family.

Living hundreds (thousands?) of miles from our extended family really makes the time we do spend together so precious. We got to fly down to Florida this weekend to meet our new niece Lily and attend her baptism. Although we were tired and still a little jet-lagged from our Hawaiian excursion there was no way we were missing this! Little Lily is just about the sweetest thing ever - just ask Sarah. It's a wonder Lily wasn't smothered to death.

(Shameless sister plug: Lily wore a Gourmet Gown for her baptism, handmade especially for this occasion using her mama's wedding dress fabric.)

Now for a media frenzy update. Sarah and I headed to Denver this morning to be on the channel 9 (kusa) morning show. Don't laugh at me or my hand-talking during our 3 minutes and 9 seconds of fame: kusa. Check out my photo-a-day site to see Sarah in the anchor chair! Also, she was on the front page of the Rocky Mountain News today with a nice little story on the inside that you can read here. Tomorrow we head back to Denver for another morning show appearance, followed by the last one (for now!) on Thursday. Thanks for following along during all of the craziness!

Now to tie up some loose ends and questions...

Deb, I don't use any studio lights and when I shoot a newborn on a background I use a large black piece of muslin or fleece. It takes some photoshopping afterwards but it works. My awesome friend Amy (LOVE her!) gave me a backdrop stand and backdrop for Christmas so I've started to use that a bit too.

Someone asked if we were actually moving to Fruita because I referenced that a few posts back. We're actually moving to Hunstville, AL this summer but we occasionally dream of buying the Fruita brewery and setting up a commune with all of our friends (we can dream, right?!)

Christy, thank you SO much for your kind comment. Keira's picture was GORGEOUS. I sure do wish we all could have headed to Hawaii...we could have taken over the island! How do your girls like the bear?

check US out...

That's right, you can see our very own Pigbear in this week's issue of US magazine...



...no worries, she has nothing to do with Cameron's jealous attack. Unless Cameron is jealous of the supreme cuteness of the two baby gap winners. I don't actually have a hard copy in my hands yet so I can't refer you to a page number but there should be a small little blurb, complete with photo, of her and little Jon on their whirlwind trip to HAWAII!!!

Yep, we spent last week in Honolulu with some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. I can't say enough about the crew from Gap...just awesome, awesome people. And we had a blast getting to know and hanging out with Jon's parents. I know Denise and I will be friends for a long, long time.

So here's the scoop. We arrived on the island Tuesday afternoon after an 8 hour flight from Denver. On Wednesday Sarah had a fitting to make sure her ADORABLE outfit didn't need to be tailored and then we just hung out by the pool for the rest of the day. As an added bonus we got to hook up with some of our old friends, Catie and Randy, who live in Honolulu. On Thursday Gap hosted a trip to the zoo for the little ones and a nice dinner out that evening. We spent pretty much all day Friday at the shoot on a remote beach somewhere along the Oahu coastline (apologies but my geography fails me yet again - sorry dad!). I can't even explain how awesome it was to watch the professionals at work on the set. I think I was most impressed by the "baby wranglers" whose job it was to get the babies to do exactly what they wanted - sit, stand, avoid eating sand, smile, wave, whatever - AMAZING!

I didn't want to crash blogger's server so I created an album for you all to view some of my pics. You can check it out here.

The whole time we were in Hawaii there was a small video crew following us around getting footage and interviews. It was a little unnerving but also kinda fun. They'll be sending the footage out to news stations around the country and I think they're hoping to be picked up by some larger shows. I'll let you know if that happens. For now I know that Sarah and I will be on three Denver morning shows Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week. If I don't make myself sound like a complete moron and the footage is available on the web I'll link it when I can. No promises! :)

Okay, enough about that. Onto more important matters...who wins the jeans? Well, that Pigbear was trying to make the drawing a little more difficult than I had intended because she kept running away with the basket.



But when I finally got her to pull out a comment...



here's what she retrieved...



So, A.K. email me your address and the coupon is on it's way! Thanks for playing everybody. I had SO much fun reading all the comments and even more fun torturing Sarah with all of your hair suggestions. I think we may be on our way to a more managable do!

And, one last thing...my girl Wendy has one or two spots left in her next mentoring class. If you are a photographer and you haven't taken her class yet YOU DONT WANT TO MISS THIS so check out her site and send her an email for more info!

Take care everyone!

open to suggestions

We're having hair issues. This is serious stuff, people. The freezing Colorado temperatures that have held us hostage inside our constantly-heated, static-filled homes are wreaking havoc on the Pigbear's hair. Every morning I'm faced with the dilemma of what to do with the mess and 99% of the time I opt for a little baby ponytail (or static tuft) which stays in for about 2 hours, or until our first car ride of the day, whichever comes first. Then it's gone and we're left with an even bigger mess than when we started. Nothing short of Elvira hair. Help me! Am I really going to have to v05 my 14 month old's hair???

