more fam stuff

Last Wednesday my Aunt Lori coerced my entire family into packing up and heading out for a day in Monterey. Of course this wasn't a big deal for my family and Meghan's but getting my Grama and Grandpa out of the house and on a day trip is pretty impressive.

Our first stop was the Monterey Bay Aquarium which I hear is one of the top ten family attractions in the United States. Well, at least according to their brochure. I'm sure it's a really lovely place but we wouldn't really know since the girls seemed to only be entertained by the slide in the kids' area. I guess that's not entirely true - Sarah seemed to really enjoy the paper towels they stock as well. At 26 bucks a pop I'm just thankful my Aunt Lu was able to hook us up with free tickets! :)






(see more of this cute fam later today on the business blog)

Here we are waiting to round up all the troops for the trek back to the car. My grandpa kept complaining that he didn't want to look at any fish he couldn't eat. Crazy old man. (said in the most loving way possible. He's a nut.)




Brent grabbed a shot of the B-Ro and me hanging out. Ephraim with his signature ring finger suck and me with my signature head tilt and canned smile. Leave it to the photographer to have the cheesiest picture face ever. I'm a one-trick pony I tell ya.



After misguiding my grandparents four uphill blocks out of the way on the walk back to the car (oops!) we headed to Dennis the Menace park. This place ranks in my top three favorite childhood memories for sure. If you're ever in the area you absolutely must go. If you don't, you're depriving your children of one of life's greatest play places. It's totally your choice.

I wish I had more pictures to show you but I was too busy shuttling that Pi'bears back and forth between the playground and the bathroom. I'll leave it at this: if you do ever go to Dennis the Menace park, don't use the girls bathroom. I'm sure her nasty stomach bug will still be living there.

The good news is in true Pigbear-style she barely even knew she was sick...



(oh yeah, don't let your kid use that megaphone thingy either.)

picnic at the park...



crazy grandpa...



and fun Aunt Lu...



Stay tuned tomorrow for the last CA post. I know most of you slack off on Friday but I promise it'll be a good one. Friday is party day!

Keith, party of...15?

The reason we head out to Cali every year or so is because my Mom's family is from and still lives there. After my sister got her degree in fashion design she knew she'd have to move closer to a design hotbed. Alabama is many great and wonderful things but design mecca certainly is not. So my sister* transplanted herself across the country as well and now lives a cozy life out there with her husband (rad Dave) and her daughter (sweet Charlotte). So all my maternal aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and my sister live within miles of each other in the Monterey Bay area - Watsonville to be exact.

Dave and Meghan just bought a new home last month and we were SO excited to see it. Meghan hosted a whole slew of us one night for lasagna (her specialty) and we all had a great time testing out every nook and cranny of her kitchen, dining room and living room.

Predictably, the girls preferred the front yard. It's so sweet - complete with a white picket fence. Hello American Dream!










I love this next shot. I feel like I'm intruding on their private toddler conversation. Charlotte's in the middle of a sentence that I imagine goes something like this, "...yeah, and my mom was all, 'CHARLOTTE PUT THAT MIMI AWAY!' and I was like, 'mooooom, get a life!' "

Or something. Humor me here.

Meanwhile Meghan was getting all domestic in the kitchen...

And I relished not being the hostess so I hung out outside snapping photos as people arrived...

My (not so) little cousins, Noah and Aaron...

So we all have those family members that make us feel old just by their very being, right? You know, the ones that sprout three and a half feet between visits and then talk like linebackers when the last time you spoke they sounded closer to Minnie Mouse? Yeah. Noah and Aaron are those people to me. When I was in high school and they were visiting Noah used to tag along with me and a my friends as our little mascot. I'll never forget the night we took him to O'Charleys (he was probably 7) and he couldn't take his eyes off of a couple making out across the room. Poor kid. I'm sure he was traumatized. As we walked out I asked him if he had fun and he said, "yeah...well...except for those people having sex at the bar!" Oh man my friends and I laughed so hard! I get a little teary-eyed and punchy just thinking about it! Poor Noah, that story is bound to live in infamy with me just as the beer-collecting toddler story does with my aunt and her friends.

I digress. These boys make me feel old.

Check out Aaron's locks. I would kill for hair like this...

And last but not least, my favorite shot of the day. I know, I know, you guys probably hate it. It's totally snapshotty and poorly composed but I *love* it. I knew I loved it from the minute I clicked the shutter. Whatever, I'm a freak like that.

Hope you're having a great week!

