Author Archives: Nicole

An Everyday Moment

This photo says so much about our lives right now.

  1. The hat – Samuel is obsessed with them. Actually I suppose it could be called a helmet, which is an even greater obsession
  2. The bike – Samuel would ride his bike everyday if he could – sadly the miserable Portland weather has prevented him from enjoying one of his favorite pass times after daycare. Right now he has to make do with riding this bike inside the house.
  3. The lightsabre – seen in the front basket is a symbol of Thomas’ continuing obsession with all things Jedi. We talked about it from the moment I picked him up from school today until the moment we arrived  home.
  4. The playroom – Now a LOT cleaner thanks to a thorough cleanup on the weekend. I doubt it will stay that way for long.
  5. The boy – growing up so quickly.

A Fascination With Feet

This week’s I ♥ Faces challenge is a special “barefoot” challenge to raise awareness for Souls 4 Souls. Thankfully I have a foot fetish of sorts in that I love taking pictures of feet (I was going to put that in the title but thought it might attract a different type of reader).

Given the weather in Portland lately (yawn, I know!), we have experienced many bare feet around here. In fact, our recent trip to the coast was more gumboot weather than bare foot weather.

Exhibit A:

It was also a little Lord of the Flies. Only one family in our group of six was blessed with girls and they were unable to make it at the last moment due to illness.

That left five families with eight boys between us – not including Dads of course. That’s a lot of testosterone in one location and not a tutu in sight. (Wow, if this post doesn’t attract at least a couple of questionable characters, I’ll be surprised).

I’ll be back with more photos from our mini-vacation soon, but for now I’ll share some more feet just for fun.

And if you get the chance, check out Souls 4 Souls and see how a small act can make a big difference.

I know, I know, we’ve been back for months…

But honestly, I have so many Aussie pics to go through and I just keep finding little gems for my Project 365. I think I’m going to have to post every day to catch up.

This is one of my favourite photos from the entire trip.

Grandpa and Samuel sharing a moment by the river. Or maybe Grandpa’s just trying to keep Samuel from diving in. It’s honestly hard to tell.

The whole family (uh, minus my two brothers…)

I look back at these photos and even in just the past couple of months, I can see how much Samuel has grown up. He looks like such a baby here.

While we were visiting, my dad (otherwise known as Grandpa) planted a tree for each of the boys. We’ll be able to see their progress on each visit back to Aus, and if my Dad decides to take a few photos and send them over in the meantime.

Uncle Jono… again.

And, on the day before we flew home, a quick trip to the Melbourne zoo. It poured with rain while we were there so I spent much of our visit walking around in one of those bright yellow plastic ponchos, only pulling out my camera when I was certain it wouldn’t get wet. So I only have a few photos to show for our visit, and none of the boys petting Kangaroos (gasp!). Instead I took photos of inanimate animals that were thankfully under cover and, therefore, the perfect dry photo subjects.

And, finally, our layover in Auckland as we headed home toward Portland. This is as much as I have ever seen of New Zealand (sad, but true) and has now become a regular port of call as we attempt to fly with Air New Zealand every time we head to Aus. I am incredibly grateful that our trip home was a lot less eventful than the flight over, even if it was more crowded thanks to a cancelled United flight (curse you, United!).

Farewell, New Zealand (airport)… and Farewell Australia. We’ll be seeing you again soon.

Yellow

Of COURSE I had a photo for this week’s I ♥ Faces challenge. The theme is “Yellow” and anyone who knows my son is aware of his obsession with the colour – one which has faded over the past year as his obsession with Star Wars has taken over. I am thankful that the days of him declaring “I like yellow! No one else can like yellow!” are over, most importantly for the fact that his little brother is free to wear yellow hand-me-downs without vilification.

I often wonder whether my child is more obsessed with things than others. He seems to cling to a particular object or theme and not let go for many months. But then we also have Samuel who’s hat obsession is equal to that of his brother at the same age. So either it’s completely normal for children in their first years to experience this type of behavior or it’s an Ishida family quirk.

