What is the best thing that you can do for a three year old boy who loves Thomas and all things trains?  Bring his fantasy world to life!  I was lucky enough to be able to take my son to A Day Out With Thomas this past Tuesday, and I have to say that it was one of the best things that I was ever able to do for him.  He was so excited, and I was even a little excited too.  It’s not everyday you see a life size Thomas the train.  It was also the first time I had ever been on a real train.  This weekend is the last time Thomas will be here until next year so if you have a preschooler who loves trains don’t hesitate to take them this Saturday!

Gavin was so excited to see Thomas!

Gavin with the Conductor on Thomas the Train!

Bob the Builder was there too and put on a great show.

There were so many cool trains to take pictures on, this was only one of many.

This shot cracked me up!  Gavin was so mad at me for putting him on the train for a picture when all he wanted to do was run around and play.  This is his, “please put the camera away Mom!” face.

My little boy started his first season of soccer on Monday and I couldn’t be more proud of him. He was all over the place the first day but today was his second day and he did awesome! Even though he’s the youngest kid on the team he is kicking butt. . . I mean kicking balls! Daddy took this picture of Gavin, I couldn’t get in on the camera action since I’m the Assistant Coach of the team. Gavin and I are having so much fun and I am so proud to be a Soccer Mom! If you’re a soccer mom too check out this website and get a cute soccer mom t-shirt. http://shop.cafepress.com/soccer-mom I still haven’t decided which one I want, maybe I’ll take them all. =)

Well. . . . not really vacation, but I was away for the length of a vacation and I was sleeping in a bed other than my own.  Last week I went into the Emergency Room because I was feeling very flu-lke, dizzy and having horrible stoumach pains.  I drove myself to the hospital and couldn’t believe that I made it alive because I felt so dizzy.  After running blood tests and taking X-rays they found that my Gallbladder was swollen and very infected.  The nurse in the ER told me that they were going to admit me and would probably treat me with Antibiotics because at my age surgery would be a last resort.  So I went to bed that night feeling okay.  After all, I’d never had surgery and I was scarred to death of it!  The next morning I was rudely awoken at 6:00 am by the surgeon telling me that I would probably go into surgery in a few hours to have my Gallbladder removed.

Anyway, to make a long story shorter they did remove my Gallbladder and the doctor told me that he’d never seen one like mine before.  I’m not so sure if that was supposed to make me feel worse but it did!   They were supposed to let me go home the next day but I awoke with a high fever and chest pains so more tests and X-rays were ordered and my heart was monitored for the next three days.  The worst part of being in the hospital was not being hooked up to IV’s all day and night, not having to have my blood drawn every four hours, and not even the seriously uncomfortable bed.  No, the worst part was being on a strictly liquid diet for almost a week.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food so you know how hard that part was for me!  Okay, maybe I’m being overdramatic about the food, the real worst part was not seeing my kids for so long.

I’m recovering well now and I’m back home resting.  I am slowely but surely trying to return emails and phone calls from my time away.  I want to apologize if any one’s phone call or email has been overlooked.  Things will be back to normal soon I hope.

Thank you to everyone who has sent emails or called wishing me good thoughts and sending prayers.  I appreciate that so much!  =)

It’s been a very busy week here in the Sweet Baby Photo Studios.  I’ve taken a small break from working for Father’s Day weekend and for my boy’s first day of preschool.  That’s right, Gavin started preschool on Tuesday morning.  I think this was the most proud moment I have felt as a mother so far!  He was so excited for school and he did a great job!  He didn’t even cry when I left which made me so happy, I’m just so glad that he is such a strong and confident kid.  Today he is sick and missing his second day of school with a fever of 102.4. =(

Here is a picture of Gavin on his first day of school and a couple of Zakk on the day he turned one!

My baby is ONE! I can’t even believe that he’s a year old already. It seriously feels like this time has flown by in the blink of an eye. We had a very fun and relaxing party at home to celebrate with some of my closest friends and family. We also invited a clown to come and do games for the kids. The face painting was such a hit and the kids all looked sooo cute!! Zakk loved his cake and would have eaten every bite if I would have let him, I also would have eaten the entire cake if there weren’t other guests there. Here are a few pictures from Zakk’s birthday. . . just don’t mind the ugly ones of me. . . just keep in mind that the camera adds, like, 20 pounds. =)

Enjoy!

