MACRO baby

About a week after Lauren was born, I rented the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens so I can document her little details. Let's just say that there is a learning curve to using a macro lens. I only had it for two days so I didn't have time to perfect my technique, but here's a few of what I got:

 

Introducing Lauren

Lauren Joslin

March 2, 2015

7:24 pm

7 lb 10 oz

20½ in

We had a baby. She is a sweet, cuddly little newborn. Baby snuggles are amazing. She sleeps quite a bit. And by that I mean, she actually sleeps through the night (5-6 hours!), which is great for us but not so great for my milk supply. Her gray eyes remind me of Sabrina, yet her size reminds me of Sophie. All in all, I think she has a very individual look.

Here is Sophie and Sabrina's first meeting of their very red sister:

I was worried how the girls would take to a new baby (especially Sabrina) but when they first met her I could see that they instantly fell in love with their new sister. Sabrina had that happy/curious/affectionate look on her face when she met Lauren.... and then she saw I had apple juice, and transferred her enamored look to my drink.

Birth Story.
I feel like I need to share a very exciting, detailed birth story, yet really, I don't feel like there is much to tell. Dr. Holmes stripped my membranes in his office around noon-ish. I went to the hospital around 3ish. We watched lots of Castle episodes until I hated everything in the room. I didn't have an epidural and it HURT. She was delivered around 7:24. I pushed 2 or 3 times. Afterwards, I asked Dave if he had ever seen that side of me before and he said I get like that when I get gluten poisoning.

Well, like Sabrina, this little girl was tongue tied. We snipped that last week which has made nursing a little better, though we still have pain and latch problems. I don't know how I had a perfect nursing experience with Sophie, because both Sabrina and Lauren have been quite problematic!

Here is a very tired me holding a ball of snuggles:

*Confession: I actually Photoshopped out the huge bags under my eyes. I don't know why I'm telling you. I just want to be honest, I guess. But believe me, the picture looks better without them.

And now some thoughts on her name.
Dave and I had absolutely NO IDEA what to name her. Well, I mean we had ideas, but none of them were jumping out to both of us. Dave really liked the name Penelope, and we were really close to naming her that. I will tell you why. Have you seen that cute movie called Penelope? It's about a girl with a pig nose. Well, when Lauren was born she was making snorting sounds--like a pig! Also, when we found out we were pregnant we asked the girls if they thought it was going to be a girl or boy. Sabrina's response? "Pig!" So you see, Penelope would have been a great name for her!...except she just didn't look like a Penelope to me. To solve our dilemma, we asked Sophie which name she liked better: Penelope or Lauren? Obviously, she chose Lauren. And I'm glad that she did. 

3 girls. I can't believe it.

The BEST Kid Books

Let's pretend I'm Oprah for a moment and you care about what my favorite things are.

Okay. Great idea, you say.

Then let's get to it.
I love spending money on hardbound, quality children's books--the kind of books that both my kids and I will read over and over again. There are some real winners out there right now and I'm trying to keep up with all of them. So here is my current list of my most favorite books to read with my kids.

Journey by  Aaron Becker. This is a no-words picture book*. The drawings and story telling are exquisite and the girls can't get enough of this one.

*Confession: I am really bad at "reading" wordless picture books. Soph and Sabrina like me to talk over the book and I never know what to say to describe each scene! The book is still great, though.

* * * * *

Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. I have always been a huge fan of this book. I only have a flimsy version of this book and the pages got torn out and put back in the wrong place (my doing). So now, we get to buy a new copy. By the way, everything by Peggy Rathmann is wonderful such as: 10 Minutes Till Bedtime, The Day the Babies Crawled Away, and Officer Buckle and Gloria.

 * * * * *

Anything by Mo Willems. He's a crowd pleaser and the modern day Dr. Seuss according to some review I saw somewhere.

 * * * * *

 Stuck (or "Duck" if you pronounce it the way Sabrina does) by Oliver Jeffers. This is a recent discovery and the entire family L-O-V-E-S this one.

* * * * *

I Want My Hat Back and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen. Simple and hilarious.

* * * * *

 Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock. This is a find and seek book that will keep little people busy looking for lost items in the story.

* * * * *

And that is my list. 

Now, if you will look under your chair you will find one of these books as a free gift from Barnes and Noble! 

Just kidding. That was me trying to be Oprah again.

What are some of your favorite children's books?

2014 Stories

I have a little magnetic notepad on the fridge. On it I write all the little silly things Sophie and Sabrina say. Here are the stories I wrote down from this past year:


At the 2013 Hancock Christmas white elephant gift exchange, Dave scored a new frilly pink apron with cupcakes on it. Later, back at home, Lindsey used it while baking. Sophie didn't really like her using it. "That's Daddy's apron!" she said.


Lindsey to Sophie and cousins Kingston and Lowe: " You can eat your cheese crisp first, and then you can eat a cookie."
Sophie: "Yeah. That's what I do. I eat the good food first and then after that I can eat the bad food."


Sophie: "Sabrina is so cute. When I get kids, they're gonna think this baby is so cute."


Sophie: " Is it not spring break anymore?"
Dave: "Nope. Spring Break is over."
Sophie: "Yea!"


