The last 6 years...part 1

Before our wedding, I made two scrapbooks, one of our highschool years, and one of our university years, each about five years.  So, for our 15 year anniversary, I made a photobook of the last 5-6 years.  I don't have the time for the scrapbooking thing, so I made a photobook. It was a lot quicker and easier on the computer, and now that the film days are over, that is actually a possibility, when it wasn't years ago.  Wow, feeling old now! Well a lot sure has happened in this last period of time. 

Wedding Oct. 2006

Honeymoon, Amalfi Coast Oct. 2006

First home and first Christmas there Oct./Dec. 2006

Pregnant first baby 2007 - Babymoon trip to Quebec

Anderson is born Jan. 2008 

 

Anderson's first Christmas 2008

 

Anderson's 2nd Christmas and pregnant with Maeva 

Welcome Maeva! Jan. 2010

part 2

Whoa, two jobs, two babies, two houses, two 30th birthdays, two babies again, two overseas trips! It has been a full couple years.  Looking forward to the next five!

 

It is so nice to reflect on all this, and feel grateful, because sometimes you get stuck in the day to day and forget about the big picture. This pregnancy has been so rough, that I've really had a hard time enjoying myself or feeling positive.  I've just felt so horrible and sick and uncomfortable, so full of stress, and worry and anxiety.  We hid in the house most of the summer, I feel like I've slept away months of my life. And everything feels so unknown. Not knowing exactly how things will turn out or how our life will look in the next couple months.  So in the middle of the stress, and busy days, and fighting kids and feeling so worn out...this family thing worth it all.

Trip to Toronto with just Maeva, Apr. 2010

Camping and summer fun

 

Maeva's first Halloween, Oct. 2010

Maeva's first Christmas, 2010

First birthday, Jan. 2011 - New house, Feb. 2011

Niagara, Oct. 2011

First Christmas in new house, 2011

Father's day, Mother's day, 30th birthday, MBA Grad - Spring 2012

Twins! 30th birthday, Santa's Village, anniversary

Scotland, Sept. 2012

good morning, four!

My little boy on his birthday morning. Starting a tradition (since I did the same on his 3rd birthday), a muffin covered in blueberries. But this year we added a bowl of ice cream...yay! Look how happy he is. But then I found the email I sent to John that morning. I had a vague memory of this and went searching in my inbox.

"there were only a few more incidents after the fact that it wasn't a big cake. the blueberries all rolled off, then he tried to put them back angrily, smushing the whole thing. this was round two with PB holding the berries on instead of honey! Maeva ate the abused muffin out of a bowl with a spoon (the only way a two year old should eat a muffin, btw)."

birthday party

Catching up a little. The SLR photos always take a little while to get to. But I thought, I might as well post. I really want to avoid this blog becoming only camera phone posts, as easy and tempting that can be sometimes.

Here are more captures from the kids' birthday party (for some reason, I had only edited half of them back in January). We didn't plan any big themes or games. Just put a bunch of kids together and let the chaos begin. Auntie Sam and Uncle Ben brought a few balloons, which were a big hit. A bunch of kids running around and being crazy, not eating a bite of lunch, then stopping for a few minutes to eat some cake. That's what it's all about.

I remember being so exhausted after this party. But now I look back and don't really remember that part of it as much as the fun they had. Birthday parties and childbirth, you're meant to forget the hard parts!

on the topic of instagram again

So I'm documenting all of our everyday in the easiest way possible right now. Because our everyday is super full right now. Full of running, playing, tears, yelling, curly-haired hugs, more crying (both the kids and myself most days). And the thing is with this parenting rollercoaster, is that the days are really hard, but the memories are really good.

And on top of it all, life is full of all this digital data overload, and all these little captures and slices of life are often only existing in a virtual world. Which overwhelms me and freaks me out at the same time (kinda like parenting, I guess) So, I try to commit to putting it to old-fashioned paper. Oh, I hope I never see the a day when the book is dead.

I plan to add this book to our shelf soon.

little bits of everyday ~ sept. 2011 to jan. 2012 by andrea traynor | Make Your Own Book

on her second christmas

There will be some reflecting back, some clusters of posts on here for a bit. We were so immersed in the holidays, and I'm just getting to the photos now. Which is a good thing. I'm not going to stop the steady flow of experiencing the day to day, just to blog about it. And sometimes that flow of life is just too full, or too hectic.

There has been a bunch of iphonography and instagramming going on, because I do love the convenience of documenting the everyday. But for the holidays and as often as I can, I do like to pull out the DSLR and go through the slightly longer process. Is iphone to DSLR what digital was to film? I still have a roll in my Pentax K1000, it has been there since 2009... there are still a few frames on it. Mmm...I love all the spectrums of photography.

So here is baby girl on her second Christmas. I guess the instagram has influenced my soft spot for the square frame...or maybe it was medium format a while back... that first roll that I put through my Grandpapa's Yashica-A (that had documented my father as a boy).

she sews again

I was finally, after a long hiatus, back at the sewing machine to make something special for a dear friend who will be welcoming a baby this fall. I can feel "wrapped-up-in-blankets" weather in the air already. I chose this fabric as a reminder of camping trips we've taken and plan to take with this new little family. Anderson did some good QA work made sure the blanket was snuggle worthy.

It was so fitting that following a ceremony to remember my Grandmaman (who taught me to sew), that I'd be doing the last hand-stitching on this blanket on our way to the celebration for the parents-to-be.

a little something special

I came across this folder of images from December 2008 and I hadn't done anything with them yet. So while the kids took a good nap today, I put this together. Enjoy!

through the years