My Life Through My Lens

Baby Yoga

2012-01-26T17:21:00.001-05:00

I know that all babies can do this,

but you have to admit

… it is still amazing!

Hooray for sleep!

2012-01-25T17:04:00.001-05:00

I love this image for a number of reasons….

because I think he is SO cute.

Mostly I love this image because he is back to normal in the sleep department. He is back to going to bed at 10 PM and waking up around 6AM. We are relieved. Thanks for all of the advice. We think his messed up sleep was a combination of vacation, and the introduction of solid foods. There were a few nights that he didn’t want to eat, but it was obvious that his belly was hurting him. On other nights he just woke up, and thought “hey, I’m bored. I wonder what mom and dad are doing. Food? Yes, please!” Dylan laid on the floor by his crib a few nights and gave him the pacifier when he woke up, and it was obvious that he was not in pain. After 30 minutes, he was back asleep for the night, and Dylan was back in bed. This only lasted two nights. Thanks for all of the comment advice here and on facebook. We are much happier people to be around now that awe are back to getting our sleep.

Kyton sleeps from 10 pm to 6 am. In addition to his nightly sleep he usually take a 1 hour morning nap, and a 1 to 1.5 hour afternoon nap. About half of the time I can get him to take a 30 minute evening nap. That is a total of 11 hours of sleep a day. He is a fairly happy guy, and it just seems that he does not need a whole lot of sleep. I read a journal article saying that one characteristic of gifted children is that as infants they need little sleep. Pretty much every gifted teacher thinks that their kid is gifted since there are so many characteristics. I am not about to label my 7 month old child gifted, but it is nice to think of that on the days that we wish he’d take a longer nap.
By the way, I was able to work out the feeding and pumping for Kyton to take my gifted class. I made a few phone calls until I got the answer I wanted to hear. The support on both the sleep and feeding issues were such an encouragement. Thank you!

Linking with Shell

Playing with grandma

2012-01-24T16:34:00.001-05:00

I’ll admit, I have a problem. I take a ton of pictures, and I love them all. I am always a little relieved that my clients are the ones that ultimately have to decide what to order, because it’s so hard to choose. Yesterday I posted one image from my mom reading to Kyton, but only because that was the rules. Here are the rest of the images. I especially love the light, and how the book acts as a reflector illuminating Kyton’s face.

I Heart Faces: By the Book

2012-01-23T22:48:00.001-05:00

The minute my mom opened the book Kyton squealed with delight. We’ve been reading to him from day one, but now that he can see the pictures it is so much more fun. On this particular occasion he LOVED the book. He was giggling, smiling, and kicking with glee as my mom turned each page. The teacher in me hopes that m boy always enjoys reading this much!

I had such a hard time picking, there were so many pictures I loved!

Kyton’s a workin’ man

2012-01-19T18:40:00.001-05:00

Kyton has a huge first today. One that not many babies can claim at 7 months old. He put in his first day of work, well more like his first hour. Kyton is well on his way to stardom as a model. He was fantastic. It was not an easy shoot, and the conditions were less than ideal for a 7 month old baby, but our boy rocked it. He actually was only photographed for 15 minutes, and we were done. I guess all that practice in front of the camera paid off!

After the shoot we took a few pictures since it was Kyton’s first time at the beach. (These pictures are ours from after the shoot.)

Kyton is 7 months old!

2012-01-18T21:02:00.001-05:00

I want to push the pause button on life, and keep my boy at this age forever.

Dylan and I constantly look over at each other and say “Did you see what he just did?”

“Look at him, he’s so cute!”

We are totally in love with our little boy.

He is a ladies man, and loves to talk and smile at anyone who will smile back.

He’ll stop playing to look over at us smile.

He has this sweet happy expression that comes across his face when we kiss his cheeks.

I can’t believe how blessed we are to have such a perfect sweet little boy.

He has a big day tomorrow, but more on that later.

What do you think of the new blog header? I am going back and forth between keeping it simple, and thinking it is too plain.

6 Month Birthday

2012-01-17T23:20:00.001-05:00

I know it’s a month late, but with our travels we were out of town for a while, but here are pictures from Ky’s 6 month birthday.

We started off cuddling in together in bed as a family of three. Kyton is always extremely happy in the mornings, and loves smiling. On mornings that I have to get up for work, getting out of bed and leaving Kyton is the hardest part.

How can I leave this sweet smile?

Since Ky’s 6 month birthday was on a Sunday we were to church. Kyton took a nap in Rebecca’s arms.

My parents have the best sushi restaurant by their house. The great part of being around family is that there is always someone to hold Kyton while we eat.

In his borrowed big boy car seat.

We spent the evening making candy with family, and playing with Kyton.

Tomorrow my boy will be 7 months old, and I know it’s not’s a big age, but for some reason to me it’s a big deal.

Hanging out with Daddy

2012-01-17T20:58:00.001-05:00

He loves pretending to be a big boy and help his dad and grandpa on the computer. I’m guessing they were looking at sports stats.

It is the eve of Kyton’s 7 month birthday. I’m still holding on to my last few hours with my 6 month old baby.

Our boy loves to smile!

2012-01-16T12:13:00.001-05:00

He loves to smile at everyone, and I think he is starting to realize how cute we think he is.

Grandma and grandpa (my parents)

Kyton: “why is the sky so gray here? We rarely have gray skies in Florida”
Kyton loves ‘Spider Rebecca’ (my sister)

A rare family picture

saying goodbye to Rich and Rebecca

Kyton’s sweater belonged to Dylan when he was a baby!

Family Fun

2012-01-15T23:39:00.001-05:00

I love this picture so much that I almost want to print it to hand in my house despite the fact that it is not my family. I photographed the Barra family at Downtown Disney before Christmas. Their great idea to ride the carousel paired with the gorgeous sunset light, make this my favorite.

There are a few other images from this beautiful family on facebook.

Other entries are at:

Who needs sleep?

2012-01-12T20:43:00.001-05:00

I took this picture in Kyton’s room with all the the light out while he was sleeping. I had not taken my picture of the day, and Kyton decided to go to sleep for the night when I thought he was only napping. I just noticed that if you look close, you can see that during the photo he moved his thumb.

Here are the specs: F 1.8 50mm 2 sec ISO 200

When Ky was a week old he began sleeping through the night the majority of nights. By 3 months old he slept 10 hours a night every single night. When I went back to work at 4 months old he woke up slightly earlier Honestly I didn’t mind this much. He would wake up at 6 am and we’d cuddle until I needed to get up at 7am.

We were away from home for two weeks over Christmas, and assumed that his sleep was off since we were traveling. Now that we are back he is still waking up at 2, 4 and 6 am to eat. I asked the doctor about this and told him about what a great sleeper Kyton was. He said that it is normal, and will likely get worse! Dylan gets up with him, changes him and tries to get him back to sleep. Usually the only thing that will get him back to sleep is nursing.

Has anyone else experienced this? Suggestions?

Bath Boy

2012-01-11T21:56:00.001-05:00

While I was rinsing Kyton’s diapers the other day,

I set him in the tub.

He loves his bath, and enjoyed the freedom to kick.

He’s getting too big for the tub, but he’s not quite ready to completely sit up alone.

He finally has hair now and I love that is is red!

Dylan says that it looks like an orange flame on top of his head.

His personality has really emerged in the past few weeks.

