Breastfeeding Stroll

St. Clair County Health Department hosted a Breastfeeding Stroll at the riverfront in Port Huron (gateway to Sanilac, Ontario CAN) I had seen the event posted on facebook in several places and my doula had signed up as attending so this morning I decided, ah hell, why not?  It was only 45 minutes away and I knew the view would be nice and there was likely to be a breeze from the water so it would be pleasant strolling weather. 

Vendors were set up on the walking path that ran along the riverfront and they had lots of stuff to hand out and stickers for the kids. If you visited every tent you could be entered in a raffle drawing. Most things were about WIC or medicaid which doesn't apply to me, but I did snag some business cards that had breastfeeding rights on them (applicable state laws) in the event that I'm ever given grief about breastfeeding in public.

Anything you see on the other side of the river is Canada. There were also cool sculptures and info displays along the walk. The permanent ones were about the biology and ecology of the area and the temporary ones were about breastfeeding. 

Being in the stroller didn't last long. 

Breastfeeding at the breastfeeding stroll!

I know it's blurry, but I think it's neat. 

My dorky, yet effective sun shade hat!

Ducks and Canada

She got so wet but had such a great time!

There was this sculpture along the path. Her name is Sugar!

Kaylee for scale

We ate lunch at this bench and fed the ducks. It was such a pleasant day.

Science!!

A college acquaintance contacted me about doing some writing for his organization. I jumped at the chance and started working on my assignment today! It's a paid writing gig and I'm really enjoying being able to throw myself into some awesome science and learn about a new topic.

My research topic is all about palytoxins and their dangers in reefkeeping. The take home message that I'm seeing emphasized over and over again in my reading is that if you're handling live rock and coral, wear gloves, wear eye protection and probably a mask too. And keep pets out of the area. This stuff is nasty and it will not discriminate in cells that it targets.

It feels really good to be delving back into research and science. And given Hazel's current nap schedule, I actually have time to get this done and work from home. It's an all around good feeling for me right now.

In other news, I finally got the vet out to see the animals. I need to acquire some dewormer for both of them and Gwyn needs to lose weight... oops.

I do my best research and learning by summarizing what I read and handwriting notes. This later helps me organize what I want to write. I'm also making a digital copy in case a 4 year old occurs.

It can be hard to do research with a 4 year old on your back

During the vet visit. Gwyn and Saffron were well behaved, Hazel fell asleep, and Kaylee was the whiniest whiner.

We've been going for evening walks. This was last night. An impromptu math lesson.

I love these girls.

At the track for our evening walk. Yes she is wearing snow boots...

I can see the big kid in her face in this picture. I love it.

My Big Kid is 4!

This is over due, but Kaylee turned 4! She's such a big kid, especially now with Hazel for comparison, but I love (mostly) every minute!  She's independent and strong willed with a mind and opinions of her own. We can have crazy conversations and discuss quite the range of topics.

The other day she told me she wants to be a Doctor Astronaut Paleontologist.  I was totally on board with that.

Her birthday was a Dancing Princess Party. She was so excited to help decorate. We had 'pearl' necklaces to give out and while only one other kid came to the party, I made sure everyone could dress up if they wanted. My parents also came to town for it and it was a great time.

Just Born

1 Year Old, her first camping trip. We went to the Olympic Peninsula and took her to Beach 1!

2 Years Old. Studying fish flies in Michigan

3 Years Old, just moved into our house in Michigan!

4 years old, loving dress up, being outside and eating too much salt.

You can buy a kids science kit. She LOVES doing her experiments (mixing different colors of water colored with food coloring)

And she's the big sister I knew she would be. I mean that honestly. As a little kid I always thought she should have been the little sister, with how much she would hang onto the bigger kids. She needed another kid in her life. And she's taken to Hazel like Hazel has always been a part of the family. Who knows what they'll be like when they're older, but it's a perfect dynamic currently.

Even Gwyn knows that Kaylee's her kid.

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