2 months old!

I decided that for each month for her first year I'm going to do a different theme photo plus a comparison with my giant stuffed horse. This month was Harry Potter, since she has very nearly outgrown the Muggleborn onesie I had. I also wanted to get pictures of her in the "First Pair of Boots" outfit with the boots that Cortney gave me for Kaylee. Thanks to Cortney, my kids are super outfited for boots through age 3.

She's smiling now, especially when she sees the boob come out, but also when any of us (me, Eric, Kaylee) engage with her and talk to her. She's also starting to 'talk' back and laugh. I say laugh because she's got big smiles when she does it, but who knows. We haven't gotten to the belly laughs yet.

It's hard to get smiles on camera though! 

Super cute suede leather boots.

And of course, since she was in her cowgirl outfit, we went out for a 'ride' on Gwyn.

Eric had her, no worries there!

And Gwyn gave her kisses.

I ordered some new cloth diapers and used one today! Rainbow Dash!  I'm waiting on some waterproof covers to come, since this one isn't fully leak proof if there's pressure. But it's sooooo cute!

Camera backlog Part 1

I finally, FINALLY, got my computer fixed enough to be able to log on and get pictures off my two cameras (the SLR and Point and Shoot)

Have some photos from the moment Hazel was born.  Many of them came out blurry, a result of giving a non-photographer the SLR but I do like the ones that are good.

Warning:  Nipples and Brand New Gooey Baby

Picture Dump and Life Update

Not much to report. Life goes on. Kaylee has finished preschool and we're solidly in summer vacation for her. I've packed her schedule, such as it is, just so she isn't always stuck at home and has some opportunities for socialization with other kids.

Hazel is Hazel, portable, getting chubby and having some lovely brain development every day. We're finally into smiles and I think she tries to laugh. I've tried getting it on video but she stops when the phone comes out, CURSES!

I've always heard that second kids get the shaft when it comes to pictures, so I've made an effort to not let that happen. It really helps when you have a cell phone that takes your pictures and then auto backs them up onto the cloud that your journaling is directly connected to.  Makes everything so much easier, especially since I haven't tried troubleshooting my desktop yet and thus haven't pulled the photos off either of my digital cameras.

Kaylee looks like a model in this picture, and so long!

Waiting for the farrier and nursing. New favorite spot!

Dinner time!

In going through the garage and cleaning and reorganizing I came across these toys of mine. I got them while we were on our honeymoon. The unicorns (black is missing its horn) are good v evil unicorns.  The playmobil is obviously a standardbred pacer. Kaylee has taken them for herself to play with.

We installed our rain barrels and the water that collects gets warm because the barrels are black. Kaylee had fun playing in that water.

Baby apples!

We took an alternate route home from our friend's house and discovered a HUGE oak tree. It is one of the few trees that remain from before Michigan was nearly totally deforested by logging and a massive fire.

We went to the park yesterday. Kaylee's friend Arya showed up. They played in the lake despite the cool temperatures.

Happy 8th Anniversary!

We did not get each other traditional gifts. I'm likely getting a lilac bush at some point and I bought REALLY nice steaks for dinner for us since there's no way we're going out to a nice dinner as has been tradition.  Usually this tradition also involves us discussing the State of the Marriage and future possibilities. We've agreed to rain check the discussion, especially now that we're near a Melting Pot again (the majority of our State of the Marriage Addresses have taken place at Melting Pot)

But on this day, 8 years ago, we were married* in front of our friends and family on the water in Connecticut. It was a perfect day.

All our guests and wedding party

Branford House at UCONN Avery Point. That's my brother playing the trumpet.

Our Reveal. 

My flowers were the bomb-diggity. I was not a hands on bride. I told the florist our colors and general theme and said "I'd like it to be like I went out into a field of wildflowers and collected a ton. I trust you. Surprise me." They were perfect. I don't think I could have described this exact thing and gotten it.

That attitude was how I approached wedding planning in general.

Notice the feet? I ditched the shoes VERY early on. Like before the ceremony.

So a general State of the Marriage

In 8 years we have:

Lived in 3 states (Florida, Washington and Michigan)

Had 2 kids!
Bought a horse

Bought 2 houses

Sold 1 house

Acquired 2 donkeys (and given away 1)

Had a fucking blast!

Here's to many more!

*Technically our legal marriage date is sometime around January.... shhh, neither of us remember the exact date, lol