Puppy Love| Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Bay Area

There isn't anything cuter than a puppy..... well, maybe a few things are at 2 in the morning when the puppy is crying- but you know what I mean! ;)  Meet Norman- a 9 week old, 12.5 lb, English Bulldog puppy that we just added to our family.  Even with all of the chaos and craziness that comes with a family of four- our house was just not complete without a little furry friend.  He is such a sweet heart and we look forward to all of the fun that we have in store with him!

MY Family Photos in Hawaii| Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Bay Area

Back in July, we went to Hawaii to celebrate my Mom's b-day.  During our stay, I hired a photographer to capture all of us on the beach.  It is always funny to be on the other side of the camera, but I like that I am actually IN some photos with my family!
Here are a few of my favorites...

I requested a silhouette shot and I adore it...  I've already placed a canvas order!

Photography by Jim Dierking

A Hospital Visit| Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Bay Area

Derek has two emergency room visits under his belt before the age of 5.  This time he was pushed off a pretty high trampoline and broke his wrist (the first was when he slipped a few months ago and hit his head on a bench.  He ended up with 4 staples in his head that time).  It was really traumatic for him as he had to be admitted to the hospital and had surgery to repair the broken bones.

At first sight of his hand, I immediately knew I had to get to the hospital.  He was screaming in pain and kept saying "I can't move my hand"- which made me numb with fear.  I left Ella at the house we were at and drove him to the hospital myself (not quite sure how I did that).

We were immediately given an ER room and he was quickly drugged up on morphine.  One side effect that we were unaware of from the drug, is that it can cause itchiness.  So for the next 12 hours, I stood by his bedside and scratched his face, nose and many other body parts as he screamed out.  He couldn't itch anything himself as he had one broken arm and the other was tethered up with an IV. Not fun.

The next morning he was taken away screaming down the hall in to surgery (a mother's worst nightmare) and came out of surgery with 2 pins holding the bones together.
He's been on the mend ever since.  A week after surgery, he went back to the doctor to have a hard cast put on.  He chose his favorite color red and loved that he could ask people to sign it.

5 days after the cast was put on, I was taking his jammies off in the morning and as I slid the arm of the shirt off his arm I felt the cast slide down with it.  So back to the doctor we went and he ended up being re-casted.  This time he is now sporting a very pretty light blue cast.

He has about 2 more weeks (hopefully) left in the hard cast and then he will have the pins removed and will be placed in a brace.  We are crossing our fingers that he has no long term conditions resulting from this injury and that it will be a good story to tell when he is older.

Here are a few pictures taken with my camera phone and point & shoot...

not what you want your wrist to look like;
the surgeon marked his hand to identify it in surgery

waiting to be taken up to the children's ward

we watched a lot of tv

just before going in to surgery :(

waiting to be released

more tv

definitely the coolest part of the stay...
being wheeled out in a "race car"

The Sacramento State Fair | Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Alamo, CA

At the last minute, we decided to drive up to Sacramento and take in the State Fair.  It was a blast!  So much to do and see- but the highlights were the pony rides and cotton candy!

When Ella saw that Derek was going to do this, she wanted to as well... She stood in line, waited her turn patiently and as soon as it was her turn- she began screaming and kicking wildly.  Needless to say, she just watched on as Derek jumped around!

Notice the red smudges all over her face from the yummy red icee!?!?!

 Good Ol' Tex.... she could have ridden the ponies all night.

One of the last few rides of the night... a ride from Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Hawaii 2011 | Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| Alamo, Ca

In early July, our family flew to Hawaii to celebrate my Mom's birthday.  It was the kids' first time and they were SO excited!  I was so nervous to fly with Ella- as she can be a bit unpredictable, but she honestly did awesome!  We stayed at in Villages at Mauna Lani in this condo; it was perfect for our large group and we would definitely go back again!
We played at the beach and pool, enjoyed a Luau, took in the sites and ate many great meals.  We were there over the 4th of July (our third 4th in Hawaii!), so it was fun to see the fireworks!
Notice how Ella is sitting on a towel? She never got over her dislike of the sand... kind of hard to avoid on an ISLAND!!!

Derek throughly enjoyed playing on the beach.  He collected rocks, played in the water and even caught a fish!

There is nothing better than eating a hot dog poolside on the 4th of July!

The community pool at the condo had a perfect kids pool that they could stand in and play.  It was PERFECT!

Love how you can see the crescent moon...

