Holden at One Week

Tired and short on words but thought I would post a couple of pictures before I'm off to bed...

Grateful for this Village

I've heard it said time and time again...

It takes a village to raise a child.

And I also believe it takes a village to help a mother find her bearings after having a child.

Blame it on hormones or whatever but today I'm feeling excessively weepy/emotional/grateful for all the people creating my village--this growing group that has supported and continues to support me over the years.

Thank you for being part of this village for me. I appreciate all of the love you have given me here. It makes me happy. So thank you--so much.

I look forward to the time when i can be a giver instead of a receiver. Hopefully soon.

And with that...finally...baby photos which are sure to be plentiful in the days ahead. Can't help it!

Here's the little man's first birthday as documented by Aunt Nikki.

Thanks Nik...these are exactly what I was hoping for.

Belly Shots

Rarely do I pull out the camera for a self-portrait. probably because I can't figure out how to smile normally when i'm the one in the picture! I usually end up looking extremely awkward, but I decided I needed to do this basically for 3 people. If you'd like to hear why, by all means go ahead and read on.

1) Baby Boy these belly shots are for you. because I am horribly lame at taking pictures of myself while pregnant, these may be your only ones on record. Sadly, I only have one picture with Addisyn in my belly and it was taken right before we walked out the door on the way to the hospital. So little buddy, know that I do love you. and don't hate me because I will probably tuck away pregnancy memories back in the far corner of my mind.

2) Mom, this is for you. because I love you but more importantly I want you to stop asking if I've taken any pictures of my belly yet. I do appreciate your gentle reminders though. You are right, as usual, I would have regretted not capturing this huge belly!

3) And lastly to myself, girl, this one is for you. to remember how great being pregnant really was and to remind you (after some time has passed obviously) that the last few weeks of this pregnancy really weren't that bad. Somehow on this day, you managed to smile and even put your own socks on!

Thanks for spending the morning with me Rachel and for taking my belly shots. I obviously couldn't have done this without you!

And with that, i'll wrap this post up. because it pretty much is, in the words of simon cowell, indulgent nonsense.

Nest Fest - Addisyn's Room

These have been a work in progress for a couple of months and I would say will probably be a work in progress until I'm off maternity leave, but I wanted to share all the hard work that Steve's been up too. He's been so patient with me!

I forgot to take before pictures of Addisyn's room, but it used to be a yellow spare room with a queen bed. And now...

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year even though Holden refused to make his appearance. Here's some pics from our festive holiday.

Our pumpkins...

Our treats...

Our costumes...

And of course, Addie's loot...

The Month of September...

…just flew right by. Wow, really? I can't believe that September 7th was my last blog post! So I’m now almost two months behind, but I’m going to plead that I’ve been a little busy multiplying. I’m finally starting to get caught up. Here’s our (long) month in review.

Addisyn Started School
She started Junior Kindergarten at the beginning of September and is loving it. She really likes her teacher and has made some good friends that she really enjoys playing Kitty with. (Oh to be 4 again!) Here are some pictures of her first day of school.

And what first day would be complete without a trip to Dairy Queen afterwards…maybe this was more for me than for her…I’m not telling.

Dance, Dance, Dance
Addisyn also started dance class. She’s taking Ballet and Tap. She really likes it. It’s so cute to see how hard she works at getting the moves exactly right. My little perfectionist.

Family Time
Oh how I miss the warm weather already! Looking back at these pictures makes me wonder how I could wish it away so easily. We had such a fun time with my family. What’s not to love, family, barbeque, crocket, slip and slide, campfire, s’mores…

Do the Puyallup
Of course we had to do the Puyallup! Addisyn went for the rides! She was way braver than we thought she was going to be this year. She loved the roller coasters and even made Steve take her through the haunted house. Although for the record, I’m not sure she really enjoyed that one.

Steve went for the games...

and I went solely for the Elephant Ear (and assorted other goodies)! .

Peloli Family

Two weeks ago I had the priveledge of meeting the Peloli family. They actually won a session with me at an auction for my neice's school. They were such a fun family and the lighting was more than ideal to shoot in. We met up at the beach at Pt Defiance Park and played for a couple of hours!

Allison,

Thank you so much for introducing me to your family and for allowing me to spend a couple of hours with you all. You'll have to let me know who wins the ice cream!

Below are a couple of my favorites from the day. You can view the rest of your images at blissfulphotography.