One month!

Wow, Lily is one month old today! How the heck did that happen?! I was going to do a photoshoot, but we didn't wind up having time so tomorrow hopefully I can squeeze one in. Steve figured out her theme song is, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!" Trust me it's quite fitting. She knows what she wants and if she doesn't get it she lets everyone know in no uncertain terms. She especially likes to be held. She won't sleep in her bassinet and spends most of her time either in our arms or in her boppy bouncy seat. I will make a more detailed post about Miss Lily after I take her one month photos and fill you in on all the details. :)

I will share this cute photo I took a couple weeks ago of Morgan holding Lily for now. He really does love her. He likes to bring her stuff, but sadly he doesn't get she could care less about blocks and random toys just yet. :) He also likes to help burp her by patting her on the back and he gives her hugs and kisses which is the cutest thing ever.

It's not the best photo, but it was taken with the coolpix in my defense. :)

Craven Farm

Click here to view these pictures larger

Picture Slideshow...

I think I was too out of it the weekend Jamie and Tracie came to visit to get any really outstanding shots so you get the infamous picture slideshow from Shutterfly. This way you actually get to see more photos though since I didn't edit any of them. :) We had a really great visit when they came and we even went to Jennings park for some play time.

Click here to view these pictures larger

Lily 25 days old...

Yesterday a friend of ours, who happens to be a fantastic child photographer, came by and took some photos of Lily. They turned out amazing and I wanted to share the link to her blog where they are posted. Go take a look it is worth it!

CLICK HERE FOR CUTE LILY PICTURES!

It's officially Fall around here...

Today we decided that before Steve raked up all the leaves we would take advantage of the potential fun and let Morgan run around in them. He loved it. We even have a mini rake he drug around and helped rake leaves with. Steve raked a giant leaf pile and then stuck him in the middle which took about 3 seconds before he flipped out! He started screaming his lungs out. I thought kids were supposed to like that?!

Anyway, here are a few shots...






(I have a back log of photos I need to edit and catch up with. I will post more soon!)

Before and After

The other night Steve and I decided to do a photoshoot of Lily in the bedroom and set up the studio lighting around the bed. This was supposed to make it easier for me since it's still hard for me to move, but this turned out to be a terrible idea for many reasons. The most important reason being the lighting was impossible to get right with a giant bed in the way. None of the pictures came out right and it was a big waste of energy and time. I decided to mess with one of my test shots and was actually pleasantly surprised by the end result with minimal editing in PS. I decided I would share the before and after so you can get an idea of how amazing PS really is. If I had not shot in RAW I highly doubt I could have saved this image.

Again, this was a test shot and Steve wasn't even supposed to be in the picture I was just trying to get my lighting and exposure correct which explains why he looks a little disheveled.

BEFORE




AFTER

Saturday evening at Kayak Point...

This evening we packed up the kids (I can't believe I can use the term "kids"--that's going to take a while to get used to) and headed out to Kayak Point so Morgan could run around and play. Also, so I could take some photos. I went for a long stretch without doing any photography and I need to catch up. It feels good to be shooting again. Anyway, we got a lot of great shots and it's going to take a bit to edit them all, but I really loved one in particular so I played around with it and wanted to share. Typically, this photo would have been in the trash can, but the mood the light gives the picture attracted me to it.

A little background on the shot...we took Morgan out on to the dock and as soon as we were over the water he looked down and saw the surf between the wood planks and he sat down and wouldn't walk. He acted very worried about the whole ordeal and it took a lot of coaxing to get him to finally walk down the dock. Steve had to hold his hand almost the whole time to get him to move. He kept looking down and almost acted a bit scared. It made me remember how I used to be scared to death of docks when I was a kid too. ;)

Sunset...



and I just finished this one which also gives off this old snapshot feel to it.

Miss Lilian...

Well, in her short 10 days of life she decidedly has major opinions about things. For instance, the second she wets her diaper there is a major outburst of crying until it's changed. Seriously, one drop of pee and it MUST be changed immediately! Steve and I were joking around today saying forget the college fund it's all going to be spent on diapers. She also prefers to be held. I can't complain about that because when we brought her home a week ago I held her constantly. So, it's probably my fault, but we are sort of in line with the attachment parenting philosophy as far as that goes anyway. She also doesn't like the pacifier and will not take it which is actually a blessing really because now we don't have to worry about that later.

The other night I was holding Lily in the living room and I told Morgan to give her kisses and he came up to her with his mouth wide open and slobbered all over her cheek, it was so cute! He did it several more times after that too. He is very interested in her, but right now she is mainly in the bedroom with me as I heal and he is out in the living room so not much contact has been established yet.

I mustered enough energy yesterday to attempt a photoshoot with her. It was a lot of work and pretty stressful. Shooting newborns is hard work. Steve and I are going to try again tonight, but with some new tricks up our sleeves. We will see how it goes. Luckily out of all the trouble Steve and I went through yesterday with the photoshoot I was able to get a few good ones. The last photo I posted of her I wasn't exactly happy about and I am re-editing it so you will probably see it pop up again. My favorite photo I shot yesterday I edited it in color and a sort of desaturated sepia tone, but can't decide which I like better so I am going to post both and let you decide.

Lily 9 days old...





Here is the re-edited photo I mentioned...

Lily 9 days old

Morgan 13 months

This was taken on the Friday before I had Lily at Kayak Point at sunset. There were a ton of people just off shore fishing and the fish were literally flying out of the water it was quite a scene.

Lily is now 8 days old. Things are going really well. There is nothing more peaceful in this world than holding a newborn. Luckily child birth is something I don't want to experience ever again or I could see myself having a whole litter of these things running around. ;) She is such a sweet baby. The only time she cries is when she is hungry or when her diaper is wet and she lets us know right when her diaper is wet. Apparently she doesn't like it at all and as such we are going through diapers at a record pace. Her cry is so soft too, I remember Morgan being really loud, but when she opens her mouth sometimes there is no sound at first and then a light soft crying follows. We are going to do a photo shoot tonight to get some newborn shots.


Steve and I are both exhausted of course for different reasons. Morgan is keeping Steve quite busy as he has now become fond of crawling up onto the couch and then onto the end table to escape past the baby gate. Steve literally cannot leave him for a second because he immediately tries to do this little stunt. We are not quite sure what to do about it. We are thinking about baby proofing the dining room and kitchen so he has more space to wander through, but we are not completely comfortable with that idea yet. I guess it has to happen sometime.

I am healing pretty well, my leg is luckily getting better from the whole spinal ordeal and my incision looks amazingly good. My back hurts pretty bad as does the incision, but I have to keep reminding myself it's only been a week and the healing time is 6 -8 weeks. Ice packs are my best friend right now.

On Tuesday we took Lily to her first doctor check-up and it went great! It was the first time we all went out as a family which was quite the production. Poor Steve! Anyway, we are now seeing a male doctor who has been with the Everett Clinic for 31 years. He is sort of a crotchety old man, but in a good way that makes me feel like Lily is getting really good care from a very experienced Pediatrician. He said she looked perfectly healthy and she even gained back all the weight newborns initially lose after being born which really is no surprise because she eats a full 2 oz bottle every 1.5-2 hours plus whatever small amount she is getting from the breast.

Yesterday, Steve took Morgan to his toddler class for the first time all by himself and apparently it went really well. All the moms were very accepting of him being there as well as several of the boy toddlers who decided to hang with him for a lot of the play time. Morgan was much more adventurous this time around and had a lot of fun.

Now for a bunch of random photos from the past week...