Broken Lens

Back in October, Grant gave me one of the best gifts I've ever received.  (See this post).  I loved this camera lens.  I had wanted a portrait lens for a long time and always had one in my "wish list" on Amazon, but had never broken down and bought one.  He got this for me as a gift after the birth of Will.  A completely out-of-the-blue gift that was so thoughtful and has allowed me to take so many photos of Will, things I've made and other things I've shared on this blog.

Well, on Saturday, after a last hurrah, my camera fell off the table and smashed my beautiful gift into pieces.  I suppose I can look on the bright side that at least my camera seems to be doing just fine.

8 Months!

Taking these monthly photos has never been more difficult!  

I have a feeling that my days with Will are about to feel a lot busier.

Grant tickling Will (and holding him down) with his foot.

He flipped and rolled around and off of the mattress we use to take photos.

We enjoy that they're a bit blurry and that you can see Grant's legs in the background trying to wrangle Will.

Como Conservatory

In July when Will was first born we went to the Como Conservatory with my mom.  It is an incredible place.  The building is beautiful, it's warm and full of lush, green plants and purple orchids.  Even when crowded, it is somehow still peaceful and quiet.  All I have to say is why on earth did it take me until the first day of spring to think of going back there?

The three of us spent a few hours at the conservatory this weekend and it was incredible.  This was of course, after Will and I spent some time there earlier this week with a friend.  And I think we'll go back often on cool days this spring.  We had some fun with our camera too and not so surprisingly we ended up with more photos of our son than anything else.

We spent a lot of time with the tulips since we miss seeing them grow each spring in our yard in Wheaton.

He seems like he's growing up so fast.

A bit of life lately

Life has been FULL over the last few weeks! 

I usually try not to hate on winter too much.  In fact, winter has always been one of my favourite seasons with all the snowshoeing, cross country skiing, skating and downhill skiing I've done.  This year has felt different, though.  Something about bundling up yourself and a baby, fumbling with car seat buckles and mittens and a baby who has learned to pull his hat off.  That said, we've been trying to get out and enjoy the snow regardless and with the hopes that the frigid weather will end soon, the ice will melt and we'll hear the birds once more.  These are a few photos of some of the things we've been up to lately.

First tooth!

Learning to crawl

Snuggling under the covers (and more crawling practice)

New favourite toys

Winter walks

Photo bombed by his dad

Learning to crawl to his toys and tip the bucket over

Spring Break

We spent Spring Break in Brainerd, Minnesota with good friends from Wheaton.  We had a warm place to stay (with a fireplace), tons of fresh snow, great conversations with friends, play time with all three kids, a swimming pool and a chance to enjoy a little bit of life together.   It was also a week of first's for Will.  First tooth, first time crawling and first time waking up with bed head (which I love!).

Planking.  His form is better than mine!

Lunch with friends

Reading bedtime stories

Swimming

The things Dad's will do for their kids on a winter walk.

The outtakes are often the best!

One of my favourite things is seeing all of the photos that we end up with trying to capture a cute moment with our son.  The outtakes from Instagram or the blog are often blurry (and taken with my phone) and the composition terrible, but they show his sweet and spunky personality so well.

My personal favourite!

Chatting away

What is with this face?

(And in case anyone ever wonders what the red marks are around his mouth.  It's chapped skin.  Poor baby.... no matter how much of his vaseline-like lotion we put on it, he continues to drool and live in cold, windy weather which does not bode well for his super sensitive skin.  Spring is coming little one, I promise!)