Love, Erika

Happy New Year!

I hope everybody has a wonderful New Year!  Thank you to all of you who take the time to stop by my blog and leave comments. I ♥ you all!

It was a very busy, full year. I know we're definitely in a better place at the end of this year than we were at the beginning, so I know anytime you can say that at the end of a year, you're doing all right. I think we're doing all right.

Some memorable events from 2011 were:

• Drew's autism diagnosis in March. Only good things have come from this, and as a result two very important people have come into our lives: Cass, his speech therapist, and Isabelle, his OT. Both of these ladies have given us such amazing insights into Drew and what his specific needs are and how to meet them. As a result, Drew has accomplished many things we never thought he'd be doing, and it's wonderful to see him develop and grow and turn into such a cute and sweet little guy who can now communicate. Which is priceless.
• My little business became official when I registered as an LLC this year. Woohoo! I'm lucky because I can take it as big or as small as I like, and it doesn't really matter if I fail. Of course, I'm not in it to fail, but it's great to be able to grow at a rate that feels right to me. I like the direction that I'm headed in, and I feel that my work is growing in a way that's bringing me clients that respect my work for its quality. I put in a LOT of hours into my work. Not only just the shooting and editing, but also blog post planning, website work, constant tweaking of pricing (and researching), constant learning from any information I can get my hands on..... it's truly something takes up much more of my time than anybody would ever know.
• Two trips home to NC this year! Most of my evaluations of a year are based on how many times I got to go home, and this year there were only two but they were great ones. And pretty long too!  Lots of good time spent with my family and friends, including my 15 year high school reunion.
• Our first overnight trips as a family this year happened with our two trips to Storyland. Very fun, and I'm glad our kids are at such great ages that we can enjoy it for the next several years.

 

• 

 

Christmas Tree

We went to pick out our tree today. Forgoing the precut trees that we usually get at the little church down the road which are always brittle and dry by the time we get them (not to mention from Canada), we went to a local place (Berry Good Farm) and cut our own. Very enjoyable since the weather has been so nice! I think it would have been a completely different experience if there had been snow, so I'm glad it worked out favorably.

The kids were excited, running around. Drew kept wanting to get the15 foot trees. It was kind of funny, when we finally cut down the one we wanted, he was sort of quiet as Dave carried it back to the car. When I asked what was wrong, he said softly, "This tree is not so big." Poor guy! He had a hard time envisioning how big it would really be inside our house.

When we got it home he was very excited when he saw, that yes, it was plenty big. I LOVE this tree. I don't know what kind it is, but it has such a wonderful rustic shape to it rather than the big fluffball that we often end up with. Too bad I had to waste it on colored lights. :) Drew really wanted colored lights, so that's what I did.

Unfortunately my cold is so bad that I don't even know if it smells good. Dave says it does.

Making good on Halloween

Tonight Halloween was redeemed!  We had a great time trick-or-treating and the kids had fun, so I've made my peace with Halloween this year for the most part and had decent closure. Oh well. October was kind of messed up and disjointed and out of control, except for the first week during which I was having an awesomely fun week at home in North Carolina!  Back in NH, from a job perspective I shot some of my very best work of the year this month, and was so happy with the photos. On a personal level it was a little too chaotic and disappointing with not being able to go to Spookyworld or out to dinner for our anniversary, and having Halloween snowed out. And not to mention probably the worst thing overall is that our neighbor across the street who created such fantastic graveyard scenes for Halloween  the past few years passed away about six weeks ago so he was really, really missed this year. So sad that he went before he could see his favorite holiday one more time. So it wasn't the greatest Halloween year ever but everybody had fun (eventually) and it wasn't completely cancelled, only postponed, so I guess we'll take it.

Turns out, our "new" day for Halloween was beautiful and 55 degrees (not bad for this time of year!) so it was pretty nice. We managed to get all our leaves in the yard all cleaned up, which is a month-long HUGE process, and hopefully it is mostly taken care of. The leaves seem to really be holding onto the leaves late this year.

So Parker wouldn't wear his monkey costume tonight as expected so I pulled out his hamburger suit from last year. It still fit pretty well, although snug in the arms, and he was fine with it. I don't really know what the difference was, but he was pretty opinionated about it, so I let him have it.  They were so excited about candy, trick or treating, the lights we put outside, the candle in the (mostly furry moldy) jack-o-lantern,and everything else. AMAZING how Drew and Parker both arrived at an understanding of the holiday at the same time.

The Fall Goes On...

