Bryce

It's really been a whole week since I last posted? I guess it makes sense; it's been a busy one.

It all started on Friday of last week when my brother called to tell me that he and his 9-months-pregnant wife were heading to the hospital to be "monitored" again for potential pre-eclampsia. As it turned out, Marie DID have pre-eclampsia (severe pre-eclampsia, actually) and she was admitted to be induced.

I was on call to be there to take photos, but things moved very slowly from Friday night through the whole day Saturday. Tyler finally called me around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday to say that things were picking up, so I decided to head down to the hospital. Unfortunately for them, things continued to move pretty slow... and long story short, the baby wasn't born until nearly 9:30 a.m. on Sunday. It was a looooong night for everyone, but especially Marie! I got about an hour of sleep on Saturday night, so I was pretty dead to the world on Sunday (as was everyone else in our family).

Without further ado, here's a little peek at our newest nephew. His name is Bryce.

My dad drove up on Saturday morning to get here for the birth (needless to say, he made it with plenty of time to spare!), so he stayed with us all week. He just left this morning. So this week, we've just been busy with family--hanging out with my dad, going to the hospital, working, etc.

It's always sad to see my dad leave at the end of a visit, since he loves seeing Nora (and Hunter, and now Bryce) so much. But we've been doing a lot of eating out and running around and generally being out of sorts, so it'll be nice to get back into our normal daily routine. Too bad we're heading into a super busy weekend! We have a wedding and then a family party for my cousin who is visiting from Shanghai.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the blogging groove!

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Smooches

We had dinner with my family tonight, and Hunter was (as always) obsessed with Nora. The kid loves babies; it's adorable. He points to her eyes and says "eye!" and points to her pacifier and says "baby binky!" and pinches her little nose between his thumb and forefinger and says "honk honk!" It's too cute.

He also doles out a healthy number of smooches, complete with long, drawn-out "MWAAAAH!" sounds.

For some of the kisses, he even put his hands on the sides of her face to pull her toward him. *LOVE*

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Teeny Halloweenie

WARNING: This post is photo-heavy. I can't help it; we took more than 200 photos yesterday.

We don't get any trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, so we went over to my mom's to celebrate the holiday and get Nora and Hunter together in their costumes.

Hunter was showing a lot of interest in his baby cousin this time around, and he kept sitting on the floor and looking at us like, "Aren't you going to let me hold her?" So we... let him "hold" her.

And suddenly he wasn't too sure about it anymore.

He really does love to look at her, though. It's so cute.

We also carved pumpkins...

After dinner, we put the kids in their costumes...

And then we had to hang out in the garage for a while because my mom's carbon monoxide detector went off and my brother discovered a gas leak in the furnace in the basement. (He happens to be a certified HVAC technician, so he was able to fix it.)

A bottle in the garage? Nora didn't seem to mind.

Once things were safe in the house again, we went back in and posed the kids together for a few pics in their costumes. This is how I imagine it went between the two of them:

"CAAAANDY!!"

"Oh. Hey Nora. Can you believe these costumes they've put us in?"

"Mmmmm. Snickers."

"Want one?"

"Maybe I can put it on top of your head."

"Guys, she doesn't seem interested."
"Let's see what else I can find."

"What are you in the mood for? Caramel? Peanut butter? Coconut? Give me something to work with here."

"How about a Snickers AND a Kit Kat?"

"Alright, I was going to keep this one for myself, but... how about a Reeses?"

"Wait. Where did Grandma go with the big bowl? Why is she giving candy to those kids at the door?"

After that, we went out for a little trick-or-treating (only to three or four houses). It was totally SNOWING.

Soon, it was time to head home so we could get Nora ready for bed.

She was in quite a good mood, though. Must've been all that candy.

All in all, it was a pretty good Baby's First Halloween. :)

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Daddy-to-Be

Words cannot express how much I love this picture.

I'd say someone is going to be an awfully good daddy. I can't wait.

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Born to Chill

Earlier this week, my mom sent me this photo we took of Hunter on her BlackBerry while we were in the Poconos. I had completely forgotten about it and I almost died from the cuteness, all over again. See what I mean?

