Stella is a little girl now. She is saying all kinds of words, dancing, clapping, kissing, she has a new set of teeth to eat and bite with..... She is getting to big to quickly. Since that last blog we have been all over. Florida, Seattle, Portland, and back in time to move into a new house before winter. Stella finally has her own room with a sweet deck attached. I am thankful, because it means that i get to sleep... almost.... through the night. Leila and Stella are now playing together, and it is very 

apparent that they will be quite the little team. Good luck Nolan and Mark. 

  I am really lagging at this whole blogging thing. But, for as bad as I may be, I am still blowing Nolan out of the water. So any ways, Here are some more Stella photo's of these last few months. She is an amazingly cute child and extremely advanced. 

We are waiting for lee and Squinks to come over for the Gwar show. Stella is growing a

 bit bored now that she has been away from Leila for over a week. It just isn't right. 

 Maybe I will write again soon.... I will at least think about it, and maybe that will spark some motivation. 

So ciao for now.

All work and more play!

   We went to the coast and to Portland this week. Nolan and I did all the photo's for the Rise Up's website and catalogue in Portland, while staying at the Welsh's house. It was over 100 F all week, and it was exhausting to say the least. 

  Elyse and Mr. Miles came over to help with everything. Lee and mark came home on the last day, and so did our friend Chris. Chris was in Alaska fishing and just happened to come home on the day we did the lifestyles. So, he was forced into modeling for us. We went to the mexican market, and the river in Troudale to take the photo's. They turned out well, thanks to everyone's help!!! 

   Stella, Leila, and Miles all swam in the river, and had their fair share of dirt for lunch. I am still finding it in her diapers. It was a very successful trip.

So it has been a while since the last post, and many new things have happened since.  Stella is now 7 months old. She is crawling, pulling herself up, and is accumulating a small set of teeth. We have spent all of our summer, thus far, traveling. Traveling to Europe and traveling around the West Coast in our new/old travel trailer. It is very small...... and getting smaller by the day.

Stella, Leila, Lee and I flew over to Switzerland to meet Mark. We were shooting the Nitro Catalogue. This was Stella's third country she 

had visited. Switzerland was gorgeous. We stayed in Zug, which is situated on a beautiful lake. The people, food and scenery were all incredible. Soon after We made our way down to Italy. This was very exciting because not only had I wanted for so long to experience Italy, but it is also Stella's roots. The people loved Stella and Leila. A very family friendly place, but we started to sincerely miss Dad. We are going to have to go back next year with Nolan.... maybe even sooner. We are hoping to head back around November. 

    While we were far away from home, Nolan told us that he had bought a Travel Trailer. A 1954 Dalton. My dad and he were working like crazy to make it livable, so we could set off on the road when we returned. It was very exciting.

(Nolan is working for a company called Rise Up. It is a clothing line created to help children in Nicaragua, China and India. Jesse and his wife Maria have started schools and programs to help children out of poverty. Maria was just declared Woman of the year by a magazine in Nicaragua, where she is originally from.) 

We have been traveling the west coast going to different festivals selling the clothing, and trying to get the word out. It has been an incredible summer. We are

 home for now, and putting the Orea to use on elk Lake. Stella is officially a sailing baby. She loves the water, but how could she not. The water is in her blood. 

Stella the Model

Stella and her dad modeled for the new Treefort add today! Stella's first shoot, and she did very well. She brought out all of the looks for me. Treefort is an edgy children's store for the young parent. It is owned and operated by our two friends, Astacia and Gordon.  Very cool store. It took about 100 frames to get a "good enough" picture for the day, and then it still wasn't working, so we went to the store and redid the shoot. The final picture turned out really cute. I don't have the picture to show you, but here are some from the first shoot.

She has inherited her dad's big blues!  After the shoot, Stell

a and I went to the Gap, and

 bought her her first 

bathing suite, as is needed for our big trip to Mexico. We plan on driving down to Mammoth for our first stop, then continue down to Orange County to see

our friends Jimmy 

and Amy (this is were Stella middle name has come from)  

Then soon after we will fly to Mexico!

  It has been so long since we have been in the sun. Almost a year exactly since we were in

 Costa Rica. Every year around this time I start getting a little an

tsy for the sun, and the latin culture. So here are some photo's of the last trip to Costa Rica....... Were Stella was conceived.

Yeah, with this guy.

More photos

Stella @ 2 weeks

Stella and dad

Our Family 

Just hanging at the Grandparents

Stella and Mom

Stella and I went on a long walk to Tumalo Falls today with our friends Elyse, Russ, and their newborn boy Miles. Elyse is in the same boat as I, having her baby right before me. Miles and Stella were conceived on the same trip to Costa Rica. Stella was scheduled to be born two weeks before Miles, but Miles beat Stella to the line by 2 days. I believe it was the jealousy, as well as watching the labor, that threw me into contractions.  The next night Nolan was driving me to the hospital. After they checked me out and made me walk laps around the hospital, the nurse told me I wasn't ready. I felt ready........ If only I knew.  So, they gave me a sleeping pill and sent us home. Halfway to the house I was having INSANE hallucinations and could barely make it to the bed before collapsing. The next night at 1 a.m. I was back in the hospital, and ready...... If it is possible to be ready for something like that. 

   I don't know at which point in the last six weeks Stella decided to turn into an aware little baby, rather than an infant. But, she is wide eyed and excited to explore. She was very excited to go on the walk, for about 5 minutes, then fell asleep. 

  We have been trying to get out and explore as much as possible, but she is still a little young to be out and about to much. So on all of our down time we try to do things like hang out with friends and family. We have been spending a lot of time with the Granparents.

Six Weeks Old

I awoke this morning to a very patient Stella. She was quietly laying next to me, wide eyed and ready to be fed. When I looked over to her she focused straight onto me. I gave her a big smile, and to my great astonishment she gave me a big open mouth smile right back. I have never seen something more sweet in my life. We spend all day trying to make this little being comfortable, clean, warm and full, and to actually see her experience one slight second of happiness is the most rewarding thing I have ever known. 

This is the second time we have gotten a deliberate smile from her. The first was while Nolan was whistling to her. She found it quite fascinating and gave him a gummy smile. We spent the rest of the day finding new tunes to whistle in hopes of getting another smile from her.