Celebrating

We took our inaugural family-of-5 trip to NJ last weekend. It was, as these trips always are, way too short. Pete and I cut the trip even shorter by leaving a day early to avoid traveling in the snow (which ended up being all rain), but the girls stayed a full week.

My baby meets my bestie. He was thrilled, I promise.

We celebrated in impending arrival of the newest nephew:

 (this is her "say cheese" face)

 (this is her "punch laced with soda laced with sherbet" face)

 I'm still working on doing better at being a photographer when we have get togethers. I get caught up in the soaking-it-all-in, and forget that I should be snapping away. I am wary of being 'that girl' - the one in everyone's business, clicking away - my inner introvert shining through. That, and I am still so smitten with my son, I'm either cuddling him, or watching someone else cuddle him with stars in my eyes. (Maybe they're stars, or maybe they're just glassy from lack of sleep... who knows.) Luckily, my photography sessions are going well - I'll get back into my lifestyle grove by 2014 :)

Life's Out-Takes

The photography biz is slowly picking up. And because it's hard to do outside on-location shoots in the winter in New England, and many of the indoor places available don't have the light I need, I decided to set up a home "studio" in our living room. I got the kids to let me use them as models as I play with my lights and settings, and looking at the pictures after the shoot reminded me that some of the best parts of life are the out-takes. The kids may not be looking at the camera, or smiling, but it captures them so much better than a posed studio shot. So while I'm grateful for a large living room and a family who doesn't mind the clutter of my photography gear, I'm really looking forward to spring, summer, and fall, when I'll be back outside with my camera. (And, yes, I know I can go outside in the winter. But the high temps have been in the teens here lately, and I'm just not doing it.)

And, just because I love the out-takes doesn't mean I don't love the everyone-looking-at-the-camera-and-smiling-I-have-the-perfect-family-kids-shot any less ;)

And speaking of perfect... this happened too:

My 'lying-in' time...

Ha! So much for more frequent blog posts.... happy January ;)

Christmas was great. Although we were a bit sad that we weren't able to do Christmas Eve breakfast and caroling with our friends this year, we did enjoy just having a few days of quiet family time.

The girls made a gingerbread train together:

 candy sneaker. caught.

The day after Christmas, the girls went down to NJ to spend Christmas break with my family. They had tons of fun (as expected), but after a few days I was ready for them to come home. I did manage to do a few newborn pictures of Peter while they were away though

Julie, Kip and Brayden came up to visit, and play in the snow with us.

I'm slowly returning to the land of the living. Peter is 5 weeks old today, so technically I have one more week to pull myself together. I'm getting there.

The Swing of Things

I skipped blogging in November and most of December.

Originally, blogging was something I did to help me get it all out, and process how I was feeling with the uncertainty of Addy's medical condition. Writing is cathartic for me, and even after the angiogram in October, I was mentally composing a post on the drive home. But as the medical drama lessened, I found the blog to be a perfect way to share pictures of the kids with family and friends, and reflect on different mom-issues. I had the best intentions of keeping up with blogging, but as the pregnancy wore on, blogging worked its way down the totem pole - firmly behind spending time with Pete and the kids, and nudged out by sleep. I'm hoping to have a better balance in 2013; I still love blogging and sharing pictures with everyone, so I'm going to bump it back up the priorities ladder. Maybe even get back to posting once a week. No promises though ;)

So, starting fresh. The biggest announcement is that Peter Allen Meyers joined our family on December 5th at 8:29pm, weighing 6 pounds 13 ounces. It was a long (not very hard, just very long) start-and-stop labor, but we had the support of two wonderful midwives (we had him at a local birth center), and just 3 hours after Peter was born, we were headed home. The recovery has been easy, and the girls have handled having a new baby in the house wonderfully. Addy loves him to bits (although wishes I would let her squeeze him and carry him around), and we've tried hard not to curtail any of the girls' normal activities. It's been easy since Pete was home and then my mom was here; I'm on my own next week so it may be more of a challenge... especially since we are forecasted for a snow storm and a Nor'easter.

Without further ado, some pictures (sorry, didn't put the portrait shots into a collage... priorities)

I will try and blog again before (and after) Christmas... but not promises until 2013 and I have to stick to my resolution!