A Visit to the Arboretum

I am sure there will be many, many trips to the Arboretum in our future. I liked to go there before, but now I have a little baby doll I can prop up in the flowers and take photos! My mom went with us last week and took a few photos of me with the boy, and then again of the three of us. She did a great job as photographer. Here are some highlights.

First, some of the boy...it will be easier to pose him when he's a little more upright, of course:

Just hangin' with the potted plants.


He slept through most of the visit.


Funny face.


A sleep induced smile.


And he yawns with the best of them!

OK, a couple of me and the Little Man:

Mama and baby in the garden.

He is soooo kissable.

I can't help but smile at him.
I think he was darting his tongue in and out here.


Proud Mama.

A few of LM and S:

S has so many things to teach the LM.

Here you can already see he's gonna look like dad.


Daddy love is the best.


My two boys.
Proud Papa and Little Man.

And last, a few of the family:

We can look at him for hours.


One day, LM will look at the camera too!

That last shot - silly pose, but the face on the baby is so sweet it sort of works! So there you have it - some photos in the pretty flowers of our new family of three.

See you soon.

Introducing Katherine Vail

So we have another niece to love! Katherine Vail was born last Friday and we made it by to meet the babe that night. Here are some photos:

Katherine herself.

Katherine, nickname Kate, was seven pounds and fifteen ounces, and nineteen and 3/4 inches long, so a tad larger than her older cousin Little Man. Her parents are both doing well and excited for the new addition, as is big brother Andrew.

Kate and LM

Besides the excitement of meeting the new baby, the most amazing thing about holding her was how SMALL she felt - just seven weeks after his birth, LM is so much bigger that a newborn feels small and light. Boy, do they grow fast. Treasure every moment!

S with his new niece.


S with both babies.


Me with Katherine.

We started talking and holding the baby, and Brooke was busy with hospital stuff when we arrived, so we somehow failed to get a photo of the sweet girl with her actual parents. Egad. My brain doesn't work right these days. Sleep deprivation and hormones take their toll. I hope my co-workers go easy on me during the first weeks back next month - and that the ol' brain will go back to normal! We will be certain to remedy this situation when we see the family next time!

Kate's dad with LM


The only photo we got of Brooke - we'll get one with Kate next time!

Here are a couple more of the new girl:

Anyhoo...the sweet girl is, well, just that, sweet. And it's so very nice to become an aunt again. I think I will probably have only one more time to do that, in November, when Little Man's probable last first cousin enters the earth. Being an aunt is one of the very best jobs in the whole world, so I am so glad little Kate is now here.

Ellie Girl

We learned some sad news about Ellie last week. She has had some difficulty seeing as of late, so we took her to see a veterinary ophthalmologist. We were hoping to find out she had cataracts or some other malady where she could regain her sight if we only knew what it was.

Instead we found out she has progressive retinal atrophy and is going blind. She is eleven years old, and her breed is genetically predisposed to this sort of illness. There is nothing that can be done to stop the degeneration. The good thing is it is not painful to her in a physical way, so if we can keep her safe in her environment, she should continue to adapt well to the continued loss of her eyesight.

But, of course, this is not news you want to hear. Ellie is our first "baby" and she is aging and it is hard to absorb. Getting old is not for sissies if you're a person or a dog - or someone who is attached to said person or dog! We will be working to make sure Ellie stays safe here at home - we'll put bells on the other animals and teach Little Man to approach her with care. We'll purchase balls that beep so she can still chase a ball the way she loves to do and whatever else it is she needs. And we'll love her through this transition. Because she's still our baby, too.

See you soon.

Six Weeks Old

In a continuation of the documentation of one Little Man, here are the details of the last three weeks. LM turned six weeks old last Friday. It seems unbelievable he is already six weeks old - that our lives have been changed for six whole weeks. And it has gone very fast, too. All at the same time.

Four weeks on Nana's quilt.

