6 month wrap up

I took an unintentional break from blogging. It is sort of like exercising - thinking about *actually* doing it seems overwhelming the longer and longer it's been since you have, and it's a lot easier to keep pushing it off until tomorrow.  Tomorrow is now. Don't think that means I'm working out. Just back to blogging.

Obviously, it's a little tough to recap the past 6 months, and many of the little details that I would have shared if I was blogging regularly have been forgotten, and I'm sad about that. I'm going to give you a quick month-by-month highlights, and then overwhelm you with pictures. I actually had to go back and look at pictures from each month to remember what was going on - a good testament to why I should keep clicking!

April (that's where we last left off I believe): Addy turned 3. We also adopted a new dog, Halle; a Great Dane. We love her to bits. At the end of the month, we had a quick trip to NJ for Kati's wedding shower!

May: My sister, Jessica, gave birth to a sweet baby boy, Noah, on May 1st. We also started the work of putting in our raised garden beds. We are so lucky that we have a neighbor who is a professional landscaper, who is helping guide us with finding the proper placement for the beds and what should be planted where.

June: Kati got married! Since I was in the wedding, I didn't haul my big camera around, and mostly left the picture taking to the people who were getting paid to do it ;) Chloe also went and showed in the Appaloosa National Youth Show in Texas, and ended up Reserve High Point for 12&U. (That's a huge accomplishment!)

July: We indulged in all things summer - s'mores, beach trips, sprinklers. We also went back down to NJ to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday and the 10th anniversary of Concord Stud Farm, as well as the annual Cousin's Christmas gathering on Pete's side of the family. The banner event of July though was that Chloe turned THIRTEEN.

August: I had a couple of requests for newborn sessions in NJ around the same time, so I decided to make it a "working week" and opened myself up for sessions. I'm happy to say that I had a session at every time I had available, but was still able to make sure I did 2-year pictures for my nephew Brayden.

September: Chloe started 8th (!!!?!?!) grade, and Addy started preschool two days a week. We also decided to put Addy in ballet and tap classes this year. She is still warming up to the idea of participation - she talks about liking it, but mostly just watches the other kids. The final big news of September is that I accepted a per diem RN position at a chemo infusion clinic (adult). We have found a wonderful in-home day care that the kids have been going to once/week to ease the transition (for me as much as them!).

October: And here we are! I didn't mention it above, but Pete was furloughed this summer, so he only worked 4 days/week (and his pay reflected that cut back). As I type this, the government is shut down, and so he hasn't worked at all this week either. Needless to say, the government unrest has had an effect on our income, which was a factor in me heading back to work.

NOW - the pictures!

 Our sweet Halle girl.

 The above picture is submitted as evidence that I participated in manual labor. Let it be noted.

 First bites of food

 Homemade pizza dough

 Water beads - a new favorite

 My Little Pony - a constant favorite

 Did I mention we're chicken farmers? We are. We have a flock of 8 laying hens, plus 4 recent chick additions that we're waiting to see if they are hens or roosters. We get 6-8 eggs a day... not too shabby!

 Addy is a Jenga all-star

 World's Happiest Baby

 Brayden, who gives me angina with his constant antics

 Noah, who is too little to give me angina... yet

 My awesome parents. And Bray picking his nose.

 13. 'nuf said.

 I rented a 24-70mm lens, and loved playing with the wide-angle 24mm aspect of it. It's next on the list!

 Starting him young.

 Addy at her first dentist appointment. A success, thanks to Chloe.

3.

Last week, Addison turned 3.

I need to let that just sink in for a minute.

3 years ago, I started blogging. Addison was born on a Tuesday, and by Friday night I had written my first post. I was scared, I was angry, and I needed to let it out. Now, I'm lucky if I remember to blog. There's no gut-wrenching emotional/medical turmoil, no big looming questions. I had a new friend ask about Addy's birthmark, quietly while Addy was busy doing something else. As I gave the Cliff Notes version of the path we've taken, I was struck by how long ago it all seems; a different lifetime already. For anyone who's wondering, she's awesome. She's better than awesome, she's AddyGirl.

I wish I had more pictures to share. I have to admit that I get caught up in the entertaining and socializing business of a party, and forget to capture it all. Plus, Addy was pretty overwhelmed with all the people in the house, so I was more preoccupied with gentle reassurances than I usually have to be with her.

So here are a (very) few from this weekend. She was frowning so hard, it was almost comical...

Jess and John came up for the party, and for a maternity photo shoot. I'm so excited to meet this new little nephew!

I know I promised a post about the chickens we are raising... I'll get to that. We're welcoming a new addition to our family this weekend (of the 4-legged variety), and I'll be heading to NJ with the kids for a bridal shower soon too.

And... I think Spring is here. Finally!

Vineyard and Easter

I have enough pictures from the last 2 weeks to more than fill this post, so I figured that's a good place to start.

We were scheduled to go to the Vineyard for an off-season trip (a personal favorite of mine), but that was the same weekend as the blizzard, so we had to postpone to last week. Mother Nature attempted to thwart us again by dumping almost 6 inches of snow on the island the night before, but we persevered. My favorite part about going off-season is that the island is practically deserted, occupied only by the hardy year-round people. It does make it much harder to find a place to eat (because almost nothing is open), and it wasn't exactly beach weather. But the thing I really go to the Vineyard for is quality time with my grandparents, and there was still plenty of that.

Then we needed to head back for Easter prep and execution.

Spring has sprung - the bulbs Chloe planted last fall are just starting to poke up!

 OK, this one *may* be a bit of staged Spring...

 Please note... there is still. snow.

 How the babe spent the egg hunt

We are so ready for Spring! We've got lots of exciting things to set up - this year, we will have a large vegetable garden, plus some berry bushes, so I'll be doing a lot of freezing and canning. We are also building a chicken coop to have a flock of hens to lay eggs for us. (Yes, right now we have a small flock of newborn baby chicks in our house - saving that for the next post!)

And most importantly, a big birthday in the next few days - Addy turns 3!!