We are so blessed!!

Beautiful eyes

2012-01-09T23:28:00.001-05:00

I love the way his eyes turned out in these shots from my parent’s house while we were in Ohio.

I Heart Faces – Best of 2011

2012-01-09T00:04:00.001-05:00

For I heart Faces this week the theme is best of 2011. Only photos that were entered in 2011 can be used.

I found 6 entries to choose from:

– Bust a gut
– People’s choice
– Water
– Props
– Bright and vivid
– A touch of sun

My favorite was a touch of sun.

Do you think I made the best choice? What is your favorite? I also really like Props.

. Click on the button to see other entries.

Little Polamalu

2012-01-08T17:56:00.001-05:00

We are all decked out and rooting for the Steelers. Wardrobe courtesy of Dylan’s family.

Happy it’s Friday

2012-01-06T17:15:00.001-05:00

I’m loving this 4 day work week! I could really get used to this. I miss these smiling faces!

Sorry but here’s my little rant: I’m once again having difficulties with nursing and working. I was told that if I can’t make it 8 hours without a break to pump or nurse (on Saturdays) I must drop a class that I need to stay legal in my current teaching position. I suggested I stay in the class and nurse under a cover, but I was told that I can't. No exceptions!

Kisses from Daddy

2012-01-05T17:36:00.001-05:00

Kyton is such a happy boy… most of the time. The sweetest moment with our little boy is seeing him smile when we kiss his cheeks.

Baby’s First Snow

2012-01-04T16:36:00.001-05:00

Over Christmas break we visited my parents in Ohio and Kyton saw snow for the first time. When I was packing I thought I had grabbed his gloves, but it turns out they were socks. I also forgot to bring a different hat for him to wear while in Ohio. They almost didn’t let us on our flight back due to the hat. Luckily one smile from Kyton, and everyone forgets that he is wearing the wrong team’s apparel.

Any other Steelers fans?

Back to work

2012-01-03T23:58:00.001-05:00

I love my job, but after 17 days with these two men…

it was hard going back to work today!

He still looks like his father.

2011-12-26T12:46:00.000-05:00

Does Kyton’s expression remind you of Dylan’s from our now and then photos?

In every photo that I compare, Kyton still is 99% Dylan!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T12:32:00.000-05:00

We are so blessed this Christmas with our beautiful healthy baby boy. We truly could not imagine a year ago how full our hearts would be this Christmas with the addition of our sweet baby boy. One look at this smile turns any day around. We wish you and your family a blessed Christmas.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T00:39:00.001-05:00

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-23T15:02:00.001-05:00

Getting together with my family, and keeping our tradition of one of my favorite parts of Christmas. We don’t actually own a Christmas tree, so we helped my parents decorate their tree.

Kyton laid on the ground giggling as Rich stepped over him to hand ornaments.

Sharon and I were the photographers.

My dad supervised.

Rebecca unpacked the ornaments.

My sisters boyfriend, Rich hung the ornaments, which was pretty much most of the work. I guess that’s family initiation. Our family really likes Rich. I mean who wouldn’t like a guy that does all the work and doesn't complain?

What traditions do you look forward to at Christmas?

We found the Christmas Vacation house!!

2011-12-22T17:42:00.001-05:00

I was trying to get somewhere when I came across a detour. For some reason I decided I could make my own, better route, and I headed in the opposite direction. I ended up turning back, and following the original detour after getting lost, but I found this on my way.

These houses had lights EVERYWHERE! But what impressed me was how tastefully it was done. Yes, it was over the top but not in a bad way.

Since we live in Florida it was about 70 degrees, so I took Dylan and Kyton for a walk to the other side of town to see these the display.

We tried to give Ky a closer look, but he started pulling on the lights.. oops. The next door neighbors turned off their lights as we walked by their house. I guess they didn’t want a cute 6 month old to eat their lights.

Kyton was amazed, and just stared at the lights.

Florida Snow

2011-12-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

We visited Celebration, Florida to see the falling ‘snow.’ It is really more like soap bubbles, but Kyton was entertained anyways. The up seide is that when we gave him a bath he didn’t need any soap ;-)

I can’t wait for my boy to feel real snow.

6 months old!!

2011-12-19T10:30:00.001-05:00

It feels like we were just bringing our tiny 7 pound newborn home from the hospital. How do we already have a 22.5 pound 6 month old boy? We took a few 6 month photos of our Florida boy next to the orange tree in the backyard.

The oranges match his bright hair!

Sensory Blanket

2011-12-13T18:40:00.001-05:00

My friend Melody, who I know from high school made Kyton a sensory blanket. He is at the age now where he loves to run his hand along fabric to feel the textures. He also likes the feel of cloth against his face as he is falling asleep. Dylan’s trick to get him to sleep is lightly running a blanket over his face.

Thanks Melody!

If our babies could talk..

2011-12-12T20:28:00.002-05:00

We went to a party with some of Kyton’s baby friends over the weekend. I took a few photos of the babies and thought they needed some dialogue.
Kyton (plaid shirt) and R (stripes) were hanging out on the floor.

K: You have teeth? I don’t yet. Can I feel yours?

R: Your hair is so silky smooth and orange, what shampoo do you use?
K: I need my nails clipped, want to help me out?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A(Gray sweater) and R (white with bows) were practicing standing.

(I don’t think this one needs words)

R: Look dad, I’m pushing away the boys like you told me to do.

R: Let’s not tell our mom’s about this one, ok?

L: My mom said that I get to eat solids. Do fingers count?

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kyton and A were playing near the jumper.

Kyton: You look almost like the baby in the mirror that follows me around. Are you my twin?

A: The boys need to stick together. Give me five man!

This was an attempt to get a group shot of some of the babies… look whose kid is crying.

Tummy Time

2011-12-10T14:52:00.001-05:00

I look at these pictures of my strong boy,

and it’s hard to remember

the days where tummy time was a struggle

that often ended in tears.

These days he can lift his head super high

and loves playing on the ground

using the quilt made for him by my Aunt Gail

to match his orange hair.

He rolls onto his tummy all the time.

I almost wish that he’d slow down a little,

and stay my baby for longer.

Oh my sweet,

little boy!

Santa Baby

2011-12-07T22:07:00.001-05:00

Kyton met Santa this evening during Christmas night at my school. They were selling pictures as a fundraiser, and we paid for the picture, but they also let me take a few with my camera too!

We walked up and Santa says to my husband, “Dylan, do you remember me?”

I’m sure Dylan is thinking "yeah, you brought me toys and left them under the tree all those years.”

As it turns out ‘Santa’ was an actor in a play with Dylan at the local theater.

I bet you didn’t know that during his off time Santa heads to Orlando to act.

Here are only a few of the pictures I took of Santa and Kyton. I never try and force him to smile, and this was no exception. He did this on his own!

He was such a great baby all night and went to bed easily afterward this evening. One of my teacher friends wondered if he was used to the sound of all the students from when I was pregnant. He took a little nap in the carrier, but was happy and smiling at everyone the rest of the evening.

Our Tough Little Man

2011-12-05T19:55:00.001-05:00

Kyton absolutely loves his jumper…

The other day we noticed a blister on his foot, which we decided must be from his favorite toy. The thing is that the blister does not bother him.