* For the record, rad Dave is pretty much the sole blogger over at Charlotte's Web but I hear Meghan takes the pictures so she gets the linkage this time. :)

ladies and Dave, meet Jennifer.

Okay, so Dave already knows Jennifer but since the rest of you male readers refuse to come out of the woodwork I had to leave off "gentlemen". I know who you are...your wives give you away. I may just have to start naming names. ;) HA!

So I know we have lots of Jennifers that comment (and Megans and Kims and Amys and Heathers...) but there is one Jennifer that out-comments all of you. More than once I've heard the question, "who's Jennifer?" and now I finally get to show you!

Jennifer has been my Aunt Lori's BFF for years and years and years (like 25+). She's known me from the time I was itty bitty and whenever we're all together you can bet one story is going to come up. It was my Aunt Lori's 21st (?) birthday party at my grandparents house. My grandparents are known for throwing some kickin' parties...more on that later this week. Aunt Lori and Jennifer were, um, not feeling well in the morning so Meghan and I took it upon ourselves to drag a big trash bag around the yard, cleaning up, um, beverage containers. I think I was 4. And the story always ends with this line, "...and then when we woke up DeeDee (me) said, 'it looks like evwybody in the wooold was here...' ". I hear that story every.time. It still makes me smile. It's nice to be remembered as the sweet kid who cleaned up all the...beverage containers.

So check her out. Jennifer's the one on the far left, followed by Aunt Lu, Becky, and Kim - the other BFFs. I got the chance to photograph Becky's granddaughter too while I was out there and after you pick yourself up off the floor where I'm sure you've fallen in disbelief over the idea that that gorgeous lady has a grandchild, you can go check her out on my business blog. (diagram that sentence, wouldya?) She's the first baby in this post. There's other good stuff there so feel free to stay awhile and look around. :)



Now if anyone comments before Jennifer you may just win a fastest finger award!

(Aunt Lu et al. email me for a copy of you guys in all your gorgeousness!)

laying low

Please excuse the lack of a Mama Monday today. I'm afraid I'm all mama'd out after our week of travel! Why is it that everytime we load these hooligans up I think we're headed on a vacation? Next time I use the V word will someone please give me a cyberslap and then remind me that there is no such thing as a vacation when you're raising little ones. As Brent so precisely stated halfway through our trip: "there is no vacation, there's just going somewhere different." Amen. Was it fun and awesome and amazing? Definitely. Relaxing? Um, no.

For the first half of our week we pretty much stuck around my grandparents house and laid low. It gave us a great opportunity to catch up on time with family, junk food and about 8 different judge shows on my Grama and Grandpa's Tivo. (yes, they are so much cooler than we are)

In no particular order...

My sister and my rad BIL Dave. I feel obligated to say he's rad because 1) he is 2) he uses the word every chance he gets and 3) he's one of the few men brave enough to comment on this ol' blog (I know there are more of you out there - you just may not have the cajones Dave does:) )



My water-witching, wart-removing Grandpa. I love this man.



I love this man too!



(No, B-Ro didn't suddenly sprout a carrot top, I'm just too lazy to pick these snaps apart and fix the color...)



(same goes for sweet Charlotte...she's really a blonde...and a pretty cute one if you're asking me!)

My girl hard at work at one of my favorite childhood, Grama's house pastimes...sorting junk.



Aunt Lori called the week before our trip to ask one question: "What do I need to get for Sarah to make sure I'm her favorite?"

The answer? Cinderella.

Score one for Aunt Lu.



The ring didn't hurt her cause either...



Naptime for Grandpa. And a sweet child who I'm related to in a distant and roundabout way...



Sarah and Charlotte with their loveys...



And finally, Sarah doing what she did for much of the first half of our week...



On an airplane if we even so much as fly over a state harboring a stomach bug Sarah will catch it. And this trip was no exception.

Vacation. Huh.

seems I have some 'splainin' to do.

Ah, the water-witching wart doctor arrives home safely. :) I have so much to share and tell about but someone made a mess of this sweet little blog that I first have to clean up. Since this seems to have become a forum for spreading malicious half-truths I'll dispell those myths with a Snopes-style rating system. If only I could figure out how to use their cute little color coded icons...

1. Erin is a skinny little thing, but the girl can eat desserts like no other. I've seen her eat a full meal and then put away a dozen cookies. And then look around for more. True. I love me some sweets.

2. After she buys new clothes, she goes home and does a fashion show complete with strutting and posing. O-b-n-o-x-i-o-u-s. Multiple truth values. This was pre-children. I no longer have the time/money/style sense to buy new clothes. Or the shopping buddy. (insert sad, lonely sigh) And it was never obnoxious. I'm flawless on a living room catwalk, let me tell you.

