day 340:
howard mann was right. we can't keep 'em out.
the birds just keep coming back into the wood stove.
we are up to bird number four.
and griffey realized what's happening.
she heard the bird in there today. and then proceeded to spend the entire day staring/licking/whining at the wood stove.
i wouldn't lie to you... it was literally the entire day.
you can even see (in the first picture) the drops of her saliva gathering on the hearth.
the only thing that made her stop... trying to catch moths, which are on the outside of the window. and she is still doing this right now.
day 339:
originally we weren't going to be able to go on vacation at all. we weren't sure when maeve was going to make her grand entrance, so we made no vacation plans.
but since maeve came early, we were able to spend a few days in maine after all.
so maeve got to hang out with her cousins, her grandparents, and her aunt and uncle.
we had a blast. it's too bad we had to leave early, but we are glad we got to go at all.
day 338:
today was a beautiful day.
we spent all day sitting on the beach. reading. swimming. just sitting.
grandma held maeve so i could have a chance to read uninterrupted. she slept in the shade all afternoon. i think she loves the beach already.
it's hard when i'm sitting relaxing to get motivated to take out my camera. sometimes i just want to sit and do nothing. but the photographer in me can't.
so today i took a few of my "artsy" shots.
the little girl is my sister-in-law's niece. and she is just adorable!
day 337:
a child's life is full of firsts.
and today was maeve's first trip to the beach.
unfortunately it wasn't that nice out. it was super cloudy (although that was good for keeping her out of the sun) and it was kinda sprinkling.
but she didn't seem to care.
day 336:
when it rains on your vacation you have to find things to keep yourself from going stir crazy.
uno is the perfect game.
my favorite part of tonight's uno was watching nick play. he is just learning how, so it is so cute when he gets into it.
he gave up at one point because he didn't think he was ever going to win. so uncle tim offered to play a hand as a team...
and wouldn't you know, they won. then nick didn't want to play the next round... i don't blame him. it was almost time for bed... you gotta go out on top!
day 335:
first night. we are all reading.
well, maeve is sleeping, but that goes without saying.
the weather is not going to be too nice, so looks like we may spend a lot of time reading.
and that is just fine by me.
day 334:
after a few "exciting" days, we decided to just chill today.
well tim did yard work all day, but me and the girls took it easy.
there was plenty i should have done, but what would be the fun it that?
and as a photography side note (since this is supposed to be a blog about learning how to use my camera)... i know that griffey is blurry, but i had my aperture set too low and by the time i changed it the moment was over. i have a better picture taken after this... well, it is in better focus, but maeve isn't looking at griff. i liked the moment in this one better. so i posted the better moment, not the better picture. because sometimes it's not about how great the quality is, but how great the moment is. to me photography is about capturing special moments.
day 333:
tonight we went to sheri and scott's for game night.
maeve came.
so did maison.
you know you're getting old when your night out has babies involved.
tuesday, august 9th - day 330:
today started out like any other day.
my parents came over for a visit. my dad was helping tim in the kitchen. i was getting the camera ready to capture him electrocuting himself (which didn't happen).
then later that night, i got the scare of a lifetime. maeve was having trouble breathing. she took three deep breaths in, like she was gasping, trying to catch her breath. and started to turn pale. i rubbed her back a little and she started breathing normally again. the whole thing lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like forever.
long story short, we ended up taking her to the hospital and after ruling out a lot of different things they said they would still like to keep her overnight for testing, which at this point was 6am on wednesday.
wednesday, august 10th - day 331:
they hooked maeve up to a machine to monitor her heart rate, breathing, and oxygen levels. this machine is programed to beep if any of her levels are not where they need to be.
after asking me a million questions and monitoring her closely, they concluded that there is nothing wrong with her.
apparently sometimes infants do crazy things that they can't explain. they have intermittent breathing, reflux problems, crazy skin color issues... they are still trying to figure out how to live outside the womb.
although there is no answer, which is a little disconcerting, the good thing is, there is nothing wrong with her. she is completely normal. and they don't think that anything like this will happen again... but unfortunately, they cannot guarantee it.
thursday, august 11th - day 332:
finally back at home! maeve decided that after being all cooped up in the hospital, she needed to relax and enjoy a pacifier.
which she has previously never wanted or taken. we are not against giving her one, she just doesn't, or i guess i should say "didn't", like it.
day 329:
my friend shannon gave these to maeve.
at first they were a little big, but now they are perfect!
i absolutely love them. first of all, they look super comfortable. second, they are super cute!
i could go broke buying things for maeve... but i don't have to when i have so many wonderful people buying her things!
