Memorial Day Bike Ride

Charles and I biked 22 miles of the Silver Comet Trial on Memorial Day. We towed Leif in his bike trailer, and he did really well. He slept for most of the ride, but woke up a few times and just looked around. He's a little young to put in a bike trailer, and Charles & I both worried about him so much during the ride, and the day after, that we think we probably won't ride with him again for another few months.































His face got all dirty even though it was just a paved path. You have to make this picture bigger to see the dirt- it's very cute. He was happy despite the dirt!

Memorial Day Weekend Wedding

Charles performed his first wedding this past weekend. When he was ordained he said he probably wouldn't do weddings or funerals, and in the last two months, he's spoken at one funeral and performed a wedding. He did a great job and put together a beautiful ceremony. It was a little weird for me at first (I've been to so many weddings as a photographer) to hear Charles starting the ceremony. It was almost like, what is he doing up there? But then after I adjusted, he did a really wonderful job.
























At the reception we met a really great couple- "Pug" the husband, had been mayor of Roswell for 40 years, and Sandra runs the cultural center in Roswell. They were really great to talk to, and Sandra got some cuddle time in with Leif, who was a total sweetheart to her. Speaking of Leif, he did wonderfully. He fell asleep just before the bridal party entered the ceremony, and he slept through most of the live salsa band at the reception (until they started whooping, which really was loud).





First Kiss















Announcing as husband & wife















Beautiful Bride





















Leif all dressed up in wedding attire- he was ridiculously cute.

Smiling, Sleeping, etc

I shot this video a few days ago to try to capture how smiley and cute Leif is right after he's eaten when I'm changing his diaper. He's so sweet.





I finally got to photograph Leif sleeping naked. I tried this one other time with terrible results. The secret was to put him to sleep in just his diaper in a fleece blanket and then slip him out of it once he was really asleep. Also, I used the space heater to make the studio area nice and cozy so that he stayed asleep. I'm quite proud to say that I didn't even get peed on this time! Isn't he beautiful?



















































I also photographed Leif awake trying to capture a smile, but I think I'm going to have to get Charles' help with that. He smiles really big when I talk to him, but by the time I get the camera up, it's faded. So, I think we'll need to double team him to get that one. I did get a really cute picture of him trying to get my finger into his mouth.

The First Seven Weeks Slideshow

I initially created this slideshow to send to my Nana who is in and out of the hospital in north jersey. She has only seen a few pictures of Leif, and never any videos, so I thought it would be fun to put a few of our videos on DVD for her. Of course it turned into a bigger project than I meant for it to, but now I'm very happy to have this compiled. These pictures and videos cover Leif's first seven weeks.
In exciting baby news, Leif slept through the night 2 nights now. Wednesday night he slept from 11- 8! And last night he slept from 11:30-6:30, not quite as long of a stretch, but we'll take it. He has learned to suck his fingers, and I think when he starts to wake up during the night he has been soothing himself back to sleep with those wonderful portable pacifiers...his hands!

Mother's Day Mountain Biking

I asked Charles to watch Leif while I went for a pedicure for my mother's day present. I also asked if he would take some studio pictures of me with the baby. All of these things will happen, but yesterday I decided it was time to break out the new mountain bike and give it a go. I demoed this bike when I was at least 7 months pregnant, and I really liked it, as much as I could like any bike at that point. So, we got it as my "mom" gift, so it's appropriate that I try it out for the first time on my first mother's day. Biking was about as hard as I thought it would be. I was quite good at mt. biking when I got pregnant, so I finally had that "just like riding a bike" feeling. It all came back to me pretty well, at least in principle. My legs are not as strong as they need to be (although they should be in pretty good shape after lugging around that big baby!) and my lungs are not used to being pushed, so it was hard, but my balance was good and my courage (which makes all the difference) was pretty much back. I remembered how well a mt. bike can climb over huge-looking roots, and this bike is especially amazing because it's a 29er and takes roots and bumps amazingly well. I can't wait to get back into great shape and see what this 29er really can do! Charles took the baby for a jog on the greenway while I rode the trail, and then I fed the baby while Charles rode the trail. It worked out really well.

Two Months Old

Well, it's hard to believe, but Leif is 2 months old already! We took him in for his 2 month appointment and he weighs 15 lbs 6 oz, and is 25 inches long. He's doing lots of great baby things these days. He smiles and coos and is very playful right after he's eaten. I have to shoot video while I change his diaper one of these days- he's downright funny. We blow his belly and kiss his cheeks and he laughs and looks at us with his great bright eyes.
Yesterday when I was changing him he was doing his regular "ahhs" and "oos" and all of a sudden he says "hi", in a kind of singsong way. I look down at him and he did it again- and then went back to his regular noises. Charles asked if that could count as his first word, and I said, sure, why not, even though he probably won't say it again for a while. He's also getting his "l's" down- the other day he was crying and instead of his regular "waaa" or "aaaah", he was going "laah, laahhh". It was very cute.
He also seems very determined to suck his hand or fingers or thumb. He will spend a lot of time when he's getting sleepy trying to get something to stay in his mouth. It's very cute. We've even tried to help him get a hold on his thumb, but he doesn't get that we're helping and pushes against us.














He got his immunizations on Tuesday and has pretty much needed tylenol since then. At first it was because he seemed very uncomfortable and was crying uncontrollably, but then last night I let it wear off and he was running a fever. This afternoon he felt warm to me as well (we were out without a thermometer) so I gave him some more because I was pretty sure he had a little fever. Hopefully by tomorrow the symptoms should all fade away. It's been sad to see him not feeling himself.
I took these sleeping pictures this past Monday, and not without incident. Our carpet and the blanket he was laying on got peed on, and so did my leg, and Leif's chest. That ended the little sleeping-naked photo session. I didn't get any full body shots that I liked, so we will attempt the dangerous feat at least one more time soon. He's got so many great rolls to show off.

Out & About

Now that I'm starting to feel better, and getting a little more sleep, Charles and I are getting out with the baby.


























We went for a walk with the baby bjorn, jogging by the Chattahoochie, and today we climbed Kennesaw Mt. We finally got our jog stroller/bike trailer. It's amazing. We're very excited to be so mobile with the baby.