Erica Sergio Photographer

Happy birthday moxie girl

2010-02-06T00:53:43Z

She really is the best dog ever, especially for a one-year-old. We got our sweet Moxie when she was just a little thing. A tiny, fluffy, nine-week-old pup. In the weeks leading up to us bringing her home I read every book that our library had on dog training & Craig & I watched every episode of our man Cesar ever made. We were set on training her right so that she'd turn into a sweet, well-behaved dog that we could leave home without worrying that she'd wreck the place, that we could take anywhere & that would one day be great with our kids. Well, that flew out the window FOR ME the moment I found out I was pregnant & all those crazy-lady-pregnancy-hormones started flowing & I couldn't look at her without melting much less discipline her. Thankfully, Craig stuck to the plan & his training (& mine once I wasn't so hormental) coupled with her gentle, playful nature = the world's greatest pup. Truly, she's incredible.

She loves to follow me around the house (or to the mailbox, or the bathroom, or ...), she'll do anything for a carrot, she is SUCH a love (I mean, if you even look at her she'll be all over you licking & burrowing & acting like the lap-dog that she thinks she is), she loves to go to the beach & walk with us off-leash, her hair gets crimpy when she's wet (like straight out of the 80's crimped with a crimping iron. It's awesome), she'd rather play chase than fetch (a bad habit I taught her. Oops), & she absolutely adores Emrie (she lays her head at the end of Emrie's bouncer & just watches her sleep. She also adores Emrie's pacifiers which she thought were a fancy new toy we brought home just for her. Now she knows the truth & she admires them from a distance).

Happy birthday Moxie Bird! This past year has been a great one & you've got a lot of life ahead of you - I'm so glad you & Emrie get to grow up together. You bring so much joy to our lives & I can't imagine our family without you.
P.S. Even though dad says she's a dog, she doesn't understand you, we know the truth.
P.P.S. You're the best dog ever.

And here she is just after we got her. Heart-melting. I love this wild animal.

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2010-01-24T01:40:22Z

You know when something is just so good that you can't even begin to put it into words? When it's just so, so ... ah, just so good that you can't even explain it so you just smile & sigh & your heart feels all fluttery & stuff? Yeah. That's where I'm at these days. That's how I feel about being mama to this precious little. Sometimes I want to bite her because she's just so beautiful & perfectly adorable & wonderful. I took these shots of her today (along with about a million others. I'm telling you, I could fill a swimming pool with all the photos I've taken of her in the past 2 1/2 months) & I love them so much that I want to blow them up & wallpaper every room in my house with them. Would that be weird?

favorites : 2009

2010-01-05T22:00:41Z

2009 has been good to me. At the top of the awesome-things-that-happened-this-year list are: moving into a beautiful new place, celebrating four years of marriage, having a baby & taking photos of amazing people. I was so honored to capture the love, the special moments, the children & families of each & every one of my clients this year. Seriously, I loved every moment & I still can't believe that I get to do this. Thank you, SO MUCH, to those of you who allowed me to capture your lives from behind my lens. 2009 was the first full year for this photography business of mine & it was a great one ... here are just a few of my favorites ...

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2010-01-05T18:35:14Z

I hope your Christmas was as beautiful as ours was. There is just something about the holidays with a new baby that brings a whole new level of joy & celebration. I wanted to be really intentional about slowing down & really enjoying Christmas & the events surrounding it this year (because it's so easy to wake up on January 1st & go it's over? already? really?) & enjoy I did. We spent the last two weeks at my parent's house in Southern California (we drove down ... me, Craig, dog & baby ... & what is normally a six hour drive turned into a ten hour one. I don't want to talk about it.) Emrie got to meet a ton of family members & friends (including two Great-Grandmas). She started smiling on Christmas Eve (like her first non-gas-look-you-in-the-eyes smile, the first real smile went to Grampa, no surprise, she just adores him). She started sleeping so much better, we're talking four to five hours at a time, which is big time for us. And Grama took her every morning around 4:00 so this Mama could get a little more sleep, such a gift. Moxie played all day, every day with her dog-cousin Coco, my sister's Yorkie-poo, talk about a hilarious little pair. We watched cable TV (!), ate too much great food, had Wii parties, went on walks, did a little shopping (it was so fun to try on jeans without a spandex band around the top), & just enjoyed being with the people we love. Happy (belated) Christmas friends, I hope it was a great one.

