Portraits of Eliot

It's not that often that I get to take portraits of my own child.  He actually hates the camera.  He usually won't even look at it.  Either that, or he will give the fakest "cheese" smile you ever did see.  HOWEVER, when a new truck is on the line, he will give it a good attempt. 

I did his hair, put on a sweater and jeans, and took him to a local park to shoot these on an overcast afternoon last week.  Though none of them are perfect, some of them came out really cute.  I'm happy enough with them that I won't attempt more portraits of him for a while-- maybe I'll do some more at the Cape this year. I tend to try to get some good ones of him there every year.

I'm so proud of Eliot lately.  He's been SO good.  He's been helping out, cooperating, and he even let me rest one morning when I wasn't feeling well last week.  He still throws a good tantrum now and then, but *fingers crossed* I think the worst is behind us!  He really is such a sweet boy.  I am so blessed to be his Mom.

Gardening, Water Ballons & The Beach, Oh My!

There's no question; we've undoubtedly had one of the warmer Springs within recent memory.  This is especially awesome since this year we have a YARD to enjoy it with!  Eliot and I spend one morning last week planting some seeds and doing a little gardening.  We have not been so good with the upkeep of these plants so don't expect an update from us on these :-x

Then, one one of the warmer afternoons, I filled up some water balloons for Eliot and his new friends to play with.  At first, their plan was to bury the balloons.  I'm not sure of the purpose-- maybe to stomp on them and pop them? And made lots of mud? That sounds very Eliot-ish.  Then, they decided just to go for it!

Then, on yet another warm day, we went to the beach for a picnic.  I couldn't believe (OK, yes I could) that Eliot got into the water! It was SO cold! Even walking through it made my feet hurt.  Good thing we brought a change of clothes.... and blasted the heat in the car the whole ride home!  Last week was also April Vacation so we got the chance to see some old friends which was nice!

I also wanted to post this photo here. My Papa loved lighthouses.  So much so that they were even on his checks.  I recently purchased (a la Christmas Tree Shops) a canvas print of a lighthouse to be displayed in our guest room (having created it in the first place with him in mind), but I thought maybe I could do one better and print my own canvas.  I think that this is the photo I will print on canvas;

Easter 2012

Easter started a few days early this year with an egg hunt at my in-laws house. The 5 cousins were super excited to find their eggs (each child had a different color they had to find-- Eliot was green). Inside were treats like M&Ms, new socks, or a blow up, bouncy balloon. Just as they had fun with the egg hunt, they had fun just being together.




On Easter itself, Eliot woke up, forgetting for a minute (until I reminded him) that the Easter Bunny had come. He went from groggy to hopping out of bed in 10 seconds flat! I quick picked up my camera and managed to snap a few of Eliot seeing his Easter basket for the first time. A note from the Easter Bunny praised Eliot for being such a good and helpful boy this year, but also reminded him to try to listen better to Mom and Dad and be nicer to his pets (poor Merelle got a rock to the nose last week and Milo's been at the receiving end of Eliot's (shall we call it--) over-excitement for about 3 years now). Eliot was very excited to see that not only did the Easter Bunny leave candy, but also a bird feeder, and lots of gardening stuff like a ready-to-make pepper garden, and lots of other veggie seeds to plant. (Who are we kidding? We all know Eliot's more excited about the digging than the planting).



Later that day, we went to Ted's Aunt & Uncle's house for a VERY yummy dinner, LOTS of yummy desserts, and another Easter egg hunt for the kiddos, which was VERY well received. Eliot had such a fun day--and weekend! Happy Easter!

Eliot cleaned up house with all his egg finds-- and Daddy got to hold them all!

Sometimes I like to make little notes about things so I don't forget them. I actually have a book/journal that I usually write this stuff down in, but since we don't yet have a bookcase, our book boxes have not yet been unpacked, but I just want to remember this adorable little thing Eliot does now-- he whispers. OK, so it doesn't SOUND that cute, but it is. If someone asks him a question and he doesn't know the answer he will look at me and whisper (with his hand to his ear) "what is it?" He'll do it when he wants to keep a secret just between us so Daddy doesn't find out (sometimes about sneaking an extra piece of candy, or making a mess with whatever he's using at the time, sometimes he'll do it when I have a headache, or just before bed or naptime). I guess you have to witness it to appreciate the cuteness, but trust me, it's adorable!

Off-Camera Flash-- It's about Time!

So this past weekend, I was blessed enough to attend an off-camera flash workshop (OCF) in Boston. This is a technique that I've wanted to learn (let alone, master) for a long, long while. I still have a long, long way to go, but I've had some fun learning. Taking your flash off of the camera creates more dynamic photos. The lighting that you can achieve is awesome. Here are a couple from my workshop and a couple from my own plays (in my own yard!).



Notice the shorts and tee-shirt indicating an unseasonably warm March. I think we had temps in the mid-80's this week! Wouldn't mind a March like that every year! My trees and bushes are blooming beautifully!

Thanks for reading!

The Dog Days

So we are a dog family now.

D-O-G.

How can something only three letters long cause sooooooooo much trouble? So far we've thrown away two pairs of chewed up shoes, two sippy cup lids, shampooed the rug two or three times, spot cleaned the rug about 200 times, retrieved tens of items from Merelle's mouth (Ted's PlayStation remote, the Tivo remote, Ted's phone, Eliot's toys, boots, shoes, pillows, blankets, wrappers, a cake, other food, the list really does go on...

