I just realized that the last post on this blog was dated December 30th… Wow, that’s over a month of no blogging.

Happy New Year, by the way (better late than never)!

As I said, life with baby is harder than I thought. Of course, I didn’t think it would be a walk in the park, but man was I underestimating how much busier days can get with a very active little one.

My baby boy will be 6 months in just one short week. It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital, on his second day of life. Now he is about to crawl, and definitely a handful. Not to mention he thinks sleep is totally overrated.

Isn’t he the cutest baby ever? Of course he is, to me at least.

He doesn’t like it when I sit at my desk trying to get some work done and that is why I have been neglecting the blog. I am still working, but not as much as before. Being a mom has taken priority for the time being.
I try a bit harder to keep his little blog updated, supposedly daily, but reality is I usually blog 2 or more “daily” posts at once… typically around midnight, after I am done having dinner and working. That blog is his baby journal and the only way family and friends in Europe keep up with him, especially now that they grow up so fast and change quickly.

Christmas is almost over and between hosting a dinner on Christmas Eve (which may seem like nothing but it’s a big deal with a 4 months old who doesn’t care if you need to shower/clean/cook), opening presents this morning and generally dealing with a teething baby (aka Mr. Cranky Pants), I am just right now able to update this blog with wishes for my readers. I know my days will only be getting busier as my troublemaker grows up…

He is the best gift I could ever receive.

“Dear Santa, I’ve been good. Mostly.”

Today I’m just going to show off my little man… Isn’t he the cutest baby skeleton? :)

And my little skeleton is tired and ready for a nap.

I know I haven’t posted many pictures of him on this blog but I don’t want to be too much of ‘proud mommy obsessed with pictures of her kid‘, because, OF COURSE I take like a zillion pictures of him. If you want to see more, there is a blog, created so that family and friends overseas can keep up with RJ. Check it out at http://robertojs.com/

Today I also got to shoot baby Preston’s newborn session. Pictures are coming up soon!

…and he is such a full time job! But I couldn’t be happier :)

Today my baby is already 17 days old. Where did time go? It seems like yesterday when I was miserable and praying for him to decide to come out already… but he stubbornly waited 6 days over due.

[day thirteen]

I’m in love :)

We have some baby news… Our little guy finally arrived, on August 13, 12:58AM PST.

Say hello to baby Roberto Julian.

Here he is, 2 days old and sleeping in his crib:

The anticipation is killing us right now. We are merely 5 days away from the estimated due date and can’t wait to meet the baby (hopefully sooner rather than later!). This is basically as pregnant as one can be!

Pictures below are from yesterday and let’s hope they are the last ones of me with a big belly. Hehehe.

It was windy…

Everything around here is abandoned and locked up…

Markino takes a peek at what’s inside…

…but there is no trespassing!!

At the trailers…

I was SO freezing here!

Definitely less windy once inside the trailer, of course!

Random stuff… because colors and textures in this place are really interesting and eyecatching. There were a lot more to photograph but unfortunately a nine month pregnant woman cannot stay too far from a restroom for long periods.

Markino’s red Camper shoes. Love them!!!

That’s one huge warehouse!

Last shot before heading back home… view of the Bay!

Klo

I’m feeling a little homesick lately. I really miss home… and the thought of not going to visit this year just adds to the ‘frustration’. Because of the baby, we won’t be able to go to back home until next spring/summer. Ohh, this is going to be a very long year.

It was less than a year ago when I last travelled to Europe and spent about a month between Milan (Italy) and Tirana (Albania) but it seems like forever. Without sounding like I’m not looking forward to meeting friends and family in both Italy and Albania, my main thought right now is THE FOOD. Blame it on the pregnancy if you must but food is something I’ve really really missed since Markino and I moved to the US in Feb 2008. Yeah, sure, you can find some imported stuff here (prosciutto crudo, mortadella, grana padano, and more) but there’s not much and let’s not talk about the prices…
And then I miss the lifestyle. People have a different approach/attitude there. Nothing wrong with people here, it’s just different.

On a positive note, the pregnancy is coming to an end. Yes, it is a beautiful experience, but I can’t wait to hold this baby. Counting down the days to my due date, only 30 to go! August couldn’t be here soon enough.
It seems like yesterday when I announced we were expecting though… where did time go?

Today I picked some random shots I took in Albania last time I visited. I found these retro items in a restaurant that offers typical Albanian dishes in the old grandma’s style. It was nice to have lunch by the fireplace (much needed heat in September up on a mountain).

They had a whole collection of antique items that are really hard to find nowadays. I remember those radios. We had one too!

Old guns.

Some more contemporary shots of… food, of course! Not the food I had at the above mentioned restaurant… this was a modern meal! :)

Last week I got my new piece of studio equipment, a beauty dish reflector that I just can’t wait to use for my upcoming model shoots. Incredibly enough, I didn’t have time to experiment with it until yesterday afternoon. My days are getting so busy lately I can’t even imagine what it will be like when the baby is here. We are finishing off the last things on the to-do list for baby because the end is near and who knows when this little guy decides to come out (btw, there are only about 6 more weeks left until my due date!).

Back to that reflector, I really like it so far but I have yet to test its full potential with a maybe a little less tired model than my lovely husband, who was not so willing to pose for me yesterday. In fact, he would have rather taken a nap. Anyway, here are a couple of shots:

He was just too tired. Taking a nap in studio…

As a bonus here is a little belly too:

I had promised myself to document this pregnancy extensively but it is easier said than done. As my belly grows, my energy for selfportraits lessens. The heaviness is not very motivating… and I will shortly embark the 9th month, nothing will get any easier for sure.

Foggy, as in most days…