Despite the blister he still loves to jump. I’ve heard that there can be problems when too much time is spent in the jumper, but I could not find any reliable information on this. He is incredibly happy while jumping unlike any other activity.

I know videos of people’s kids can be annoying, but if you are interested, here it is:

Should we let him keep jumping, or limit his time? Has anyone heard of the potential problems with too much time jumping?

On Your Feet

2011-12-04T23:42:00.000-05:00

I love this photo of three brothers and their feed on the beautiful wood floor of their home. The little feet are so precious stacked on his big brother’s feet. I can’t believe that this little Noah is already one-and-a-half!

The theme at I heart faces is on your feet. Be sure to check out the other entries.

Random December Thoughts

2011-12-04T21:14:00.001-05:00

One year ago today, on December 4th, at only 11 weeks we had our ultrasound and found out that our baby was going to be a boy. We had no idea that they could even determine the gender at that age!

I’ve finished editing all of the photography sessions I’ve had in the past few weeks. You can see those images on my photography facebook fan page. I always ask ahead of time, and many of my clients love having their photos posted on my Facebook page.

On the topic of pictures, I am photographing two weddings next June one week apart. I will be traveling for both since they are up north.

I’m loving this Pandora Christian- Christmas rock station I created. I get tired of the traditional Christmas music the regular stations play.

Thank you those that commented by giving me sleep advice the other day. We bought some baby ibuprofen to have around in case the same thing happens again. Kyton slept better the following night only getting up once, and has slept like normal ever since. I don’t know how moms function at work on such little sleep day after day.

Ky loves to suck on our faces. Today I discovered that I have a hickey on my eyelid compliments of my son!

I’m not sure if we are going to do a picture Christmas card this year. I had a picture I loved, but it’s lost, and Christmas will be here soon!

Oh, and I have a super cute baby….but this isn’t me, btw.

Sleeping like a baby…

2011-12-01T18:47:00.001-05:00

Kyton has a super rough time sleeping last night. I tried to put him down last night around 10:00 PM. Normally I lay him down, swaddle, turn on the music, give him the pacifier, and leave the room. Sometimes we have to go back in the room once or twice to replace the pacifier, but many times that is it. Last night he screamed when I laid him down. Not fussing or crying, screaming! I picked him up, we walked, tried his Mamaroo, (swing type thing) and anything else I could think of. After an hour and a half of trying everything he finally nursed, then fell asleep in my arms. At 12:30 when I thought he was really out I tried to put him to bed, and go head there myself he woke up. I ended up feeding a crying baby at 12:30AM, 2:00AM, 4:00AM and 6:00AM. He’s been a great sleeper from day one, at a week old he was sleeping through the night. I think he’s woken at night about 10 times in his life, and that was only once. I know that there are plenty of mommies and daddies that deal with this on a nightly basis, and I realize how lucky we are. We did not even feed on this schedule in the hospital with a newborn. He would sleep longer, and didn’t wake him. Today he slept great for Dylan, and went down easily. Let’s hope it was a one night thing.

Tonight when I tried to put Kyton in his bed he was not a happy boy, so I let daddy hold him. This is how he fell asleep!

Any ideas? 6 month growth spurt, ear infection, afraid of the dark?

I Heart Faces: Bust a Gut

2011-11-29T21:59:00.002-05:00

My son is at that perfect age where everything warrants one of those wonderful belly laughs. He loves looking at faces, especially his 'friend' in the mirror. Kyton and daddy shared a wonderful moment looking into the mirror together. I'm so fortunate that even though the original image is on my lost hard drive, I had this backed up online.

The theme at I heart faces is laughing. www.iheartfaces.com

Thanksgiving Vacation

2011-11-28T01:44:00.001-05:00

We spent the last week up north with our family for the holiday. My hard drive containing all of my pictures crashed, but here are a few images taken after the crash. I do have some of my favorite photos backed up, but not all. I am hoping that the data can be saved.

Believe it or not this is my dad smiling and excited about Kyton.

My mom loves babies, and grabs a hug and kiss every chance she gets!

Ky is at that baby stage where his mouth hurts and he likes chewing on anything he can, including fingers. He also loves touching anything he can. My sister let him put his hand in her mouth while she put her hand in his mouth. Silly baby, silly aunt. Remember when we did the now and then photos? Rebecca mention that this would make a funny now and then when Kyton is about 15 years old!

5 Months Old!!!

2011-11-18T11:24:00.001-05:00

I can not believe that our little boy is already 5 months old!

I am still taking a picture a day, but decided not to post them on my blog.

If you are interested, here are the first 4 months.

1 month in pictures
2 months in pictures
3 months in pictures
4 months in pictures

Praying for Chaia

2011-11-13T23:36:00.003-05:00

A couple that went to Mount Union with us had a baby that is about Kyton's age. Their sweet little girl has been in the hospital with a rare genetic disease of the heart. Amazingly she is defying the odds. Chaia’s parents has asked for pictures of those that are praying for their little girl. This weekend we were at Downtown Disney and took this shot in front of the big balloon.
If you pray, would you please say a little prayer for Chaia?

Go Steelers!

2011-11-13T14:35:00.001-05:00

Our Baby has been Accepted to College

2011-11-10T22:24:00.002-05:00

In the mail we received a package containing an acceptance certificate to Mount Union College. He was also given a bib with the school seal, and a baby t-shirt. Somehow they knew what size he is, they were anticipating he’d have the build of a football player! So it’s official our son has been accepted to college, and if he wants to go anywhere besides the school where his parents met and fell in love, tough luck. Actually when it comes time we will support whatever choice our son makes.
We had a little photo session with Kyton in his shirt.

Do you secretly, or not so secretly hope that your child will follow in your footsteps?
Linking with photo friday

Jumping Boy

2011-11-09T18:13:00.001-05:00

We decided that our energetic boy needed a something else to entertain him and strengthen his muscles.

He absolutely loves the jumper!

His chubby little legs bounce off the floor.

He enjoys making the music start himself.

And he loves looking out the window.

Kobe

2011-11-06T11:33:00.001-05:00

On Friday we celebrated 3 of our friend’s birthdays along with 28 friends at Kobe. If you are not familiar with the restaurant, they cook Japanese food in front of you. We thought it would be fun for Kyton since it is entertaining.

The picture below is Kyton sitting in a high chair watching the chef light onions on fire. He’s not sure about the whole thing.

About halfway through the cooking of the meal Kyton decided it was too noisy for him. As soon as we left the table and went outside he was fine, but once we returned he was upset again. We took turns, along with a friend eating and giving Kyton a break.

I’ve seen parents that had to miss events to care for their fussy child, and I remember thinking how bad I felt for the parent. The thing is when it’s my own kid, I don’t mind. Making him happy and spending time with him is worth missing a little bit of a meal with friends.

Kyton’s first visit to Disney World

2011-11-04T16:54:00.002-04:00

The weather is beautiful here, finally! We took the opportunity to meet some of Kyton’s baby friends at Epcot for the food and wine festival. This was Kyton’s first visit to Disney, assuming the visits while pregnant don’t count. Dylan was not able to make it due to a conflict with the Steelers game. He was also drumming and would have been late.

With 5 strollers, 5 babies, 5 mommy’s and 3 daddy’s we didn’t make it anywhere quickly.

I thought this was cute, the pics are of the screen, but they took a picture of our babies on our laps, and make them into astronauts. On the Space Ship Earth ride, they took a picture with flash, hence the funny baby expressions. I almost never use flash with Kyton.