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2009-12-11T20:46:30Z

So I haven't been around these parts for a while, you're like no duh, & it feels good to be back to share a little slice of what life is like for us these days. Emrie was born a month ago yesterday & it has been the most incredible, heart-swelling, sleepless month we've ever had. Craig works from home now, which is the best thing ever, so the past 30 days have been all about our little family, two semi-adults (I'm still like wait, are you sure we're old enough to have a baby? Shouldn't we at least have to get a license for this or something?), a newborn & a pup. We spend our days cuddling, baby-wearing, going on walks, changing diapers, changing onesies, working (him, not me ... soon, though), nursing (me, not him, although that would be convenient, weird but convenient), knitting, & mostly just being. It's been a great month, the best we've ever had. Oh, and we laugh a lot too.

She's here.

2009-11-14T20:34:54Z

Emrie Kent.

Born 11.10.09 at 2:19am.

The three of us are doing great & our little family has never been so full of love. So now you know her name, Emrie Kent (Kent is my dad's name & she loves her Grampa so much already) & here's her sweet, sweet face. Craig & I are so in love, with each other & with our little girl & we're spending our days staring & adoring & falling head over heals. God is good.

Her Room.

2009-10-28T22:07:15Z

Here it is, baby girl's room. When I started to dream about what I wanted this space to be I knew a few things: I didn't want it to be too baby-ish & I wanted her to be able to grow with it for a while. I wanted it to be a little girly but not frilly. I wanted to include as many hand-mades as possible. I wanted it to be simple, light & clean feeling. I wanted to hang old photos, paintings & things that have stories behind them. And I wanted to stay as far away from a "theme" as possible. Now that it's finished (with the exception of a few last things I need to hang) I feel like we accomplished all of those things & it's a space that Craig & I both love & think our little girl will too. Here it is!

And now for some details. I made that monkey & the pillow behind it. The deer painting is something I painted for Craig a few years back. As a child I spent hours reading A Light in the Attic & Where the Sidewalk Ends.

There are old family photos throughout the room & this one is of my dad. So adorable. I sewed the bumpers for her crib & Sophie the giraffe was a gift to the babe from her Aunt Mimi.

Family.

2009-10-11T00:15:02Z

Today, this is my little family*. One month(ish) from today we'll add another. From a family of two (plus the dog we love), to a family of three ... nothing sounds sweeter. I love this little family of mine more than words could ever do justice - the man that makes me laugh, takes care of me, helps me be the best me & the dog who cuddles with me on cold mornings, gives me a single lick to wake me up & follows me everywhere I go ... I can only imagine the love that baby will bring. I hope my heart can handle it because right now, even just looking at this photo really gets me. One month(ish) to go ... I think a paper chain is in order.

*minus the beard which was shaved this morning. yay.

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2009-10-05T16:03:43Z

Growing up we used the word "times" a lot. As in "time-out". Like we'd be playing dodgeball in the street with a bunch of friends & a car would be approaching & one of us would yell "times!" & we'd move out of the way & freeze while the car passed, then the game would resume. Or my sisters & I would be playing toilet tag in the front yard & right when I was about to be tagged & turned into a toilet (you guys played this too, right?) I would yell "times!" so that I was safe until I could get away. And the word that kept coming to mind when I sat down to write this post was "times!". The session I posted last week was my last scheduled shoot & I'm now officially on maternity leave, taking a little time-out. And I'm really excited about it. I plan on doing a lot of house-cleaning / organizing / decorating / all-things-nesting, a good amount of napping, some sewing, some Christmas-music-listening (yes, I start in October, don't judge me) & a whole lot of getting-ready-for-baby. I'll still be posting here but rather than family shoots & weddings they will be posts of our little girl's nursery, probably some Moxie, & eventually tons & tons of photos of our baby girl. After all, she will be here NEXT MONTH. A friend of ours took some photos of Craig & I last week & I'll share more once I get them edited but for now here's one of my favorites. I love that man.

The Stovall Family

2009-09-28T02:34:33Z

The Stovall siblings asked me to take some photos of them to give their parents as a surprise gift for their upcoming anniversary. So sweet. I hope our future kids are that thoughtful. And I hope they get along as well as these four do too. A few favorites ... enjoy.

I love this little glimpse of what it's like to be the only boy with three older sisters.