Drew B Photograhy

This afternoon Chuck, Brayden, Hauggy and I took a walk at our favorite park. I was scouting a cool field where I planned on shooting Jill and Brandon’s maternity session in a couple of weeks. However, we won’t be going to that park again. We’ve been going to this park since Brayden was a few weeks old and I love it because there are so many cool trails to explore. We were walking towards a dam with cool graffiti on it and I hear Chuck yell, “Pick up Hauggy and RUN!”. I scooped Hauggy up and ran for my life, which is really hard to do with a 25 pound dog when I haven’t run in ten plus months. I knew from the sound of Chuck’s voice that it was either a mountain lion or a deranged man with a knife. We ran down a hill and got off the trail. We realized that we were going to have to walk back towards the mountain lion to get back to the trail. So, we started yelling help. As we were walking on the trails earlier I was cursing the mountain bikers who would go zipping up and down the trails, but now I was so happy for them because they could get to us fast. Two mountain bikers got to us right away and they escorted us back to the park.

Chuck told me when we got back to the car that he saw a big brown thing in the bushes about 200 feet away from us. He didn’t say anything at first because he didn’t want to scare me and he thought it was just a coyote. But, then it started running towards us and jumped over the bushes. That’s when he saw that it was a big mountain lion. I’m so glad I didn’t see it because I think I might have been too scared to run. When I called my parents to tell them, my Dad said that we did the completely wrong thing and should have faced it and made ourselves “big”. Dad, the next time you get chased by a mountain lion let’s see what you do! We were just trying to save your grandson and granddog. I think once I picked up Hauggy it gave up. The whole thing was so scary. I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. I’m just glad it didn’t. The statistics say that you are 1000 times more likely to get struck by lightning than you are to get attacked by a mountain lion. But, today was close enough for me.

I don’t even want to think about little Brayden on his chair in the middle of that field (because I probably would have taken his 3 month pictures there) and a mountain lion jumping out of the bushes or if I would have had pregnant Jill all the way out there who wouldn’t have been able to run. I’m going to start carrying pepper spray with me so at least I will feel a little bit more in control if I were in the situation again. I’m bummed because I lost one of the coolest locations to shoot at, but I will just have to find another one. Any suggestions for my maternity shoot?

And to make everyone happy after my scary story, here is a picture of Brayden Bittel. He was 4 weeks old in the picture. I love his toothless yawns! The shirt was given to him by my friend Jamie. He was supposed to wear it on Valentine’s Day, but he was still in the hospital. By the way, he slept through the whole ordeal. Even with Chuck running for his life he stayed totally asleep in his Baby Bjorn. Crazy kid misses all the fun adventures!

Happy Earth Day! There’s always more that each of us can do to help our environment. Here are a few things that I do for my business to make it as “green” as possible:

I reuse the boxes that prints are shipped in. So, you will probably be receiving your pretty pictures in an ugly, beat up box. But, it’s what’s inside that counts, right?

I use rechargeable batteries in my flashes so I’m not throwing away batteries after every wedding.

I recycle my printer cartridges.

I do as much business via email and fax so I can use less paper. And, of course, the paper that I do use is recyclable.

Not business related, but I’ve been stocking up on the reusable bags from Ralphs and Trader Joes so I don’t have to use their plastic bags.

I am going to get better at turning off all my computers every night so energy is not wasted there.

And when my lease is up on my car next March I am going to probably be leasing a Toyota Prius. As much as I would LOVE a Range Rover Sport, it will be nice to save money on gas and help the environment at the same time!

What are things that you do to keep your business and life as environmentally friendly as possible? I would love to hear ideas from everyone! Happy Earth Day everyone! Go hug a tree today!

Time to bring out the chair again! Brayden Bittel will be 2 months old on Saturday! Where has the time gone? My little man is getting SO big! The doctor says he’s as big as a 4 month old! At his 6 week and 6 day appointment he weighed 12 pounds and 14 ounces and was 23 1/2 inches long! That’s the 95% for weight and 90% for height! We’ve got a big boy on our hands! This month Brayden has started laughing and smiling. My most favorite thing is when I get him out of his crib in the morning and he has a huge smile on his face when he sees me. It melts my heart! He’s also found his voice and coos. He loves talking to his butterfly on his gym. He loves to read Dr. Seuss books with his Daddy and enjoys looking at the pictures. He still loves UCLA basketball and Kevin Love even if they are big losers His diapers have Sesame Street characters on them and he hates when he gets the Elmo diapers! Don’t ask me why, but the kid hates Elmo. He’s not sleeping great through the night. He wakes up twice to eat and usually goes right back to sleep so it’s not that bad. All and all he’s a pretty happy kid and seems to be getting happier everyday.