I’m so proud to announce that my new website is finally live!  Check it out!  www.sweetbabyphoto.com

Enjoy.  =)

This time of year is the perfect time to get organized and clean up the house.  I’ve really been trying hard to get organized and get ready for the whirlwind of work that I’ll be doing in the next few months.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m not the most organized person.  Even though I have a serious case of OCD I just would so much rather be shooting, surfing, or pretty much anything other than cleaning the house.  I’m trying hard to break my bad habits.

So I was looking up tips on how to get organized and I thought I would share with my loyal blog readers.

For the living room ~ holding on to things for “some day” is only going to make your house messy today.  If it isn’t relevent to your life here and now get rid of it and live life for the here and now.  Also, (and this is one I really need to work on) setting limits for kids helps them learn about values.  If you set a limit to the number of toys they keep around, they will learn  about priorities and what is important to them.  It will also help your living space stay cleaner and you won’t find yourself stepping on legos and cars all day like I do. =)

For the kitchen ~ simple plastic risers in your cabinets can be a great way to create more space and to see what you have easily.  Ikea makes great ones and I have to use them in all my cabinets because I don’t have a whole lot of cabinet space.

For your office  ~ keep your home office uncluttered by only keeping necessary items out and putting unnecessary items tucked away.  You will feel more organized with a clean workspace.

I hope these tips are helpful for you like they were for me.  Keep checking the blog because in the next few weeks you will see a lot of new things.  The new website is coming and it’s coming soon!  I’m just wrapping up the last few details.  I just can’t wait much longer!!

I didn’t really think that I would actually get to the age where I wasn’t cool to my kids anymore.  My son Gavin is two and a half now and I’m totally not cool mom to him anymore.  He used to sing and dance with me to all the corney theme songs to his cartoons and now if I even try to hum along he yells, “don’t say that!”  As for singing to my favorite songs in the car which I love to do, forget about it!  And actually, I can’t even listen to what I want when he’s in the car.  He tells me, “no I don’t like that song.”  What does he want to listen to?  Seether and Incubus are his favorites right now.  Not that I don’t like those cd’s which I really do, but listening to the same songs over and over can really wear a person down.  Normally in the car I like to sing like I’m a rock star (although I don’t have the voice of a rock star at all) but not anymore.  If I try to sing over one of his songs he yells, “don’t say that!”

It’s too funny to me that he is already like this.  I remember giving my mom a hard time when she sang in the car too.  But I don’t think I started so young, who knows, maybe I did.  I just thought he and I would always sing together.  But I’m just not cool mom, I’m old mom with a bad voice to him now.  =(  At least Zakk will still let me sing and dance with him.

So tonight after the kids fell asleep I snuck out to Target for some necessities, like baby food and Red Bull and in the car I cranked up the music and sang away with no little voice in the back seat telling me, “don’t say that!”  Hehehe, sometimes we all need a little alone time.

Here’s a recent picture of Mr. Attitude himself.  I’m sure he was talking back when I snapped this picture.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  My family had a wonderful day that started with an egg hunt and baskets filled with way too much candy that will rot their teeth and toys that probably will never be touched again after today, but it was all worth it for a morning full of smiles.  After the kids found all the eggs that were hidden in the yard we rushed to get ready for church within a half an hour.  Our church service was great and it’s so good to really take a moment and remember what this day is really about.  I made sure to take some time with my kids and make sure that they realize what Easter is all about too.  There were so many things that made today great but the best was spending time with my family and being able to make my kids happy.  Later in the day my mom came over for dinner and we dragged her out to take a family picture, which I think is one of the very first we have with all 5 of us.

Happy Easter from my family to yours!  =)

Today was one of those days! If you’re a mom then you know the kind of day I’m talking about. It was a no nap, cry all day, runny nose, don’t let mom work, spilled juice all over the car, two poopy diapers at the same time kind of day. Both my kids started to get colds today so they were so cranky and wanted me to hold them constantly. My two year old refuses to take naps unless I stay in his room with him because he thinks there are monsters. My baby is cutting all his teeth at the same time and to top that off he falls on the tile floor and bumps his head about five times a day because he and my two year old chase each other around and love to wrestle.  I had so much work to do today and luckily I got most of it done.  Unluckily a lot of it involved driving around with cranky kids.  By the time my husband got off work I wanted to just lock myself in my room and hide. But I couldn’t because we had an appoinment with someone who stood us up.  I won’t even get started on that.  Seriously, WHAT A DAY!

