Very Outside The Box

Yikes. It is almost October. I love New England in the fall. The leaves are starting to change, the nights are getting downright chilly, but the days still warm up enough to sometimes allow shorts. I'm NOT loving the colds that are making their rounds in our house (I'm writing with a cup of tea, because my throat is getting more sore by the minute), but I guess that's all part of it.

All the updates:

Pete left, and Pete came home. I wish it had been as fast as that makes it sound. In truth, it was a long, hard 7 weeks that we just had to survive. It wasn't pretty, and I leaned on my family and friends a lot for support. He's been home almost 10 days now, and we have the sense that we're settling into things. There were lots of new routines that we had to work out -remember, Pete left just one week after we moved into the new house- but it's been fun getting really settled. He's also working on his final semester for his Master's degree, which will culminate in a 40-page thesis paper.

Chloe started 7th grade. And, thankfully, this school year is going better than any of us thought it would. It took all of about 5 minutes for her to make friends, and she's enjoying the super small class sizes (15!). She's already had a school dance, and is looking forward to the next one. About a week before school started, Chloe got braces, and 4 weeks later, you can already see dramatic results. It has been a huge boost for her self confidence, as she was painfully aware of her overbite.

Addy continues to thrive. We are getting ready for her angiogram (October 4th), and the only hiccups so far were the rather difficult blood draws during her pre-op appointment. Since so much is up in the air in regards to the plan after the angiogram, we are really thankful that my mom is coming up to help hold down the fort until the plan is clear. The girls are excited to show off the new digs (she'll be our first out-of-town visitor!), and get some Mutzy-time in.

I've been growing. I'm now in the third trimester, and the pregnancy has breezed by. There were some concerns about the baby's growth at the ultrasound 2 months ago, and so we went for a follow up today. We are happy to report that he is growing well, and so we won't need to do any more extra ultrasounds (although it was fun to get to see his little face on the 3D ultrasound!) I also passed the 3-hour glucose test, which shows I am holding gestational diabetes at bay this time. So now we just let him cook!

I've also been getting more busy with photography, after taking some time off to get settled and re-establish a client base. I've also upgraded to the Nikon D700, and really getting the hang of being on a 100% manual camera. I've ditched the mouse, and am editing on a Bamboo tablet, and am in the process of switching over to Lightroom and Photoshop. Most of the pictures here are still the Sony. The very last few are the Nikon. I've had a couple of photo shoots, and have a bunch more coming up. I started a separate, professional photography-only blog -- if you are interested, you can find it here: www.kellymeyersphoto.com

And now, some pictures (and many more updates as they relate to each picture):

This post starts out with summer:

Chloe hit a major milestone this summer: she completed the Kumon Reading Program. Her reward for such a huge feat was that she got a bunny. She's been asking for one since we had the bunny shoot last Easter, and so we went to pick one out from the same breeder

His name is Blizzard, and he sits in her lap while she does homework :)

The rest of Addy's "crew" turned 2 this summer/early fall. Labor Day weekend was filled with birthday parties, and cupcakes.

My friend Kasandra is one of the craftiest moms you'll ever meet. She raises the bar so high when she throws a party, I've decided not to even try and match her - I'd rather just capture pictures of her awesomeness.

We've been doing a lot of hanging out and playing. And loving every minute.

Most days, you'll find Addy bare-bottomed. She's almost 100% potty trained at home, but definitely prefers to just run around bottomless so she doesn't have to mess with those pesky pants and shorts :)

We joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) or crop share for the last part of the summer and fall. We LOVE going to the farm each week to pick up our fruits and veggies.

...and we end with fall.

Next update will be much sooner than the last, I promise.

We're settling into the new house. August has been a bit of an abnormal month for us. With Pete gone, I've been spending a lot of time in New Jersey - we just got back home and are going again next week. Although being away from home has it's challenges (and dealing with my allergies when I'm in NJ and not able to take anything is tiring), it's been a good summer so far.

We went to Hambo Day last weekend at the Meadowlands. Hambo is the biggest Standardbred horse race of the year, and we always have a great time.

And what's a day at the races without a little bit of betting?

Another major draw to NJ for us is cousin Brayden. He's almost a year old, and a ball of energy - I swear, he never stops moving. He is the sweetest little peanut; and makes me both excited and petrified to have a boy this time! He loves his cousins so much - he squeals whenever he hears Chloe's voice, and grabs every opportunity to get in Addy's face and smother her with kisses.

Probably the best part about NJ (for everyone but me)... horses. I have two certifiable horse-crazy girls. Which is a bit hard, because both Pete and I are allergic (Pete dangerously so; mine are severe but not dangerous). But when they are in NJ, Mutzy is more that happy to fulfill their horsey desires.

So there are late-evening barn walks: