Just a Pile of Pictures

It's been far too long since I updated my blog...I think of it often, but that's just as far as it gets. So here's a whole ton of pictures, and the readers digest version of what you've missed since my last post.

Jeremy bought a disel work van, which has been a huge blessing. We found an advertising set that that seems to be working for us (finally!) and are finally seeing some headway to getting caught up and then even getting ahead with this business of ours. Jeremy's brother Stephen is about to come on full time with us so we'll be able to really kick our productivity into high gear. :)

Laura is now 8 months old. She's eating baby food, self feeding, crawling, pulling up, and generally just about the sweetest, happiest baby ever. As long as she isn't ignored she's good with life.

Anna celebrated her 2nd birthday, and shortly thereafter experienced a regular "language explosion." She can now say several hundred words, but she's just now getting into sentances, descriptive sentences especially. She had her first trip to the ER last month when Reuben
pulled her radius out of socket at the elbow joint (known as "nursemaid's elbow").

Reuben decided this week that he is too big to wear diapers, and it's now a fight just to get him to wear a diaper to bed at night. He on day seven in the diaper free zone, and while he does have accidents he's really doing a fabulous job. His communication skills continue to grow everyday. It's so fascinating to hear what's going on in his little head. He loves dinosaurs right now. A lot.

My last post made it sound like I was super woman - potty training three kids, managing the office for Jeremy, etc. Sadly I can't keep up that pace for more than about a week at a time. My overwhelming weakness has been the theme of my year thus far, but the older Laura gets and the more recovered I am from the last pregnancy, the better I'm able to manage life in general. The Lord opened up an opportunity to do an apprenticship with a wedding photographer out of New Haven, and several various photography opportunities have come up since then.
I don't have the time or the resources to pursue a business like I want to right now, but I'm grateful for the chance to keep learning and growing as a photographer in the meantime.

My family treated us to a visit with them at a lovely log cabin in Tennessee in August. No pictures in this post, but it was a noteworthy event that we VERY much enjoyed, so it should be mentioned at least. ;)

Laura's 3-month baby pictures

Reuben's first Daddy style hair cut...it made Reuben's Mama cry too.

Anna loves taking care of her baby sister.

Much to my delight, my kids finally decided they like books afterall.

Reuben practiced singing the Happy Birthday song all day July 14th, and Anna very happily blew out her candles all by herself.

Laura Leigh absolutely loves her daddy!

Pouring practice - intensely cool stuff if your three years old!

Playing the drums.

Believe it or not, pouring practice really pays off. I've noticed a distinct skill set improvement when we bake cookies together.

After bath time we let Reuben & Anna run around with nothing but their hoodie towels on, flapping in the wind behind them, squealing and laughing the whole blessed time.

Laura really enjoys her "Johnny-Jump-Up". Unfortunately this picture features her laughing at our horrified expressions on discovering she'd had a blow out diaper during her little jump fest.

Every now and then we take the kids down to the Marina to feed the ducks stale bread that I save in the freezer. They get quite a kick out of it, and running around on the dock like little crazy children is pretty fun too.

Yes, he did have help getting up there.

Laura and her older cousin Cole at a little fishing trip we did with Jeremy's older sister and her family.

Reuben was so thrilled to see the fish his cousin Joanna caught, right up to the point that a knife came out to cut it up for more bait. Reuben came unglued, yelling "NO! DON'T CUT THE FISH! DON'T CUT THE FISH!!" "What do you want me to do with the fish Reuben?" "Splash him in the water Daddy! Fish swim away!" (repeated over and over again until Daddy finally gave in and threw it back)

One of several visits to the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island - enjoying as much as we can manage out of our year membership we were given for Christmas.

The Harbor Seals are Anna's favorite.

Reuben is especially fond of the elephants

There was a new baby giraffe this trip.

I think she was pointing at a turtle

Laura, after feeding herself quite a lot of Cherrios

Reuben & Anna's two favorite books are read multiple times every day, one is about snakes, the other about reptiles. If you let them, they will make you read them both over, and over, and over again - without break.

Making hot dogs for dinner at our local park

Reuben has been playing on this slide since he was a year old

Jeremy planning out his day in the office (aka: the kitchen table)

This was the morning Reuben woke up having soaked through his diaper. So he stripped his PJ's and soggy diaper and dressed himself, emerging from his bedroom quite pleased with his accomplishment. That was the day he decided that diapers are for babies, and he won't be wearing them anymore, thank you.

When Laura gets to smile, her face just isn't big enough for it all, so her whole body has to wiggle and squirm to get it all out.

These three kids are really best buds. They love to play together and take care of each other.

This is clean up time after making chocolate zucchini bread to take to Daddy at work.

And you wonder why Reuben and Anna are always causing trouble...Daddy really isn't any help at all sometimes. That's Anna's doll stroller, just in case you were wondering - not even remotely made for 8-month-old little sisters.

A maternity photography job I got to do in August

The engagement photo shoot I got to do just last night. ;)