Growing Boy. Take 57.

Every month, I sit Fletcher down on the couch and take a few (more like 100) photos to chart his growth.  His latest monthly shoot was this morning... he was feeling a little rowdy!  The boy will not stay still - and although he's not officially crawling yet, he gets where he wants to go and doesn't like to just sit around anymore.


A sampling - of the ones fairly focused - when I wasn't trying to stop him from nose diving off the couch.


Oh, look, a bear.  Easily distracted.

 I can keep this up all day - can you?

 Oh, you want me to stay still?  How about this?

 Yeah, I thought that was funny too!

 Oh, this is just way too much fun!

Under Construction

Please excuse the format of the blog for a while.  I'm playing around with different settings and trying to manipulate colors and margins and such when I really have NO IDEA what I'm doing.  Could be problematic.


My main goal is to better highlight photos that I post.  I mean, come on... that's really the reason we all read and look at blogs.  And photography has been an interest of mine for many years.  It's only more recently that I've really begun to actually do something about it.


Last fall after Fletcher was born, we bought a nice digital SLR camera.  The Nikon D90.  I love it.  Even in fully automatic mode it can make you feel like pro.  The images are so sharp and beautiful!  But I like to play and have spent a lot of time messing around with Shutter Speed, ISO, White Balance and my favorite - Aperture.  Sometimes I have great luck.  Other times not so much.  Mostly I'm just trying to capture special moments with the kids - and that's challenging enough!  Especially now that Sydney has an aversion to the camera.  She really has to be focused on whatever she's doing or else she will turn away the moment she senses a camera near.


I took a photography workshop earlier in the summer.  For the most part it was terrible and I didn't learn a thing from the "class" but it did force me to spend quality time with the camera.  I had plenty of time to adjust settings and try various settings on the same subject.  I still have a lot to learn and hopefully will find a better class to take later this year.


Often times this new hobby is an exercise in frustration but once in a while magic happens.  Last weekend was one of those moments.  I dressed Fletcher back up in his baptism outfit to take some pictures since we were a little rushed on the actual day of.  I took over 300 photos in hopes of getting one or two keepers.  Thank God for digital.  Here is a small sampling of what I captured.


Ideally, I wanted him standing to get a few full shots of his outfit.  Tough to do with a baby that cannot walk or stand yet.  I have high expectations of my kids.  

My set crew kept getting in the way.  It's hard to get good help these days. (BTW - if I could have figured out how to get two photos side by side I would have done that rather than having to photoshop them together - argh - blogging frustration).

Dang.  Lost my natural light at this angle.  I refuse to use the flash.  It's my mission in life to never use the flash.

Oh dear.  Wardrobe please!

What the heck is he looking at?  Over here Fletcher!!!  And where is wardrobe???

Then finally, it all came together.  My favorites...

And my personal favorite.

From time to time I'll share projects and frustrations I'm working on.  I welcome your comments, critiques, suggestions, ideas or personal favorites.  I need all the help and encouragement I can get!

Family Fun

Aside from the puking, we had a really great visit with our family - Aunt Tracy, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Erik and cousins Torr and Finn!


We wrestled.

And slept.  Yep, all the kiddos (except Fletcher) shared a room.  So sweet.

We ate popsicles.

Climbed and played.

And generally had fun with each other.

Torr was great with the little ones.  Even carrying Miss Priss across the playground mulch so she wouldn't hurt her delicate feet.

We braved the zoo in the blistering heat.

Yeah, yeah, the monkey's are great.  Who turned off the A/C?

Syd insisted on pulling the wagon most of the way.  Cute but so slooowwww!

The carousel is always a favorite.  This was Fletcher's first time... I think he was still looking for the A/C.

Even after the sickness set in, we enjoyed some cuddle time.

And some clean-up too!

All in all it was a great visit and we can't wait for everyone to come back!

Fletcher's Baptism

The Most Memorable Baptism Fiercest Stomach Bug Ever

So it all began with a text from the babysitter last Saturday night...

Wait.  No, I must go back further.

