Weeks 43 and 44 were all about Halloween and Archer’s 3rd birthday. We were a little behind schedule and finally ran out to find some last minute pumpkins a few days before Halloween to carve. Archer had already carved one at daycare, which he told everyone was for his little baby sister. No announcements over here, just a toddler who is putting some pressure on Dad for #3. Anyway, we found a little stand close to home with a few remaining pumpkins for Archer to pick out. He was as you can see, quite ecstatic when I told him he could jump off the hay bails.

Our local library runs some amazing activities for the little kids, one of which was pumpkin decorating after some Halloween stories. I have no idea who he was making that face to, but I sincerely hope it wasn’t another child.

Archer’s 3rd birthday Eric took the day off work and we went to the Superstore in the morning so Archer and I could do a little kids cooking class. It was really fun to do with him, and I highly recommend them to any locals with kids! They usually run on P.D days and for each holiday. After that we got a few donuts and headed home for a relaxing afternoon. That evening we had a little get-together for him with some friends and family. It ended up being a bit more than we had planned, but I think overall he had a great day.

Now, when it came time to actually carve the pumpkins we got, I thought I would give Archer his little toddler knife and I could show him how to do it properly without having to worry about him hurting himself. Turns out he has some serious knife skills and he just went to town on that pumpkin. It was a little unnerving, so when it came time to do any actual cutting I took over so no innocent bystanders would be hurt.And in keeping with our Halloween tradition, we hit up Nanny’s house first and took a front step picture for the books. Check out these two hams…
My game of catch-up is almost complete with only 8 weeks left in 2016! I am planning some fun stuff for 2017 too, but stay tuned for November and December shenanigans.

xo, B.

Time is flying so fast with Gryffin, I can’t even believe he is already crawling, eating solids, and the other day Eric says he pulled himself up. But I don’t believe that, not until he does it in front of me. He doesn’t do new things unless I’m around, right?

When Archer was nearing 6 months, I was so exhausted and desperate for him to sleep through the night that as soon as someone told me feeding him solids might get him to sleep better I ran out to the store and we were home trying baby cereal within a few hours. Now, in my desperation it didn’t even cross my mind that Eric might want to be present for the event, and I think he was a little disappointed that I did it without him. So this time I knew I would wait until all four of us were home to watch the funny faces Gryff made as he tried his first taste of food. It was fun to do it together, and we even let Archer get involved and try to feed him a little spoonful.

Gryffin has since decided he does not like pureed food at all, and just wants to feed himself chunks of chicken. Needless to say, this little phase was short-lived, but well documented. And now that I’m looking at it, in a short months time he has outgrown those clothes and is no longer allowed to sit in that seat because he can get out of it. Time is a real bitch sometimes.

A little Halloween-themed birthday party for our friend Nolan brought a bunch of these cuties together – a great excuse to wear their Halloween costumes to do some Fall activities.

Those cheeks, Nolan. Oh my gaaaaaaad.

On Sundays we usually go watch Eric play hockey, and on a good day I am a disaster carrying a carseat, blankets, Timbits, coffee and a diaper bag through the arena while chasing a 3 year old. Buuuut on this particular day, I may have been seen dragging a certain someone who was throwing a little bitty tantrum from the arena to the car. Good times. I was able to get one buckle on his carseat done up through his thrashing to restrain him while he finished his yelling enough for us to talk. Once he calmed down we had a little chat as these pretty little lights danced on his face and I couldn’t help myself.

Of course, getting so frustrated is exhausting.

And rounding up Week 42 was a little combined birthday party for Archer and Lachlann at Grandma and Papa’s house. Dollar store grab bags for the win!

Can you believe we only have 10 more weeks to go before the end of the year?!

Phew. What a whirlwind few weeks it has been. I have finally found a few minutes to sit down and blog while a little someone crawls around my feet. Yes, he is crawling. Before 7 months. I’m in trouble.

