Happy 3rd birthday, Liam!

Liam is one of the smartest kids I have ever met. And I'm not just saying that because he's my nephew. By the time he turned 2, we realized he could already read whole words. And then he suddenly started reading groups of words (like taglines in magazines) by the time he was 2 and a half. He is genuinely interested in reading. There was one time when he picked up a book I was reading and went through the pages just to see if he could recognize any of the words. And his eyes would light up when he sees a word that he could read. No one has ever sat him down and given him formal lessons. He learns words as he encounters them.

Today he turns 3. I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as before, but every time I see him, he always surprises me with how much he knows.

Sunday night we had a small party (just the family) to celebrate his birthday. We ordered in food, had ice cream and cake. Here are a few of the snapshots I took.

The tarp and balloons which were placed over the "sampayan". Hehehe.


Liam's Handy Manny cake and cupcakes which we ordered from Kitchen Krafts through Jhoanne Alon of Polkadots Events.


And here's the birthday boy admiring his cake.


Blowing out his candles.


Hmmm...I don't think that's how you do it.:D


Pete and I had to leave early because we still had a long drive ahead. Here's a photo of us taken by Pie before we left with Liam enjoying his ice cream.

Where I have been...plus the Sirilans' family photos

The truth is I feel like I'm in a funk lately. I guess I'm just having what might be my version of a writer's block is. I don't know how or when it started but it came to a point last week when all I wanted to do was shoot but I couldn't focus on and didn't feel like doing my other tasks like editing, blogging, etc. It wasn't easy to admit it because hey, this is my dream job! I'm not supposed to have bad days, right? I tried fighting it but I finally had to decide to take it easy for a few days. I peeled myself away from work and convinced myself that it was ok to take a break. It went on for a few more days and then finally, I had a "light bulb moment" (as Oprah would put it) the other day and realized what was causing all this internal drama. I talked about it with Pete and a couple of friends and now I think I am better equipped to address it.

I'm not back a hundred percent yet, though. I'm still not as productive as I want to be this week, but I'm getting there. Every day, I try to pump up the energy and think happy thoughts. And for today, my happy thoughts are of these photos I shot a few months ago of some of my favorite people in the world.

On a hot summer day in May, Pete, Pie, and I went to Anvaya Cove in Bataan with my sister and her family and some of their friends. Before leaving the resort that afternoon, we did a very short portrait session. The light was PERFECT! And Liam was cute as ever. It's hard for me not to smile whenever I look at these shots.

Liam looks so grown-up in these next two photos.






Pete was making him laugh. He was probably making faces behind me.:P


I love this series. There is nothing that I love more than capturing real laughter.:)

Did I mention the light was PERFECT?

Godric: Baptism

May 17, 2009
Edsa Shrine
The Old Spaghetti House

We started out early at their apartment and Godric was just waking up when we got there. He was the sweetest little angel however, and I don't remember him being fussy at all the entire day.

It was my first time to shoot an event at the Edsa Shrine. In fact, I believe it was my first time ever to enter the church. The baptistry had an interesting structure. It was a bit of a challenge for me to take photos there, but I think we were able to get great shots nevertheless. Also, Mommy Clarck and Daddy Mike and the rest of the family were so nice to work with that the hours went by so quickly.

Here are some of the photos from the event.







Godric seemed to enjoy the attention.

He seemed to love the camera.

A few shots of the family taken at their lovely home.

A photographer in the making.:)


During the ceremony. I was standing right beside the priest the entire time because there was no room to move.

The whole gang trooped down to The Old Spaghetti House (TOSH) and enjoyed a grand buffet. Here are a few details from the reception.



That's Daddy taking his time at the buffet table.


This was Godric towards the end of the reception.