Painting

What a fun week it has been!
On Wednesday, we got together with "the crew" - my group of Mom friends and babies that have quickly become my best friends. We gathered at Kasandra's house and (brave soul that she is) let the babies finger paint.

 

Some babies were more dainty than others, and of course Addy had to sample each and every color. We kept the paint mostly on the paper (and the floor, and the babies themselves), and can't wait for consistently warm weather so we can do it again, only outside! We had a great time - and the pictures are priceless.

Then it was a mad dash down to New Jersey. We thought that we'd try traveling at night - harder on the driver, but easier on the baby. Or so we thought. Apparently, Thursday night is the perfect time for roadwork - we hit three different spots where 4 lanes funneled to one, and our speed fluctuated between dead stop and painful crawl. And that plan about it being easier on the baby? Not true when she only sleeps an hour. The whole time. And cries the rest. I don't think we were ever so happy to see Harvey Road at 1am after 6 hours of a fussy baby car ride.

 This girl eats everything. Including sheep feed. And was not to happy when those greedy sheep finished the grain she was eyeing up.

Less than a week after laser and we are healing, healing, healing!

 Baby Austin

Mother's Day was quiet; Chloe was at a horse show and we just bummed around the farm and mentally prepared for another long car ride back home. Luckily the return trip was a bit better (Addy was only up for a few hours of it), and without the construction, the ride was an hour shorter. We are really happy to have a weekend at home; back-to-back travel weekends really wear us out. We're trying to dig out from under the piles of mess that accumulate when you unpack the car; get the laundry sorted along with life.

We spent a few hours today meeting with a geneticist which has left me feeling worn out and weary of the medical system. The bottom line was all good news, but rehashing the whole last year was more trying that I realized it would be, and sometimes I feel like we're just spinning in circles. But we have a beautiful, happy, 13 month old who lights up the room, and Pete and I am figuring out the delicate balance of watching her development without worrying about her progress. She certainly is something special.

I'm shooting my pictures in RAW these days - so more editing on the back end, but I think it's worth it!

1,000

And so it begins. The jam-packed, crazy month of May 2011. But first, a quick re-cap of the last weekend of April.

We went to a Sweet Sixteen for Pete's cousin, Brooke, on Friday. I got to really experiment with my flash and figuring out how to use it without making everything look too bright. I definitely prefer natural lighting, but I'm learning... slowly.

Then it was a mad dash back to MA to watch Chloe in her horse show.

Pure joy - this girl loves to ride.

Addy had her laser treatment today, so she's upstairs sleeping the anesthesia off. The dermatologist agreed that we've seen amazing results, and that it was a good idea to take the summer off. If we decide to do more, we'll wait until she's older - more like 3 - and will be able to do it with topical anesthetic (cream to numb her skin). We're hoping to spend the week soaking up the sun with friends (and with a hat on, of course. And sunscreen.) Then another crazy weekend, and a few more doctor appointments/tests next week.

Oh, and I almost forgot - I've had over 1,000 hits on my blog - in less than 3 months. Not too shabby :)

Breaking The Rules

The week is only halfway done, and it's been a fun one already.  Addy and I went with Livvy and Sarah to a music class at the Children's Museum, and then spent time playing. It's amazing that we have barely even started to explore the museum - we love it, and we have only been to a few rooms!

Today we took a road trip and went to the Southwick Zoo! It's about an hour southwest of us, and we had lots of fun. It didn't hold a candle to the Philly Zoo, but had more things to see than our more local Stone Zoo. And the weather was perfect, 75 degrees with some clouds and a light breeze.

The kids stood and watched the monkeys swinging around until their legs turned to spaghetti.

We hit the petting zoo, and Addy hung out on a rock with one very chill goat.

 These girls have become fast friends (just like their mommas!)

As we were strolling, we saw a tortoise "enclosure" - really just a patch of grass with some boulders around it. I decided that it looked more like they were just trying to keep the turtles in other than people out (the highest boulders were knee high), and suggested that we should put the babies on the turtles for some really cute shots. Jack went first, and we were not disappointed! 

 Of course, right then a zoo keeper pulled up (we saw him coming and pretended we were just hanging out). We asked about taking pictures with the turtles, and we were told we weren't allowed in the enclosure (whoops!), but that he would bring over a tortoise for the babies to touch.

 Not quite as cool as riding on their backs, but we also avoided getting kicked out of the zoo. 

An awesome day, with perfectly behaved children and some not so well behaved mommies. But that's what making memories is all about!

Call it what you want, I love Addy's feet!

My mom pointed out that I hadn't explained the amber necklace! Besides being a great fashion statement, it helps with teething. The necklace is made of Baltic Amber, which is a resin. When worn, the body heat warms the amber and causes it to release oils (succinic acid) which are absorbed into the skin. It is touted as one of the best homeopathic remedies for teething, and babies wear them from about 6 months to 3 years of age. So it's a little tough to tell, but I'm not convinced that it's helping. Addy has a terrible, nasty cold, so I think her one year molars could be the issue. Who knows if it would be worse without the necklace, but we still had to give her some Tylenol to help her through it. But, it doesn't seem to be hurting, so she's still wearing it.

We have a big weekend coming up celebrating a Sweet Sixteen, so I'll get to flex some new photography muscles. Enjoy the rest of the week!