Look at him kicking back with his bottle, with his feet crossed, and gripping onto his favorite toy fork. We did not pose him, this is the way he was lying on his own. Apparently he lies with his feet crossed like that all of the time. And I JUST CANNOT HANDLE THE LEVEL OF CUTE.

Please God, let our child be HALF this "chill." Hunter's such an easy-going kid, and I'm terrified that statistically, Michael and I will end up with the terror of the family.

And with that, I wish you nice, relaxing weekends of your own. Kick back with your bottles beer/margaritas/wine/drink of choice, put your feet up, and unwind. :)

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Cake Smash

I did one of these for a client last fall, but because it was a client, I didn't feel comfortable sharing it here. But I knew that when I did it then, I'd do it again for Hunter when he was about to turn 1.

Last weekend, when we took Hunter out for some 1-year portraits, we ended the day in front of a backdrop, in his diaper, with a small cake. Then, we just let him do his thing. I edited the resulting photos into a collage, which I got printed for display at his birthday party on Saturday. It turned out so cute!

Little man got some practice with cake, too. Win-win situation! :)

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Baby Blues

We took Hunter out to a park this morning to take some official 1-year photos of him. It was tremendously difficult to work because it was super sunny out, and trying to keep this babe in the shade when he's constantly on the move? Not easy. But that's not his fault!

Kara and I looked (and sounded) like lunatics, trying to get him to sit, stand, stay, look at the camera, smile... all while trying to keep the newly-walking little guy from face-planting into the cement. During one particular shot, we both managed to step in the same pile of dog poop. (Thank you, sweet owners who do not clean up after their pups.)

It was exhausting. By the time we were done, I think we were all ready for a nap.

I haven't done much editing yet, so I only have one to share. I just couldn't resist posting it now instead of waiting until they're all done.

I so seriously *HEART* him. Him and his gorgeous blue eyes and his perfect little baby lips.

I cannot believe that his birthday is next week.

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Watch Them Grow

The nephews are all getting big. Fortunately, we've been able to see all three of them several times in the last month, so we've had the chance to witness all of their latest and greatest tricks!

10-month-old Hunter is pulling up on anything and everything...

...working on some additional teeth...

...and smiling. Like always.

13-month-old Logan is usually a pretty serious little boy. He seems to spend a lot of time thinking and observing. But over Easter weekend, he was a seriously happy boy!

He was also crawling all over the place, playing with his toys, and holding his own with his big brother!

Last, but not least, 2.5-year-old Brendan is talking up a storm, working on potty training, smiling on cue...

...and generally, being a B-O-Y! He's crazy busy and all over the place, but he's loads of fun.

The guesses are split on whether their new little cousin will be a boy or a girl!

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Logan's Sesame Street Party

Today, we drove down to my sister-in-law's for our nephew's first birthday party. We got to spend a few hours with them before the rest of the guests arrived, which was nice since we haven't seen them in almost two months!

From the moment we walked in, Brendan was all over the cupcakes. He wanted a cupcake sooooo badly. Every single time he was in the dining room, he was asking about a cupcake. By some miracle, he managed to wait until the party was in full force, everyone had eaten, and the gifts had been opened. But then, as soon as someone mentioned it was time for cupcakes? The kid bee-lined into the dining room.

The birthday boy, Logan!

When presented with the smash cake, like a lot of kids, Logan didn't really "get" it. He did experiment by putting his fingers in it a bit, but then he actually got a little bit fussy because I don't think he liked the feeling of the frosting caked on his fingers. Silly boy; it's CAKE!

He did eventually take a pretty decent chunk off the side of the cake and Melissa cut it up for him to eat. He did seem to enjoy it.

Meanwhile, Brendan was FINALLY getting his hands onto the cupcake that he had been wanting all afternoon. He was damn sure he wanted Elmo, too. There wasn't any hesitation in his choice.

Love.

As soon as he was done devouring Elmo, he said, "I want Oscar!" He didn't get another one right away, but later on, before we left, Melissa let him have an Oscar. After he had a few bites of Oscar, he said, "Now Big Bird!" Hilarious. The line was drawn there, though. But we let him keep a Big Bird AND a Cookie Monster to save for tomorrow. :)

Overall, a successful first birthday for Logan. And the cupcakes were a huge hit with big brother Brendan!

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