By the end of the day my little man was exhausted, and fell asleep by the time we reached the car.
Linking with Photo Friday

Fall Fun

2011-11-01T20:57:00.001-04:00

It’s sort of strange that this year we have a little one to enjoy all of the Halloween activities. This year we didn’t have our annual Halloween bon fire, and didn’t even carve a pumpkin. With the big transition, things have a little off this year.

One of Kyton’s baby friends had a party for the kids.

They had pumpkins for the babies to decorate.

Kyton went as a baseball player.

(Dylan shot the pictures, I edited.)

What did you do for fall, or Halloween?

I think I miss Ohio…. a little

2011-10-28T07:42:00.002-04:00

I grew up near Cleveland Ohio. I always asked my parents why they chose to live in Ohio, out of all the possible choices. They explained that their family was close, and although they moved away when they were young, they settled in Ohio once they had kids. At the time I thought it was crazy that someone would pass up a coastal warm climate for dreary Ohio. Now I get it…
While it may be a little dreary at times in the winter, it is beautiful in the summer.

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is near my parents house, as well as other local parks.
My family loves hiking, so many of our days were spent enjoying this….

Florida is great, but they don’t have green trees or forests quite like this. Oh, and don't forget the fall colors! It's been 8 years since I've seen northern fall. I always heard non-native Floridians say they miss the seasons, and I thought they were crazy. Who wouldn't love warm weather all the time.

Now I get it!

Linking with Photo Friday

Drool

2011-10-26T19:05:00.001-04:00

Everything goes in the mouth, he constantly has small waterfalls dribbling from his mouth.

I’m not the biggest fan of bibs, but don’t want him covered in spit. What do you think? Bib, or no bib?

Our little family

2011-10-24T20:26:00.001-04:00

This is only the third picture of our little family! There are a ton of pictures of Kyton, some of Kyton and Dylan, a handful with me and Kyton, and three of our family.

I love my camera, but it is difficult for strangers to use. How do you make sure to have plenty of family pictures?

I Think I Married Superman

2011-10-22T12:44:00.002-04:00

Thursday was my last day home, so we walked to Dylan’s work for a quick visit. Here he is on his last day for a little while.

Friday we switched roles and Dylan took over care of our Kyton. This was me before work. It was a work day, so I didn’t have to dress up hence the casual clothes. Walking out the door was hard, but I’m sure much easier than if I left him at daycare with a stranger. I KNOW he’s in good hands.

I came home at lunch to find this…

A happy baby, and an appropriate shirt! He was even wearing pants, since it is finally cool enough around here to do so.

Apparently Dylan’s hair was messy, so I was only allowed this picture of his stay at home dad (for that day) wardrobe.
During Dylan’s first day as a stay at home dad he managed to keep the baby happy, fed and even got him down for a few naps. This in itself would have been enough for me, but I realized that he also cleaned the bathrooms, fixed the ice-cream scoop, washed the dishes and put them away and ran a load of laundry. He even made me dinner since we were going to a friend’s house and they would have only food I don’t eat. On my very first day at home with Ky, granted the baby was a week old, I only managed to feed him, and don’t even think I found time to eat myself.
Sounds like Superman to me!

Shades

2011-10-21T11:00:00.000-04:00

We were not sure how he’d feel wearing sunglasses, but apparently he realized how cool they make him look.

… and then he realized they were fun to play with.

I’m missing this boy today as I spend my first day back at work.

For I know the plans I have for you

2011-10-19T13:21:00.002-04:00

I’ve thought about God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11 often recently. Here’s what I wish this verse said:
For ~~I know~~ Let me tell you right now the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you ~~hope and a future~~ everything you need or want right now. (NIV & The bible according to Carly)
I am going back to work on Friday. I should start by saying that I really enjoy my job and find it incredibly fulfilling. Like most, if not all new moms I’m having a hard time being away from my baby. The longest stretch of time that I’ve been away from my little boy was 3 hours. I can count on my hand the number of times we’ve been apart from each other. I know that I am incredibly lucky that I’ve been able to spend his first 18 weeks with him. I know many working moms don’t have that opportunity, so I am trying to keep it in perspective. Part of me feels like I would be less attached to him if I had gone to work earlier, but then I realize it is never easy.
I feel like I’ve been living a dream these past 18 weeks. I love babies, and love MY baby even more. It’s always been a dream of mine to be a stay at home mom. My days consisted of taking care of and playing with my sweet little boy. We also got to know other babies, moms, and dads through a few groups that we are a part of. We would meet for play dates at houses, or local attractions, and kept busy pretty much every day of the week.
For the time being Dylan is taking FMLA and will be staying home with Kyton, making the transition slightly easier. I won’t have to worry about getting a baby off to daycare, and while I am feeding Kyton in the morning Dylan can pack my lunch and bring me breakfast. Since I am not allowed to nurse at work, the plan is for Dylan to bring Kyton to me so that I can feed him in the car just off property during my 30 minute lunch.
If you pray, would you say a prayer for our family as we make this difficult transition?

Since no post is complete without pictures of my little red-head, here are a few shots from one of our daily photo sessions.

Linking with Shell

4 months

2011-10-18T09:44:00.001-04:00

I’m happy to report that I’ve continued my tradition of taking a picture a day of my boy. ( 1 month in pictures, 2 months in pictures, 3 months in pictures) I’ll be honest, some days I just take a picture to get it in, and other days I get really into it. I find it difficult to take my camera with me when I go out since there is so much baby gear these days, so most of the time the picture is taken at home. Enjoy!

September 18 – Watching the Steelers game with daddy

Sept 19 – For the second week in a row Kyton had an 8 oz. lunch. He stayed in the nursery for the first time at the hospital while mommy worked out. This was the first time he was cared for by non-family and he did great.

Sept 20 – Went on a play date today.

Sept 21 – Library story time and Ky did not fall asleep this week!

Sept 22 – Chillin’ in the Mamaroo

Sept 23 – Took daddy to Blink the Door where he was given VIP treatment.

Sept 24 – We met Craig in St. Cloud for a photo session. Ky slept through most of it. We tried sunglasses for the first time.

Sept 25 – We had a Steeler’s party & dressed Ky up in black and Gold. Started using B sound and buzzing lips. Kyton tried out the jumparoo for the first time. He enjoyed it, but only for a short time.

Sept 26 – 17 lbs 10 oz today. Kyton stayed in the nursery again while mommy worked out and did great. The reports were of smiles and swinging.

September 27 – Relaxed today and went for a long walk.

September 28 - Kyton showed the babies at Story time how he can sit up like a big boy. They are all older than him, and can walk and crawl, but he enjoys watching them.

September 29th - Went on another long 5 mile walk

September 30 - Kyton went with mommy and daddy to bible study at Chris’s house. Kyton was a little sleepy and had a difficult time.

October 1 - We decided to try taking Kyton camping. Our boy loves being outdoors and was as happy as could be sitting on a blanket under a tree.

October 2 – Camping day 2, Kyton did really well camping, and enjoyed a morning hike. On the way back from camping we stopped at a party, and our social man was as sweet as can be.

October 3 – Kyton is still steadily gaining weight. We had a nice time at baby group today, and Kyton fell asleep as we were leaving. He remained asleep in the car, and transferred to his bed. He slept about 3 hours total!