day 328:
maeve and i were sitting outside watching griffey run around the yard, when i spotted these little bugs at our feet.
at first i thought they were lady bugs, but upon closer inspection, i realized that they were not. they looked like lady bugs with pinchers. like evil lady bugs or something.
day 327:
this is the infamous car seat.
the one that tim and i had a tiny bit of difficulty with on our first car ride.
well, now we've mastered it. and it is a pretty awesome car seat.
today we went to grandma and grandpa's so i could finally try out their hot tub.
they got it right before i got pregnant so i was never able to try it. which is unfair, because as i sat in it tonight, i said to tim how amazing it would have been to sit in it while pregnant.
day 326:
it amazes me how easily the dog can be entertained.
there was a bug on the stairs.
she stood lifting each foot up to see it as it crawled around her feet.
she was walking up and down the stairs over and over. i don't know if she thought she would find other bugs, or if she lost track of the one bug and was looking for him...
10 minutes later i had to coax the dog back to the living room.
and yet when i try to entertain her with a toy it lasts a whole 2 minutes before she's bored.
unless of course it is her ball and i am trying to feed the baby... then she never gets bored.
day 325:
i can't imagine still being pregnant... i know i went three weeks early, but i was totally ready to go.
and now that maeve has been here for so long, it is crazy to look at her and imagine what it would be like if she were still in the womb.
it already seems like forever ago that i was worried about her gaining weight... now she eats like crazy!
i can't wait to see her grow up. but at the same time, i want her to stay tiny.
it's true what they say: the days are long, but the years are short. (thanks for that switz)
day 324:
never a dull moment at the balut household...
yesterday i told tim that there was a bird in our wood stove, but when he got home it was nowhere to be seen.
he had the door wide open and there was no bird.
(you have to look close in these pictures, but the bird is in the bottom left hand corner)
but then today it was back. i don't know if it was coming and going or just hiding, but today when he opened the door, it flew out into the house.
griffey was in her glory, or at least she was until tim put her in her crate, then she was beside herself. she couldn't believe that this was her one chance to actually catch a bird and we were locking her up.
once griffey was secure in her crate, tim captured the little bird and released it outside.
i was a little nicer about getting rid of the bird than i was about getting rid of the mice. i guess i think they aren't as terrible as the little vermin.
day 323:
today we went to visit maeve's great grandma.
she is all the way out in the berkshires.
it took forever to get there, but it was totally worth it.
we made great grandma's day.
day 322:
i registered for (and received) this thermometer.
i had heard that it was good, but i had no idea how good.
the package stated that it was "one of the 25 smartest products of the decade, listed with iPod, Netflix, Blackberry, Google..."
iPod, Netflix, Blackberry and Google?!! that is a pretty amazing group of products. this thermometer is pretty amazing, but as amazing as Google? as awesome as an iPod? as life changing as my Blackberry?
i'm not so sure.
don't get me wrong, it is great, i just don't know that it is in the same category as the aforementioned products.
we'll have to wait and see.
day 321:
after maeve's big outing yesterday, i thought it would be nice to freshen her up a little...
at first she screamed, but then she realized how amazing a nice warm bath is and she relaxed.
and i know that everyone says they can't get over how small she is, but i can't get over how big she is getting.
seriously...
she is too big.
day 320:
i can't even begin to describe how amazing today was.
second to my own wedding, it was the best wedding ever!! the ceremony, the cupcake reception, the dinner reception... it was all perfect.
i am so tired now, i don't really have much to say...
but, i do want to say...
matt, i am so happy for you. julia is the best, and i am so glad that you have brought her into our family.
and julia, there is no one else on this planet that i would want my brother to spend the rest of his life with. i love the two of you more than you can imagine.
and i'm glad that maeve was able to make the wedding.
day 319:
it's finally here!!
matt and julia are getting married tomorrow :)
it's funny how when you are a part of something you don't really get to take great pictures. i suppose that's why people hire photographers.
i was trying to enjoy the rehearsal and mess with the settings on my camera and it wasn't working.
i ended up getting a couple of shots, but i didn't get very good ones.
the photographer in me kept thinking, "oh that would be cute from that angle..." or "if i could just stand over there i could get a great shot...", but the sister/best friend in me kept losing focus on taking pictures and got caught up in the night.
so now that i'm looking at my pictures i'm thinking about how it's hard to enjoy a night and be a photographer at the same time. i'm not sure you can do both... at least i don't think i can... when i am taking pictures i want to focus on that only, which means i'm not socializing.
we'll see how tomorrow goes... i'll try to get some great pictures, but i'm not promising anything special.
