Their World, July 2014

And I thought that June was busy!

In July we:

• hosted a Canada Day party for 22 people
• enjoyed the last bit of our time with Nana and Papa
• had a packed 8 day visit from my sister and her family (geocaching, ice cream shoppe, the Ottawa Beer Market, a tour of the Cold War Museum at the Diefenbunker, the Science Museum, POUTINE, the Museum of History & Children's Museum, the Mosaika light show on Parliament Hill, along with park visits, bike rides... see? PACKED.)
• watched LOTS of soccer... so sad that Argentina lost.
• travelled down to Rochester, NY, to visit the Strong's Museum of Play, see a movie, do some shopping (including the Lego Store!), visit the Rochester Science Museum, and hit up a Wegman's to drool over their selection of gluten free foods
• spent three fun-filled days with Peter's brother and his family at our sister-in-law's family farm/pond, located right next to one of NY beautiful state parks 

We also swam with friends, went to parks/splash pads, had fun rock climbing and racing through bouncing houses/slides at les Jeux de la Francophonie Canadienne, climbed fences to watch trains go by, and cheered Peter on (from a distance) as he ran a 26km Spartan Race. In addition to that, I managed to squeeze in a family session, a maternity session, a full-day wedding, and potentially a birth if baby decides to come before the end of the month. In the month that I told myself I'd take off. HA.

And my birthday is July 31st!

(I decided to limit this to images of only my four kids, without any of their cousins... otherwise this post would have 53 images. No joke.)





02.July.2014 - with Nana and Papa (Peter's parents)

07.July.2014 - family shot at the Diefenbunker

14.July.2014 - picnic on our way down to NY, swimming & sundaes

15.July.2014 - The Strong's Museum of Play, the Lego Store

16.July.2014 - hurricane simulator at the Rochester Science Centre... and a little girl feeling left out

18.July.2014 - a little evening hike in the state park

24.July.2014 - inflatable fun at les jeux de la francophonie

25.July.2014 - traaaaaaain!!

I have so many other images to share from this month, but this will have to suffice. Next in the circle is Annie. Please click through and see what she was up to in July.

Their World, June 2014

June was full. Two birthdays, our 14th wedding anniversary, hot enough weather to finally be in the water, finishing our homeschool year, hours spent at various parks, a visit from Nana and Papa, and a big Spartan Race at the end of the month.

02.June.2014 - Liam opening his birthday presents. Eloise pouting because they weren't for her. *Excuse Andrew's dirty face.

09.June.2014 - Swimming next door. Our neighbours (a retired couple) are so good to us. They've given us a key to their pool and even bring out snacks for the kids every time we go to swim. Spoiled!

18.June.2014 - Liam's Nerf part with friends. I invited two (of my) friends, which meant 13 kids. They had a blast running around the park with a stockpile of 100+ bullets.

22.June.2014 - Trying out the pool at our friends' new home (they're all in there, I promise).

23.June.2014 - End of year homeschool picnic at a nearby lake.

26.June.2014 - Eloise opening her gifts from Nana and Papa and her brothers. We celebrated her birthday a bit late this year, which totally offended her brothers, but she didn't know the difference. She's in love with the 12 vintage Care Bear toys found on Kijiji.

28.June.2014 - Family pictures, post-Spartan Race. I should've had the boys all wear their Spartan shirts and medals, but no one was in the mood for wardrobe changes at this point, in the 40C degree humidity.

Next in the circle is Anika.

Their World, May 2014

The month of May brought warm weather. Finally. The kids are outside so much. Enjoying the yard, the two parks nearby, their bikes, their best-friends-who-will-soon-be-moving, and new neighbours RIGHTNEXTDOOR. Mother's Day was lovely, school is going well (and is almost done!!), and the garden is coming along. 

 11.May.2014 - Forced into taking Mother's Day pictures. Dirty socks, fingers in noses, and all.

12.May.2014 - A walk in a little ravine near our house. With sticks. Always with sticks.

19.May.2014 - Guest appearance from my older sister's kids during my sans-kids trip back to Regina.

20.May.2014 - I got to meet my new niece! And I hadn't seen my nephew since he was about 4 months old.

27.May.2014 - More fun at the park. I'm so, so, so glad the weather has warmed up.

From a bike ride later that same day. They're like a little gang.

It's not always easy to find the time (or the motivation) to pull out my camera and get some pictures of all four kids together. Especially when they seem to always have better things to do... and I always have loads of client work waiting for me on my computer. So I'm thankful to have a group of women pushing me forwards with this little project. 

If you'd like to see what some of the others were up to this month, then next in line is Annie.

Their World, February 2014

Another month with a fair bit of illness in our house. I'm sick and tired of it (see what I did there?). I'm really hoping that warmer weather and more vitamin D will improve our chances. This month saw lots of reading, lots of playing, lots of days spent in pyjamas (or "jothes" as Simon calls them... jammies + clothes = jothes), lots of learning and schooling (and some tears shed), and yet more snow. 