3. She's a water witch. False. My grandpa witches for water and tried to teach me. I'm a miserable failure in this department.

4. She's a wart doctor. Multiple truth values. Again, my grandpa does this and has passed the family secret down to me. It's kind of a deathbed confession, Okey folkore type of thing and since my grandpa is still alive and kicking I'm not "practicing". And, for the record, we prefer "wart conjurer". Gotta keep you people PC with all your folk medical terms.

5. Erin was a seriously great teacher. I know most of you think of her as a photographer, but she was an incredible, innovative, highly-skilled teacher. Undetermined. But man I loved that job.

6. When my husband was away for most of 6 months due to work, Erin slept over with me every single Thursday night. And she had me over for dinner at least once a week. Because that's the kind of friend she is. True. Samantha failed to mention, however, that my husband also cleaned her toilets on a regular basis. There are some things a girl just shouldn't do. :)

7. Erin ruins every single surprise poor Brent tries to plan for her. True. Guilty as charged.

8. She is a fabulous cook and hostess. Her home is warm and inviting, and she has this incredibly laid-back attitude about having people over all the time. You always feel at welcome at the Cobbs. Undetermined. I will say though that with the likes of Samantha and Amy in the neighborhood you better come with your A game or you'll be out-hostessed every time.

9. She is dearly, dearly loved by her family, her husband, her children, her book club, and me. Especially me. True. I've got me some good peeps, yes I do. And I love them right back.

10. I have so many good stories I'd love to share, but they aren't really appropriate for general audiences. Sigh. For those of you who don't know her personally, you'll just have to take my word for it that she's even better in person. And also more of a pain-in-the-you-know-what. Multiple truth values. Me? A pain? HA!

Ten On Tuesday - The "I Bet You Didn't Know THIS About Erin" Edition

Warning: Still the BFF posting. Glad you are all amused by my antics.

10 Things You Might Not Know About Erin

1. Erin is a skinny little thing, but the girl can eat desserts like no other. I've seen her eat a full meal and then put away a dozen cookies. And then look around for more.

2. After she buys new clothes, she goes home and does a fashion show complete with strutting and posing. O-b-n-o-x-i-o-u-s.

3. She's a water witch.

4. She's a wart doctor. I can't believe I threw both of those out there in the last post and not one single person asked what I was referring to.

5. Erin was a seriously great teacher. I know most of you think of her as a photographer, but she was an incredible, innovative, highly-skilled teacher.

6. When my husband was away for most of 6 months due to work, Erin slept over with me every single Thursday night. And she had me over for dinner at least once a week. Because that's the kind of friend she is.

7. Erin ruins every single surprise poor Brent tries to plan for her.

8. She is a fabulous cook and hostess. Her home is warm and inviting, and she has this incredibly laid-back attitude about having people over all the time. You always feel at welcome at the Cobbs.

9. She is dearly, dearly loved by her family, her husband, her children, her book club, and me. Especially me.

10. I have so many good stories I'd love to share, but they aren't really appropriate for general audiences. Sigh. For those of you who don't know her personally, you'll just have to take my word for it that she's even better in person. And also more of a pain-in-the-you-know-what.

Ok, I'm done blogging at the Pigbear. I have to get back to raising my children and tending my own blog. I know all of you are as anxious as I am to have her back and to hear all about what Sarah and Ephraim have been up to in CA. Thanks for letting me stop by!

I Broke In, Y'all!!

Warning, BFF posting here!

So I was going to leave a comment on Erin's crazy post about quitting her blog - trust me, it's never, ever going to happen - but then I thought it would be more fun to wait until she's in CA and break into her blog! It's summer. It's hot. I'm bored. Plus I figured since I know all of you are still checking her blog religiously even though she's gone, I'd give you something new to read. Erin's probably so busy water-witching and wart-doctoring in CA she won't even notice!

Love,
Samantha

tired?

Yep, me too. I need a vacation.

So it's a good thing we're HEADED TO CALI TOMORROW!!! =) Oh I'm so looking forward to this!

Before I go though I want to THANK YOU GUYS for all the encouraging comments about yesterday's post. Sometimes I'm just a spaz, you truly have to ignore me. Samantha, Amy, and definitely my husband can vouch for the truth in that statement. Not sure what my blog issues are but I'll work them out. Promise. =)

So. Limited (if any) blogging/internet playing in the next week. So I'll pretty much be out of the cyber loop. Hopefully I'll be back in a week with lots and lots of fun photographs and stories.