And time marches on. I love this time of year but can't seem to get a grip. We need 2% milk, but with each trip to any kind of store I can't seem to remember to get any, even when it's clearly written in huge letters on my list. So I'm beyond the place where list-making seems to help. I'm just insane. I can't get it together. 

At any rate, I tried to get some photos of the kids today while the last few leaves are clinging to the ends of the branches. Won't be long and they'll be all gone.

Drew is excited for Halloween, and seems to mostly remember going trick or treating at the mall last year. And keeps asking when we can go do that.  He loves to wear his monkey costume, although he's certain he's going as a ghost this year (he's not.)  Parker also has a matching monkey costume but is resistant to wearing it, so who knows if he will wear it for trick or treating on Halloween night. I'll have to bust out his hamburger costume again from last year (which still kinda fits) and see if he'll wear that if necessary.

The Dixie Classic Fair

I was so psyched during my trip home to North Carolina in early October because it coincided with the Dixie Classic Fair dates! It was the fair that I grew up going to because we lived in Kernersville during those years, so I have a lot of early memories of fairs there. And these days I have always had a secret wish to take off one evening and head to the fair by myself just so I can take pictures. With kids in tow, it doesn't leave much time or opportunity for creativity, so it's been many years since I got to satisfy my love of fair pictures (and I'm still not there!).

Unfortunately it was not to be the case this time either, even though I was going with all adults. Too bad it drizzled rain most of the time! That was a real bummer although we still had a great time and I managed to salvage a few shots all the while sheilding my camera from the rain inside a plastic Target bag that I found in my mom's car en route.

Fair food! What in the world would I choose as my fair indulgence this year, in the South? I hardly knew what kinds of things they had there anymore, it's been so long. I've about had it with pizza and sausage & peppers because you can get that ANYWHERE. Ugh. What would be the perfect regional fare at the fair? There were certainly a zillion BBQ stands everywhere and that would have been great, but I could get that elsewhere. And I definitely was not going to be one of these..... certainly not something you can get anywhere else but I wasn't into it. :) Two great tastes that taste weird together.

My mom had the perfect idea--Moravian chicken pie, complete with a thick slice of pound cake.  It was more than perfect!  It was served up in the brick buildings near the main entrance where all the churches and civic organizations house their food offerings. Too bad I never got a pic of the chicken pie (but it was soooo good and fresh), but I had the pound cake tucked safely in my pocket just waiting for a shelter from the rain. :) That baby wasn't going anywhere.

Here's Jill and Derek enjoying their bloomin' onion. It was a good one! And who's the so-called photographer who left the lemonade straw in the middle of the frame? Ooops.

And lastly, the funnel cake that nearly did us all in. (so nice to be able to call it "funnel cake" or "elephant ear"... the only names that make sense to me! In New England it's just "fried dough".)

I was very interested in all the food competitions...... rows and rows of cookies, poundcakes, biscuits, and breads all lined up with tags and ribbons. I want that job!

One of the last things we saw was the vegetable barns and agricultural products....including bees! This honey display was very beautiful with the light behind it.

This Year's Family Photo Session

I am a wise woman. No longer will I ever endure frustration, disappointment, failure, or even misery by trying to take my own family photos. And by "family photos" I mean the ones that I am actually in.  This is why professional photographers exist, to effortlessly do that kind of thing FOR you, making it even --dare I say-- fun??  Even photographers can't be in their own photos (unless you're either possibly insane, or you have very well-behaved children (and by "well-behaved" I mean vegetative)), so we need help with this.

In the past year I have gotten to know many more photographers in New Hampshire than I knew last year, and that is a wonderful thing for me because I was able to hand pick one whose style I love and probably aligns with how I would shoot my own family photos, if I were able to do it.  Kristen Reimold Photography did such a gloriously fantastic job, and I'm even more beyond pleased than I expected to be (and knowing her work, I expected a lot, actually......) LOL. I knew she was up for the task of managing my two boys of very tricky ages.

 
 
I even tried to get all fancy and do a yellow and gray color scheme with our clothing..... did it work? I hate the whole matchy-matchy look but I find when the colors all kind of work together across multiple people, it really elevates the portrait from "hey we just showed up for our session after we rolled outta school/work" to "I'm serious about this and I want portraits that look like we really tried."  Not that I'm the person AT ALL to ask about wardrobe choices, but I really noticed that what we wore last year for our pictures is kind of disjointed and it bugs me. Like when the wallpaper doesn't line up right. ;)

The weather was PERFECT and amazing. The temperature completely comfortable for wearing jeans. We went to St. Anselm College for our location simply because it's beautiful and has great textures.  At the end, when the light was REALLY good and Kristen was rocking out my backlit sunflare headshots, the kids had gone back to the car to regroup with goldfish crackers because they had had enough. Kristen and I knew they HAD to come back out for this light. She said, "We're not thinking like mothers right now. We're thinking like photographers." So Dave got them back out of the car and she took this photo:

 
RIGHT?!  So worth it. If you're getting light like this it's okay to push the limits of the children. They only have to do it once a year. :)

There are so many more favorites from this session, but I gotta save something for Christmas cards, gifts, wall canvases, etc. :) Can't give away all the surprise in one place! We LOVE our photos and I know I'm going to be using them all over the place for a long time. :) Thank you, Kristen!

