Watching the little moments of Archer’s childhood unfold has really solidified my dreams of moving into lifestyle family photography. They are such meaningful, natural moments of learning and exploration, and unlike a traditional portrait, they tell a story of that moment, and of this season of our life. Although my mom took most of the images of us in the hospital, I love Fresh 48 Lifestyle sessions and I am so happy that we have those first few hours with Gryffin captured. So if you’re looking for some candid lifestyle family or Fresh 48 photography in Chatham-Kent, please let me know! I am so excited to move in this direction with my business.

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Our last evening of a family of 3 was spent out in the sunshine. Eric and Archer went looking for turkeys and assembled our new patio furniture. It was very relaxed and laid back, unlike the evening that would follow…

(Looks like I need to clean my lens!)

My water broke around 1pm on April 21, and because Archer’s birth was fairly quick, we were prepared to head to the hospital as soon as things started progressing. Eric was home from work and the car was packed within an hour, but nothing was happening. Of course, being as prepared as we were, it took 12 hours for my contractions to kick in, but when they did they did not hold back. After a looooong evening of waiting, walking, Mexican food and pumping, we finally decided to turn in and get some sleep while we could. Our midwife came out for a visit and said things were progressing even though I wasn’t feeling much, so when my contractions did pick up it likely wouldn’t take long.

My first contraction woke me up around 12:45 am on April 22, and Gryffin Thomas arrived at 1:49am – a mere 15 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. My mom didn’t even make it in time! He was 7lbs, 11oz and 19 inches long (a shorty!), and 100% perfection. Like I said, things with Archer we quite fast, but I was not expecting him to come as quickly as he did. It is amazing how your body responds the second time around and just knows what to do and how to do it.

Coincidentally, I had ordered a new camera the week before and it was delivered that afternoon while we were home waiting for my labour to start. I had a few hours to play with it, and then handed it over to my mom following Gryffin’s birth to snap some shots of us. We took a lot of pictures when Archer was born but only on cell phones, so these are really special for me.

A huge, HUGE, thank you to this amazing woman! We were so lucky to have Simone deliver both of the boys. She has been nothing but supportive throughout both pregnancies, and of course the births. The whole team at the Midwifes of Chatham-Kent is beyond amazing – I cannot recommend them enough.

After a few hours of sleep, Eric came back to the hospital with Archer and we were able to have the room to ourselves for our first moments as a family of four. Archer was so excited to meet Gryffin, although a bit more excited to receive his big brother gift (which he found in my closet two weeks before): some new trains, crafts, stickers and candy, of course. He did great meeting Gryffin, and although we are working on being gentle, he is adjusting really well.

One of the perks of having a midwife is being able to go home 4 hours after your birth, so we were home  just after lunch that day, eager to settle into our new normal.

And of course, the following days included a lot of this: 3 sleepy boys.

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and the congratulations. We are so blessed, and I already can’t imagine life without Gryffin.

xo, B.

Week 15 ended up being our last week as a family of 3. Archer and I had a great week together at home. The weather was beautiful and he helped me finish up all of the work we had to do before his baby brother arrived. Although this was a mere two weeks ago, it seems like a lifetime. Everyone says once your second is born, it doesn’t take long for you to feel like they have been here forever, and they are so right.

Even though I can’t imagine life without the new little man, I am so glad I documented this week with Archer. He really is an awesome kid, and he is already shaping up to be a great big brother. I hope you all enjoy this last week of pure Archer spam, because week 16 has a fresh face for you.

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I took Archer with me for our last big shop at the grocery store to make sure we had all the essentials stocked for a while, and he was a perfect little helper and stayed in the cart the whole time (unheard of), but as we were checking out I let him down to walk out with me and he fell and got a bloody nose. The poor guy was behaving so well and then that happened! The clerk was so nice to help us out and give him some stickers (and paper towel), and all was well once we got a sprinkle donut.

Archer doesn’t feel the need to nap anymore, so he has started passing out everywhere and I freaking love it! It is so funny to see him sleeping in the most awkward places. I left the room to grab my water and came back to this scene…

The rest of our week was filled with:

Making salt dough dinosaurs…

Playing hockey (what else is new?)…

Playing outside with Wilfrid

Getting dirty (and pooping his pants) at the park… The one time I don’t bring his bag, of course. A few trips down the slide and a few swings before I realized made for a niiiiiiice mess to clean up.

Again, passing out anywhere.

Some park time and ice cream with friends

Checking out all the signs of Spring in the yard

Busting out the “ear muffins”

And of course, playing at Grandma and Papa’s on Sunday afternoon.

In other news, my niece is the most gorgeous little girl I have ever encountered, and this floppy hat + sunglasses + sundress ensemble made me sort of hope the baby came out a girl. I mean, look at this girl! Thankfully my brother and sister-in-law are happy to be overloaded with pictures of her. As for the other boys… Who? What?

Maybe #3 will be a girl? Kidding, I think.

Happy Monday!

