Playing Catch Up

I won't even try to be witty today, I have so much to catch up on I just don't have the time.  Since I was here last, we've had birthdays,  Father's days, visitors both wanted and unwanted, photo shoots, and a few baby milestones to boot. So let's take it one by one...

Birthdays
I had one.  It was the big 3-7.  What a lame number.  At least 36 was divisible by 3.  Although 37 is unpleasant, numerically speaking, my 37th year was pretty fabulous.  I had an awesome super-cute baby.  I quit corporate America to stay home with aforementioned cute baby and start up my dream business in photography.  We also found Kurt's read Dad and have bonus grandparents for our sweet SB.  Can you believe we fit all that into 365 days? 

Oh we had another birthday on the block too.  Our neighbors across the street had a sweet little boy named Gavin a few days ago.  I had the pleasure of visiting him in the hospital and snapped off a few pictures of the happy family.  Their due date was actually the same as ours, one year later.  Gavin decided to come a little early though.  SB took her time so they're one year minus 3 weeks apart.  Here's a peek at SB's future little playmate, I can't resist sharing cute baby pictures.

Father's Day
So last year I had to buy one card - for my Dad.  This year I had to buy 7...one for my Dad from me, one from SB, one for Kurt's Dad from us, one from SB, one for Kurt from me, one from SB, and of course one from the dogs.  Jeesh.  I racked up the bonus points on my Hallmark Gold Crown card last week!  We had a fun relaxing day- I cooked breakfast followed by some Daddy/Baby time.  We had an early sushi dinner at Rusan's then topped off the debauchery with a little ice cream at Elizabeth Creamery.  Baby likes ice cream.  Not sure if she's supposed to eat ice cream yet but she seems to think so.  Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads in our lives, especially SB's Daddy.  He is doing such a good job at being protector, comedian, bottle maker, tickle monster, and snuggle buddy for our little girl.  We are both lucky to have him.

Visitors: Wanted category
Avery and his parents Ouida and Greg came to Charlotte to visit!  YAY!  Finally, SB got to meet her future husband.  He is 5 months older than she is so he showed her the ropes, and us too as he ran around getting into cabinets, drawers, ovens, anything  2 1/2 feet or below was fair game.  It was a great preview of what is in store for us in a few months so we really appreciated Avery pointing out all the dangers in our house.  He is such a cutie patootie!  He kept giving SB gentle hugs.  She at first did not know what to make of it but she quickly warmed up to the idea and poked him back a few times.  See the pictures below from their visit.  It was about 1000 degrees out so we only spent a few minutes in the yard, but I got a few good ones.  We are so thrilled that they came all the way from Pilot Mountain for a visit and only wish we lived closer and could see them more often.

Visitors: Unwanted category
Oh lord so last week, we had someone ring our doorbell at 3 in the flipping AM.  What the ???  The dogs went ballistic, baby woke up crying, and Kurt and I were freaking out.  He went to the door and saw some sketchy looking woman (white, mid-50s keep a lookout if you live in the area) so he yelled  "what do you want" through the door.  She said her car ran out of gas and she wanted to use our phone.  Um, first of all, no car in sight.  Secondly, who the heck doesn't have a cell phone nowadays?  So obviously we did not let her in.  Kurt yelled that we would call the police for her and ran to get his phone and called 911.  She looked disappointed and took off.  Lovely.  Obviously she was up to no good.  So of course we are up all night wondering if she was casing the joint and does she have an accomplice or two waiting in the shadows and will they try to break down the door and kidnap our perfect baby, etc etc.  Not a good night for us. So the next day I posted what happened on www.charlottemommies.com (a fab mommies networking site) to see if it happened to anyone else, and sure enough, it did.  Right down the street.  Same scenario, only they were pretty sure they saw someone else hiding on the side of the house.  Creepy.  So Kurt emails our neighborhood police officer and he stops by to chat about it.  Nicest guy ever.  He walked around our house and gave us some home security tips, things we can do to better secure our doors, where to install motion lights, etc.  I was so impressed.  They didn't find the woman of course but they are on the lookout and plan to bring it to the attention of our neighborhood association.  We didn't even know we had a neighborhood association, but know that we do you can bet Kurt will be attending those meetings.  So this super nice police officer that risks his life every day on our streets is also in the reserves and getting shipped off to Afghanistan in October for a YEAR.  I can't imagine how his family copes with that.  It came up because I mentioned that I was a photographer and he said he wanted to get a family portrait done before he got shipped out.  Of course I'll do that at no charge.  It got me thinking about making that my way to give back to the community, so I did a little research and sure enough, there's an organization called Operation Love ReUnited where professional photographers provide free services and a free photo album to families of military who are being deployed.  What a wonderful idea.  So I sent in an application to volunteer.  www.oplove.org  is the site.  Check it out, but I warn you, you will probably cry.  So despite the unwanted visitors, we did meet a very impressive police officer and I found a way to show my support for families like his.

Photo Shoots
I had another one last weekend.  3 adorable little girls, ages 3 mos, 4, and 5, and their parents.  They were so precious and managed to power through a 2 hour shoot at Freedom Park even though it was almost 90 degrees out by the time we were done.  I had so much fun and got some beautiful photos.  I can't wait to get through them all and post the proofs for this nice family.  Is this really my job?  I'm having too much fun for this to be a job.  Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work - hours and hours after the shoot is over, but it's true that when your job is your passion, it's not a job.  Lucky me!   Go see my photo blog if you haven't checked it yet.  The girls' photos turned out better than I even imagined they would.  www.newshoephoto.blogspot.com

BABY!
Oh my goodness, leaps and bounds, people...leaps and bounds!  She has four teeth coming in now.  She crawls like a pro and pulls herself up lickety split on anything that doesn't move (even a few things that do move.)  She does laps around the coffee table and is testing out letting go.  My heart is bursting with pride.  She continues to be this little beacon of unadulterated joy in our lives.  The little noises she makes have turned into loud squeals that Daddy can hear when he's outside.  She is trying new sounds and syllables every day.  Ma-ma is thrown in there every now and then although I think that's her word for cheese.  That's ok.  She can call me Cheese if she wants.  I just love watching her grow and change and look forward to her shiny happy face every morning. 

Those are the highlights.  I'll try to be a better blogger.  Promise. 

Here are some photos of our visit (wanted) with Avery's family:

Wild Man!

Blowing Kisses

So cute!

With Aunt Weedie

It's official - she's keeping those big blue eyes of hers!

Sweet Cheeks