Return to Storyland: The Redemption

This weekend we went back to Storyland. Last time we went, it was POURING down rain all weekend long and it made for a very soggy and miserable time. We knew we needed to go back one more time this year, in good weather, to redeem ourselves with a good visit. And we did!  It was such a treat to actually be able to take my camera into the park and not have to fight to keep it dry.

This vintage milking cow is one of those things that's been around for 50 years or more.....

The antique cars are a classic ride at Storyland, being the very first one inside the park. The lines are always very long, so we only do it ONCE. The kids have a hard time waiting in line that long. Drew loves to drive although he can't reach the gas pedal.  It's kind of a sickening ride when he drives. ;)

I love this shot..... that's Parker in the orange shirt up on the bridge.

I had no idea how much they were going to fight over this dang $4.35 slushie. Sheesh!!! I guess they really liked it. And we were TOTALLY sharing that drink back and forth between me, Drew, and impetigo-infested Parker. We didn't have any clue what it was that he had.

And speaking of which, here are the kids all wallowing all over the very public ball pit, Parker spreading his impetigo germs all over the place. I had no idea what he had, I swear! I never even heard of it until we got back home and took him to the doctor on Monday.

 

A couple of Storyland classics..... the train, and the Old Woman in the Shoe. And yes, there is actually an old woman in the shoe, handing out stickers. I was shocked and amazed that Drew actually went in there and got a sticker from her (both days!).  

Parker was, and has been, always obsessed with the train. Even before we went, somehow he remembered our trip in June and when I mentioned Storyland was always talking about "train tracks." I really don't know HOW he remembered that, but it's amazing talking to a two-year old that doesn't have a language delay because oftentimes they really DO know what they're talking about!!! I'm astounded.  

In fact, ever since we've been home, he's been talking about the traintracks, and also the flamingo, hippopotamus, alligator, and monkeys..... all of which are things that we saw from the train during our many rides around the park. I can't believe he really remembered all those things and is still talking about it, even a week later!  It really was his favorite thing, last time and this time, so who am I to question? The heart wants what the heart wants.

 

As we left, we had to let the kids run under the tunnel that connects each side of Rt. 16...... even though we didn't park on the other side of the road, they were still fascinated by the tunnel and had to check it out.... as kids do, crazy obsessed about "tunnels" and running to the other side of them, no matter how bland or uninteresting they are. I think they need to paint a mural in there. :)

 

We stayed at a different motel this time, in North Conway, and it (like the other one) had outstanding ratings on Trip Advisor and was just great. They even recommended a restaurant, Muddy Moose, sort of across the street that we actually walked to, and it was very kid-friendly. In fact the whole place was filled with kids. Drew did much better this time, alternating his time between coloring and Angry Birds. It was much less stressful than the last time we tried to take them out in public. All in all, pretty good, but not something we'll be doing again any time soon. That's my nice big Blue Moon beer there......

Where Parker Came From

I just love Parker. He kind of falls into the shadows here on my blog, because Drew is older and has so many extra needs. But Parker is an amazing little guy, and he's such a bright spot in our family. And he has been even since before he arrived.

 
This will possibly sound weird, but I'm 100% certain I'm not the only mother that ever had this kind of experience. After I had Drew, and for several months afterwards, I was completely OVER the whole pregnancy/birth/having babies thing. I was done. I was so bitter about my c-section, so exhausted and fed up with breastfeeding, and colic, and sleepless nights and feeling so clueless and helpless about every minute of my life, that I swore up and down we would never have another baby. Like, okay, I tried it once and wasn't thrilled with the experience, so I just won't be doing that again. And yet, I had this feeling that I would. One more. I felt like there was another child out there for me. Who would be coming later, definitely..... not just right then, but soon enough.