October 4 – We went to Magnus’s house for a play date today.

October 5 – Kyton loved story time at the library. He’s getting to that interactive age where he loves looking around. He really enjoyed the story and songs.

October 6 – We went to a mom’s bible study this evening and Kyton fell asleep at the end. It was a little bit of a rough night and Kyton had to be put to sleep three times.

October 7– Kyton and mommy met some friends at Sea World. Kyton slept for over 3 hours, which is really unusual! He was in a good mood in the evening when we went to Chris’s house.

October 8 – Daddy spent a lot of time playing with Kyton today, and learning what he likes. We went to a party, and Kyton enjoyed getting passed around. He’s such a great baby!

October 9 – Watched football today. The Steelers were playing, what else would we do?

October 10 – Kyton was a real ham today at baby group. He was talking with all of the babies and their mom’s. He became a little adjitated when Renee did not talk back to him. Mommy was a little relieved that Kyton did not gain anything in the past week.

October 11 – We were supposed to meet some friends at the splash pad today, but the rain interfered. Took a walk with mommy, and another walk later on with mommy and daddy. Kyton really enjoyed bath time today.

October 12 – inconsolable at story time today, we ended up leaving early since the whole library could hear Kyton. We met Casey for a walk today.

October 13 – listening to daddy drum in the garage.

October 14- great at Chris’s house tonight

October 15 – Kyton stayed with Paula while m&d went out for their first date since Kyton was born.

October 16 – Epcot for the food and wine festival with some baby friends and their parents

October 17- Our normal Monday routine included a visit to the nursery at the hospital, where Kyton was wonderful as always, followed by baby group. Kyton was great afterwards, so we did some shopping.

I go back to work at the end of this week, so I’m not sure if I’ll be motivated to, or able to keep up with the picture a day. Also, I used larger pictures this month. Was it easier to see, or did the post seem too long? Thanks for visiting!

Tickled Pink

2011-10-16T23:07:00.001-04:00

Skye was a dream to photograph! This little one loved showing off her beautiful smile and her tutu.
The theme this week is Pink in honor of breast cancer survivors. It’s such a horrible disease that has touched so many people around me.

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In other news I've been working on a few changes to my blog... some of which you may have already noticed, but I'll give a full update once I'm sure everything is good to go.

I wish he’d stay little forever

2011-10-14T16:17:00.002-04:00

I went through Kyton’s drawers and officially removed most of the 3 and 6 month clothes. I had them in his drawer and would try and squeeze him into a onesie or t-shirt, but he had grown past the point of the squeeze. I just can’t believe that my baby is too big for 6 month clothes and is comfortably wearing 9 and 12 month clothing. I was actually excited when he weighed in on Monday and had not gained a single ounce from the previous week.
This is one of my favorite outfits. It was the first thing that was purchased for him. We picked this our as a gift for our parents to give us in front of my extended family as a way to announce the pregnancy. It has been amazing that he was able to fit into it from his 4 day old doctor’s appointment (far left) all the way until 12 weeks of age when we went for a ride in the stroller.
Here are a few pictures from the archives in chronological order

and the last time he wore it…

We need some more 12 month clothes, so I figured I’d try craig’s list. Kyton’s baby clothes were barley used, so I assumed many other moms outgrown clothing is great condition. Apparently I was wrong. I met a seller in a public place to purchase some baby clothing. I learned that we have a different definition of a stain, after sorting through a bin of clothes with yellow spots all over, stretched out and worn out material and chunks! Yes, chunks! I came home and promptly washed my hands!
I need your suggestions. I know that there are plenty of thrifty mom’s out there. We were fortunate to be given many gifts of clothing that have gotten us to this point, but we’ve gotten to the point that we need to buy some clothing for our little boy. Where do you get new or used clothes for a decent price?

This is how I like it

2011-10-11T15:28:00.001-04:00

Kyton is at the age where he can finally see his surroundings. He used to love being snuggled against our chest and hidden from the world, but not anymore. Our big boy (in every sense of the word) likes to see his surroundings. Daddy had to carry him like this the other day on a hike until he fell asleep enough to be clipped into his carrier properly. (It was also time for a nap.)

Photo Friday

Finding out that we are pregnant

2011-10-10T18:32:00.001-04:00

I wrote this post a year ago as the events took place so that I would not forget.

10/1/10 – purchased tests
10/2/10 – took first pregnancy test – negative
10/3/10 – took another, can you tell I was a little excited? negative
10/8/10 – took a test – negative. Feeling pregnant tonight as we went to see the Florida leaves fall in Celebration.

10/9/10 – First test that had a super faint line. After a little bit of internet research, I am not completely sure that we are pregnant, but think we are.
10/9/10 – took another that afternoon, the regular type, not the 6 days sooner type, negative
10/10/10 – second test that had a slightly darker, but still faint line. I am 100% convinced that I am pregnant.Dylan is 80% convinced.
10/11/10 – not feeling too great today, went out to dinner with friends, worried I won’t be able to keep this a secret for 6 more weeks. My friends kept asking if I was ok and saying I looked really tired. I am!

10/13/10 – went out and purchased more tests, took one that evening. It had a faint line. This is that 3rd faint line that we’ve seen. Dylan still is not ready to celebrate. I try to convince him to pee on the other test to see what a negative looks like. He wants me to wait till Sunday to take another test.

10/17/10 – Dylan is finally 100% convinced that we are pregnant after a test comes back with a really dark line quickly.

In 2 weeks I took 9 tests! 4 of them had at least a faint line, which means pregnant! I knew that we were pregnant on 10/10/10. Dylan knew on 10/17/10. Now we have to try to keep this a secret for 5 more weeks until our parents are both in town and the pregnancy has a greater chance of success.

We could not have hoped for better timing. He was born on the exact time and date I had wished for. We wanted him to arrive at the beginning of the summer since summer break does not count as part of my maternity leave.
I wanted him to wait for school to end for the summer, I wanted a little time to relax, but not too much. I had him 1 week after school ended for the summer. Perfect timing!
My other wish was for him to be born Friday night/ Saturday morning so that Dylan could work a full week, but would have 2 weekends home with us. On the weekend he was born Dylan came home from work, we went shopping and to a show that evening, and got home around 11 PM. By 4am Saturday morning we were holding our baby boy.
It's great when God's plan and my plan are the same!

Now a year later we are looking at this…

We are SO blessed!

Raise Your Hands

2011-10-09T23:20:00.001-04:00

This is one of my favorite images of Kyton taken when he was 5 weeks old while playing in his gym. It was the first time he grabbed one of his toys. Oh, I can’t believe that he’s getting so big already!

Bird watching

2011-10-07T09:04:00.001-04:00

I wrote this about a year ago, but never published. I thought it was appropriate for Photo Friday today.
Before I purchased my camera I would visit state parks and see these guys with huge cameras taking pictures of birds. I always sort of thought that was a little boring.   I never would have guessed that I would make Dylan drive along the bird watching trail, and take pictures.


We went on a bird drive, that had places to get out and walk

It may look nice, but it was extremely hot!

The guide told us to look for banana spiders, and we found one. I sort of thought that it was neat. Dylan cringed as he took this picture.

I know that there are power lines in this pictures, but I think it is beautiful with the lines and reflection.
Dylan has been trying to take more pictures of me lately… not sure how I feel about this.