We also celebrated Valentine's Day with a few friends. In our case, a "few" was 25 kids and 6 moms. I love throwing parties and making these days special for the kids. There are so many benefits to homeschooling, but there are also some fun parts of school that I don't want them to miss out on. I hope their childhood is full of memories of happy times like these.

01.29.2014 - Reading. Not all four kids, but 3 kids + 2 kittens. Good enough.

01.30.2014 - Simon and Andrew consented to play Little People with Eloise. She was one happy little girl.

02.02.2014 - Playing outside. An elusive smile from the 10 year old; swings and big jumps for the others.

02.07.2014 - Watching the Olympic opening ceremonies. 

02.13.2014 - From our Valentine's Day party. 4 kids + 2 kittens. Win.

02.22.2014 - Saturday morning screen time. The kids get an hour on the weekends (and then spend the rest of their time begging/scheming/working for more). Kittens are both present. Peter was working. The pile of laundry to be folded is representative of me. ;)

There are 10 lovely ladies participating in the circle, the next one is Ruthie from Fairy Wings and Dinosaurs, with her FIVE have a little tea party. Wonder if I can convince the boys to have tea with Eloise this afternoon...?


*The "Their World" blog series was dreamed up by Jude from Jude Wood Photography.

Their World, January 2014

"Their World" is a project that I've joined with some other moms/photographers/bloggers, with the goal of capturing our children, together, doing what they normally do. In their world. 

I want photos of all four of them together.

Doing what they do.

I spend so much time photographing other families, put so much care into editing the images, and so much effort into telling their stories. I want to be more deliberate in photographing my own children and recording their stories.

Our stories.

I blogged all of, what, three times last year? It makes me cry to think of all the little frustrating and funny and sweet and wonderful moments that I didn't record. But this is a new year and I think this project is exactly what I need to motivate/push/force me to blog.

Since I didn't join this circle until last week, I'll be reaching back to the end of last year for my first two images, but then my goal will be to post one image from each week. One image with all four kids.

I will award myself bonus points for getting either or both kittens in a shot.

big snow - 12.20.2013

Christmas Eve - 12.24.2013

Andrew's family birthday, 5 years old (and the beginnings of H1N1 for Liam) - 01.03.2014

Andrew's party with friends... and Grandma (who brings gifts for everyone) - 01.20.2014

Museum of Science on the day Grandma left - 01.23.2014

If you enjoyed these, Jude is next. She has an absolutely magical way of seeing her children.

one of my favourite things about motherhood

I know I just posted these, but they deserve a repeat in honour of World Breastfeeding Week from Aug 1-7, 2011.

And here's a little video I put together of some of my favourite breastfeeding images from the newborn sessions I did before moving to Bogota last year (I think you'll have to click through if you're reading in a reader),

For those in the Ottawa/Gatineau area, if you'd like to book a maternity, newborn, or family session with Muddy Boots Photo send me an email to muddybootsphotography@live.ca . I've already booked as many sessions as I'm willing to take for August, I might be able to squeeze in one or two more for September, and still have a bit of availability for October. I'm going to keep things pretty low key while we wait for our shipment to arrive and then spend time going through all our stuff and the boxes we packed up over a year ago... and set up our new house! So please contact me soon so you're not disappointed. ;)

Eloise: one month

Alternate post title: The Easiest Baby in the World*

*except when her mom wants to take a particular posed picture of her

I was all set up yesterday to try to recreate a certain picture I'd seen months ago -and was reminded of thanks to a pin of Dani's- but Eloise had different ideas. After over two (TWO!) hours of nursing, hushing, rocking, bouncing, nursing some more, being peed on, changing six (SIX!) different poopy diapers, swaddling, holding, walking, nursing again, etc, etc, ETC, this baby girl STILL REFUSED TO SLEEP.

Even with a heater set up nearby to keep her toasty, a fan on for white noise, and all the aforementioned tactics, Eloise insisted on staying awake, using up the entirety of the little boys' nap time. This is especially remarkable considering that a normal day for her is more like today... As I type this, she's sound asleep, as she has been since about 11pm LAST NIGHT, having only woken up long enough to nurse, burp and be changed.

Yesterday was a very poorly-timed fluke.

But I did use it to my advantage and pulled in Simon and Andrew once they woke up to snap a few shots with them and Eloise.

And ruined photo attempt aside, she still retains the title of one of the easiest babies I've ever met.

Seriously.

I won't go into her awesomeness too much -lest I sound like I'm bragging- but I will say that this first month with her has been wonderful. She's fit seamlessly into our family.

The boys all adore her without question or reservation or any jealousy. They run in to greet her first thing each morning, insist on holding her often, and practically (sometimes literally!) smother her with love and kisses and affection.

She sleeps peacefully most of the day, making only sweet little squeaking noises (and the odd tiny grunt or snort) when she dreams. When she's awake, she rarely ever cries unless to let us know she's getting hungry. She's generally content to just lay there or be held while looking around and taking it all in... the colours, the smells, the voices and faces of her family... the noise!

(Oh, the noise!)

where'd my fist go??