In the past three weeks, since the last progress post, our LM has grown out of the noodle-y newborn look to more of an "infant" look. He is stronger and bigger and chubbier. There are at least three chins under that little mouth, for instance. He has started getting mad when he gets tired and starts crying if you don't time it right, which I understand is normal for his age. But he is generally still a mellow fellow. In the past three weeks, he has spent some quality time with his Daddy and with his Nana. Daddy was off for two weeks (week three and four) and then Nana came back in town to spend some time with us. Both of them have helped this Mommy immeasurably. In fact, when Nana leaves at the end of this week, this Mommy isn't quite sure what she'll do. But she'll figure it out!

Really checking Nana out early in her visit...he's much chubbier now!


Tummy time.

The boy is holding his head up much more than three weeks ago. He is also smiling "for real" at times and "talking" to us a bit. It's not full throttle yet, but it's getting there. Most of his sounds are still squeals and grunts, though, which makes him sound like a little piglet! He has dropped one nighttime feeding most nights which is nice, and he is still a hearty eater during the day.

A few days later at one month on Nana's quilt.

He is still a good sleeper at night, sleeping 4 to 5 hours at a time. And, he is a good napper during the day - just not in the crib. He has not taken more than a 45 minute nap at one time during the day in the crib. Now, if he has finagled someone into holding him for his nap, he'll sleep two hours, easy. And he's pretty good at finding someone to hold him too...we are all snowed. We'll keep working on sleeping in the crib but we'll probably also have many more naps on someone's chest, and at this point in the game, I'm alright with that.

The whistly-kissy-birdy mouth.


I just like this one.

He is totally out of newborn clothes, having weighed in at 9 lbs 3 ozs at his one month appointment with the pediatrician two weeks ago. He was also over 21 inches long, as of that appointment. I figure he's pushing ten pounds at this point - he's solid, and is starting to develop some awfully cute thunder thighs.

Flaring his nose like Daddy.
Blue eyes for now - probably changing to brown!

Little Man still likes music - he likes when you sing to him - he like just about anything, thank goodness, since I'm not the world's best singer. In fact, me singing to him into his ear is sometimes the only remedy to a really hot screaming fit. He seems to like the swing on most occasions, and is mesmerized by the louvered blinds on the windows behind the chair in his room where we eat. In fact, he looked over and gave them a BIG grin this morning - not at his mama, but at those blinds, as if to say, "Oh hello, old friends!" He is also quite taken by the dark blades on the fan on the ceiling fan in the den.

Five weeks on Nana's quilt.
Mommy had the amplified lens on that day...

Baths are still an event LM isn't totally sure about. But, we have started taking them in the baby tub inside the "big" tub in the bathroom because he pushes up so strongly with his legs that we started worrying about him hitting his head in the sink. Anyhoo, when we started in the tub, we started using the shower head to rinse him off. He LOVES the shower head - he just oohs and girates when we turn it on like it's the best feeling in the whole world. So cute.

Loves the swing Kellie gave us!

As you know, we spent some time trying to photograph the boy in a "newborn" way. I put a few of those on a card to send out as a birth announcement. Now all I have to do is get them actually sent! We have also made it out of the house for a couple of meals and a couple of visits here and there. And since the weather has mercifully cooled off, we have taken some walks around the neighborhood in the Baby Bjorn. Other than that, we still stay home. We try to stay on a routine to eat and sleep well. That goes for baby and mama, of course.

Little Man loves to be sans clothes...


Here you can see the chubbing-up in full force!

We have made plans to visit Indiana in October. I just couldn't wait to take Luke to meet his Indiana relatives until December. We had to get there sooner. But October is a hard time for S to get away from work. And I wasn't so sure about flying by myself with the boy the first time. So his parents, who have from time to time mentioned they would like to take in a Midwestern autumn, are going to fly up with me. I am very glad they were willing to sign up for the trip - I feel better about doing the flying with someone by my side. While we're in Indy, I'll visit with friends and relatives and they will take in several fall festivals around the state and take in the autumnal Midwestern hospitality. Then we'll all fly back to Dallas. I can't wait. And of course, I'll write all about it here on the blog.