Here is a round up of Weeks 39 + 40. Because at this time I was focusing on making our October family film, I don’t have too many actual images from the month, so I think the next few posts will be combined weeks. And then I will catch up faster! Bonus! I am hoping to not drag this project too far into the New Year, so I need to get cracking!

First up, when you drive by a sunflower field and the owner happens to be walking her dog along side it, you jump out of your car and ask if you can check it out! Let’s just hope that next time it’s not in full sun at noon.

This was on our way to the orchard to go apple picking. One of the local orchards had been kind enough to let me bring some clients there this fall, so I took the boys to get some apples of our own and support the local business. Archer loved the apple picking, and he only ate about 3 apples in the 3o minutes we were there.

A little selfie action with my little Mr.

And the morning we bought Archer’s Halloween costume was the first of many spent playing Firehall. It is now nearing the end of November and the costume has yet to be put away in the costume bin.

Thanks for stopping by!

B

Family films have become so special to me in a such a short amount of time. I love being able to see facial expressions and hear little voices, things that a photograph just can’t grasp. I am so happy I have found this craft and I know it will bring me so much joy in years to come.

Here is my second family film from the month of October. My original intent was to do “Our Month in a Minute”, but cutting down to only 30 2 second clips was way too hard!! There was just too much goodness in there (including Archer’s 3rd birthday – how do I have a THREE YEAR OLD?!). And Gryffin is growing so fast, learning new skills every day that some of these clips already seem ancient. Slow down, life!

Without any further ado, here it is. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Cheers,

B.

When Emily’s friends approached me about gifting her a maternity session just a week before her due date, I was so happy for her. To have such amazing friends understand how special pregnancy is, and to see how beautiful you are as you are creating a new life is not something to take for granted. These girls came together to support their friend and provided her with such a special gift.

The sun played tricks on us for most of the session, but came out from behind the clouds at just the right time. Emily and Dillon, congratulations on the birth of sweet Landon. I hope you cherish these photographs as your family grows, and I am looking forward to seeing you all again in December.

If you are looking for a Chatham-Kent Maternity Photographer, please fill out the contact form below!

The way Gryffin watches his big brother so intently is amazing to me. Already he is learning so much from Archer, and the times that Archer plays intentionally with him fills me up. He is so good to his little brother. When he cries, he says “It’s ok Bubby, I know, I know”. I realize this will not always be the case. Archer told Eric yesterday that he couldn’t wait for Gryffin to get “big big tall like me” so they could fight (what?). When Eric asked him why he wanted to fight with Gryffin, he replied “Because we will be big and strong brothers”. Greeeaaaaaaaaat.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the nice stacking of cups and looks of awe. And someone please remind me that I will miss the mess. I repeat, I will miss this mess one day.

In other news, Archer started skating lessons this year, sans parental involvement. He is doing great. On his first night he took a few small steps on his own, but mostly just stood amidst the chaos yelling that he had to pee, while no one could hear him. Or maybe the adolescent volunteers just weren’t sure what to do with that information…

He has designated this young lady as his favourite, and now follows her around the ice until she is able to give him one-on-one attention.

Maybe I should start doing blog posts of hilarious things Archer says. Cheers to toddler hilarity.

B

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m not always 100% engaged with Archer while we play (#momguilt). I mean, I know I can’t give him all of my attention all of the time, but there are times when I catch myself drifting. Spending too much time on my phone, thinking about work, chores, my endless to do list, instead of soaking up the moments that matter. I have a hard time letting go of those things. But on this gorgeous Monday morning, I made a point to leave my list and my phone inside as we walked out, and we just played. Talking trucks, learning to hang from the bars, getting wet bums from the dewy slide, and exchanging silly faces.

All of those things that make up my reality were still waiting for me when we came back inside, but miraculously it didn’t matter that I hadn’t done them yet.

And just so you think we forgot about Gryffin…