It's truly like having another child. When I go out with Eliot it feels like such a RELIEF to only have to worry about ONE! But, as we're finding out, that's not true, as Merelle is an escape artist. She bends her crate and unlocks it with her nose. Usually, when we get home, Merelle has escaped from her crate, and yes, has caused MORE trouble. When she doesn't escape, I'm PRETTY sure she barks the entire time we're gone. In fact, that's how I know if she's out or not before I even unlock the door; if she's barking, she's still in the crate and if it's silent, she's gotten out-- again.

Okay, so it's not ALL bad. Merelle keeps Eliot entertained in the backyard for hours, which is fantastic. It's like he's got a constant playmate and companion which really is heart warming. Oh, and Ted's in love and the love is definitely mutual.

Then again, my poor cat won't even come upstairs. It's been a week and a half since Milo's been upstairs. We've been keeping the gate locked at the top of the stairs to keep them separate and not to force them on each other, but they see each other from time to time.. and.. Merelle barks at Milo, scaring him and causing him to retreat to under the bed. Poor Milo. I make sure to spend lots of time with him downstairs. Milo has my heart. Merelle has some proving herself to do.

Alas, what's a post without some pics. Enjoy!

Merelle

So Ted's wanted a dog his whole life. Actually, I think he'd take any kind of animal. He's often said he wants a donkey. A dog. Hmm... maybe not such a big deal. We have a house now.. and a yard. Let's get Ted (and Eliot) a dog. It seemed like a good idea.

We went to the rescue down the street from us twice. Neither time did we find a dog that clicked with our family (maybe I should have taken that as a sign). Ted searched through online listings of fostered dogs that needed adoption. That's when I saw a photo of sugar plum:

Oh, that face! She is half german shepard and half shar pei. BUT she's a puppy. I agreed to a DOG, NOT a puppy. I said no. A day later, after we didn't get a different dog we inquired about (whose best friend happened to be a cat), I changed my mind and told Ted I liked Sugar Plum and he could inquire as to how to go about adopting her. After a lengthy adoption form and interview (and a hefty adoption fee), she was ours... we just had to wait two weeks until the truck would bring her to a New Hampshire rest stop.

Alas, it was March 3rd. Adoption Day. We drove up and waited close to an hour for our pup to arrive. Then we saw the truck. We scurried over to see all the dogs getting delivered to their new owners and homes. It was truly heart warming. Then I saw her; OUR dog-- still in her crate, just waiting to be given to her new family. I called her name and I think she heard me. Then it was our turn and they turned over Sugar Plum to us. I had been in a funk that day-- having just lost my Papa-- and the dog literally turned my frown upside down. I felt so happy and thought we definitely made the right choice.


We decided to change her name to Merelle in honor of my late Papa (Merrill). After all, a dog is a part of the family. She's already responding to her new name. However, fast forward 3 days and I am finding being a dog owner quite stressful. The trouble she can get in in such a short amount of time-- oh, and did I mention she's not house trained? Cleaning up poop and pee isn't my idea of fun. It's like having a newborn. She requires much more attention than my 4 year old cat, that's for sure.

Ted, however, is in love. He actually told her he loved her the day we got her (even faster than he told me he loved me!). As I type this, she is whining and barking upstairs wanting attention. Milo is not a fan. Eliot likes the dog pretty much, but admits she is stressful. I asked if he wanted to keep the dog or give her back, and he told me he wanted to keep her. So stay tuned for more in the adventures of Merelle.

Florida 2012

It's been almost a month since we had our vacation in Florida. So much has happened since then that it's hard to remember all the details that I would normally blog about. As soon as we came back, I spent a lot of my time trying to get my Papa to the right doctors and making sure he was well taken care of. I miss him so much. I still can't believe he's gone and it makes me so sad to think he'll never come on a family adventure with us again. We did so many things that included Nana and Papa; The Polar Express, 4th of July Parade, Florida, Santa Land in Laconia, Clark's Trading Post, the zoo, the list goes on... my heart just aches.

Even though Papa was sick and couldn't go to Florida this year (not that Nana wanted to), Ted, myself, Eliot, Emily & Derek took a vacation to the Orlando area. Our cousins, Lois & Shelby came and stayed with us for a couple of nights. Just like last time, Eliot took quite the liking to Shelby. She's all he wanted! He kept calling her 'that girl' "Where'd that girl go?"

I took Shelby's senior pictures and we all went to a petting zoo together which was actually quite cool. Eliot (and myself and Ted) got to milk a cow (her name was Sweet Lips). We all chased and caught chickens (and Ted caught a duck too). We held baby chicks and baby ducks, we went on a tractor hay ride, and got to touch and play with other cool animals too.


Then, of course, there were days by the pool. We had pretty good weather this year for most of our trip. If Eliot had it his way, we would have stayed in that pool the entire week.



Alas, we went to Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom. The best part of that was the open air safari ride. We got to see animals in the 'wild' such as hippos and cheetahs, giraffes, and elephants. It was definitely the coolest part. The not-so-cool part was the waiting in line. We had to wait about 30 minutes in line for each thing we did-- good thing we only did about 3 things. All in all, I think we all agreed that the petting zoo place was overall a better experience than Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom-- and 1/3 of the price too. Another moment at the Animal Kingdom, though, was standing in line waiting to meet Eeyore. We all know how Eliot's been attached to his Eeyore stuffed animal (a little less lately). He has collected 3 Eeyores and one puppy on a string and he calls them his cousins "Mom, can you make sure you bring up my cousins when you get up?" He's so cute. Anyway, him meeting Eeyore was beyond adorable. It was like he was star-struck. He couldn't believe he was meeting the REAL Eeyore! So sweet!