Greenie Family Photo Shoot (Carter 2-Year Pics)

Since I posted some candid photos of Carter in the last entry, I thought I should put in some "real" photos too. We went for some "professional" photos (I use quotes because I'm not quite sure that these people really know what they're doing. Keep reading...), anyway, we went for some family shots and to get some good photos to document Carter's second birthday.

I had it all planned out that he would wear his Kansas jersey, hold his Jayhawk (from Grandma C), and then we'd get a few family shots in his nice new shirt (also from Grandma C). Well, it didn't go quite like I'd planned...

So let's start the show (and all of these are from the raw files - as in they haven't been centered, color-adjusted, etc.).

Got that jersey on AND a basketball - perfect! (except Carter won't smile [normally]...):
Nor did he want to sit in their chair:
(ok, I LOVE this next one - and who knows why his cheek got all red all of a sudden...)
So we did an outfit swap - let's try some shots with the "2" block:
No sitting still...why? Because there was a STUFFED SQUIRREL!
At least we managed to get the Jayhawk in the picture... Except he's not wearing the jersey anymore...
Let's try a few family shots - here's the ONE that came out ok (Matt never smiles - he just looks at Carter and focuses on something, um, elsewhere, while I just watch the camera and ignore everyone else...):
The boys:
Mommy and Carter:
So then we swapped photo rooms to one with a red background (thought that'd be great - crimson and blue AND the Jayhawk - just in case I brought two...). Went all fine and well until Carter spotted the giant rubber duck!
Ok, crop out the duck... Cute, but won't smile for the lady:
What's that?! A GIANT RABBIT! A giant rabbit AND the duck?! (And who actually WANTS to use these props?!) And what happened to the Kansas jersey? Screw it, just keep on the white tee:
Ok, white tee with red background. Not bad. Add in a rocking chair? To sit in? Nah, Carter just wanted to push it around the set...
Which is TOTALLY fun!
*patience gone at this point

Let's try some blocks. Got a "C" block? Two? Cool! Those are for stacking, right Carter? What about the camera lady?
Ok, let's try mini blocks?
A bunch of sports equipment?
And at that point, folks, we gave up. HOWEVER, we did get one REALLY great shot of Carter to put up on the wall and to send copies to family. Good thing it has a squirrel in the shot, eh?
Can't make this stuff up folks. Here's hoping your photo shoots are just as entertaining as they are for the Greenies!
~kerrie

Sunday Reader

I'm a huge news junkie. I read the newspaper every day. I listen to talk radio. I check on news websites several times a day. So it's no surprise that I want my son to be a big reader and to stay apprised of current events (ok, ok, so far he's really not been all that interested in the hurricane-followed-by-tsunamis-followed-by-nuclear-plant-meltdowns... we'll get there soon enough...).

But I DO know that Carter is really, I mean, REALLY in to books. Depending on who puts him to bed, either Matt or I read him about 5-10 books a night. (I often hear Matt just making up stories, but it still counts, right?) In the morning when he wakes up, he'll grab a book and try to coax you over to the rocking chair to read it to him.

Well on Sunday morning, I thought he should read the book to ME! He was pretty in to it (after this first shot) and I captured this series of photos as he was reading the story aloud (ok, he pretty much just points to the things he knows and says, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, look! Ball!" and so on).

Unedited and in the order I took them. Check it out:
(A lot of these shots were captured between words and looks/points to me.)
(He'll kill me someday for posting this next one...)
(This next one is my favorite!)
And from there, we built a fort out of blankets. To sit and read under, of course :)
~kerrie

Nap Attack

Pretty much ALL of the Greenies have had the crud within the past 40 days. I was first, then Matt had it, then Carter had it. Let's just hope I don't get it back... (Which I shouldn't because I'm on an awesome can't-eat-anything-fun diet to see why I keep getting sinus infections. But that's another post for another day...)

This is just a short post to report that A) Matt is healthy, B) Carter is healthy, and C) No one is able to nap on the couch with Carter "The Attacker" in the house. See:
Seems pretty pleased with himself, huh?
Oh well. As I always say, plenty of time for sleeping when we're dead! Now get up Daddy, it's time to play!
~kerrie

SWE Region Conference (Palm Springs!)

