Snow Day, part 2

Man, I had no idea when I posted that last post about the "snow" that we had actual snow coming our way! 



Yesterday it snowed for more than 4 hours.  Real snow.  It was amazing.


Inspired by some photographer mom friends of mine, I took the kids to a nearby park for some photos.  (In case the above video won't play for you, here are some of my favorites from the day).



Can I tell you -- in case you have never done it -- that getting 3 kids under the age of 4 properly dressed and out in the blowing snow with camera in hand is not easy? 


Who knew, but snow gets everywhere!  In the stroller, in the car, in every possible opening of my camera bag and purse.  I was clueless about this.



But the kids enjoyed themselves.  Until Oliver decided he was way over it and screamed from that point until we arrived home.  But the big kids had fun.



That afternoon we played outside more, playing chase and trying to build snowmen.  Lucy begged me to make a snow angel, so we did that, too.  We made hot chocolate when we came back inside.



All in all, it was a really lovely day.  We played in the snow twice and had hot chocolate, and I read library books to the kids for about an hour. 



Over dinner, I excitedly anticipated Lucy's answer when Daniel would ask, "so, Lucy, how was your day?' 



You know her response?

It was pretty rough.



Kids!  Amiright?  She went on to describe how we wouldn't play her the music she wanted during the night before (at 2am).



Anyways, Lucy's underwhelming response notwithstanding, It was a really fun snow day--and, thanks to the fact that I never watch any form of the news anymore, the snow itself was a very pleasant surprise.  

Milestone Reflections

Can someone come tell this kiddo that he is still a baby?  He seems to think he is a toddler.




I am beginning to get it.  I've seen moms do this, and I could never really sympathize before.



How could milestones achieved ever be anything but a relief... a blessing... even a point of pride?  The milestones of the first kid are so exciting.  Each one.  I couldn't wait for the next one.  So exciting.



And the milestones of the next child I suppose I always compared to the first child -- not in a competitive way, exactly.



More just checking them off--yes, that's normal... that's what my first one did.



But with this little guy, the milestones are bittersweet.  They are coming too fast, and I think they will continue that way; he is in such a hurry to catch up with his siblings.



He makes for a delightful baby.  And the big kids are delightful big kids.  But the attitudes they develop sometime after 18 months can be trying.



And this one is still mostly grateful, cheerful, and just happy to be here.  Life is full of bittersweets.



But for now, he's still just 8 months.  He's still more a baby than a kindergartner.  And tomorrow he'll still be a baby.



I haven't missed it... this time period is not behind me yet.  And although some days I can't help looking forward to the years ahead, when babies aren't hanging on me all the time and the floor stays picked-up all afternoon... still, some days I am just so grateful to be wandering through Diaper Valley with Daniel.



It is sweet to see all these milestones Oliver is reaching, one day at a time. 

Snow Day

It has been cold the past few days. 
 

Very cold.  In fact, we got some snow ice a couple of days ago! 
 

The kids were beside themselves, wanting to go out and play in it. 
 

Unfortunately, it wasn't very playable.  Just tiny little beads of ice. 




But they enjoyed making footprints on the sidewalk and eating it. 
 

And when we came back inside, Lucy suggested we all have some hot cocoa. 



So that's what we did. 

Eight Months Old (Oliver's Monthly Photo)

Meet the screech owl.

I borrowed that term of endearment from a good friend, but it suits Oliver perfectly right now. 


Gone are the days of the easy-going, go-with-the-flow, I'm-sure-they'll-come-get-me-at-some-point attitude.



Oliver has gone from mostly quiet to SCREAMING practically overnight.  It is one of the shrillest screams I've heard from a baby.  He does it to get more food, to be gotten from nap time, or when he's discouraged about not being held from 4pm - 7pm. 


To be fair, he's still extremely good natured and (mostly) easy-going.  But his opinions have gotten much stronger in the past month.


He went on hunger strike for a couple days, and I wasn't sure if he was sick or what.  He just refused to eat.  On a whim, after two days of it, we put the food down in front of him (pureed zucchini, I think), and he went to town on it -- both hands covered in green mush, licking all of his fingers.  It seemed he had decided being fed was beneath him, and only self-feeding would do from then on.  

He shrieks a lot during meal time now, but it's not necessarily because he's unhappy.  He doesn't seem to have strong food preferences at the moment.



Oliver is pulling up on EVERYTHING.  I think he'll be walking before the end of next month.  It is crazy.  He crawls at lightening speed and is just beginning to be offended when one of the "big kids" snatches a toy he had his sights on.



We've started teaching "head down" and "lie still" and "no touch," and he's doing really well with those.  Oh, and "no bite" -- that one he learned quickly and absolutely.  It's so cute to watch him process the request (like, "head down, Oliver.") and decide whether he'll obey.  He generally does slowly lower his head back down to the bed, even if he whimpers and cries while he does it.  It's so sad and so cute at the same time.  Since he's already so mobile, we'll start working on "come here" in the next few weeks. 

He likes to pull up on the play kitchen in the kids' room.  It's amusing watching an 8-month-old reach up for the microwave, as if he's one of the little chefs in there, milling about with pretend cookies and cupcakes needing to be baked before that day's tea party. 




This child has a rash I cannot, for the life of me, get on top of.  I don't know what the deal is.  It reminds me of the rash-that-would-not-quit that Lucy had when she was 6 months.  Gah. 



Oliver is still SO ticklish and happy at night.  He loves having his tummy and neck nuzzled while his arms are held outstretched above his head.  In Lucy's words, "he finks it's huh-WARE-ee-us."



I love holding you, Oliver.  You are so sweet and fun.  You are learning so much every day.  We can't wait to know you more and more as you grow from a crawler into a full fledged toddler!  Any day now.

Happy (belated) Valentines Day!

I can't tell you how many mornings I've thought, "I need to update the blog today."  A lot of mornings. 



How is it that time goes so slowly while the kids are awake and then speeds up SO MUCH when they're asleep? 


My to-do list is ever longer, and I am in a constant state of denial about how much is reasonable for me to accomplish in a given day.  This is hard.




I intended to publish these photos on Valentines Day!  And I did get them on Facebook that day.  But anyways, here they are.  I hosted two mom-tographer Valentine play-dates just before we went to Beaumont. 



The moms got to photograph their kids in 2 of my studio set-ups.  It was fun. 


Sort of stressful, since some of the kids were really rambunctious.  But fun. 


I hope you had a nice Valentines Day.  We did.  We had a nice, quiet Saturday.  We did little gifts at lunch time and talked about what it means to love others; we read 1 Cor. 13:4 and talked about it.  Then we had a "fancy" candle-lit dinner of salmon and green beans, followed by my favorite strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce.  The kids really enjoyed it.  Daniel and I bought each other a Nespresso machine for Valentines day, and it is AMAZING.  I will have to post about that some time. 

Happy Valentines day, belated :).