Enough of that. Onto our contest. Actually, it's a drawing. Everyone who comments here between now and Thursday morning (8am, mst) will be entered into a drawing for a FREE pair of Gap jeans. I'll print out the comments, cut them apart, and let the Pigbear pull one out. If you're the winner, I'll get your coupon in the mail the very next day and you'll be off to the mall! Consider this our "thank you for voting" drawing. You guys are SO awesome!

friends like these

(First of all, hi. Yes, I realize I've been mysteriously absent. Yes, I realize I owe many, many people emails - I promise I'll get to them this week. Yes, I realize you might possibly care to know where I was. Yes, I really, really want to tell you. But I can't. Yet. But on Thursday, I can. And between now and then I'm gonna hold a little drawing right here on ThePigbear just to make my waiting a little easier because, trust me, I'm busting at the seams to tell you about our adventure! So, check back on Tuesday to get all the details of my little contest and find out about the super-fun prize. Now...back to our regularly scheduled blog entry...)

So. Friends like these.

Irreplaceable.

Where will we be when we all go our separate ways in six months? Our girls have been bosom buddies since birth. Lil' Dickie will soon be joining the mix and I have no doubts that we'll all fall head over heels for him in a matter of minutes. We eat dinner together at least once a week, sometimes even three or four times. A day doesn't go by that we don't see each other. And who else would bring dinner and dessert after you've been out of town for the week, only to sit down and watch your full-fledged slideshow?! You just don't find friends better than this. We adore these people and are dreading saying goodbye. So maybe we just won't.

I hear the brewery in Fruita is still for sale. Anyone? Anyone?

teatime

This morning I pulled out the old teaset Meghan and I used to play with. It's a bit grungier than I remember but after a good soak in the sink it was ready to go. Watching Sarah play with it brought back a rush of memories of playing with my sister. I hope Sarah will know that same joy one day.

It's weird to see her playing with my old toys. Those are the moments when I look at her and think to myself, "I have a daughter?". Sometimes it's just too weird. Where does the time go?

Indian Princesses

Last Christmas my sister-in-law Parmy's parents gave Sarah two traditional Indian outfits in toddler sizes. I've been waiting so long for them to fit her and for the perfect occasion to don them. Tonight was the night. Rich wanted to celebrate his birthday with Indian food so Amy got the takeout and Samantha and I got the girls all decked out. We met earlier in the day to make sure they fit and to just bask in their cuteness. I just couldn't get enough of Sarah toddling around in her Indian finery!





After posing for a few seconds Sarah decided to take the keys and go for a spin...



...but apparently the car was taken....




Check out my photo-a-day link if you want to see one more that I looooooove ----------->

Marie, I always thought I'd go back to teaching...I just love it and I think it's something I'm pretty good at. Lately though I've wondered if that's really where I'll end up. I'd definitely like to give photography a healthy try and then we'll see what happens from there!

Julie and Kathy, I'm SO glad you're loving Wendy's class although I have to say that I'm not in the least bit surprised. She's a phenomenal teacher and an even cooler person. I have to say that I'm a little jealous sharing her with you guys though! :-)

"anonymous"...no photoshop actions...but plenty of photoshopping! I never post straight out of the camera, every photo needs at least some color balancing and usually more than that. I use levels and curves generously. But every photo is different so I tend to shy away from actions. The only actions I might even think about using would be my friend Anna's.

Susie and Amy...hang in there...familiar faces are bound to resurface!!

snowy vision

For sometime now I've been wanting to drag Brent and Sarah out to the snowy Academy for some pics. I've had the vision in my head of what I wanted and yesterday we were finally able to make it happen. Hat and scarf courtesy of Nana, sweater from Aunt Lu (gotta love family that keeps the little one stylin'). We sat in traffic for quite sometime and almost missed the sun completely but ended up with about 15 minutes worth of light so I made the best of it! Check out the pics and then I'll get on to answering the questions some of you asked...

Okay, here goes...

Lyndsay, yes, I'm a canon girl and just recently upgraded from the Rebel to the 5d (just like you!) Couldn't be happier about that decision. Thanks Santa!!

Audrey, I know you didn't have a question...just wanted to say THANK YOU!

Tasha, I have a few lenses but my favorites are the standard 50mm/1.4 and 85mm/1.8. Like everyone, I'm drooling over some L lenses but those will have to wait until the aforementioned Santa Claus forgets about this year's big ol' hangin gift. No formal training, just a whole lot of reading online and in books. I've learned a ton from the twopeas photog message board and ILP. But I've gotten far and away the most valuable information and insight from my mentor, Wendy. Nothing beats one on one critique from a pro...especially when you're lucky enough to find one that also happens to have a great personality and a killer sense of humor. It's just an all around good thing. Definitely check out the sites I mentioned and just keep stalking blogs...it'll help develop your eye and your own style. And ask lots of questions! (see, you're already on the right track!). And the house cleaning thing...girl I'm laughing out loud! That's called "hurry and push all the baby junk OUT of the frame of view!"

