Photo Shoot

Lucian, Spencer and I took last Monday the 16th off to collaborate on a photo shoot. Lucian rounded up some amazing people to capture portfolio shots. He concepted an entire day of locations and had a make-up artist, hair stylist and fashion designer that collaborated as well.  His cousin, Paris, and sister, Blanca, graciously volunteered as models. And Spencer and I were happy to be far far away from the the undug post holes in the back yard.

We moved around to a few locations at/near Lucian's aunt and uncle's house.

I picked up the kids at 5pm and brought them out to the shoot. We still had lots we wanted to do at that point. Claire loved hanging out with cousin Paris.

Some of the crew

And here are a couple of the initial shots from the day. We'll work on retouching them and I'll share more as it develops.

DIY Disaster

Two Saturdays ago Spencer and I rented a two man auger to dig about 13 fence post holes in our yard. We had a cedar fence that blew over due to rotted posts. The fence was much needed when we had a dog and even now with young kids and a steep drop off to a creek on our property. Spencer struggled to dig out the concrete footings in the original post locations, so we decided we'd just move the posts.

With Lucian's back not up to par, Spen and I took on the task. We rented from Home Depot and the girl who helped us said I was the only woman she's seen come in to rent one. Maybe that should have been my first clue. We had snapped lines and plotted all our points and were ready to go. Spen and I got started with the heavy beast and dug for a while figuring out the throttle and how to get the darn thing to dig. I still don't understand how exactly it happened, but we got it stuck. It would not turn or budge for the life of us. My hopes of digging all 13 holes in 4 hours were dashed and I quickly shifted to hoping to return the thing in 4 hours and calling a professional. Not even that happened.

We spent the whole time digging the 3 foot auger bit out of the ground by hand. It was terrible. We even left it in the ground overnight because we were too exhausted to finish on Sat.

Sunday morning we triumphed (if you can call it that) and got the darn thing out. Lucian thought we might try another hole, but the fear of another day of digging by hand was too paralyzing. While searching online, I've come across diggers like this. I hope a visit from one is in my near future.

6 Months

Kyle Reed had his 6-month checkup last week. He is growing well and getting so strong. I was telling Lucian I feel bad not having any questions when we go to his appointments, but he really is an easy baby (knock on wood).

Height: 28.5" (98%)
Weight: 19 lb. .5oz (75%)
Head circumference: 45.5cm (95%)

Kyle puts everything in his mouth, including his feet. He can roll like a champ and still scoots like a worm on his belly.
 

He is enjoying solid food and so far has tried: carrots, sweet potatoes, celery root, banana and apples. There are pears ripening on the counter and some yellow squash from our CSA ready to be pureed.

Shopping for baby food produce at Whole Foods

Weekend Roundup

The majority of our weekend was pretty low key. Lucian was home with the kiddos on Friday (daycare was closed). I ordered a new pool for the back yard after our little inflatable wouldn't stay inflated any longer. We can all fit in this pool, which has been rather appealing with the heat wave this summer.

We set it up Friday night. I ran hose from the basement faucet out the window so it would be warm for Claire, something my dad used to do for us as kids. We lounged after lunch on Saturday as well.

 Our daycare family gave us some floaties for Claire. They were a big hit.

On Sunday, my sister and I headed to Rockford with the kids to celebrate my grandma's birthday. Grandma Mary loves Claire, so I think it meant a lot to her that we were there.

Claire bonded with my cousin's son, Gavin. I think the two operate at about the same energy level, so they came up with plenty of activities to keep themselves busy. This was an imaginary snack stand as well as a resting station from running laps.

Running laps

My grandma turned 86 this year. Happy birthday Mary Ellen.

 Claire also had a great time coloring with Gavin's sister Megan.

Staying Cool on the 4th

We seem to be breaking high temperature records daily this week. The 4th was no exception. We accepted an invite to 'Aunt Mimi's pool' rather that hit up the parades this year. Standing outside on the street wasn't the most appealing option on a 102° day.

The club Mimi belongs to has a kiddie pool and a large pool. We snagged an umbrella for our stuff and beat the heat in the water.

The kids had adorable matching outfits, thanks to Nana Barb.

And after some debate about the fireworks, I ended up taking Claire to our local show. We could walk from our house and they were much shorter than the big Milwaukee display down on the lake. It was perfect for a 2 year old. Lucian stayed home with Kyle so he could keep cool and sleep. We found Lucian napping on the couch when we returned.

A Party & Carrots

Last Friday we celebrated our niece Lydia's 4th birthday. She and Claire are great buds. There was a butterfly piñata and chocolate cake.

 

Gathering loot

Claire, cousins and Auntie Blanca. Claire insisted she sit right next to Lydia during dinner and dessert.

With Kyle's six month 'birthday' he can now start some solid foods. I made a batch of carrots first and he has been eating like a champ. I managed to make Claire's baby food and am hoping to do the same for this guy.

"Mmm, that's different Mom."

"I think I like them." He slept through the night right after eating these and one other time this week. Hoping these solid foods help out with that:)

Post carrots with goofy Claire.  These photos also made me decide Kyle was in need of a haircut. I spoke to my stylist about technique and successfully trimmed his hair on Sat. Boy's hair is a little challenging.

Kyle can now reach his feet to his mouth. He seems to be a thumb sucker and isn't to interested in a paci (which is fine by me).

And on a side note, we have a robin's nest on the window ledge of our garage window. It's perfect for observing and getting really close to the babies. We check on them every day.

Change of Plans

Although we were booked to stay in Sandusky, OH until Mon., we realized the majority of our group was heading out Sunday. We followed suit and skipped the last night to head to Chicago. Lucian got us there pretty quickly and I secured a hotel room from my phone as we drove into the city. We caught a late dinner at one of Lucian's favorite restaurants, Shaw's Crab House, and walked around Tribune Tower looking at all the cool stones set into the building from around the world. There were stones from ivy league schools, the Egyptian pyramids, the great wall of China and just about everything in between. Claire thought it was pretty cool too.

We rested up and headed to breakfast in the morning by way of Millennium Park. We stopped at the Bean played in the fountain and enjoyed walking through the gardens. We headed to Uptown for Vietnamese food as we departed the city and made it home around dinner time. It was a great little detour filled with some
quality family time. It's rare we can hold Spencer captive for 4 days straight. I think he was ready to go back to sleeping in until at least 10am after waking up with the munchkins at 6:30 or 7am daily.