Six weeks old on Nana's quilt.

So there you go -a little six week update. See you soon.

"Newborn" Photos

Before the Little Man was born, S and I had several conversations, mostly by email, discussing the merits of hiring a photographer to take newborn photos. Let me boil those conversations down for ya. Basically, I wanted to hire someone to do this and S felt I should do it myself.

My argument was I have no actual skills in this area and wanted to make sure we had good memories of the boy at that stage. I researched local photographers. I got recommendations from friends. I was ready to hire someone to be at the ready. S's argument was that I had two very nice cameras and this here photography hobby and well, how hard could it be, I could take the photos.

S won. We did not hire anyone to take newborn photos. Mainly because I was pregnant and tired and never went out to hire someone myself. And, the rub - the real rub - the reason having me take the photos was not the smartest idea - is because I am sleep deprived and - certainly during the first few weeks if not still - am completely overwhelmed and engulfed in the mechanics of becoming and surviving as a parent. In the feedings, sleepings, etc of the boy. This leaves little time to think about high quality photo images.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have images - snapshots, I'd call them - of almost every day of his life. He's a well photographed boy. But, I don't have professional-ish images. And he's almost not newborn-y anymore. Not in a newborn photo way - noodle-y and sleepy and such. So I had to get serious and find a way to make this work. I bought a newborn posing guide which suggests photographing these at 10 days - by this point, he was almost four weeks. I gathered supplies. I waited for him to go into a deep sleep. Days passed. He did go into deep sleeps, you understand, but so did I.

I used Pooh there to set my light levels.

Finally - FINALLY - with my mother's help and then S's for a brief shoot a few days later - finally we got some images I would say turned out alright. First, though, you have to see the outtakes. The newborn guide said to use a beanbag as the base for the sleepy photos and various baskets, etc for other "cute" photos. It said to use rolled up towels to prop the head here and there. It gave other very useful hints and tips. So we tried it out.

Ensuring sleep - getting ready to lie him down.

Outtakes you are sure to understand - the oh my goodness they laid me down in a weird place and now I will wail photos:

Now, just so you know we were not torturing him - he was picked up and coddled at every turn:

Tough life - Nana singing to him.


Taking a model's photo shoot breather.

And here are some of the images I liked from this part of the shoot:

Funny, newborn-y face.
I got better with towel roll placement later.
Hat handed down from his cousin Rolen!


So precious.
SO looks like his daddy in this one.
Blanket by Martha Dempsey!

OK - more outtakes. These were taken while he was awake. We were trying to get some posed shots on his arms, etc. Here are the "good" shots first this time:

OK - a little funny, but we got the "pose" in this one.


And, quite possibly my very favorite one of the entire shoot.
Isn't he a beautiful boy?

Now, onto the outtakes - the before and after of those photos...

Fell off the hands...


Lots of posing...


...and gentle re-posing.


But he moved off the pose a lot.
Oh how I wish this one wasn't blurry. Funny face!


Nana was there to catch him!


Sometimes he liked to eat his arm...


...or share his opinion on the matter.


And sometimes the outtakes turned out pretty darn good too!

So you can tell we really had some fun with it once we started going. We wore the boy out taking his photo, that's for sure! Finally, here are a few other poses that turned out cute:

In a different basket. Little angel.


Also adorable in this basket.
Blanket by his Aunt Sherri!


Sweet hands and face.
Hat by his cousin Candy!


My perfect little boy.

So there you have it - that is it - those are the "newborn" photos we have of the Little Man, and that's all we will have! He is now six weeks old and really in the last week has lost all the remaining "newborn noodle" so we will still have lots of great photos of him, but none like this anymore!

I have some more things to tell you about the Little Man from the past three weeks. I will post that soon! See you then.