I think that this guy was trying to defend himself from us.

Kyton’s First Camping Trip = Daddy’s Worst Camping Trip

2011-10-05T08:47:00.001-04:00

It’s so easy to write a wonderful post about how fabulous camping was, and most mommy blogs sugar coat real life. Here’s the real deal… camping was fun, but there were some difficult moments! Dylan had to take one of our cars to the dealer for a recall, so I packed all of our gear, food and clothing. I’m not sure if it really exists, but I’m blaming baby brain on my forgetting a few essential items.

As we were setting up our tent my husband commented
D:“Oh, this site does not have a lantern pole. Where will we hang the lantern?”
C:“Honey, that won’t be a problem since I didn’t bring the lantern.”
D; “Oh, you just brought flashlights?”
C: “No, I forgot those too, but I brought my ipod. We can use that for light.”
D: “Um, your battery is dead.”
We weren’t at a KOA where there are street lights, and stores nearby. We were in the middle of the orange grove woods, and considering that we had a 3 month old baby with us, the ranger helped us choose a site that was far away from all of the other campers, and hence their light.

At 5:30 AM we realized something else that I forgot, only I didn’t forget it, I didn’t think it was necessary…but my husband did. We generally use cloth diapers on our baby, but given that we were camping we used disposables. I am in the process of training my husband that disposables go in the trash,and that it is not necessary to haul these home. Apparently he thought I should have brought along the wet bag to keep the diapers in. He was not happy with the Wal-Mart bag trashcan I had decided on.

Let me take a moment to redeem my husband a little bit here. He did all of the cooking on the camp stove, and washed all of the dishes with biodegradable camp soap. Oh, and all without cooking oil which I also forgot. By the the time we were sitting down to a breakfast of portobello dill omelets and pancakes, he didn’t even seem surprised when I informed him I had forgotten the pancake syrup. At that point in time I guess syrup was the last of his concerns.

I’ve decided that for the next camping trip I’m not packing!!
Linking with Shell

Kyton’s First Camping Trip

2011-10-04T18:09:00.001-04:00

I looked at the forecast for the weekend and knew we had to do it, we had to take our baby on his first camping trip. The temps were 85ish during the day, and a pleasant 65ish at night. Welcome to Florida fall weather!

I think it’s genetic from my side, but Kyton loves being outside. When he gets fussy at home a quick trip to the mail box settles him right down. We regularly walk 5.5 miles and he is content the majority of the time. He LOVED camping. He’s an outdoor kid!

He supervised

as we set up camp.

chilled on a blanket,

as daddy cooked dinner,

and smiled at the trees, sky and birds.

He slept on a bed made of a sleeping bag and blanket next to us in the tent.

Early in the morning, after he had kicked off his covers it was a little too cold, so he joined mommy and daddy to warm up.

He’s such a happy guy in the mornings.

We took a walk in the dark and came across this beautiful lake, which at the time seemed perfect for swimming.

The next morning, daylight revealed it was slightly less than perfect for a dip.

Lake Louisa did have a beach and swimming area, but we did no partake.

Instead, we went for a hike.

Since I’m pretty sure my baby is the cutest kid ever, here are a few more pictures of my boy enjoying the great outdoors.

(Is it ok to take a picture of my boy on a pink towel?)

Kisses from daddy are the best!

2011-10-04T00:41:00.001-04:00

More pictures of our weekend excursion tomorrow!

Gatorland

2011-09-30T08:55:00.001-04:00

This animal themed park is one of my favorite places to visit. Although I don’ mind seeing the ‘gators, as you can see by the pictures one of our favorite stops was the aviary. One of the perks of being a teacher in Florida is that Gatorland is free 4 months of the year.

I’ve managed to convince my family and friends to go with me in the past

Almost sitting

2011-09-28T16:13:00.001-04:00

Kyton can sit by himself for about 1.5 seconds, but he loves sitting with support and looking around. I love his expression in these pictures!

I Heart Faces – People’s Choice

2011-09-26T22:54:00.001-04:00

I Heart Faces’s contest this week is People’s Choice from the best of the summer. With a new baby this summer there are so many favorites, but this I love this retro photo of my little boy.

The first 100 days

2011-09-26T16:45:00.001-04:00

In his first 100 days Kyton has made amazing progress that can not possibly be duplicated. He grew from a tiny 7 pound 2 oz. newborn baby… to a monster 18 pound infant. I truly hope that he does not see that drastic of a weight gain again in his lifetime.

I look at newborn babies and can’t imagine that Kyton was once their size. Here are a few pictures of my boy as a newborn.

To took a few pictures this morning as Kyton slept next to me. When he’s asleep he looks the about the same as he did in his newborn pictures.

I am still in awe and amazement that we have been given such a huge blessing, and we get to spend every day with this sweet little boy. Right after he was born I had a dream that we had to give him back, because we were just babysitting him. I still feel like life with Kyton is too good to be real.

Yoga baby

2011-09-23T15:09:00.001-04:00

This week Dylan’s back was hurting him a little. I thought that this would be a good time to mention that my husband who works out and lifts weights has asked me numerous times how I can carry around our 17 pound boy all day long and not be in excruciating pain. Apparently carrying our boy is a contributing factor to his back pain.
Dylan agreed to try a yoga video on Netflix streaming. According to him it is ok for a straight man to do yoga under the following conditions. 1) the video must include a somewhat straight looking man. 2) straight looking man must have body hair in the normal places such as armpits. 3) you must be wearing longer shorts than the man in the DVD. The most important rule 4) The instructor must be wearing more than a white bikini bottom. Netflix used to have a yoga video that did not meet this criteria. Apparently it has since been removed. I was going to try and find a picture of the cover to include, but I could not figure out a search term to use that did not yield disturbing results.
Since the Yoga mat was out Kyton tried a little bit of yoga himself.

I love his little hand.

He pretty much hates tummy time. I feel so bad for making him continue when he’s so clearly unhappy, but I also feel equally bad about not doing tummy time. Any suggestions for tummy time?

My son looks just like the milkman!

2011-09-20T16:22:00.001-04:00

We don’t have a milkman, but he looks like the milkman from my story.

We pulled our some of our old baby photos to compare, and he’s 99% Dylan and 1% me. Dylan is on the left, Kyton on the right in the pictures below.

Can you see where the second chin came from? Fortunately Dylan only has one chin now.

The pictures below are of me (left) and Kyton on the right.

If you have not seen our now and then photos, they are great for a laugh and include more baby pictures of Dylan.

Is there any resemblance at all to me?

A Touch of Sun

2011-09-18T23:21:00.000-04:00

All of the stars lined up on Aidan and Tammy’s wedding day. They had an amazing sunset on a gorgeous December day in Florida. This is one of my favorite images with the sun peeking through their faces as they kiss.

Click on the button to see other entries.

3 months

2011-09-18T09:51:00.001-04:00

I can’t believe that another month has passed. I have stuck with my goal of taking a picture a day of my boy. At the end of the year I am going to make a baby book of sorts including his picture of the day and the small memories that I’ve included next to each date. I am posting the pictures and memories on my blog so that I don’t put it off and forget the memories. Feel free to take a look.   If you have not seen his earlier pictures they can be found here: 1 month 2 months.
August 19 – Napping on Krissi’s boppy & a blanket from Great Grandma Swab

August 20 – Ky met his Great Uncle Terry & Great Uncle Rob. Grandma and Grandpa Barnes and Great Aunt Lee also came to Ohio to visit.

