Crista Acosta Photography »

Ten things I’m loving right now.

1.  Watching the munchkin practicing his first steps.  He can go about 4 or 5 steps before he crashes.  Notice the tongue – it’s always out when he’s concentrating.

2.  In the past two days, I’ve already read Twilight, and I’m nearly done with New Moon by Stephanie Meyer.  The fact that I’ve been able to bury myself in reading is notable in and of itself.  Loving this series!

3.  Because of the way the holidays have fallen, I’ve gotten to spend tons of extra time with C and L.A. just lounging around the house in our sweats.  Here’s a random snapshot C took of the munchkin and I last weekend.  I edited this picture in an attempt to make myself look presentable, and it’s still rather scary… but it’s been a while since we’ve had a picture together.  So here I am in all my Saturday morning no makeup glory!

4.  Italian Wedding Soup.  For some reason, the combination of those little meatballs, spinach and tiny pasta have me seeing hearts dancing in my head.  Here’s a quick version of the recipe I’ve been using.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound ground turkey 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1/3 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/2 medium onion finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. In medium bowl, combine meat, egg, bread crumbs, cheese, basil and onion powder; shape into 3/4 inch balls.  An easy trick I’ve used is to make a long rope and then slice it up so that you can roll several meatballs at once.
2. In large skillet with a bit of olive oil, brown meatballs and then set on a seperate plate to drain.
3. In small pot, cook orzo until al dente.  Drain.
4. In large saucepan, saute carrots and onion with a little olive oil.  Add broth and heat to boiling; stir in spinach and meatballs. Return to boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes or so.

I always cook the pasta seperately because otherwise it soaks up all the broth of the soup.  I usually add a scoop of orzo to the bowl and then top it off with a few ladles of soup.  Mmm… I can smell it right now.  A nice crusty bread goes fabulous with this meal.  I should have a picture here for you, but I don’t.

5.  Speaking of nice crusty bread, one of my greatest loves of late is this Garlic Infused Butter.  I’m all about a good garlic bread, and I swear if you can find this in your local store it will change your life (and possibly your pants size).  I use it mainly as a spread on a great multi-grain loaf, but you could use it for a thousand other things.  The credit for this find goes to my neighbor and good friend who introduced me to it. 

6.  These bright eyes. 

7.  My Uggs.  They’re ugly, yes, but they’re like pillows for my feet.  Absolutely a weekend wardrobe staple.

8.  Catching up on other photographer’s blogs.  There is an amazing amount of talent and inspiration out there.  If you’re interested in checking out some very cool things, here’s Jacob’s Sunrise and Sunsetseries, and amazingly moving slideshow of birth photography by Lyndsay, and my friend Jaidean’s blog who is an amazing photographer and her beautiful daughter was born the same day as L.A.

9.  My favorite sound at the moment is my two boys laughing hysterically together over something that I have no part of.  My heart swelled when I saw this.

10.  This really should be #1 on my list.  Since I’m over the holiday rush and in a bit of a lull until mid-January, I’ve been able to take TONS of pictures of my own family.  There is just no amount of value I could put on that. 

It hasn’t been going so well lately.  We’re in the midst of popping some molars through, and despite the fact that his mood has been alright in general, naptime usually lasts about a half hour before L.A. wakes up crying and with this face pleading to be removed from the torture that is his crib.

He will however sleep for hours on our chest, on the couch.  This rendered C and I rather useless for hours at a time this long weekend.  Honestly?  I would have paid to press the pause button.  Rare is the time either of us just lounges for more than 5 minutes unless the boy is asleep, and then it’s out of sheer exhaustion.  More than that though, L.A. is very quickly outgrowing the sitting still and snuggling phase, so I’ll gladly hold onto these moments as long as they last. 

I probably won’t have a chance to post tomorrow, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry, and peaceful Christmas.  