Back at the beginning of March I took a trip over to Palm Springs, California, for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Sonora Region Conference and Career Fair. You see, as the Region Governor, my attendance is required at these conferences and I guess I just can't complain about them being in places like Orlando, Palm Springs, etc. (Have I mentioned yet that next year's is in HAWAII!!!!????)

Ahem, back to this post...

I know from experience, it takes a LOT of work to plan a SWE Region Conference. I led the planning efforts for the 2009 conference here in Albuquerque. This time around it was no different. I was on conference calls at least weekly, I wrote and responded to a zillion emails, and it was tough. And about five days before the conference, I came down with a heinous case of bronchitis. As in I couldn't even talk. When I finally got my voice back, I couldn't speak a whole sentence without coughing. It sucked...

But I went anyway.

It was 80 degrees and my room overlooked the gorgeous pool:
I stayed inside and rested.

I did manage to make it to the street-fair thingy on Thursday night and got this sweet hand-painted "choo choo" wall hanging for Carter (click on it to see it better - WAY cool - and thanks to Jeannette for shipping it to Albuquerque for me!):
The street fair was REALLY weird. THE most random vendors (lots of fudge for some reason?!). Here's a street shot:
On both legs of my flight to CA, I sat by Canadian women. They were headed to Palm Springs for 6 months (each of them - weird, eh?). I was baffled that so many Canadians would "winter" in Palm Springs. And so I just HAD to snap a picture of this sign:
Even though I was beat, I had some tasty Mexican food with some of my favorite SWE pals. Jeannette (I know, the photo is dark - she told me if I posted the other one she would kill me...):
Jenn and George (are they cute or what?!? Can't wait until their wedding in May 2012!):
Keli and Lisa:
Most photos of me include me blowing my nose or coughing. On two different occasions, SWE pals brought me new boxes of tissues (sometimes being Governor has its perks...):
On the Friday, I took a tour of the Nestle water bottling facility. They wouldn't let us take photos (it was SO cool!), but I snapped a couple pics of the many, many windmills on the ride back:
Palm Springs is about 2000' lower than Albuquerque in elevation, so the climate was pretty similar to here.
Another Governor made it out to the conference. Colleen (on the right) and I just so happened to be wearing the same SWE shirt. Ha!
I made it through most of the event without dying, but it was a stretch to stand at the podium at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even during my water treatment presentation without losing a lung. But I did. Even got all dressed up for dinner (which, I must say, the keynote speaker was AMAZINGLY inspirational! One of the oldest SWE presidents gave an interview - WOW!).

There were lots of awards and I did a lot of smiling for the camera. Won't show them all, but a couple of my favorites. First up, the "Sonora History Awards." These are scrapbooking awards and my neighbor, Kristin, does the two pages up for my local SWE section. She's taken home top prize for Central New Mexico for two years running! Here's the CNM President, Elizabeth, with the winning entry:
Winning collegiate entry - Cal Poly:
Another really great SWE pal - my Secretary (who takes AMAZING meeting minutes!), Stephanie:
And I'll end with this one - Super Lisa - she's my "Fun Director" for the Sonora Region (unofficial title, of course):
All in all, I had a GREAT time despite the bronchitis trying to do me in. We had over 300 attendees and I'm pretty sure EVERYONE had a great time! Another thanks to Jenn and Lisa for all of their hard work at planning the conference! Let's do it again next year...in Hawaii!!!!!
~kerrie

The Cranberry Kid

I have OH SO MUCH to blog about, I've just been crazy busy with work, SWE, travel, and even some Spring cleaning...

But I snapped these pics the other night during dinner because Carter ate about two-thirds of a can of cranberry sauce (you know, the jelly kind). It was on the clearance rack at Target, so I snagged a few cans (I LOVE that stuff!). Anyway, most ADULTS won't eat cranberries, but let me tell you, this kid does!

First, a close-up of his cranberry-smeared face:
And second, a super-happy-hyped-up-on-the-sauce (cranberry, that is) -smiley kid... Say "cranberries"!!!!
Hope the beginnings of Spring are treating you well and you haven't blown away (or had your house, car, siding, etc. damaged by hail like Aunt Katrina and Uncle Jason did on Sunday night in Kansas...ugh! At least no one was hurt, eh?)! It's crazy windy here, but that's just how it is in Albuquerque...
~kerrie