Alix...I hope the above helped a little...just keep pushing the shutter.

Jaidean...I use the 50mm almost exclusively on the inside shots. I just don't have enough room in here to whip out the 85. Hopefully in the summer the 85mm will get some more practice!

Kristin...we are HUGE fans of baby sign in our house. Sarah wasn't an early talker but she had lots to say, you know? So signing has been awesome for us. I read Baby Signs when Sarah was about 6 months old and it gave us all the info we needed to get started. It's less than $15.00 and definitely worth the investment. No need for the videos, flashcards or any of that other jazzy stuff. Just read the book for the basics and take it from there. It's SO fun to see her communicating with us!

Okay, I think I covered everything. Chime in if I missed something!

baby's got bling

My sister and I are a good pair. Her fashion designer's eye can spot "cute" a mile away...and Sarah is often the beneficiary of whatever "cute" Aunt May May finds. Which makes my camera happy. Very, very happy. Take, for instance, this hip, structured jacket for Sarah. Meghan bought the rest of the semi-hideous outfit just to get this PERFECT jacket on Sarah's little body. I sure do love a mind that thinks like that!

I thought the jacket could speak for itself...the Pigbear thought it needed a little extra bling...

I've been getting lots of questions lately about a range of things: photography, baby gap, baby signing, etc. Inquiring minds want to know, right? Well, I wouldn't be keeping this blog if I didn't want to share information so if you have a question, ask it here and I'll do my best to answer everything in my next post.

I'll start with Julie's question about the light in my house: Yes, we are blessed with good light. Lots of big windows, lots of sunshine here in CO (as Amy pointed out) and lots of snow to reflect the light back up. I do still have to "find" the good light at times though. I've spent a lot of time staring at these big ol' windows and trying to discern the right time and the right way to use them. I've also taken a lot of horrid photos that you guys never get to see! Today's photos were taken mainly in the doorway of our home. I read on someone else's blog that this was her favorite spot to photograph and I thought I'd try it. The light spills in but your subject is still shaded. By golly, I think I'm a believer!

just another day

Besides a trip to daddy's work to get some baybgap paperwork signed and notarized, it's been just another day in the life of the pigbear. And I love that. The cluelessness about this whole thing is wonderful. Just like when we found out she was a semi-finalist...I remember being so happy that she didn't have a clue. Wouldn't want her celebrity status to go to that silly head! ha!

So here she is yesterday, just playing with her boat...

And for those of you who have been asking about the boy winner...it's sweet little Jon. His mom was kind enough to send his photo so you guys can go "oh yeah...now I remember!"

Ladies and Gentlemen...

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Got the call this afternoon that Sarah is the grand prize girl winner for the 2007 Baby Gap Casting Call. We had just arrived home from a trip to Denver and the phone was ringing as I was unlocking the door. You know how annoying that can be when you're tired from a long car ride and you've got your arms loaded down with stuff (and yes, there were Baby Gap bags included in the "stuff"). So when I answered the phone I was already a little frazzled, and when I hung up I was downright hysterical with glee! Fortunately Brent was home from work today so we got to share the news together. SO MUCH FUN! We immediately went into calling tree mode and started dialing everyone in the family.

I don't know many details yet but I do know that we'll be flying to the photoshoot in mid-January and then sometime after that there will be a spread in Child magazine. I'll keep you all posted!

For now, check out these pics of Little Miss Baby Gap this morning when a very large package arrived at our door, er, garage door...it was too large to actually come through our door.

What was inside, you ask?

Sarah's new best friend!

Now the only thing I'm left wondering...will baby Gap know what to do with a mop like this?

Because we could certainly use some pointers.

eta: DENISE! How cool that you found us here...congrats to you and your little guy! Email me at erkatco@yahoo.com. Hope to hear from you soon!

a girl needs her accessories

I had an ah-ha moment early in 2006 when I realized that I didn't really need to keep buying new clothes, I just needed a few new accessories every now and then to bring new life to the cute things I already own. Apparently, Sarah has learned that life lesson much faster than I did. Whenever she sees me wearing a fun necklace or bracelet she immediately starts signing "pretty" and reaching for it. 90% of the time my "pretty" ends up on HER arm or neck. Yesterday it dawned on me that I had a stash of old mardi gras and dress-up beads in the garage which have since become Sarah's new obsession and a welcome diversion from stealing my jewelry! So check her out with some of her fave accessories...I hear they're all the rage in 2007...