For months now we’ve been trying to coordinate Fletcher’s baptism.  We asked my sister, Ashley, and her husband, Erik, to be his Godparents.  We just needed to coordinate the logistics of their travel (with two kids), the Catholic church schedule and my sister-in-law, representing the Catholic part of the family.  Sounds easy enough, right?  Not so much.  The Catholic church aspect of it alone could have been a whole blog post but I won’t go there.  At times, I was afraid the ceremony might consist of just us, our backyard and the wading pool.  After a lot of patience, coaxing, strategics and bribery it finally all came together.  Even Fletcher’s outfit (a gorgeous, handmade white linen shirt and pants from Etsy) was a mission.

We were so excited to have everyone visit.  Nine wonderful family members all together!  The kids were having a great time and we had all sorts of fun things planned.  

And then came the text.  


All the adults were at dinner (I may not be able to eat Mexican again for a while) celebrating Ashley’s birthday when I got the text from the babysitter - “Sydney threw up.”  As parents know, kids throw up all the time for all sorts of reasons.  Not that this is normal for Syd, but I honestly didn’t give it much thought other than feeling bad that the sitter had to deal with the mess (and being oh so thankful for a capable and compassionate sitter).  But less than 5 minutes into our drive home, I started feeling icky and knew it was more than the margaritas!  Hmmm, I wonder if maybe Syd wasn’t just a random incident.

Sure enough, moments after getting home, I was sick.  I then went upstairs to check on Sydney who woke up and greeted me with more yakking.  Grreeeaaaatttt.  I carried her downstairs and put her in bed with me.  Figured we could at least quarantine the sickos to one room.  

Too late.  In the wee hours of the morning, two more members of our team fell ill.  We woke Sunday morning just hoping and praying we could all make it through the afternoon baptism.  Because let me tell you, after all it had taken to get this crew together and the church booked, there was no way we were canceling!  

I think everyone felt the subtle pressure I was conveying because they rallied and we headed to the church.

Now, for the past few days, Fletcher had been one blow-out diaper after another due to meds for his ear infection (and apparently also related to this most fierce stomach bug known to man).  The unending clean-up efforts around him were so extreme, he was required to sit with a towel underneath him at all times.  

I was so convinced there would be a massive explosion during the ceremony in his white linen outfit that we took some special precautions.  We put his slightly larger, more absorbent, overnight diaper on him.  Covered that with white plastic pants.  Then a white onesie (believe it or not, they do actually make them in size 2T and up to 4T).  I was also prepared with first aide gauze in case I needed to secure the seals around the legs of his plastic pants.  

We didn’t even bother to dress him until we got to the church.  Fortunately, he made it all the way through the trip and ceremony without incident.

I can’t say the same for the rest of the crew.  

God granted us a 30 minute reprieve from sickness.  No more.  No less.  


As we literally were walking across the threshold into the church, poor little Torr got sick again.  Ashley and Erik stayed outside to help him while the rest of us went in to get Fletcher dressed and get the ceremony started.  I was anxious to get things going - time was not on our side and I was afraid more of us would begin dropping.

The ceremony itself was beautiful.  The priest was gracious and kind.  Gentle and understanding with all the children.  Fletcher was baptized and I think we all let out a collective sigh of relief.

We gathered outside, took a few very quick and beautiful pictures and then loaded up to head home.  Almost out of the parking lot, Pat slammed on his brakes and yet another member of our team went down.  In the bushes, right outside of the church.  

Call me rude.  Call me insensitive.  But I had to laugh.  I mean, come on - the events of the day were truly hysterical and absurd.  We had become the basis for a really hilarious sitcom script.  


To further illustrate the absurdity we were living, later that evening I had just finished giving Fletcher some baby food... I turned away for a second to grab a paper towel and when I turned back I noticed a pool of liquid on his tray.  Hmmm.  What on earth did I leave within his grasp that he spilled.... oh wait, no!  No way.  Not happening.  Yep, he threw up - right onto his high chair tray.  And then proceeded to slap his hands down, laughing and splashing it ALL over.  All I could do was look on and laugh.  Hysterically.  Pee-in-your-pants.  Laugh.  Seriously, what else is there to do at that point?  

Eventually EVERYONE (even the babysitter - and perhaps the priest, I’m afraid to ask) got sick.  Oh yeah, the Fraher’s know how to show everyone a good time!  It was probably the most highly contagious, fast moving stomach bug I have ever witnessed nor care to ever again.  It certainly made for a memorable trip.  And a lot of laundry.  And Fletcher’s baptism won’t soon be forgotten!


But hey, we all looked good!