I’d also like to recognize those people in my life with whom I couldn’t do without.  First and foremost, my husband – who doesn’t always get the credit he deserves.  You are my rock, and when I close my eyes at night, I could never imagine my life without you.  I am blessed to have you, and I appreciate everything that you do for our family, and for me.  Thank you.  My son – you are without question the light of my every day and the driving purpose behind all that I do.  In the past 13 months you have completely changed the way I look at life.  P2 – my unborn baby, thank you for reminding me to slow down.  This time flies too quickly, and with each little squirm and kick I’m reminded of how precious it all is.

I’m thankful today for my family, and my in-laws for welcoming me into the madness as one of their own.  For my friends – the ones I’ve known for years who can tell by the tone in my voice or the look on my face what is on my mind.  Thank you for understanding me.  For the friends I haven’t known that many years, I may as well have because you’re just as deep in my heart.  For the many friends I’ve met through various message boards, you’ve offered me so much sage advice and encouragement, I couldn’t possibly thank you enough.  

Lastly, to my clients – thank you for taking a leap of faith on me in 2008.  I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to spend time with so many beautiful families and capture your memories.  

May you all have a beautiful Christmas.  Much love from the Acosta Family to yours.

The newest development of L.A.’s strange quirks has been his obsession with his little toothbrush.  If he catches glimpse of it, he immediately reaches out and says “Mom!” as in “Lady, give me that toothbrush”.  If I dare to hesitate for even a second, the “Mom” is repeated and quickly becomes louder and more intense. 

He also refuses any brushing assistance, because clearly at 13 months he can already do it on his own.  If I attempt to help, it’s made very clear VERY quickly how frustrating it is that his mom doesn’t understand his independence. 

The toothbrush is a bath time staple.  Who needs the 3 rubber duckies, squirting toys and bath cups when you have a toothbrush?  We haven’t reached the point of the toothbrush needing to come to bed yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t that far off.

The time it took to get the munchkin stuffed into his snowsuit for a snow excursion that wound up lasting about 5 (maybe 10) minutes.  ;)   It was totally worth it though.  Surprisingly, despite being rendered mostly immobile, L.A. was pretty happy to be outside with the white stuff!

I think he was almost done at this point… 

For months and months, L.A. babbled “Dadda Dadda” over and over.  I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being a tad jealous at hearing him happily call out for C with no hint of my name on the horizon.

Oh how the tables have turned.  At the moment, both C and I are known as Mom in our house, but it’s always said as a question – “Mom?”.  Nine times out of ten though, he’s actually talking to C, so after “Mom?” I hear from the other room some version of the following – “I’m not your mom, I’m Dad”, “Not Mom, DAD!”, “Your mother is in the other room, but Dad is here”, and perhaps the funniest of all, a mutter of “I’m not answering until you say Dad” which is then met with a more insistent “Mom?”

One of these days he’ll get it right.  In the meantime, it’s nice to hear my name out of that little boy’s mouth, though I wouldn’t mind if he could call Dad in the middle of the night when he isn’t feeling well. 

The end of the year has me ready for some promised changes around here. New logo, new blog look, fancy schmancy flash header at the top, all good things!

There is a story behind the new logo, and the butterfly in particular that I’ll share later in the week. For now though, L.A. wants you to know how he feels about the BIG pictures that will reside here!

He’s psyched!  Hope you guys like the changes, I’d love to hear your feedback!  :) 

In the midst of the chaos I’ve been complaining about, I’m trying to take comfort and solace in the small, fleeting moments.  This morning as C and I were getting ready for work, L.A. was standing in his crib dancing back and forth as he does most mornings.  I glanced into his room as I passed and saw his giant smile as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other joyfully.  I couldn’t help but go in and kiss him good morning. 

As I approached his crib, he reached out his hand and started rubbing my belly, something he’s been doing the past few days.  He looked up at me and smiled and said “Mama?” and I nodded my head and said “there’s a baby in Mama’s belly”. 

In a moment I hadn’t anticipated, he reached his little arms around my waist and gave my belly a hug while resting his head gently there.  Before backing up completely, he planted a nice sloppy kiss on my belly and then looked up at me with his sweet smiling face. 

My life may be crazy at the moment, but it sure is better than any life I could have dreamt.