Since Ella didn't enjoy the sand, she found a better past time.... playing in the shower!  This kept her busy for quite a while!

The view from our balcony...

As a surprise for my Mom, I hired a photographer to take our family photo (all 8 of us!) on the beach.  I'm just waiting to see them and will definitely post when get them!  Can't wait!

San Diego 2011 | Jenn Hoffmann Photography | Personal| Bay Area

We traveled down to San Diego in April for a visit to Legoland and the many other fun things to do down there! It was Ella's first plane ride and she shockingly did great!  BUT the flight is only an hour (and Mommy had pounds of candy for bribes!)!
We "did" Legoland two days, played at the beach with my best friend and her daughter, visited the animals at San Diego Zoo, played in the pool, spent time with my brother and his girlfriend who live down there and my parents met us on the tail end of the trip too!  Busy, busy!
Here are some pics from our beach day... Ella HATED the sand for most of the day.  She didn't want it on her feet, didn't want to sit on it and didn't want it touching her AT. ALL.- kind of hard to do at the beach! ;)  But by the end of the day, she started exploring and began to enjoy it!

Playing in the FREEZING cold water...

Our bathing beauty- she would only sit on a towel at this point...

Hotel Del Coronado is in the background- it is supposed to be haunted!

Taking a walk with Pa...

Finally learned to like the feel of sand!

Chalk Painting | Jenn Hoffmann Photography| Personal| East Bay

This past weekend, my kids received a fabulous idea for a party gift... DIY Chalk Paint!  We mixed some of the concoction together today and got to work on the driveway.  Ella REALLY got in to it!
She's been practicing her smile... we're getting better! ;)

 Covered in marker, dirt, chalk and toe nail polish.... it was definitely a bath night!

The aftermath....

And one of our sweet boy on his last day of school today!  Just one more year of preschool and then it is on to Kindergarten (sniffle, sniffle...)

Easter 2011 | Jenn Hoffmann Photography, Child Photographer, Bay Area

I feel like I haven't been posting!  I've actually been REALLY busy editing two BIG school functions- neither of which I have model releases for so I can't share pictures!
But I'd like to get some personal photos back up here!  Here is a quick recap of our past Easter...

Dying eggs was a big hit.  Ella didn't understand the concept of "gently lowering them in to the water",  so she just kind of threw them in there and the colored water went everywhere.  Derek was very serious about getting them all just the right color!

Ella and Derek had a blast looking for eggs in our backyard on Easter.  To the Easter Bunny's surprise, when "he" was hiding all the eggs outside early in the morning (and the Easter Bunny is not a "morning bunny" let me tell you) it was raining!  Plus we are re-doing our backyard, so they were hidden all over the dirty construction site!  Ella liked finding the eggs so much, that when they were all uncovered she kept saying "more, more".  So Kai kept taking the ones from her basket when she wasn't looking and throwing them back out in the yard to find!

Ella would not sit with her brother to take a picture, so I got to be in it!  Well, at least there is photographic evidence that I do exist in this family!

Ella's First Haircut! | Jenn Hoffmann Photography, East Bay

Ella had starting to grow a mullet in the back, as well as the front.  Is that even possible?  The kid has barely any hair on the sides of her head!  So we made an appointment with Sheila at Shear Adventures in Danville for her first haircut!
Here is her "before"-

Knowing my child and shall we say her "spunkiness", I prepared for the worst.  I KNEW she was going to fight it the whole way, kicking and screaming!  So I brought every candy imaginable to keep her occupied, along with several other distractions.

I would have bet my life on it.... and I would have lost.  She enjoyed EVERY. SINGLE. MINUTE. of it!  If she could talk, I think she would have exclaimed "Finally!" as I put her in the chair!  She sat there smiling, playing with the toys and looked around at the other children as if to say, "Hey, look at me!  I am big enough for a haircut now"!!!!  I know I say it all the time- but she really does want to do EVERYTHING her big brother does.

Candy, toys and a pretty bow- what more could a little girl ask for!?!?!  This is actually where our one and only problem arose... she didn't want to get out of the chair.  I tried to take her out once and she threw a fit, so Sheila let her stay there while Derek got his hair cut in the chair next to her.

Yep, we are still sportin' the "Pretty Smile"!!!

And here are the "after" shots!  How cute does she look!?!?!  And isn't the back adorable too?  No more straggly mullet! Sheila's the BEST!!!