Crista Acosta Photography »

Much of our free time these days is spent like this:

Walking laps around our house with the little guy.  He’s just so excited to be walking, notice the tongue… it’s always out like that in a combination of concentration and sheer joy.  It’s so much fun to see him developing so quickly, but any parent that has done this for 20 minutes straight knows that it’s a killer on your back to lean over and support a person who is all of 2 foot nothin’.  

Unfortunately, L.A. doesn’t really understand that and crumples on the floor in a fit of frustration when C or I need a break.  Despite the fact that he has at least 5 different types of “walking toys”, apparently none are as good as Mom or Dad’s hands.  How can you say no to that?

Just so that I can thoroughly embarrass my teenage son when he reads through these entries one day, how about Tongue Exhibit part 2?  Despite the fact that these pictures were taken in almost the same location, it should be noted that this was on lap 38 or so.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! 

Going in for the kill.

Here are a few other pictures from the little dude’s day.

Look at him going in for the big smooch… that’s his cousin, and one of my favorite little girlies around.

L.A. and I at the end of the day.  Both of us were pretty tired by this point.

and lastly, the much alluded family shot courtesy of our friend and neighbor.  We actually had to call her to come over after the fact because I realized the whole day had gone by and we didn’t get one family picture.  Thank you E!

1.  I give L.A. about 3 weeks before he’s walking.  He’s trying so hard, I really think it’s on the horizon.

2.  Yesterday we had a Dr’s appointment to check up on P2 and there was a medical student shadowing the Dr.  She wanted to try to find the baby’s heartbeat on the Doppler, and gave it a shot.  Seconds turned into minutes, and my own heart leaped to my throat.  At about the 4 minute mark she gave up and handed it back over to the Dr. who found the heartbeat immediately.  I have never in my life heard a sweeter sound.

3.  Christmas music has already started playing in our house, and I’d forgotten how purely happy it makes me.  Yesterday I was dancing all around the house with L.A. singing him Christmas carols while he shrieked with laughter.  (There’s a good chance he was laughing at my inability to carry a tune, though!)

4.  I’ve been so busy photographing other families for their holiday cards, I haven’t even thought about doing ours yet.  I need to get cracking.

5.  I shocked myself by only shedding one little tear as we rolled past the 1 year mark.

6.  I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving like a little kid anticipates Christmas.  Stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies galore… heaven!

7.  Bonus points for me, because this is the second year in a row that I’ve been in maternity pants on Turkey Day. 

8.  L.A. was hysterical when eating his birthday cake.  He decided he wasn’t crazy about how the frosting felt on his hands, so he just leaned down and dug in like a pups at his bowl.  Pictures to follow… I promise.

9.  I’ve felt all along that P2 is a girl, but at yesterday’s Dr’s appointment, the heart rate was in the 140’s which is boy territory.  This has me second guessing my “intuition”.

10.  If P2 is a boy, C and I are in for MONTHS of name debating.  We are on two opposite ends of the spectrum with boy names, and therefore haven’t even broached the subject thus far.  Yikes.

My Sweet L.A., 

I could write you a book to tell you how much you have changed my life in the past year, and in doing so I’d probably soak my keyboard with tears.  In some ways, I suppose this is my book to you, and your (future) sibling(s).  One day, you’ll be able to read through my thoughts and as much as I love you today, I can’t imagine how much I’ll love you the day you come across this entry.  

You see, as you’ve grown, my heart has grown.  The day you were born, I thought I could never love you more, but as each day has passed there is more and more there.  Sure, there are moments of frustration and there were months of exhaustion, and I never would have imagined that I’d smile when being summoned from my cozy bed at 5 in the morning on the weekend.  You are so worth it all though… every sleepless night, every moment where I wonder if I’m really cut out to be your mom, every early morning when I see you beaming at me – so excited to see me – I wonder how in the world I got so darned lucky.  

This morning on your birthday you slept in, a rare treat for your Dad and I, and when you finally woke up and I brought you into our room so Dad and I could say Happy Birthday to you together, I glanced over at the clock and it was 8:24.  Exactly the time you were born one year ago today… and as the three of us snuggled up together I closed my eyes and thanked God for every minute of this past year.  

I love you little boy, and even when you’re not so little anymore, you’ll always be my baby.  

Today is L.A.’s first birthday party, though his actual birthday is tomorrow.  I haven’t shed any tears yet, though there’s no guarantee they won’t come tumbling down as I tuck him in tonight for the last time as an “infant”.  Tomorrow morning when he wakes up, officially 1 year old, he will be a toddler.  

On the eve of his first birthday, I’ve found myself reflecting… especially back to this day 1 year ago.  It was Black Friday, and I had no clue we’d be meeting our child early the next morning as I ran around doing all of our holiday shopping.  When C and I were relaxing on the couch that night, we had no way of knowing that it was our last night just the two of us.  As we drove to the hospital in the early morning hours, C held my hand and we rode in silence both taking in the enormity of the moment.  I’ll never forget the guard as we walked into the hospital, stopping along the way as I was left breathless by a contraction.  He looked at us with kind eyes and said “I may not be a Dr., but I think I know what the problem is.”  If you want to read the entire birth story, you can click here.

For now though, I need to go finish getting ready for the little dude’s party.  So far, the balloons are a big hit.  In fact, C and I are wondering if we should have just gotten him a bunch of mylar balloons.  If you have any “it’s okay that your baby is turning one” strength to send my way, I’m all for it!  

1. L.A. is currently in love with  Goodnight Moon.  No matter how many books we read before bed, it always has to end with Goodnight Moon.  The other night I tried to trick him and skip Goodnight Moon by just telling him a story as we rocked, and it took him about 30 seconds to catch on before he bolted up and pointed down at the book and then looked back up at me as if to say “Hello??  Did you forget something?”.  He’s learning so much every day and has become so much fun.  Sure, there are still those moments of extreme frustration (biting, and tossing his dinner on the floor come to mind), but those little eyes twinkle in such a way it’s hard to be perturbed for more than a second.

2. P2 is in love with cheese – all shapes and sizes, cheese must be a part of every meal.  Chocolate milk is a close second, which is a little odd as it hasn’t been on my radar since about 5th grade.  Thanks kiddo… you couldn’t be obsessed with fruit, or lettuce perhaps??  I can feel the little one growing in there now though, and though I’ve been through it before, it still completely amazes me. 

3.  Photography related, I am currently in the process of working on some changes for the blog… stay tuned!  2009 will be an exciting year, and we’re looking at a whole new pricing structure centered around digital files because in this day and age, that seems to be what we all want anyway.  If you have any thoughts on that one way or another, feel free to drop me an email at crista@cristaacosta.com .

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Last thing, today is the final day for nominations in the Holiday Cheer contest.  I will take some time this weekend to read through all the entries and the winner will be chosen collectively by myself, C, and a group of professional photographers.  I will be in contact with all those who have submitted nominations thus far.  Thank you!

Because really, no post should be without a picture, here’s one of the boy behaving (for once).

Hello there sweet baby!  Will has gotten so big since his newborn session, and his gorgeous eyes were just taking everything in.  This is such a smiley, fun age! 

I’ve seen a lot of cute holiday outfits over the past few weeks, but this one just might take the cake.

Can’t wait to see you again at 6 months, Will!! 

One of my favorite little guys to photograph… he’s just getting sweeter as he gets older.  We had a blast in our quick little meeting! 

Is he a little Gap model, or what?