Recently Thomas has also declared his love for the color red so it now equals yellow in favorite color status. There is one exception, however. Red and yellow in the form of traffic lights are NOT ok. That has become the latest chant from the backseat on the drive home from school and, frankly, I can’t say that I blame him for that.

Dreaming of Sunshine and Warmth

I usually avoid talking about the weather on this blog because, well, I live in Portland, OR and if I started talking about the weather I would likely never stop. Usually the rain doesn’t bother me. I grew up in Melbourne, Australia – a place that has the same reputation for rain and generally crappy weather – so I am used to wet winters.

I have to say, though, that the rain that we are experiencing in Portland right now is starting to get to me. If it wasn’t for the few sunny days that have dragged us temporarily out of the grey drabness, I may have been taken away in a straight jacket days ago.

Thankfully I have memories (and photos) of a warmer climate living on my hard drive. This flashback to our St Kilda beach visit  just a couple of months ago will have to be my sanity-saviour for the time being.

Oh, and also a little TV show called Lost… just two more sleeps! (Sorry about that.)

It’s Moustache Thursday. Why Not?

Today:

  • Catching my breath after a few busy weeks at work –  not that it’s going to get quieter, just need to catch my breath every once in a while.
  • Excited that my front door is being painted RED as we speak. I have wanted a red front door ever since we moved into our house four years ago and it’s finally becoming a reality. SO much better than pukey purple (yes, purple).
  • Wishing the rain would go away, but grudgingly accepting the fact that we chose to live in Portland and with the good comes the bad.
  • Looking forward to another charity event in memory of a good friend’s father and supporting the Downs’ Syndrome Association. It’s a golf tournament to be held on Columbus Day. Of course I’ll be taking photographs, not playing golf. It’s best for everyone involved. (Details coming soon!).
  • Thrilled that I have some client sessions coming up. I have been so busy over the past few months that I had to take a short break, but I realize I need to take time to do this. It makes everything else easier in the long run and ensures I have an exciting (very) long term goal to work towards.
  • Motivating myself to get started on a couple of photo book projects – one of them being my 2010 family book. It seems to take me about 6 months of “reflection” before I can begin pulling my yearly albums together (at least that’s what I tell myself so I feel better).
  • A little too excited about the Lost finale on Sunday.

Finally, enjoying these little forgotten gems that I found when flicking through photos last night.

Happy last-day-before-the-last-day-of-the-week!

Two Today

My baby turns two years old today (pause for some gentle sobbing).

At two, Samuel:

  • Says “I love you Mummy” daily, without prompting.
  • Loves hats and jackets and coats. It’s quite the obsession.
  • Wears his helmet around the house every chance he can get.
  • Assigns ownership to everything. (MY hat, Daddy’s guitar, Mummy’s shoes, Thomas’ shirt).
  • Loves to play outside and ride his bike. We have had more than a couple of tantrums when he’s been asked to come inside for dinner.
  • Has just started blowing kisses with almost every goodbye. It’s adorable.
  • Likes to torment his brother when he finds a weak spot.
  • Still sings the “Goodbye Song” at the top of his voice at every chance he gets, but has added “Twinkle, Twinkle” sing-a-longs at bedtime.
  • Is a great dancer.
  • Still says please and thank you – although sometimes only after he finds that screaming won’t get him what he wants.
  • Usually does what he’s asked by the time I count “1… 2… 2-and-a-half…”
  • Responds well to time outs… most of the time.
  • Is accident prone right now (I was embarrassed to take him to the pediatrician today with his cut lip, bruise on his back and scratch on his cheek).
  • Has started peeing in the potty almost every night before bath.
  • Has almost given up the nighttime binky. Almost…
  • Has three “babies” – a blue bear called ‘Baby’, a koala called ‘Koala’ and a blues clues dog called ‘Blues Clues’. He likes to stick with the basics when it comes to naming his babies.
  • Is a truly adorable, chatty, fun, inquisitive, funny, active, wonderful two-year-old.

Finally, a few photos of him jumping on his birthday present – his very own big boy bed. He has slept in it for three nights now and so far, so good. I am secretly enjoying his requests to “lie down with me Mummy” when I put him to bed at night. NOT so fond of them at four in the morning…

Happy birthday baby.