This month we went to the Fullerton train station for his photo shoot. We had a very long day today so we made it a quick one. Here are some of my favs.

The cargo pants and hat are a gift from our awesome friends Johanna and Kyle. Doesn’t he look so handsome?

Check out Brayden’s awesome shoes! These were a gift from my BFF, Michelle.

That’s all for now! I have my first engagement session back tomorrow in LA and I’m super excited! It’s going to be my first time leaving Brayden all day, but I think it will be a good break for both of us Have a great weekend everyone!

So sad. Basketball is over for UCLA. Brayden Bittel is very sad. I’m going to go wallow in my misery now

Many of you will be very happy to know that I bought a new couch this weekend. It will replace the Ikea couch, which will now be retired to the garage. I will still bring it out for special occasions so don’t be too sad! This couch is in our front room, which will eventually be my room to meet with clients. I’m hoping it will be ready later this year, but we have a lot of work to do before then! And no, I won’t be taking it out on any shoots. It’s too heavy and I like it too much to get it dirty Brayden wanted to do a photo shoot on it and you know I can’t say no to Brayden when he wants to do a photo shoot. Even Hauggy joined us for a couple of pictures.

This is my last week of official maternity leave so for those of you sick of seeing Brayden Bittel pictures (how could you ever be sick of seeing Brayden Bittel pictures???) there will be lots of good shoots posted soon! I have an awesome engagement session in LA a week from Friday and three great weddings starting on April 19th! I’m so excited to start shooting weddings again. It’s going to be a heck of a lot easier shooting without a BIG belly weighing me down!

I think my parents are going to get their babysitting privileges revoked.  My kid does not wear dorky outfits like this…

This is how Brayden was returned to me this afternoon.  In a dorky cowboy outfit complete with cowboy boots.  See. Brayden is not happy about it! He doesn’t want to be a cowboy!  He doesn’t like cowboy boots.  If I didn’t like my freedom so much on Saturday mornings I would not let my kid hang out with them.

Here is a picture of a much happier Brayden

It’s so much fun now that he’s starting to smile, laugh, and really respond to us. He started smiling at 5 weeks, but at 6 weeks I knew for sure it was a real smile. He laughs and talks to himself. I think he really likes me and I’m starting to like being a Mom!

Brayden is very excited that he was born in time to see his favorite team play in the NCAA tournament! We’re just getting ready for the UCLA game to start and Brayden wanted to do a little photo shoot in his designer UCLA onsie. It’s from Chip and Pepper.  How fancy!

This is Brayden’s “Whoa! Did you see that dunk by Love? He’s my hero!” face.

This is Brayden’s “My team is tougher than your team” face.

This is the face Brayden will make if we lose (which we won’t!).

And this is Brayden’s “Oh! You’re so funny Mommy!” face.

Go Bruins!!!

When I was pregnant every mom I met told me to enjoy my baby because they grow up so fast. I didn’t believe them. Especially during the first couple of weeks that dragged on and on. But now I realize they were so right. I honestly cannot believe my little guy is already a month old. He has already gotten so big and strong. At his doctor’s appointment last Friday he weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces! That’s close to 3 pounds in 3 and a half weeks (he weight 8 pounds, 3 ounces but then went down to 7 pounds, 9 ounces the day after he was born). His personality is really starting to show too. Here are some of Brayden Bittel’s likes and dislikes:

Likes:

His big brother Hauggy

Walks in his stroller

His UCLA mobile

Tummy time with Daddy

Reading

Peak-a-boo

All his grandparents

Kisses from his Mommy

UCLA basketball

Dislikes:

Diaper changes

Getting his picture taken

Nap time

Baths (although he did have his first bath two days ago where he didn’t cry!)

Anything USC

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think we’re starting to get him on a schedule! I’ve been working really hard the past couple of days to implement it and although we’ve had some tears I think it’s going to make Brayden a happier baby and Chuck and I happier (and better rested) parents. Last night he only woke up to eat twice and didn’t cry or fuss at all! That’s a huge accomplishment!

So happy birthday to my Brayden Bittel! I love my little guy more than words could ever express and I can’t wait to see what life with him brings next!

I bought this chair at an antique store this past weekend. I’m going to be taking Brayden’s picture with it every month to see how much he grows!

Yes, my baby is a spitting image of his father. He looks nothing like me. But, the one thing he got from me are his feet.