Welcome to Kindergarden....

There have been ups and down this past year of Kindergarden. We just had a fantastic Spring Break. King turned 3, went to D'land, played non-stop and got head lice.

Yes I said it, HEAD LICE!!!

Jatin brought it home from school.

We washed everyones hair with the poison shampoo, went through strand by strand pulling out dead lice and eggs, did 20 loads of laundry, vacuumed all the rugs. It took me two days to get the house clean, and I mean CLEAN!

So to our dismay 7 days later upon a re-examination of our hair Jatin had more lice.

AAAAHHHHHHHH!

I was pissed! (not at him of course)

We gave him the option of going through the cleaning process again or cutting his hair, he said "I want to shave my head like daddy"

I cried.

Jatin has the most beautiful head of hair.

Gorgeous blonde, strong, thick with just the hint of a curl at the bottom. Perfect surfer boy hair. I love his hair.

I was so sad to see it go.

I grabbed the camera and captured the process.

I cried the entire time.

BUT...

He is even more gorgeous than he was before.

Take a look for yourself.

Kingston turns 3!

Kingston,

AKA: King-a-ling, Kingaroo, Chotu, King, Baba

turned 3 on Saturday. We did what all So Cal residents do.....went to Disneyland!

Sooooooooo crowded!!!! No fun!!!!!

Nikhil and I remembered being young and rolling around riding Space Mountain over and over and over again because there was nobody in line. I guess those are days of past because the place was a ZOO.

None the less the boys had a blast.

The night before I got super emotional. My baby, my youngest was turning 3, how did that happen? It seems like only yesterday I brought him home from the hospital only to find out that two kids is a LOT different than one. It has been quite an adventure to say the least but he is my baby, always will be.:) I slept with him in his big boy bed, watching him sleep, they are the most loveable asleep, when they can't slap you, yell at you or pull your hair. Did I mention he turned 3?

Kingston James Paniz I love you more and more every day. You are so much fun to be around and a pleasure to watch grow. I will love you forever and always because you are my dear one:)

Love is in the air

Everywhere I look around...

It's spring fever and everyone is having BABIES.

It's great for me because I love babies and love photographing them.

The younger the better!

This is Isabella. She was 8 days old at our shoot and full of life. As most of us know babies sleep a lot, not Isabella. She decided she was going to stay up and party the entire shoot. She didn't want to miss a thing. Her parents and I were extremely calm and patient, rubbing her back, singing lullabies, rocking her but she would not go down. So we shot anyways.

During the last of our set ups she finally caved and slept for about 10 minutes, that was all I needed.

Aaron and Jenny thank you for allowing me into your home:)

Neela's Napa

Hi friends.

Sending a little love to my Mama in Napa.. As she enters a new year I wish her nothing but success and joy with her new restaurant. Visiting Napa soon? Please join her as she excites your taste buds on an international culinary journey.

Neela’s menu features the many different provinces of India—vegetarian dishes from the south and tandoor-cooked dishes from the north, as well as chaat (street foods) and classic dishes of the British Raj—all made with the freshest ingredients available to create bright, home-style fare. Neela’s also features Bollywood music videos in the bar.

Some of my favorite items from the menu are the Samosas, Lamb Kabob Sliders, Keema Pao, California Tandori Chicken Salad well basically everything I devour while I am visiting. Oh yes you must try the Beet-Mint Salad, not a fan of beets? Try it anyways...it's delicious!

www.neelasnapa.com

Butterfly Butterfly Fly Away Home

(Can you see the chrysalis in the foreground? He had emerged moments before I took this photo)

Before the Thanksgiving Holiday... which I will post photos of later, my family had been closely watching the most beautiful and colorful caterpillars that had made a home in one of our rogue plants on the backyard patio. Day after day we would watch them move along inch by inch devouring anything in it's path. As they plumped up many questions came up as to what kind of caterpillars they were and why did they decide to make a home here. I researched online and answered as best as I could but my guess was a Monarch which I later found out was wrong.

Around Halloween, Nikhil noticed that one of the caterpillars was starting it's transformation into butterflyhood....(yes I made that word up)

We watched it form a chrysalis then waited. Every day we walked outside to see if it was still there and sure enough it was. During the 3 week transformation we watched approximately 10 caterpillars as they started their chrysalis....what an amazing sight to see.

Then it happened, as we ate lunch on a blustery Sunday with Grandma Edith we watched a brand new baby butterfly emerge. Of course, poor guys luck, it was the windiest day in So. Cal. It got blown in every direction but not before I could snap a few amazing macro shots while it's wings hardened and it prepared for flight. I never could see the outside wing design, after all butterflies leave their wings closed while they rest where as moths relax with them open. He flew away during a break I took from patiently watching and shooting.

Here he is.... I decided it was a him early on, don't know why just a feeling I guess.

I have looked throughout the butterfly databases to find out what kind of butterfly he really is but I can't seem to figure it out. Maybe one of you know the answer? Jatin and I would really appreciate any knowledge you guys have about our beautiful house guest.

The pillar as it roamed the leaves in search of food

(This caterpillar was probably as large as my ring finger, I have pretty big sausage fingers so he was pretty big)

( An amazing shot with my Canon 100mm Macro with ring flash)

(I can't believe how much this little guys face resembled a bird....can you all see it too?)

I got really excited about this shot

He was magnificent

Princess

For those of you who know me (or know my husband) than you know Princess. She is our 16 year old Himalayan baby, the oldest of our children and the most spoiled rotten thing on this planet.

As she has gotten older we have introduced another cat, 2 little terrors (my boys) and now a new puppy Coco and though I am sure she protests ever time something new comes in the house she does eventually snuggle up to them and love them,

I had a dream the other night that she passed, I know the day is coming as she is 16 cat years old, I was sad but the saddest part was Jatin, he was shattered. As I woke up in the morning I saw her laying in the morning sun I grabbed the camera. She just loves being the center of attention and I vowed to have great memories of her in print and in my head so we had a photoshoot. She posed and looked in the lens, we shot and snuggled then in a moments notice she decided she had had enough and went to lay down on my bed. She is still with us, this wasn't the end but I thought I would share my "first born" with you all.

My Princess

I went out in search of a "new" baby to shoot and I got a response back from a mother who had just delivered baby number 3...meet Jessie.

So tiny, so fragile, so very sweet. She was smaller at 10 days old then both of my children were at birth so I just snuggled her up. I felt a little nervous at first, as it has been 2 years since I have had a newbie in my arms but after about 3 seconds it all came back to me.

As we fed her and fed her and fed her some more (we wanted her asleep) she kept her little eyes open as to say "Mom, I will not do what you want, I will stay awake for the party"

Well she finally gave in and that is when we started working.

Aren't these the most precious pics ever?