In the meantime, head over to the business blog to see a few more shots of that adorable baby girl up there. Our dear friends Amy and Steven added to their family last weekend and I got to photograph her. That sweet girl didn't even cry once. I'm in love!



Ta-ta!

lull

I feel the ol' blog is getting stale. I'm torn between wanting to update my look but not wanting to update to new blogger. Between wanting to post everyday and saying "forget it" and switching to just the potd. Between wanting to go private and stick to my peeps and wanting to entice new readers. Ugh.

I think I'll just go on vacation.

In the meantime, check out that B-Ro lovin' him some black beans. He was a big fan. As was his sister. The diaper-changer (read: me), on the other hand, not such a big fan.



Hope your week is going great!

facets of my pi'bear

Check out the eye-contact in these babies. I thought my lens would surely never see those sweet buggers again.









Granted I'd never call these portraits but I love that she let me capture who she is right now. She's a girl who adores Cinderella, lives for "pretty-tend", is in dire need of a haircut, loves her daddy, is on a mama kick, demands to see her brother first thing in the morning, craves sugar, sings incessantly, and is loved to the moon.

jackpot, post one.

My babies were so good to me yesterday. BOTH of them allowed themselves to be photographed. Granted it's not a big struggle with this little guy but with his sister, well, you know about that. I'll post a few of her tomorrow. Nothing stellar but, HELLO, eye contact! :)

Here's my little man hamming it up. (in front of our new yellow walls, yet again. The color is Goldfinch by Ralph Lauren for those of you who have asked)





We're seeing a lot of this these days...



And this...



hmmmm...could crawling be far behind? This mama hopes not. I love my little immobile B-Ro.

And a black and white just for fun.



At (almost) eight months he's saying "mama" incessantly and discriminately. Most notably when I walk out of the room. He also says "dada" and "hi" but isn't quite sure what they mean yet. He's getting pretty attached to his daddy too these days which is pretty cool. He's such a good little dude.

Random shout-out: Do I owe pics to anyone? I'm talking to friends and family here that I've done shots for in the last several months. I have so much fun taking, editing, and posting stuff for my peeps but then I fall down on the job of actually delivering them to the places they belong. I'm not talking about clients - they're all taken care of - just my non-paying friends and fam. I'd like to do a massive upload to mpix this week so if anyone is waiting on pics from me PLEASE email or post here. Thanks!

Mama Monday XIII: traveling with kiddos

Mama Monday Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert mom. I am on a mama journey just like all of you are. However, I'm more than willing to share my experience with you guys. If today's topic is something that you have an experience with then I hope you'll share too...either on your own blog (be sure to leave us a link) or in the comments section.

Several people have recently suggested that we discuss this topic and what better time to do it than summer vacation? We're headed on a vacation of our own in the next week so these tidbits (and all the great ones I know you'll have to share) will be fresh in my mind.

Here we go. Traveling with kiddos, Cobb style.

1. Food. It's my best friend when we're traveling. I am not above letting my kids snack themselves into oblivion on car and plane rides. While I still try to keep things relatively healthy I do try to choose things that are a bit of a novelty - yogurt covered raisins in little boxes, 100 calorie packs of cookies, fruit slices, various crackers and chips, banana bread or homemade cookies, etc. For car trips I like to pack our snacks in a flip-top plastic tub so they don't get smooshed and they're always easy to find.

2. When possible we try to reserve a good bit of our travel for evening/night. When we drove down to Orlando (a 12 hour drive) we didn't leave home until around noon. The kids only had to stomach about 7 hours in the car before conking out for the duration. Sleeping while traveling = good. Sarah travels with a plush stuffed animal that works perfectly for a pillow. She has a neck pillow that we may try out on our flight this weekend. When we're traveling at night we try to make one last stop before bedtime when we'll eat, potty, gas up and change into jammies (the kids, not us!). Then we try not to stop again until we get where we're going. Stops ALWAYS wake our kiddos up.

3. The DVD player. Okay, here's the thing. Before we had kids we swore up one way and down the other that we would never do this. We were going to be the family that played car games and sang songs and laughed and giggled and never said a cross word in the car. Before we had kids. Now that the little boogers are here I've realized a few things: 1) I still wish we were that family. Sometimes we are. Sometimes we're not. 2) When we were growing up and traveling (sans portable electronic devices) we didn't have to be strapped down for hours on end in super tight 5 point harness systems. That would really stink. I feel their pain. If watching a little tube eases that uncomfiness for a bit so be it. 3) A movie or two on a road trip means Brent and I get some much needed talking time. And who can argue with that. So there. Hate me if you wish. =)

4. Kid bags stuffed with fun stuff and accessible to the kids/adults. For Sarah that means a vast array of books, stickers, the magnadoodle, DVD player, crayons, etc. Inevitably things get scattered about as we're bouncing along but we always try to reorganized at every stop so that things are findable once again.

