Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today is my Grandma Mabel's birthday. Even though I grew-up far from her home in eastern Canada, I have always felt a special closeness to my Grandma.

 When I was a kid, I was always proud of how young and fun my grandma was compared to my friends' grandmas. In part she actually was young...she was only 40 when she became a grandma...but not only was she young, she has always had a youthful spunk. During summer visits I can remember my grandma playing tennis with me, taking me ice skating, and kicking my butt in bowling.

As a teenager my grandma helped create some of my favorite memories when she flew me up to Canada to spend part of my summer vacations with her. As a middle child in a family of four, getting to have this special time with my grandparents all by myself was something that I cherished more than I can express. Part of the reason I enjoyed my summers in Canada so much was because I made such good friends there that I looked forward to hanging out with, but I hope that my grandma knows how much I enjoyed the moments that I got to spend with her.

 During these trips I came to appreciate my grandma's sharp wit and good sense of humor. On more than one occasion, she had me in tears laughing as she recounted priceless family stories (my favorite involved an inebriated great uncle who robbed a bank and then took of on a bicycle, only to crash the bicycle due to his inebriated state).

In college my grandma not only continued to invite (and fund) my trips to Canada, I'm pretty sure she was the one who convinced my Grandpa Bumper to offer me employment at Diamond Jim's, a tavern that they owned, when I couldn't find a summer job at home. Looking back, I realize that I was not the best employee (I was more concerned with my social life than my work life) so my grandparents' paying me was really more an act of charity than something that I earned, and the money that they paid me helped fund my college education. 

I've always wished that I lived closer to my family...especially my family in Canada. But looking back I am so grateful that my grandma always went out of her way to be there for me to celebrate some of the biggest landmarks in my life. She flew out to attend both my high school and college graduations and traveled all the way to Utah when Yo and I got married despite the fact that as a Catholic she couldn't attend my temple ceremony. Not only did she attend the wedding, she offered to pay for our wedding photographer to ensure that we could get good professional photographs (something that I couldn't have afforded with the wedding budget that I was working with).

Over the years I've tried to express to my grandma just how much she means to me and how special and loved she made me feel with all of the thoughtful things that she has done for me throughout the years (gestures both big and small), but I have the feeling that she still doesn't know just how much I appreciate her and love her, too.  

One of the perks of getting to visit my grandma during those summers, is that I was often there on August 15th to celebrate her birthdays with her. So on this August 15th, I find myself thinking of birthdays past and wishing with all of my heart that I could be there to celebrate with her again today. But since that's not possible, at least not this year, this blog post will have to do.

So a very happy birthday to you from me, Yo, Kai and Ari! I hope that you had a great day and that the loved ones in your life reminded you of how special you are. I tried calling you a couple of times today, but unfortunately missed you. I will try you again sometime soon.

Love you,

Carly

Newborn Photos

One of my biggest regrets after Kai was born is that I didn't get good newborn pictures of him. Instead we scheduled a photo session at the local Sears. Our photographer was a teenage boy who had no idea how to pose a newborn. To make matters worse, I had loaded Kai up with formula to ensure he would be cooperative during the shoot, only to have Kai regurgitate most of what he had been fed during the shoot. Let's just say the photos were underwhelming.

So this time around getting a skilled photographer to take pictures of Ari was a top priority (and as much as I regret not getting great shots of Kai, I kind of relish the fact that my 2nd born gets to do something 1st). Luckily there are some amazing photographers in my circles of friends. As a result, Ari ended up having not one, but TWO photo shoots in his first two weeks of life.

The first photo shoot was done by the extremely talented Meghan Macaskill. She is AMAZING. So I was over the moon when she offered to do a mini-session for Ari. Working with newborns takes a special skill set and a lot of patience. Megan has both. I swear tshe is the baby-whisperer. She had so many tricks up her sleeve to calm down Ari and get him posed in the right position. And in case you can't tell from the pictures, Kai found her quite charming, too.

The second shoot was done by my friend, Janelle, who has a natural talent for photography and has started to do some professional work as well. She offered to take some pictures for us saying that it would give her the opportunity to practice and to build her portfolio. I couldn't have been happier to accept her offer. I think that she definitely has a bright future in photography ahead of her.

Yesterday Meghan sent us the pics from her shoot. I was ecstatic at the result. She got so many great shots. I wanted to share a few of my favorites.

Weeks 1&2

Today marks two weeks since Ari was born. In some ways it's still hard to believe that we are a family of four. But in other ways, it feels so normal that I already can't imagine life without little Ari in it.

Our transition to home has been easier than expected so far. It didn't hurt that my parents were out here to help for the first week. My mom was a lifesaver. She did such a great job of keeping Kai busy and getting him out of the house to burn off some energy. It was also such a relief having two extra sets of hands available when I needed to pass the baby off to someone. Not to mention, my mom kept us all well fed. We were pretty spoiled having her here. As for my dad, he's good company and as Kai learned, makes for a pretty good tickle monster.

It also hasn't hurt that Ari has been such an amazing baby. He is a good sleeper, a good eater, and generally a content little fellow. In other words he is nothing like his older brother was as a newborn. I keep bracing myself for the day that he will wake-up from his newborn stupor and show his true, ornery colors, but so far it hasn't happened and I'm holding out hope that he might actually be as easy as seems so far.

Here are a few pictures of his first two weeks at home:

3 days old - Catching some rays at the park (recommended to bring down his jaundice)

Hanging out with his big brother (who may or may not have been force feeding him at the time)

Sleeping - if he's fed and swaddled he'll sleep just about anywhere (in his car seat, swing, crib, pack 'n play, boppy pillow, bouncer seat, and (of course) mama's arms

9 days old - Getting his first bath

It's amazing how easy it is to get back into every day life when you have a good baby. By day 3 I was getting out of the house. On day 8 we left both kids at home for a couple of hours with my parents so that Yo and I could attend a friend's birthday/going away party. These are things that I could not have conceived doing after having Kai. So keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers that my little angel baby is just as angelic in the next few months as he's been these first two weeks.