Kirsten and Edward

Kirsten and Edward, originally uploaded by unfurl.

Kirsten and Edward came to visit the three of us tonight for the first time. They’ve been trying to get pregnant for over 2 years so they’re pretty stoked right now. They were great friends before they got pregnant and now that we have even more in common with them we’ve all become even closer. Kirsten has asked me to photograph the two of them for a maternity shoot sometime before she’s due in August 2007. Her request was actually the initial inspiration for the Nicole’s maternity shoot that turned out oh so well.

When they came over tonight she asked me if I could take a picture and send it to her so she could share her current belly size with her distant family. It was pretty impromptu so the lighting wasn’t the best thoguh I was able to tweak it a bit to restore their natural skin color. Also the D80’s auto-ISO cranked all the way up to 1600 so it’s also kind of grainy. The funny side effect is that it looks rather like a poloroid to some degree.

The potential to shoot them in a few months is really exciting to me. This photo is evidence of this alone. They’re so genuinely excited about becoming parents and so totally in love with each other that they make great subjects. I think they have some good ideas about the kinds of things they want to try visually too. It should be a good time for all of us :)

Milkbath for Daddy

Enjoying the water, originally uploaded by unfurl.

First thing this morning, as I was walking Jula down the hall for a diaper change she blessed me with a complete milkbath. So our morning started out with a water-bath for Jula which she really liked.

Last night’s dose of catnip/gripe water worked *great*. In fact, Grandma Youry came out to visit last night and ended up getting here much later than she originally predicted and little Jula slept through her whole visit and then solidly through the night (between feedings). Hooray! Thanks Holly!

Yum, leftover Tasty Curry for lunch and in a few minutes we’re off to Jula’s first pediatric appointment with Dr Miller. We’re so lucky that UCSF is a walk away, it makes everything so much less stressful when we can avoid driving the death monster.

I had a new art project idea last night. I want to use the Rasterbator to make a big picture of Jula. I still need to finish the bellycast project though and am having trouble figuring out how I want to seal the whole thing. In time…

Holly’s visit

Holly and Sophia came to visit today. Holly is Nicole’s friend from the Kundilini Yoga Center and Sohpia is her three month old daughter. They came by to see us and Jula for the first time. It was really awesome to see what Jula might be like in three months and to talk to someone who has recently been thru the first-newborn experience. She empathized with our woes up unsleepy baby and recommended that we brew some catnip tea and add it to the gripe water to help sooth Jula. Fortunatly the Real Foods herbal store is about 200m from our house. Nicole hopped over there tonight while I was making dinner and grabbed some. We’ll see how it works :)

Birthday Lens

Birthday Lens, originally uploaded by unfurl.

Thanks to some birthday-money from Mom and Dad I bought this new lens which arrived today. I’m stoked about using it outside. It’s slow aperture and long focal length make it fairly impractical for low-light situations but it will be perfect for the photo walks I’ve been going on through Golden Gate Park. Also a pair of UV filters were new additions today both for this lens and my older 18-135mm lens.

Newborn Congestion

So our little proto-human has developed some nasal congestion that’s making her really unhappy. You can hear the thick snot in her nose when she breathes. All her other functions are normal so she’s not really sick but man is she uncomfortable and is screaming till she’s red in the face to let us know.

I feel so bad for her. We’ve been suctioning her nose which kind of helps but she hates that too (I don’t blame her) She can’t understand why it is that we’re sucking stuff out of her nose and that it’s a helpful thing. Hopefully she’ll be able to drift off to sleep in a bit. Right now Nicole’s feeding her and she’s content. If we’re all lucky she’ll fall asleep while she’s eating and stay that way for a few hours.

Poor little Jula-Monkey :(

Reclaimed Moto

Reclaimed Moto, originally uploaded by unfurl.

So I submitted this picture to JPG Magazine today for their “Entropy” theme. I’m not expecting much but I do like this picture and maybe others will too. This marks the first time I’ve ever submitted a picture for potential publication anywhere. Several people have told me that I should do so but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself until now (and JPG submissions are oh-so-easy!). Anyway, go here to vote for me:

http://www.jpgmag.com/photos/103260

Out with the girls

Out with the girls, originally uploaded by unfurl.

This morning we took our longest walk since Jula was born. Strapped her into the bjorn on Nicole and away we went. It’s funny how our sense of time is divided by the major events in our life.

Considering all that we’ve been thru in the past 11 days I think we’re fairing pretty well. We’re starting to be able to recognize what her difference cries mean and how to deal with them. Really at this point she has a few needs but is adamant about having them met. Clean diaper, full belly, rested body, most of us would ask for that much too.

The walk out in the warm air was much needed today. With all the new tasks that need our attention each day it’s necessary for us to set aside time to enjoy life. It’s nice that Jula falls asleep in the bjorn right away, it means that Nicole and I get some time with each other as partners not just the baby-support team :)

Yesterday I found someone on CL to buy a recumbent exercise bike from who offered to deliver it as well, all for a price that was about $300 under what I wanted to pay. It will be nice to have so that both of us can get some regular cardio exercise and still be able to take care of Jula.

The rest of the week is full of scheduled visits from friends that want to see the little monkey. She really is a miracle to behold.

Veggie Box

Veggie Box, originally uploaded by unfurl.

Our weekly veggie box from Guerrilla Organics was delivered today. The selections are usually great but this week’s was particularly good. At $30/week this is a great deal (especially delivered to your doorstep). Sometimes the quantity is a bit overwhelming but I just see it as a challenge to come up with recipes the utilize what we have. The soup that used 15 carrots and 5 beets was particularly good once. Oh yeah, if you go look at this pic on flickr you can see all my little notes.

Jula looking skyward

Jula looking skyward, originally uploaded by unfurl.

So here’s one of my favorite pictures of my new daughter, Jula. I took this photo in the nursery at UCSF about 40 minutes after she was born. She was so calm but still so alert. The whole experience was euphoric and easily the most magical thing I’ve ever been a part of.

The cyclical nature of things

So here I am again, starting a new blog after years of adamant blog-hate. I started an online journal back in the day before “blog” was a word and liked it but wasn’t so fond of the transparency after awhile. After several years of that I retreated to the private world of paper journals for awhile. I’m here blogging again for a couple reasons I think. The biggest is that I’ve recently become a father and am experiencing the whole world anew through the tiny eyes of my 10-day-old daughter, Jula. The other main reason is related to my photography and my increased flickr.com use over the past year. Oddly my continued carpal-tunnel woes play a big part too. I’ve spent so much time making sure my typing posture isn’t exacerbating the problem but writing with a pen for more than a few minutes has become a real pain (literally). So here I blog.

It used to be that I cared if my blogs were read (or not read) by others. Now, I would just like to write some stuff down so that I can read it later, much like the hundreds of photos I make each week with the hope of documenting some of the more interesting parts of my life :)