5. Stopping to eat. When possible we try to either plan a picnic for a rest stop so we can run around and get some energy out or hit up a fast food join with a playplace. If we go the fast food route then we like to get our meals and eat while Sarah is playing. We get her meal to go and give it to her once we get back in the car. It gives us about 20 minutes to eat and her time to play. Letting her eat her meal in the car gets us back on the road much faster and (literally) eats up some of the drive time for her as she occupied with her happy meal or whatever it is she has.

6. Kids Music. We have a vast array of children's music that Sarah adores. Sometimes we all sing along but most of the time we turn the speakers on the in the backseat and let her rock out while we're free to talk in the front.

7. Portable potty. For car trips we put Sarah's little potty in the car so that if she has to go we don't have to haul everyone into a restaurant or gas station just for a potty break. We can just sit her on the potty wherever we are. Trashy, maybe. Convenient, definitely. =) For plane rides we bring her foldable potty seat cover.

Okay, I know this wasn't full of revolutionary material but it's a start. If you have any questions post them in the comments and I'll add to the list. Can't wait to see all the awesome things you guys have to say on the subject!

Buddy Posters:

Heather at the Sarah Bear
Lindsay at Life in Motion
Isabel at Life of the Williams
Christie at At Least We're Married
Sarah at the Petrie Family
Heather at Tiger Tales
Kristi at Thoughts of a New Mom
Marian at From the Mountains

lucky me.

Guess who was at our house this evening?




Yep, the cuties from the mountains. And, oh man, are they ever cute. Sarah and Stella were fast friends and spent the entire evening running up and down the hallway, chasing each other in the backyard, cuddling up on Sarah's bed and our couch, and wearing matching nightgowns. I've never seen her click with another child so instantly. The only other time they've met was over two years ago but you sure couldn't tell it from the way they were tonight! They were down the hall and cuddled up on the sofa in our bedroom before Eric and Marian even walked in the door and got settled in. Insane!

This was our first time meeting Meg which made our visit extra special. She is SO.CUTE. Oh my. Her eyes just sparkle. If I didn't trust her parents when they said how high-maintenance she is I'd think about moving her right in.

Thanks for stopping by, Eric and Marian! you guys rock!

eta: Mama Monday tomorrow: Traveling with Kiddos.

fountain, round two

So, here's the thing: I'm afraid I'm raising an overly fearful child. Notice that I started my confession with "I'm afraid". Sarah has been picking up much of my lexicon lately and "I'm afraid" has invaded her vocabulary. Now that I hear her saying it so much I notice how much I say it.


"careful hon, I'm afraid you're gonna fall."

"wait just a sec, I'm afraid you'll burn yourself."

"hold on, I'm afraid you might get wet."

Ugh. I hate it. Of course I realize that cautious = good but I'm afraid (SEE?!) I take it to an extreme. I see Sarah hanging back more and more lately when we're in new situations and I just worry that she's getting that from me. I thought about it a lot over the weekend of the fourth. I certainly don't want to push her into doing things she's not comfortable doing but I do want to lead by example. Something I don't think I do enough of - I'm a pretty cautious mama.





So in an attempt to throw my caution to the wind I paraded through the fountain fully clothed on Saturday afternoon. It did nothing to assuage Pi'bears fears but at least when she invites me to her therapy sessions in 20 years I can say I tried. Of course, that will be after the session when we cover why in the world her mama blogged every moment of her existence. sheesh.







Daddy takes a much more direct approach...

















And, apparently, gets better results...








B-Ro on the other hand isn't afraid of anything (well, except loud, sudden noises and overly agressive Pi'bear tickling).








He's just happy to be alive.

HEY! SUPER COOL FRIDAY AFTERNOON TIP: AT CHICK-FIL-A TODAY YOU GET A FREE MEAL IF YOU DRESS UP LIKE A COW. SO GRAB SOME COSTUMES FOR YOUR KIDDOS AND HAVE A FAMILY DATE. AND EAT A BROWNIE FOR ME WHILE YOU'RE THERE...BETTER YET, MAKE IT A MILKSHAKE!!!