Mom Photographer and The Gang

This past year was full of ups and downs. More downs that ups I would say. I had a breakdown and I stopped blogging for two months. The most important thing is that these days we’re all happy and healthy and that’s what matters the most.

Linking up with Ashley. Thanks to her I was inspired to put together that post which brought so many memories.

1. Me

This year was definitely a self-portraits year. I hadn’t taken so many self portraits in my entire life as I took in this single year.

2.  I Love You

My Valentines card for my husband 🙂

3. Still laughing

A month ago I spent all day chasing my daughter with a camera while trying to make her to say all the words that she knows. It wasn’t an easy job. I still laugh when I remember that day…

…but especially when I watch this movie:

4. Winter Wonderland

This picture was taken a year ago on January 20th. This is California, so I can’t provide you any pictures with snow. This year it looks just like a year ago. Beautiful weather with almost no rain as well. I know it’s not good for us if we do not have the rain but honestly I don’t miss it. The only time I miss snow is Christmas time. For me Christmas Eve and New Year without the snow is the weirdest thing ever… . You would think that after more than 4 years in CA I got used to to having Christmas without the snow, but it’s not that easy. It’s still weird and unnatural for me. lol

5. Birthday

Our Little One 1st B-day. Just her and us and an ice-cream b-day cake. What else would you ask for. We had such a blast trying to convince our daughter that this big hat won’t hurt her. You can read more about it here.

6. Friends

Me and a talented Polish photographers from Bay Area. We spent May 3rd, 2011 together shooting Polish Mass Celebrating Beatification of John Paul II.

My family and our friends from East Coast visiting us in November. Such an amazing time we had!

7. I was inspired

This year one of my biggest inspiration I got from Polish Mama on the Prairie which gingerbread cookies made me to want to make something very christmasy myself. You can read about it here:

While looking for a good recipe I discovered one of the best cookies ever which I think will be on my table more often that only once a year for Christmas 😉

8. Spring Fever

Last year we had great opportunity to watch mamma dove hatching eggs and later taking care of her little two babies until they flew away a month later. It all happened on our patio. She used one of my pots to make a nest out of it. More pictures here and here:

9. Travel or Vacation

Being able to hop on a back of my husband’s motorcycle is always a great thing. It does not happen very often, though. Not since our Little One was born.

This year we went for a funeral of Jethro Pettigrew – the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club who was killed this Fall in Reno. The funeral was in San Jose so we didn’t have to go far but still… it was great to get out on the motorcycle and to see all those biker hanging out in one place. Amazing experience!!! And this time I didn’t hide my camera while riding and I’m really happy about that.

For more pictures from this event you can go here.

10. Summer Days

Our daughter for most of this summer was walking barefoot. She wasn’t very good at walking, yet, but when she got the rhythm it was almost impossible to catch her!

We visited many local parks and gardens. One of them became a favorite place of mine! – Nola’s Iris Garden. Such a beautiful place!!!

And we’d been learning how to swim.

11. A day in my life

12. All smiles

Now when I look at those messy days I smile.

Even these days, my daughter is not the cleanest eater. She makes mess and she likes to play with her food, but it’s nothing like it used to be months ago. I wrote a post asking: “When is the right time to start teaching your kid manners?“. When I did that I wasn’t in a good mood, and I was getting really tired of my daughter eating habits. It was July 21st.

Today she is great with handling the spoon but she still prefers her fingers. Using them she is not that messy anymore. Yeay!!!

and one more picture that always makes me smile is our daughter doing yoga. She still does that but not so often. She used to do it all the time a few times a day.

13. Autumn Harvest

14. Family or Home

At the beginning of this year, on January 13th my husband got me a coffee maker. It came in with a bunch of stuff and a two packages of coffee. I was the happiest mamma ever.

Why coffee maker (and coffee) where I should be talking about family or home. Well… where mornings begins with relatively big cup of dark coffee there my home is.

My family like cemeteries and graves. We’re weird like that 😉

So this year we went to Colma, the city of which motto sounds: “It’s great to be alive in Colma”. Why? Hmmm… With 17 cemetaries for humans and one for pets, the dead population outnumber the living by thousands to one. Awesome place!!!

15. Celebrate!

Of course, 4th of July, 2011.

16. Let’s do it again/17. I miss you (it)

I join this two themes together.

One word: pierogi!

I love pierogi and I hate making them at the same time. They are so delicious, easy and simple to make, but to make them takes too much time. (easy recipe how to make pierogi from scratch here). Whenever I make them it’s always not enough. Since I moved to U.S pierogi are the most craved and missed dish. This year those feelings are even bigger as a pregnant me crave Polish food much more than normal.

18. Beautiful

I know it might sound weird but I find beautiful big dogs. The bigger the dog the more beautiful it seems to me! And I find beautiful rising kids with animals around. Can’t understand (other than allergy) why people don’t like and want their kids to be around animals… . This doggy is not ours. We met him this year in my doctor’s waiting room. This doggy was hers as well as one more, tiny bit smaller, rottweiler.

And I find beautiful hand written letters and a package with a good book from a good friend which I am very thankful for.

19.Dress Up

This year for Halloween she was dressed as a dragon.

20. Macro

I like this macro a lot. I think one of the best I’ve taken this year.

And I like this one because it’s a shot of a letter from my friend in Poland.

21.Holidays

This year my husband had planned to make a surprise Valentines dinner for us. We ended up cooking it together but still, it was really nice of him.

and we spent September 11th watching 9/11 Memorial March.

22. My favorite

My favorite drink:

My favorite lotion:

My favorite pastry:

My favorite time of the day:

My favorite shot of my pregnant belly (so far):

23. Don’t ever change

I don’t want many things to ever change. One of them is my love to my family, and how my family loves me. 

The second place on this list in my passion to photograph. This year I went through a period when my camera lied untouched for two months and that was the most sad and depressed time in the entire 2011 year. I don’t want that to happen ever again!

24. Just because… So there!

Just because we’re expecting another one. Judging after my heartburn it will be as much hairy as the first one and it will come almost on the same day as the first one!

25. Hopes and Dreams

I hope for a good health for my growing family.

I hope for staying as happy as we are these days.

Happy New Year, My Friends!