I have all the respect in the world for photographers who rock the self-portrait. Clearly I need way more practice. And maybe a tripod (to avoid the perilous laundry basket + milk crate + pillow combo I used for these).

focus of off/soft, but I still love this

look at the wrinkles!!

The pictures I took of Simon and Eloise didn't turn out that well. One always looked great while the other way making a beyond-weird face. Simon had zombie eyes in the first picture, and Eloise looks awful in the b&w picture, but I think Simon looks pretty stunning so I wanted to post it. He looks so much older than four! And you can hardly see the chunk of hair he cut out near his temple.

And I think Andrew looks sooooo cute here! But his bracelets were blocking Eloise face... and poking her in the eye.

She eventually did start to get a bit sleepy, but still wouldn't give in. I ended up running out of both time and light (the sun sets here at 6pm EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.) without getting my shot. Hopefully I'll have time to try again this weekend, although it's looking like a busy time... what with getting ready for our house hunting trip back to Canada!

This first month has gone by so quickly. It's been wonderful to finally meet this little soul that's been entrusted to us, and so fun to watch the boys interact with their new sister. The adjustment has been so easy, it's hardly been noticeable, except in a slight more fullness to our day... and more laundry!

That being said, when we return to Canada in a little over a month it will be without a) my mom, and b) a maid twice a week who does all the laundry, vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, bed changing, kitchen cleaning, etc, etc, ETC. 

That's when everything will likely come to a screaming, crashing halt!

awwwww inspiring

Since no one seems to object to more baby pictures, these were taken June 30th when Eloise was 15 days old.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I'm not sure why the boys always insist on cuddling their baby sister at night before bed... when it's dark and the only light I have to work with is an awful yellow table lamp next to the couch.

It might be that they agree with my need for an external flash and are trying to help me convince their dad.

More likely, however, is that it has something to do with their nightly efforts to delay said bedtime...

It works.

What's that? It's time for jammies? But can't I just hold Eloise one more time? Please? Just look how cute we are? Will you take our picture, mom?

Half an hour later...

Baby has been cuddled, pictures have been taken, and bedtime has successfully been postponed.

Mission accomplished.

*Eloise, day 11 photo session

We interrupt this sweet, sunny nap...

...with a marker-covered (as usual) littlest big brother who just can't keep his hands off of baby.

And since you're already awake...

...and doing your best Igor/Hunchback of Notre Dame impression...

...how 'bout mama grab a white blanket, strip you down, and play with 
some of the feather headbands from the nearby market?

So worth it.


I'm done now. 


Carry on with your sweet self.

You'll let me know when you get tired of baby pictures, right?

let's hear it for the boys

My entry for the i hearts faces photo challenge this week. One of my favourite pictures I've ever taken of the boys. From our trip to Curacao in November/December.

still working on my birth story....

tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag... or the best 50 cents I ever spent

Though her words are simple and few
Listen, listen, she's calling to you
"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag"

Tell me you remember that song from Mary Poppins. 

These were all taken by a friend of mine, Lisa, during a sightseeing morning with my mom and aunt. We went up the cable car up to Monserrate, then headed to Plaza Simon Bolivar and the Presidential Palace before a visit to the emerald district in La Candelaria. I rarely hand my camera over to other (cause I'm a control freak), but I'm so glad I did because Lisa did a great job AND I'M ACTUALLY IN SOME PICTURES. I didn't even remember to take the camera out of manual! 

And Andrew? He loooooved feeding the pigeons. I thought he'd freak out with them clamouring all over us, but he couldn't get enough. We'll definitely be taking all three boys back before we leave Colombia.

(If I get around to it, this post will link back to these Wordless Wednesday parties.)

more from Villa de Leyva

Here are the first five posts from our trip to Villa de Leyva over Easter/Spring break:

swimming

part I

part II

part III

part IV 

That last post gives a good synopsis of what the town is known for, why it's a tourist destination in Colombia and why we went there. Good reads. Good pics.

This post is less about Villa de Leyva -the 400+ year old church, the colonial architecture, the whitewashed walls and green balconies, the columns and cobbled streets- and more about, well, my super cute boys.

These pictures were all taken around the square and at a little cafe on the plaza mayor while we enjoyed lemonades, lattes, and chocolate milk while waiting for the shops to open.

(Some of us might've also needed to use a washroom, so we had to buy something to earn the right...)

courtesy of seven year old Liam

oh man... like father, like son! love the last one!

my boys. love 'em.

my favourite part of this picture is Liam laughing in the background

work it Andrew

no jazz hands? no "rock on"? 
what's this? a decent picture of Liam?? 

I would've loved a couple hours to walk around Villa de Leyva on my own (just me and my camera), but honestly I doubt I would've captured anything that would mean as much to me as these pictures. 

My boys.

And I even managed to be in a couple shots!

For the first time, I'm linking up to Embrace the Camera at The Anderson Crew. I've also added this post to the Photo Story Friday links at Better in Bulk and My Chaos My Bliss. Even though this was all only four weeks ago, I'm going to link up for the Flashbacks at Christopher and Tia and More Than Words too. Look at me multitask!

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