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19/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: Our seven year old. She wanted a pool party for her birthday, but our local pool doesn’t open for the season until early June. So instead, we’re taking a family trip to an indoor water park near Lake George. And all spending the night in a hotel room together. Here’s hoping Sander keeps up his awesome sleep habits – or it may be a very drowsy day at the park! Wish us luck! Check these out fivebough .
Kaki: Changing a diaper, tongue out for concentration. The girls are so eager to help us care for their brother, and it’s a reminder of just how lucky we all are to have one another as family.
Sander: Tummy time champ. Enjoying those bugs as much as both of his big sisters did. That play mat was gift from Momar, of course, when Sunny was a baby.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here. You can check mysunrise for more interesting phography blogs.

18/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: So proud of her new pair of TIE sneakers. While it makes getting out the door a considerably longer process, she is so dang thrilled to be able to tie her own laces.
Kaki: THE HILL ARE ALIVE… with the sound of Kaki. (Hot dang we live in a beautiful place. So grateful to have this in our backyard, especially these last few months. Walks among this scenery have been therapeutic for all of us).
Sander: Not at all aligned with his sisters’ portraits, but an adorable snap that features his budding mohawk and the fact that he is already busting out of 6 month clothing at the age of 8 weeks. 

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

17/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: On a sunny Saturday stroll before a week of rain and grey and yuck.
Kaki: Not thrilled at the prospect of a long walk, but she quickly turned around that pout after a few minutes of running in the sunshine. “Mama, this WAS actually a fun walk with our WHOLE family!”
Sander: Looking very very milk drunk, but showcasing a hat from my knitting extravaganza before he was born.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

16/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: Obsessed with using our phones to text her auntie and Doda. Given that she’s practicing her writing while texting, we tend not to mind, though we often find her huddled away in a bedroom sending messages when we least suspect it. She even arranged a playdate with friends of ours, unbeknowst to us. Ha!
Kaki: This one has grown leaps and bounds in her mastery of letters. She loves to spend time before stories studying the words on the page and identifying all the letters.
Sander: Snuggles with his Doda.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

15/52

The celebration of my mother’s life was held in the town where she raised our family, a beautiful, coastal village on the South Shore of Boston. Before driving back to Vermont on Sunday, we had a picnic at the beach where I grew up going as a child.

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: She can never resist the pull of the water, even if it is positively frigid.
Kaki: She’s learned to write her letters, so she spelled out MOMAR in the sand for her grandmother.
Sander: My little squish. So fair and blue-eyed for all that bright sunshine. His first glance at the ocean.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

14/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Enjoying some April (snow) showers. Oh life in Vermont! On the upside, the girls got to finally use their sonic sleds from L.L. Bean, gifted by their great-grandmother this winter. And Sander was able to properly put to use his cozy bear bunting from Momar. (Thanks for the snow day, Mom. It was beautiful.)

Sunny: Snow Angel #1
Kaki: Snow Angel #2
Sander: Snow Angel #3

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here.

13/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: We’ve been taking many family walks on the weekend to spend time all together and bask in the sunshine and fresh air. Sure, it’s muddy and the dogs get disgusting, but it’s always a highlight regardless. Sunny is desperate to learn how to skip a stone. Regular practice has commenced on our neighbor’s pond while the dogs, particularly Gladdy, swim with glee. (Also? Sunny looks like she could be 13 in this photo. She’s growing so so fast!)
Kaki: Speaking of growing too fast, Courtland had Kindergarten information night last week at the local elementary school. While she’ll be the youngest in her class, she is beyond ready. When she arrived home, she burst through the door with a bag filled with books and declared, “THAT WAS THE MOST FUN EVER!” Oh, she’s ready. (I don’t know if I am – how can she be a Kindergartener!?)
Sander: This isn’t really a portrait of Sander, but it sure is a portrait of the love his family feels for him. (My heart just about explodes witnessing James as a father of three. He was made for this role.)

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here

12/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: So. Very. Jazzed. Egg hunting is thebombdotcom.
Kaki: James and I were slow to get out of bed on Easter Sunday, given nights with a newborn. Courtland stood impatiently at the top of our stairs, catching glimpses of eggs hidden at the bottom, chanting, “I want to hunt. I want to hunt” until we pulled ourselves from our bedroom and let the egg hunt commence.
Sander: Our littlest bunny on his first Easter. 

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here

Sanderling // Two Weeks

His second week of life will be remembered for six days of being holed up in my bedroom with a fever and a brewing case of mastitis.

The fever started last Sunday night, and despite a trip to the midwives on Monday, we couldn’t pin down its origin until late Thursday evening when a sore left breast finally broke out in extreme hot, red yuck. The fever kept me horizontal pretty much all week, so we slept and nursed and slept and nursed and sweat and slept and nursed and I pumped and pumped and pumped because the infected breast took a big hit supply-wise and Sander eventually refused to nurse on that side.

Fortunately, fever is now gone, infection is clearing, supply is on the rise, and nursing has resumed on both breasts, so we managed to make it out of the house this weekend for a brief trip to the local coffee shop. One day at a time. Step by step. I am wading my way through each thing being thrown my way and trying to not focus on the future or what comes next to keep my anxiety at bay.

Sander remains a stable, happy, healthy, comforting constant through it all.

The temperature dropped this weekend so we were able to dress him in this cozy bear bunting from my mother, who gifted it to us in the hopes that he’d come home from the hospital in it.

“I want that baby warm and snug!” she’d said.

But it was nearly 70 degrees the day we came home with him, so this weekend, we bundled him up and I held him close, and he indeed was warm and snug as his Momar wished.

11/52

“A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2016.”

Sunny: We’ve got some expert, willing baby-handlers in our midst. Sunny truly cannot get enough of holding him.
Kaki: While Courtland doesn’t have the hours of longevity of her big sister, she is always so enthusiastic to snuggle and cuddle with her brother, too.
Sander: And he’s done a lot of this. Snoozing. Until about 9pm, when he is then awake until 2-3am. But then he gives us a good 4-5 hour stretch of sleep, so worth it? Maybe? In the grand scheme of life with a newborn, severe sleep deprivation is just part of the equation, so we’re rolling with it.

More details about The 52 Project here. To view all the portraits in the series visit here