So after we were stood up we came home and I let the kids loose in the yard and grabbed my camera for some good old therapy. These are the moments that make these kind of days worth it.

This year has been so amazing for me!  I want to give a big thank you to all the clients that I’ve had this past year.  I’ve met so many wonderful people this year who I hope I will be friends with for many more years to come.  My business has grown in so many ways as well.  To kick 2007 off I did some commercial work for Timi and Leslie, Best of Chums, Little Show Offs and Glama Jama.  Not only was shooting for those companies a lot of fun but it was also my first break into the commercial business, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to do that.  My photos are now in catalogs, advertisments, and even on dress tags in major retail stores.  I also did a photo shoot for Leslie Newton handbags which was a blast, and if you know me you know how much I love handbags!  Also this year my images were featured on about 6 covers for Peekaboo Picks Weekly magazine and on one issue of Tot Trends Weekly magazine.  I just began working on the photography for Bath Desserts and one of my images from that was featured on the  Womens Day Magazine web page.

This year I also launched my second website with the expansion of my portfolio and I invested in new packaging, a new logo, and new business cards.  I’ll be going into 2008 with everything all together and matching perfectly.  It took a while to get there and lots of money invested but I love all my new packaging and the look of all the new materials.  I hope all of you will like it as well.  Another new thing that came this year was the opening of our studio office space.  In 2008 I will be meeting all my clients there for the post session viewing.  There will no longer be online proofing, I will be doing everything personally with my clients so that I can show you all the different options that Sweet Baby Photo offers.  Beleive me, you won’t want to miss out!

The biggest thing that happened this year was the birth of my second son, Zakk Antonio Palos.  He is such a good baby and I am so thankful to have been blessed with him in my life.   Zakk is 100% the highlight of 2007!

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Years Eve!  I leave you with a picture of my highlight of the year….. who turns 7 months old in six days, the time just flies by.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  We had such a fun Christmas.  It’s funny how when you grow up your favorite part of Christmas is giving.  Usually the best is giving my kids their presents but this year I was most excited to give my sister in law and her hubby their present.  Louis and I shot their wedding over a year ago and I spent the last few months putting together an album for them.  It was such a treat to see their reaction and I hope that all my clients have the same reaction when seeing their albums.  I’ve never given anyone a present that brought tears to their eyes until now.

And of course I have to show you my little guys opening their presents.  First we’ll start with Zakk because this was his very first Christmas.

Gavin was more interested in what everyone else was getting…. this present wasn’t even his but he wanted it to be.  =)

Poor Jett was sick all day so he didn’t get much excitment out of anything, but this present did make him faint so I guess that’s a good thing.

This last one wasn’t taken on Christmas day but it’s my little guys first Christmas portrait so I have to post it.  Next Christmas he will be 18 months old and running around but for now he can’t run or even crawl away from me so I’m happy.

As promised here are some more pictures from our winter vacation. We had such a fun, stress free time. I was so sad to leave and even now I’m so sad to be gone, especially looking back at these pictures it makes me long for snowy days. Another year will pass before I’m able to go back but for now I have the photographs which is one of the reasons that I am so thankful for the gift of photography.

First I will show you our amazing condo that we stayed in while we were in Park City. I got so lucky booking this place because usually it is so hard to find a place in Park City, especially last minute but Hotels.com came to my rescue and we got a perfect place at a great rate.

Me relaxing on the sofa in the condo. We did a lot of relaxing there and usually didn’t leave until after 12:00 PM. Aaah, the perks of vacations. =)

On our list of things to do I had to go to Salt Air to take pictures of this train. I saw it on one of my Flickr friends photo streams and knew I had to go there. Too bad the kids were afraid to get inside, but right next to it there was a really cool building with graffiti all over it which made for perfect photo ops.