B

Our first week of my parental leave was both amazing and eye-opening. Being home with a busy toddler who is out of his routine is hard, especially at 36 weeks pregnant. We had so much fun for the week, just the two of us, but we had our fair share of melt downs too (both of us). I had a few panicked moments of “how am I going to do this with a newborn baby?”, and a few sappy moments of “am I going to be able to spend this quality time with him with a newborn?”. I know we will adjust and adapt, I’m sure with a few more meltdowns (from both of us), but I am trying my best to practice grace, and not worry so much about perfection.

We hit up the Children’s Museum in London, spent a few days at home in our jim-jams, did some crafts and baking, played with friends at the park, educated ourselves on dinosaurs at the library, and Archer had his very first dentist appointment. Archer was also beyond excited when Daddy came home with his new truck, and he has been telling everyone – “My daddy got a new truck. It’s white. It’s a diesel”. So, if you’re looking for specs, he’s your guy.

London Children’s Museum – highly recommend it!

Jim-jam day.

Archer’s first dentist appointment – he did great!

These trouble makers. Archer and Zach have their own file of images on my computer, with which I am planning a few things for when they are teenagers.

Another jim-jam day at home.

We hope you’re having a great week! And I hope by the time this goes live, I have another little boy in my arms.

B

Week 13 marked my last day of work and my first day of parental leave. It was a busy one, and I apparently took a bit of a camera break. Because I already shared my maternity self portraits, there are very few to share for this week, but these muddy puddles are too good not to share. The Easter Bunny brought the perfect gear for jumping in muddy puddles (a gift that may have been just as much for me as it was for Archer? Thanks EB!). I was working at my computer one evening and glanced out the window at these two playing outside, and couldn’t help myself. I mean, how am I supposed to be productive with these BFFs just hanging out without me?

Slow Sundays at home just to mix things up.

Thanks for stopping by!

B

With the birth of our child impending (any minute now would be nice), I have decided to do a few weeks worth of posts with little explanation, which I am sure you are all so upset about. Hopefully this way I can stay on top of posting and not get too far behind once he does decide to arrive!

Week 12 was overloaded with Easter activities (read: SO. MUCH. CHOCOLATE.) and family fun. Check it out below!

Laundry helper.

Big brother helper.

Dinner helper.

Breakfast helper.

Easter fun.

Egg decorators.

Expert egg hunter.

Sunday funday.

Send all the baby dust my way, please.

B

That boy has rocked my world in the best way possible. My goodness he is difficult at times, but he is mine and I love him something fierce. As I sit here and type this he is currently jumping in his bed singing “hello out there, we’re on the air! It’s hockey night tonight!” in an effort to avoid sleep for as long as possible (it is 10pm), and all I can do is laugh at the hilarity of life with a toddler. In true Mommy fashion, I can only think of how perfect he is. I cannot wait to see him as a big brother to baby “Boulder” (his name of choice, likely not going on the birth certificate).

Last Friday was my first official day of Maternity Leave, so Archer and I celebrated with a jammie day and some pictures. I thought I would do so much more documenting of this pregnancy, but as it turns out pregnancy with a toddler is no joke. So in a last ditch effort to have some pictures of Archer and the boulder bump, I set up my tripod and we had a mini maternity-self portrait-lifestyle session.

And in the spirit of keeping it real, he peed on my bed in the middle of it (hence the 2 different pairs of undies).

Archer plays with Play Doh at daycare all the time but I have been hesitant to bring it out at home. I have issues with messes sometimes, and when colours get combined and squished together a little piece of me dies inside. But, gotta live life on the edge sometimes. It has become an afternoon favourite while I prep dinner, sometimes I participate. As you can see, my snake-making skills are still intact.

See ya Play Doh, Dad’s home.

Just before Easter we had a little rain and all Archer wanted to do was jump in muddy puddles. Of course we did not have proper muddy puddle attire ready, so we put in a request to the Easter Bunny for some rain gear. With or without proper waterproof footwear, Archer was jumping in those muddy puddles, and even though there was only one jumpable muddy puddle in the drive way, he jumped it dry.

Truck shopping with Dad, of course Archer had to test drive each car in the show room. Multiple times. Although in his defence, this truck shopping thing was quite the process and he was probably bored of talking about it (oh, maybe that was me…)

Archer is quickly growing out of his naps… He has gone from needing a 2 hour afternoon nap or he might kill somebody, to not going to bed until 10pm if he sleeps a blink. Great timing, right? Don’t worry pal, we aren’t about to have another baby or anything…. When I do have to wake him up from a nap he usually goes from happy to grumpy in about 30 seconds and then tries to avoid all contact. These will likely be our last set of nap time pictures, aside from the couch cat-naps. Stop growing up please.

and this is where things take a turn…

And FINALLY, after years of living on both ends of the country, my big brother and his beautiful family made their way home. Our first Sunday dinner with all 4 of us siblings and our kids was perfect. And since I am about to add another boy to this growing family, be prepared to see lots of pictures of Neely, because little girls are awesome, especially this one. See ya around, boys.

Hope you’re having a great week!

B