August 21 – Ky met his cousins Molly & Haylie

August 22 – Grandpa knows Kyton loves the outdoors & takes him outside anytime he gets a little fussy.

August 23 – Aunt Rebecca took Kyton for a hike around Hudson Springs Park. Aunt Sharon went with us too! Kyton is modeling Rebecca’s scarf. Kyton felt his first earthquake today too! We were on the phone with daddy & Ky was nursing.

August 24 – Visited the Cleveland Zoo with Aunt Sharon and Aunt Rebecca and friends. The aquarium was Kyton’s favorite part.

August 25 – Laughing with Aunt Rebecca

August 26 – We spent most of the day at the funeral home for the visitation hours for Great Grandma Swab. We tried to take Kyton swimming, but he fell asleep.

August 27 – Attended Great Grandma Swab’s funeral. In the evening he got to go to his first Cleveland Indian’s game with our extended family. The Indians won! Kyton was great at the game & did not seem bothered much by the noise and lights.

August 28 – Gathered with mommy’s cousins & second cousins to enjoy Chinese food, Great Grandma Swab’s favorite.

August 29 - Buried Great Grandma Swab today and said goodbye to our family in Ohio and Aunt Rebecca who went back to Denmark.

August 30 - Back from Ohio today. The flight was not the easiest for Kyton. He was fine during landing and take off, but cried for a while in the middle. Daddy was glad to have us back.

August 31 – Glad to be back home! He missed his toys.

September 1 – Daddy watched Kyton this evening for 3 hours, and it was rough! He was crying uncontrollably. Daddy called mommy to ask where to find diapers.

September 2 – Enjoyed a long walk today!

September 3 – Trip to Gatorland

September 4 - Trip to the Florida aquarium. May have been a bit over stimulating!

September 5 – Happy Labor Day! Took a 1.5 hour nap during the day. This is not normal. Mommy kept checking to see if he was alright.

September 6 – 3 month growth spurt, eating all day!

September 7 - 3 month growth spurt, eating all day!

September 8 – 4 month doctor’s appointment. The doctor absolutely loves seeing him & said Kyton reminded him of his own son.

September 9 – such a happy boy, we went for a long walk today as we have been doing many days recently.

September 10 – Daddy made him change clothes for church. Apparently this outfit is not church appropriate.

September 11 – Mommy was not feeling well today, so the picture was taken by daddy.

September 12 – Ky scooted himself off of the mat and a few feet across the room. He ate a half pound at breastfeeding group, and weighed 17 lbs. after his meal.

September 13 – Stacie and Sarah came over for dinner. Kyton sat in the high chair for the first time while we all ate dinner.

September 14 - Kyton’s first drum lesson.

September 15

September 16 - Daddy stayed with Kyton while mommy went out. Kyton had a rough time and refused to eat most of the bottle. When mommy got home Kyton and daddy were cuddling on the bed.

September 17 – Put Ky’s feet in the pool.

Just Like Daddy

2011-09-17T02:41:00.001-04:00

Dylan is a drummer and is actually really good. He's pretty humble and would not want me to say this but now he plays professionally as well as at our church. He was even invited to audition for Blue Man Group.
Kyton surprisingly loves watching and listening to his dad practice the drums. Dylan gave him his first lesson this week!

I love this shot with his little belly sticking out & the motion of the drum stick.

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Sergeant Kyton’s search for milk

2011-09-14T13:12:00.001-04:00

Sergeant Kyton decided he wanted to find some nice fresh milk.

But where could he find milk? He wondered

I’ll ask the cat! He thought. Cats like milk.

Where can I find milk, Buddy?

Buddy pondered, licking his whiskers. Hmm… how about the milk man?

The milk man, Kyton asked? Where can I find him?

“Follow your nose.” Purred the cat, sauntering away. Kyton pondered. My nose, eh?

He twitched his nose to the left. No.. not that way.

He tried straight ahead. Still no.

To the right… oooh, there was the scent of milk. Now how to get the milk man to come to him?

Milk man! Over here! He cried.

Is he coming? He peeked.

The milk man arrived, and Kyton drank his milk

A content Kyton relaxed, his belly now full.

(This story was written in collaboration with my sister Rebecca who is obviously a much better writer than I am.)

Magical Moments

2011-09-13T15:42:00.001-04:00

Living near Disney World we’ve spent a good amount of time at “The most magical place on Earth.” I like to look for magic in our ordinary lives. I’d rather my hubby bring me a potted plant (no cut flowers for me) for no reason at all, instead of on Valentine’s day.

The day Kyton was born is memorable, but it does not compare to a day spent with him now that his personality has blossomed. Our wedding day was amazing, but I treasure our spur of the moment vacations together even more.

One of our most magical moments was a spontaneous trip to the Florida Keys. This was not our most anticipated or lavish vacation and that is what made it so magical.

We had planned to camp over the weekend, but didn’t know where to go. That morning, we woke up and decided on Key Largo. We stayed at the same campground my parents stayed at when they were our age, and the same location we visited annually in high school.

We spent a good portion of the trip in the water with two boat trips.

There is also many great off shore snorkeling beaches.

We even crossed the Seven mile bridge.

Since we were camping out of our car it was easy to get up, and get going. We had breakfast every morning at a different beach.

Dylan cooked!

We watch the sky as the last glimmer of sun disappeared on the horizon.

The best part was being together

We I took way too many pictures!

I had to throw this in just for fun…

On our way back to normal life we saw this…

(This vacation was before I got my good camera, and was taken on my point and shoot camera)

Staying Cool & Enjoying the Long Weekend – Florida Aquarium

2011-09-09T10:41:00.001-04:00

On a long weekend we usually try to get away and visit a new area of Florida. The thing is that we’ve been pretty much everywhere. With the little one we thought it made more sense to see what we could do close to home & inexpensively. After a quick Google search for “free Florida teacher” our weekend was planned.   Stop #1, the Florida Aquarium.

(On the recommendation of Melody we got the Boba & love it so far)
I’ve mentioned before how he does well when we take him out, but this was not the case at the aquarium. He was having a rough day, possibly the start of a growth spurt. He was tired & fussy, but would not nurse well, or fall asleep.

When he was calm we pushed his stroller in front of the huge salt water tank for this view…
This was perfect for our little man since his eyesight is not fully developed. He was able to get close to the fish, & stay in the air-conditioning. The fish & sharks were 10 times the size of Kyton, so I’m pretty sure he saw them.
Look at those big eyes!!

I often debate on if I prefer a picture in color or black and white. I think Dylan’s is better in color and mine in black and white. What do you think?

Linking with Photo Friday where the theme is "Near"

How did he get so big?

2011-09-07T12:25:00.001-04:00

These two pictures were taken 3 weeks apart, before and after our trip to Ohio. I look back at pictures from when he was a newborn and I’m amazed at how much he has changed. Even the changes during our trip are apparent in these two photos! Stop growing so quickly Ky!

Lover’s Key – One year ago today….

