strolled past the dozens of idling cars and drivers.

Back Online

After attempting to get 240+ items (including boxes chock full of junk) in the right places and painting the house top to bottom (neither of which is complete), I'm back online and struggling for something to write about. So again, I'm going for a list.

Consistency is key to an infant's sleep routine. Being in 4 different houses (Boston, Hotel in Boston, Temp Housing, our house in Seattle) in 2 weeks time wreaks havoc on little ones.

Unpacking and getting settled when you have a 3 month old to care for is an exercise in patience--boxes sit half-unpacked, everywhere. The anxiety this brings has crossed over into my sleep. The other night I dreamt that I had to catch a flight and wasn't packed and all that was supposed to be packed was buried under piles of junk. I finally got to the airport with things hanging out of my suitcase and looked down to see I was wearing 2 different colored shoes (I actually did this when I was massively pregnant; couldn't see my toes) . Then, while running off to tell the people I was with to hold up while I changed my shoes, all of my stuff is stolen.

I will never ever again gain 50 lbs, whether I'm pregnant or not. Dropping the 15 lbs that have decided to stick around is a real pain in my big butt.

People in Seattle are sooo nice. I've missed the random and senseless smiling of strangers-- strangers that are so nice they'll even let you ride their tricycles. :)

Take this

I'm busy trying to unpack our stuff so photography and blogging are lagging. So here, take this photo from a month ago, in Boston.

Zander Plays Office

Check out the boy, officing, HERE.

Fragments

Halloween Mayhem

We've arrived back home, frazzled but safe and sound. The trip went smoothly except for clearing security at the airport, which Alex describes here.

We bought cars, the first milestone in our return to 'adult' life. I get a new car for the very first time which I'm pretty jazzed about. It's mommish, but my pony has some serious hooves--just try to beat me off the line.

Zander is babbling and this is too cute for words.

He's also been 'subjected' to a new trick, which he seems to really love.

My dear friend Lori, mother to little Claire The Duck and William The Bear (above), gave Zander his first Halloween costume, which was good because Alex and I were to jet lagged and disoriented to get around to it.
.

This Is The Face You Get

This is the face you get from watching strange men pack your things.
This is the face you get from packing all the things needed for 2 cats , 2 adults, and one baby for a week.
This is the face you get after packing it all in the cab that is delivering you to your hotel.
This is the face you get when the cat, on the ride to the hotel, poops in his carrier and the windows don't roll down.



This is the face you get when thinking of the 6 hour flight with two cats, two adults and one baby and all their luggage.



This is the face you get when thinking about moving to Seattle!

These are a few of our favorite things

It's our last week in Beantown so why not end on a postive note? Positives are HERE.

A Special Box of Panties, by Jack Handy

If a certain moving company has been hired to move you cross country and you have a special box of things that you want to keep 'private', such as panties as my friendly move surveyer suggested to me, you can set it aside and not have the moving guys look at it. You just have to say "Hey guys, this is my special box of panties" and they'll leave it be.

A Progression of Happiness

Bye Bye Boston

After two years in Boston we are going home--Alex has decided to depart MIT with a Masters instead of a PhD. Although my dislike of Boston is great, I did my best to remain 'neutral'--we came out here so Alex could do his graduate school thing and leaving on account of my dislike was not something I would entertain.

We're out of here in 2 weeks, which is so soon I can barely get my head around it. But what I have been able to get my head around are the fabulous amenities of modern life I will regain, such as: A doorbell; a water mixer in bathroom sink; lead free bathroom fixtures; lead free plumbing; hot water that isn't 299 degrees hot; outlets in the bathroom; lights that turn on with switches rather than strings hanging from the ceiling in center of the room; windows that close; windows that open; windows that don't come crashing down in the middle of the night; a dishwasher; a garbage disposal; a car.

And then there are the things about life in Boston that I won't miss, such as: Garbage-men who create a huge mess on trash day; people who litter; people who collect bottles the night before trash pickup and cause a huge racket with their shopping carts clanking with bottles; people who leave their dogs' poop on the sidewalk; excessive use of car horns; dirty snow; hot as Hades summers.

What I'll miss: Cannoli from Modern Pastry; the first hour of a snowfall before the heavy machinery comes out to ruin the peace and quiet; the autumn colors; the free stuff people leave on the streets on trash day; our landlord Jose, who's more of a slumlord really but he's a cheerful and funny one at that; my two good photog friends Stefanie and Stephanie.

So away we go.

P.S. To any Boston readers, sorry for hating on your city, it’s not you, it’s me ;)

Stupid is as Stupid Does

A very disheveled me pondering the payback I am receiving from my wee son. Word to the wise: babies, at least mine, hate car seats and therefore road trips are a bad idea.

Alex and I, in our rookie parent naivite, thought it would be a super duper great idea to go leaf peeping with our little man. I'm not sure what was going through our heads--strapping our guy into a car seat for hours was idotic. See, my man has lungs and use them is what he did much of the trip. I spent a good part of the afternoon sitting in the back seat tending to wailing Zander as Alex chauffeured.

This photo was taken on the one occasion we made it out of the car, for a diaper change and feed pit stop, at least it shows the foliage, as do the two shots below which I took from the backseat.

we hateses the car seat

green

orange

Family Photos

My dear friend Stefanie, photographer extraordinare, took this lovely sequence of family photos for us. If you are in the Bay State and looking for some fab portraiture, Stefanie is your woman.

Granny, Poppy and Zander

Opa, Oma and Zander