As we were getting ready for church one morning, everyone was packing their bags with all their essential "church things." So while Lindsey was packing the diaper bag, Dave was gathering his notebook, and Sophie was packing toys into her bag. Sabrina came out with her bag full of little shoes. She walked out the door with the bag in one hand and another shoe and blankie in the other.


Sophie, waving the American Flag: "Happy Fourth of July!"
Dave: "Do you know what that holiday is for?"
Sophie: "Uh-huh!"
Dave: "What?"
Sophie: "I forgot."


Sophie to Lindsey: "I figured out your favorite day is sleep day."
True dat.


Lindsey asked Sophie to do something, but Sophie was playing a Lego game on the tablet.
Sophie: "I can't! I'm working!"


Lindsey was taking a poll of the family, to see if everyone thought the new baby would be a girl or a boy.
Here are their answers:
Sophie: "Boy."
Lindsey: "Boy."
Dave: "Girl."
Sabrina: "Pig!"


Sabrina slept in to almost 10am one morning, which is very unusual!
Lindsey said to her when she finally woke up: "What are you? A teenager?"
Sabrina: "Yes."


Sophie: "Mom, remember when you used to make cookies?"
Lindsey: "Um, yeah."
Sophie: "Why don't you make them anymore?"
Lindsey had made some a few days ago.


What we found in our garbage disposal after it stopped working:
2 chopped up sippy cup stoppers
7 rocks
1 beat up jar lid.


While driving through ASU campus, Lindsey explained to Sophie: "This is where big kids got o school. They can take classes to become a doctor, or a teacher..."
Sophie: "Or they can learn to drive a bus!"
Lindsey: "Yeah. I don't think they have classes on that here."

Christmas Day

Halloween!!

This year for Halloween, we had two little kitties running around trick-or-treating.

Sophie is like Dave, in that she is not motivated very much by sugar. Sabrina, on the other hand, takes after me. She couldn't stop herself from devouring everything in her candy bucket!

Luckily, the Halloween Witch visits our house. We leave our candy out on the doorstep and the witch takes it and leaves something else in it's place.

Sabrina, though, has not stopped talking about candy. Or ghosts. I think she loves to "see" ghosts. There are some in our garage, and sometimes in her bedroom. That's what she tells us anyway.

By the way, please check out my new website Lindsey Joslin Photography if you haven't already!

100 Books

Sophie has read 100 books since the beginning of the school year! She is now reading words like "shore" and "sail" (she read a book about the beach recently, you can tell by the words)!

Way to go, Sophie! You have come a long way in the past 3 months!

Fun at Schnepf Farms!

This year, we went to Schnepf Farms for some festive pumpkin patch fun! This place was really great. It had everything.

 Here is Dave off-roading through the corn maze and Sophie leading the way!

Some of the paths were definitely NOT stroller friendly.

 Sabrina LOVED the jumping pillow.

 This is the girls' first experience with cotton candy. It had to be documented.

Sabrina's 2 year old pictures

So, I had a 2 year old portrait session with Sabrina around her birthday, but I never posted them because it took me a while to start editing them. And I didn't really like them anyway.

So here are a few from that session and a few others to document her transition to 2.

Also, I find it very ironic that though these photos are from four different days, Sabrina is wearing the SAME shirt in most of these photos. We really like that shirt.

Facts of a 2 year old

Sabrina, you are a very fun girl. Here are a few facts about yourself to prove it.

Anytime I sit to play at the piano, you touch my hands and say "peeze!" (please) and I know that to mean "Please play 'Phantom of the Opera' so I can dance around!" That is pretty much the only piano song I am aloud to play when you are in the house.

One of the first words out of your mouth was singing "Let it go!" over and over, especially right when you would wake up. Actually, you still do that every morning. Even now, when you hear Frozen's "Let It Go" on our Grooveshark playlist you have me put on Daddy's old superhero cape around your shoulders and run around singing "Let it go! Let it go!"--but only during the chorus. For the rest of the song, you just stand around waiting until the "good part" starts again. But my favorite part to hear you sing is the last big note Elsa holds out in "Let the storm rage ONNNNNN!!!" You love to sing that big note and it is always adorably off-key.

While we're talking about music, I need to mention a few more of your favorite children's songs. You love "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Hot Potato" from The Wiggles. Those always put you in a good mood.

Sabrina, you only have to wake up each morning, and your hair is perfectly styled and volumized. See?

You are not very good at swallowing your food. There have been several instances where I have laid you down in your crib shortly after lunch only to find your cheeks stuffed with half-chewed leftovers.

Some children explore objects by sticking them in their mouths (such as Sophie did), however you explore objects by throwing them. Specifically, at Mommy's head. In fact, you ALWAYS throw it right above my left eyebrow. You have really good aim, and it hurts. A lot.

If I happen to tell you "I'm going potty," you take that as an invitation for a bathroom party. I said those every words a few days ago and you responded with "Otay!! Potty!!!!" and ran down the hallway to the bathroom where you sat on the toilet fully dressed, threw TP in the bowl, then flushed it down saying "Bye, bye!"