2011-09-05T21:59:00.001-04:00

A year ago today, this is where we were. (I found this blog post I had written, but never published.)
On the way home from our weekend away we had “the talk.” The big are we ready for a baby talk. I’m sure you have figured out the outcome of our talk. Dylan convinced me that we were ready. Here we are a year later with our precious boy.
________________________________________________________________________________
In one of the travel brochures, we read about Lover’s Key state park. Years ago a boat was required to reach the pristine beaches. Today a bridge makes the trip drivable.

Once arriving at the park there were 2 choices, take the tram, or walk. What do you think I choose? Walking of course!

We made a stop at a local store and purchased an umbrella. So glad that we did!

It turns out that walking and the tram take visitors to two separate sections of the beach. Our section was empty. I mean really empty. It was a 5 minute walk to the nearest person.

Our day was spent swimming, reading, napping, and enjoying God’s beauty. Behind Dylan you will see our little slice of heaven for the day.

It was an amazingly perfect day!
If you are vacationing in the Fort Myers/ Naples area this is a do not miss!

H is for Heaven!

Indoor Picnic

2011-09-01T17:41:00.001-04:00

We are extremely fortunate that our church has an ‘online campus.’ We generally try to actually make it to church, but with the baby it seems I spend much of the service in the nursing room anyways. Sometimes it makes more sense to stay home and watch online. I know that to some this seems like it would not be the same, and honestly its not the same, but it’s still meaningful. On this particular day it was blazing hot outside, so we had an indoor picnic on the guest bed while watching the service.

Dylan’s always posing, and asking me to take his picture while he hams it up for the camera. Here he is pretend that Kyton is punching him in the face.

It’s just too hot this time of year to spend much time outside, like winters up north.

What does your family do when you are ‘stuck’ inside?

Settling into the role of Grandpa

2011-08-30T15:56:00.002-04:00

My dad has never been a ‘baby person.’ Before my son was born I would not have thought my father would spend much time holding my son. I have been amazed to see my dad pick up my son when he starts to fuss during tummy time. When he became a little noisy during my grandma’s funeral my dad turned around, and grabbed him. He does not hesitate to carry Kyton into a store, or even around Cleveland while we were going to the Indian's game. Kyton has inherited my dad’s love of the outdoors, and calms down as soon as they get outside. I know that when Ky gets older, he’ll have plenty of fun, but it has been fun to see them enjoying each other now.

Two Weddings and Funeral

2011-08-28T23:36:00.003-04:00

Since his birth 10 weeks ago, my son has attended the weddings of two friends. The first was in Florida when he was 3 weeks old. The second was in Ohio at 8 weeks old. This week he attended the funeral of his Great-Grandma Swab, my last remaining grand parent.
She was in great health until about a month ago when she had a minor stroke. Unfortunately her time in the hospital and nursing home led to an infection, which she was unable to fight.
I scanned old photos of my grandmother and created 10 minute slide show the looped as friends and family visited the funeral home. The photo on the left is from a wedding, and on the right was a visit last summer including myself and my two sisters. My grandma made a point of leaving many wonderful memories and heirlooms that will be treasured.

As part of our weekend of remembrance we tried to do things that grandma enjoyed. We dined at one of her favorite restaurants, ate Chinese food & went to an Indians game. Kyton has done remarkably well during all of the events. I keep thinking that he’ll be over stimulated during an event, and sleep poorly, or cry to show his frustration, but this has not been the case. This was Kyton’s first Baseball game & the Indians won!

Linking with: Shell

Two Beauties & My Boy

2011-08-23T12:17:00.001-04:00

This weekend I photographed my cousins gorgeous twin girls & we grabbed a few shots with my boy. This was taken just before he simultaneously punched both girls in the face!

This is what happened next. I’m pretty sure Haylie decided she does no like boys. Molly didn’t seen to care or notice. (Hope I have the right name with the right girl!)

My boy looks a little chubby next to the girls. Our kids are 6 weeks apart, but since they were twins they came a little early.

I love photographing babies!

2 Months in pictures

2011-08-19T14:33:00.002-04:00

I’m a little amazed that I remembered every day of Kyton’s second month to take a picture as I did during his first month.   Some days I had many great pictures, other day there were only a few to choose from. I was afraid to commit before, but I’ll say it now.. My goal is to take a picture a day for his first year! Such a big task, I hope I don’t forget! The comments by the pictures are really more for my memory, so feel free to skim.
July 18th – Cuddling with daddy after riding in the Moby wrap for a walk.

July 19th – Chilling at the beach. We had dinner at Crabby Bills followed by some beach time.

July 20th – Ky with his Great Aunt Lee at our favorite local restaurant, the Silver Lining Cafe.

July21st

July 22nd – Wearing the sweater made for him by his Great Aunt Lee. Today we had a baby blessing service. In the hospital they offered a baby blessing & Dylan wanted to wait and have his dad, who is a pastor bless our boy.

July 23rd – Watching a Concert at a local winery.

July 24th – Enjoying online church while cuddling with grandpa.

July 25th – Grandma and Grandpa Barnes have to return to Pittsburgh :-(

July 26th – Today my boy rolled from his front to back while enjoying tummy time. He did it twice the next day, and as of his 2 month b-day has not done it since. (Pic below is him post roll.)

July 27th – This is one of my favorites. Enjoying tummy time.

July 28th – Dylan reading one of his favorites from when he was a kid.

July29th- We had friends over for the evening & Kyton was great!

July 30th- Sometimes its too hard just to pick one favorite image from the day.

July 31st

August 1st – He sort of fell asleep lying across me.

August 2nd – This is what I get to see every morning. He cuddles with me in bed after Dylan goes to work.

August 3rd – Lying on his new quilt made for him by his Great Aunt Gail

August 4th – Chilling in bed. He’s getting so big!

August 5th – Sometimes I set him in the tub while rinsing out his dipes.

August 6th

August 7th – He loves drums, and any song with a beat. Maybe he’ll end up a drummer like his daddy.

August 8th – Dylan came home to this…

August 9th – Last day with Daddy before our trip.

August 10th – Kyton’s first plane ride! Here we are in the airport. He did great, except for the last 10 minutes while we were landing. Once we landed he was great. Luckily most of the passengers were families returning from Disney so they didn’t mind too much.

August 11th – lying on my blanket from when I was a baby at my parents house.

August 12th – Met his second cousins who came to play today. I left him with Grandma for the first time while I went to a wedding reception. He did great! Too bad grandma does not live closer, I'd leave him more often.

August 13th – Sleeping in the pack and play. Met more relatives today, unfortunately not under happy circumstances. Cleaning out his great grandma’s apartment. Today he rolled from back to front, although I’m sure this was a fluke!

August 14th – We spent the night at my uncle’s house, and he got to meet more extended family. He even met third cousins at a reunion in Michigan.

August 15th – A visit with Jessica & Pacey

August 16th – Visiting Jenny.

August 17th – Visited Ashley in Canal Fulton. Went for a hike with Alison. Enjoying the outdoors with grandma.

August 18th- Visited the Nichols today & went for a walk in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

2 months, already?

2011-08-18T23:57:00.001-04:00

I feel like just yesterday I held my tiny 7 pound 2 ounce boy in my arms. In fact it was two months ago. I can’t believe it! Sometimes I pick up my 15 pound boy and think about how big he is getting, and how he’s not the same tiny baby I met two months ago. Other times when he snuggles tightly in my arms, I realize just how small he really is.

I am so blessed to be able to spend the last 2 months with such a precious boy!

Check back for my 2 month in pictures post.