Baxter Turns One!

You remember our little doggy Baxter?

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He turned ONE today!

I wrote about our adventure in getting him and how we decided on his name here.

We have tried to be very good parents to Baxter by exposing him to a lot of experiences, taking him to obedience classes, and working on training (like roll over, sit, stay, etc.).

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He has grown up so fast, but is still very much a puppy (thank goodness).

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To celebrate I made a special hat for the birthday boy. Of course, he was scared of it at first. Not to worry, I practically have a bachelors degree in psychology (jk, I really do), but I never thought I’d be using it on my dog (and maybe occasionally my husband).

I allowed Baxter to engage (a speech therapist term, for sure) with the hat on his own terms – you know, sniffing and stalking around it for a few minutes. I also let him play with it in the car on the way to the ‘photo-shoot’ (AKA: my parent’s house).

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By the time we were ready for some pictures he didn’t even bat an eyelash when I stretched that elastic over his head. So proud to wear his birthday hat.

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Of course, we let him run around my parent’s house, harassing the goats and nephews.

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It makes me a little nervous to let him off his leash with so much un-fenced space to run, but he always comes running when I call his name…and that makes me so proud that he is such a good listener!

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Fall at the Farm

My friend Tiffany and sister Melissa both brought their boys to ‘Papa and Honey’s farm’ to run off some energy and play with the animals. I used the opportunity to practice my photography skills on my nephews (even some in full manual mode!) and wrangled Baxter into a photo shoot for something coming up next week… here’s a bit of a sneak peek:

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I was sad that the sun went behind the trees so quickly.

Hunter was ready for fall in his adorable skeleton shirt.

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Papa’s bees. I can’t wait for that honey!

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Bubbles will capture any child’s attention, no matter how young or old.

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‘Papa moo’ is N. speak for “I wanna see Papa’s goats”

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Checking for chicken eggs.

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Feeding acorns to the goats. Hunter didn’t want to let go of his ‘treasures’.

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Just two boys playing with leaves, and acorns and sticks.

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What an eventful day, and I bet every one of my nephews (and adopted nephew, Hunter) is sleeping soundly from their busy day.

FALL is for FAMILY and FRIENDS!

Back together again!

My little brother Ryan just returned from Marine basic training (not sure exactly what it’s called, but something like that). We are SO incredibly proud of him and are glad to have him back, though he will be leaving again in a week for more training. I’ll post pictures of him in his marine garb once I get them from my mom.

We had lunch at my parent’s house on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Ryan being home. The guys had all been itching to head out to the back acres and shoot off some of their guns. I don’t understand the hype, but I am glad they can spend time together doing things they enjoy!

Here is my aunt and my nephew, N. (turning 2 next week!).

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Family photo (from left to right): Pop, Aunt Dona, brother Ryan, nephew J., brother-in-law Juan with nephew N. on top, Dad, Mom, sister Melissa, my hubby Chris, and myself.

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I was hoping the direct sun would make for a very bright photo (which it did…just a little too bright, and I don’t have the editing software to handle that).

Then I took my sister and her family to another spot in the yard to take an impromptu family photo for them. We were quickly approaching N.’s naptime and J. had reached the point where his ‘engine was running a little high’ (to use some Occupational Therapy terms I hear at work). It was a little difficult to get the ‘right’ shot, but it was definitely fun!

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Then Chris and I took a pic. Again, why did I choose that bright spot?! Lesson learned.

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We always bring Baxter to my parent’s home when we go because they have so much land. He really enjoys racing around until his little body is tuckered out. Nephew N. loves “PUPPY!”

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‘ears’…

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‘eyes’…

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‘mouth’… (‘be careful’)

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and then our photography session ran into naptime. I tried to get some pictures of my older nephew as well, but they were mostly blurry. The chubby one moves much slower!

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yup, photo session is over.

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Happy Fall to everyone!

Be sure to snap those family photos whenever possible.

You never know when you might get another chance.

Sunset Photography Inspiration

We walked down to the beach one evening in Mexico to see what the Pacific had to offer.

It was cold.

But there was also an amazing sunset which provided an opportunity that you don’t get here on the East Coast (unless you wake up dreadfully early for the sunrise) – Shadow Photography!

I don’t know if shadow photography is the technical term but it sounds about right.

It was so much fun to capture everyone’s personality in their shots.

I also think it’s funny that you can identify everyone without having to see their face or clothes. Like their body posture and the pose they chose exudes their personality.

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(don’t ask me how we got our legs in sync for the cartwheels. We are actually cartwheeling in opposite directions, so it sort of blows my mind, but it’s still magical)

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