3 months catch up!

Wow I got behind and never posted those photos? I mean, a bunch of you are on facebook anyway, but still... I like having the blog up to date.

3 month photo shoot

I did "Lord of the Rings" for a theme and painted the Eye of Sauron free hand. I'm pretty damn proud of that.

My precious....

Her outfit is felt pieces sewn onto a white onesie. The One Ring is a wooden ring covered in gold duct tape.  Her leaf is also felt. The pants I had. The cape is a halloween black webbing table runner. 

"Oh no! The Eye!"

Omonomnomnom

"I want to match Hazel!"  But she doesn't like sun so getting a photo was hard.

So my mom sent matching dresses and again we had to dress up and take pictures. This time, I planted them in the shade to avoid complaints about the sun.

I feel like I got glamour shots here. I'm no professional photographer, but I love when I can catch some nice moments.

I feel like this one could be an advertisement for the dress.

My kid is gorgeous. Disagree and I'll fight you. 

Palytoxin

My article is online and published and a check is in the mail.

This is an AWESOME feeling. I can't wait for my next article assignment. I really enjoyed devoting time to this. It was a good exercise in time management since I needed to work on it when Hazel was sleeping and that time is limited in quantity.

Palytoxins

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.