When Drew was 12 months old we started talking about having another baby. Which--looking back on it--seems RIDICULOUSLY soon. What the hell were we thinking? But it was seriously like we were on some kind of path. We had started to have a clue that something was different about Drew but didn't know how, and we really believed that giving him a baby sibling to grow up with, in the long run,  would probably be really good for him.  And I got pregnant when he was just 14 months old.  I cried at night, wondering if we were doing the right thing by Drew because I knew I wouldn't have as much time with him during his twos.  It seems naive, looking back on it. I think you obsess a lot when you only have one child to worry about. In truth, it's not that big of a deal.

 
So anyway, there came Parker. He didn't arrive in the form that I expected. I was 100% certain I was carrying a girl.  I had a girl's name picked out, and girl's bedding and a whole theme for the baby's room.  We went to our ultrasound and the tech said it was a boy and I started crying and cried the rest of the day, actually. The waterworks were endless. I cried for several months after that, in private. Oh well. It all seems so dramatic in retrospect..... but at the time I was really torn up about it. The truth is, it just doesn't matter.

Time heals everything, and by the time I was into the 3rd trimester I was fine with it. His pregnancy was so easy, and everything went so well. When he was born, I had the VBAC I wanted, and it healed all of that unfulfillment that I had with my previous c-section. Whereas for 2 years I had not a day go by that I didn't think about it, and felt the pang of bitterness. After I had Parker and the VBAC, I have rarely thought of that c-section again. It's like it never even happened to me. He healed me in a wonderful way, because I got the birth experience that I wanted, and I have happy memories now.  It was like I called do-overs and was able to correct everything that I hated the first time around. That's good stuff.

 

Now that we're well into the game, I can't imagine not having my kids so close together (despite comments from relatives about how it wasn't a great idea).  Dave surprised me one day recently when he said, "I think the best thing we ever did for Drew was to have Parker." And I have always thought the same thing. For all the therapies that we get him, and all his time at school, nothing is as valuable as having a typically developing role model to live with day in, and day out, at a time when he really needs it the most. I can't even imagine how less effective it would be if we'd had our 2nd child a year or two later. The moment of need would have passed, and things would be so different. Now that Parker is 2 years and 4 months old, he's a a developmental stage that in some ways is not TOO different from where Drew is, from a social and play skills stand point. This puts them very much as peers and they learn so much from each other on a daily basis.  I really think that Drew would not be where he is today if we hadn't had Parker when we did.

He's also good from a momma standpoint. It's thrilling to have a typically developing child. I'm so much more aware of the milestones and the stages, and it's such a relief (and so fun!) to have him hit all his marks when he's supposed to. So cute to hear a child start talking so early, and express himself, and be so funny. It's just nice to have a nice, typical, "normal" experience with your child and be in the moment. We take normal for granted, but it's just such a relief.......a nice, easy thing. And so cheap!!! :D  We often marvel at how Parker says and does things on his own that we've had Drew in therapy for months to be able to do.
 

So as you can see, these two are brothers from somewhere in the universe sent to me to be their momma. Not sure why they picked me, but they came as a package no doubt.

 

Next Door

I feel like the only pictures I've taken of the kids this summer have been in the pumpkin patch. But really, if you had a pumpkin patch right outside your front door, would you not RUN WITH IT??  I think I pretty much waited my whole life to live next to a pumpkin patch. It's beyond awesome. Not only pumpkins, but summer squash, butternut squash, red potatoes, and cucumbers...... and the 3 varieties of pumpkins this year are the traditional jack-o-lantern carving style, the pie pumpkins, and also some GIGANTIC white blobby ones that are way cool.

And no, the kids did not pick the cucumbers.... they were just playing with all the discards that they throw out probably as decoys to entice the deer and varmits to NOT eat the good stuff.

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Odiorne

Yesterday we went to Odiorne State Park because there's lots to do there, including a big playground, tidepools and rocks to explore at the water, trails to walk around and the Seacoast Science Center. The kids are getting so big, and so easy to take along to places like this. It took LONG ENOUGH for us to get to this point. It seems Parker and Drew have both arrived at this nice easy place at the same time. Phew.

Drew loves his hat. Wore it all day yesterday. Sadly, the hat is now gone and got lost in our travels. Probably got left behind at the Science Center, that was the last place we saw it. Such a bummer!! 

 
 
 
 

 

On the way home we had lunch in Maine at the Dog House. We quickly had to correct ourselves and tell Drew it was the HOT Dog House, because he started to think there were really going to be dogs there. Haha. Everything will be fine as long as we manage his expectations. :)

This was my super messy smeared up foot-long chili dog. With beans in it, which is typical for a New England chili dog. ;)  But it was good anyway.

 

And hey there's me!!!  I made it onto my own blog.
 
 
It was a fun day! Will update later with some pics of Parker. He was there too. :)