This rail car has a very interesting history. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah on the south shore of the Great Salt Lake, this rail car sits at the abandonded Saltair Concert Hall. In the early 1900’s, Saltair was a resort of fun and leisure for those who wanted to escape from the city. Parties, rollercoasters, swimming, and huge concerts made city goers flock to Saltair via the new Railroad. In the late 1920’s, Saltair was demolished after a fire burned the resort down. It was later rebuilt, with less flare, but again was plaqued by another fire. In the 1980’s, a modern Saltair was built in its place to host popular concerts, but again was closed down in the late 1990’s.
These rail cars are the only thing left from the original concert hall and resort. This is the only one that is empty, the other rail cars were filled with junk and broken glass. Even though the resort is long gone, you can still feel the 1920’s atmosphere when you stand inside this rail car.

Of course another thing we had to do is play in the snow. Jett and Gavin had a blast and Zakk stayed cozy in his zip up J Cole blanket that attached to the stroller, so poor little Zakk didn’t see too much action in the snow.

I did manage to get a cute picture of Zakk hanging out in the condo one morning. =)

One of my favorite days was going out with our friends, the Fear’s. We did the exact same thing last year. First we had dinner at the Gateway, then went to the Chocolate Factory, then the Planeterium, from there we walked to the train and then to Temple Square to see the lights, to top it all off we had hot chocolate at JB’s restraunt. Jett and Davina’s son insisted that we do things EXACTLY the same as last year. Even though it was like deja vu, we still had a blast and hopefully we’ll do the same thing next year.

Our last day we got more snow than we could have dreamed of. Here is a picture I took out the window of our car as we drove out of Salt Lake City.

And on our way out we stopped at my favorite spot in Salt Lake to eat. Crown Burger! Seriously, if you live in Salt Lake or ever visit there, take my word for it that this is one of the best burgers that you will ever have in your life!  The photo does not do it justice, you must get one in real life.  And the pink colored sauce is called Fry Sauce, no not ketchup, fry sauce….. it’s God’s gift to Utahns and one of the things that I miss the most about being a Utahn!

okay….. yes, I’m a pig….. I ate the burger, fries and the corn dog you see in the top right corner. And no, I didn’t get a stomache ache. =)

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here.  We had an awesome vacation to Utah and saw lots of snow, Christmas lights, and all my favorite old places to eat.  We got back home on the 22nd at midnight just in time to finish some last minute Christmas shopping and to trim the tree.

Christmas is finally here and tomorrow I will be back to work.  I was hoping to take off the rest of the year but as of the 26th I’ll be jumping back into the swing of things.  So if there is anything that anyone needs, please let me know.  I will be blogging more from our vacation but for now I just have one.  This is my favorite picture taken on our very last day on the way home when we stopped in Payson, Utah just to get this shot.

I am so excited to get outta here for a week!  I long for the mornings where I can wake up and look out the window and see a blanket of snow covering the ground, the trees and all the rooftops.  I think that was my favorite part of winter when I lived in Salt Lake.  I miss it so much and I am so thankful to my wonderful family for putting up with my need to go back every year before Christmas.  It just doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve seen the snow and the lights at Temple Square.  Last year I didn’t have my camera when we went to see the light but this year I will have it for sure.  There is nothing like it around here!

Get ready to see lots of snow pictures, lots of red noses, some really cute scarfs and hats that I bought for myself and my kids, and some Emmett family pictures (that’s my family from Utah).  Now you’ll be able to see why Zakk looks so different than Gavin, Zakk got more of the Emmett gene and Gavin got more of the Palos gene.  I’m just glad that one of my kids looks like me. =)

Sorry no picture for this post…. it’s too late and I have way too much to do to get ready to go.  And just to let you all know, I will not be taking any print orders from now until after Christmas.  For those of you who just put in your orders, they are being processed at the lab and will be sent directly to you from there.  I’ll hopefully have time to update the blog while I’m away but don’t count on it.  I’ll be sure to post tons of pictures when I return on the 22nd.

I just want to let you all know that I am having email troubles right now.  Apparently none of my replies are being sent.  As many know I have been having ongoing email problems for a while now but I am working on fixing this problem.  If you’ve sent me an email in the last few days please know that I have received it and responded to it but you just didn’t get it.  I will be working with my web server to correct this problem.  Please call me at 909.996.5110 or 909.989.3990 if you need to get in touch with me right away.

And because a post (even a bad one) is never complete without a picture here is one of me in action that my husband took on Sunday at an engagement session we shot together.  Usually I don’t like pictures of myself but I thought this was kinda cool.  If you want to see the pictures from our shoot visit our wedding blog at www.louispalos.net.

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