Lakehouse with Reagan

A couple months ago, Diane asked if I wanted to join her at the lakehouse the last weekend of July, since her husband Jack had plans to go to Canada for a bachelor party. Her in-laws were planning to go to the lakehouse that weekend too, so there wasn't room for all of us. I just took Reagan so that she could have a fun weekend with her friends and so we could spend some quality mother/daughter time together. John stayed home with Avery and the dogs. I felt badly leaving him since Brutus died the morning that we were supposed to leave, but John insisted that we go and have a nice weekend. He ended up having a nice weekend too, bonding with Avery, so it all worked out nicely.


As usual, the kids all played so well together (Kaitlyn, JP, and Reagan)

Here is 4-month old Erin sitting on Gramps' lap, just after her bath

Reagan had such a wonderful time on the beach ... here she is with Grandma Connie, making mud pies on the dock. After making mud pies, digging in the dirt, and throwing rocks into the lake, she decided she wanted to swim in the lake. I put the inflatable floaties on her arms and she was in heaven, swimming around the lake! She's a little fish ...

I love this serious picture of Kaitlyn in her sunglasses ...

Eating goldfish

JP with flushed cheeks, due to the warm, sunny day

Many thanks to the McTigues for another fabulous weekend at my favorite retreat!!!

Melisa's Sprinkle (aka Baby Shower for 2nd Child)

Tonight was a fun Mom's Night Out (MNO) to celebrate Melisa's pregnancy! Stacey and Corey organized the dinner as a "Sprinkle," a very cute way to celebrate a second baby without a full-blown "shower!"

Standing: Ronni, Michelle, Corey, Stacey, Alexis

Sitting: Amanda, Melisa (guest of honor), Kelly

Melisa's arrival (we shouted "surprise!" even though she knew about the occasion)

Amanda and Melisa

Corey, Stacey and Ronni

We had a great dinner at a restaurant called Buca in Clifton. After dinner, we came out to find that it was pouring rain (it was REALLY coming down!). Ronni had us all cracking up; she was freaking out about how she couldn't go out in the rain because she had just washed and blown out her hair that evening ... if it got wet, it would go all frizzy and she had some type of wedding event to attend the following day.

Photo Shoot Attempt - Erin McTigue

Today was a great day ... I got to take pictures of my friend Diane's new baby girl! I love taking pictures and I'm having fun learning how to use my SLR Digital Rebel that I bought from Christie. I only wish I could be even half as talented as she is when it comes to taking pictures! She makes it look so easy, but it turns out to be pretty difficult! When I got to Diane's, it was pouring rain - obviously, not optimal lighting for a newborn photo shoot. So we tried everything to brighten the room ... unfortunately, I ended up having to use a flash on a lot of the pictures, giving such harsh lights and creating shadows. It was annoying that the lighting was so poor. On top of it, I brought both girls with me! Reagan was fine, as she played with Kaitlyn and JP quite nicely, but Avery was not happy that I was giving all my attention to this precious little baby ... as you'll see below, she went to the extreme to get my attention ... Anyway, what I'm trying to say with all this rambling is that although I had a great time, I was pretty disappointed with the results :( I wish I could have taken some amazingly beautiful pictures of Erin for Diane, but they definitely look like the work of an amateur. Oh well, I guess that's why photography takes LOTS of practice, right? I told Diane I'd love to give it another shot, hopefully on a sunny day when the lighting is better!

Diane had seen this idea, so we gave it a try ... once again, we felt like such amateurs!

Isn't she precious?? She's 2 1/2 weeks old in these pictures

After I snapped this shot, I was SO excited! But when I downloaded it, I realized it wasn't completely in focus which really upset me. Oh well, at least I got this adorable little grin!!

Big sister Kaitlyn (3) holding Erin

See this big stick in the middle of the picture? That's one of those sticks that has a horse head on the top ... Avery decided she'd had enough of me ignoring her, so she came over with this stick in her hand! I didn't notice she had it until I shot this picture and realized something was obstructing the view of Erin and Kaitlyn. When I realized what she was doing, I was appalled! Avery definitely has a temper and when it comes out, sometimes it's extremely nasty ... it kills me when I see it, especially when it's around other people.

We tried to get JP in the pictures, but as you can tell, he was NOT very happy with us! JP turned 4 at the beginning of March, Kaitlyn turned 3 on March 29th, just 3 days after Erin was born ... isn't that wild that all 3 children were born in March?? What's even crazier is that JP and Kaitlyn are only 12 months apart!

Here's Avery, getting into trouble again ... she insisted on putting her feet IN the toilet.

Reagan was downright adorable with baby Erin ... she was SO excited to hold her! The first time she held her, Erin was screaming and Reagan was just grinning from ear to ear. She was incredibly sweet with her, which warmed my heart :)

Erin Elizabeth McTigue

My friend Diane gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on Thursday night, March 26th at 8:10 PM. Erin Elizabeth weighed 7 lbs, 17 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. Diane only had to push for 5 minutes, so I was very happy for her!

I set up the schedule for all of Diane's friends to take her meals for the next couple weeks, so I got to sign up for the first day :) After Jen Wilkin recently made stuffed bell peppers for me, I decided to make up my own recipe for stuffed peppers, which came out REALLY good!!

I had a really nice time visiting with Diane and holding her precious 3-day old baby girl.

Mommy and baby are both doing well and I'm in awe of her relaxed nature, considering she now has 3 kids! Way to go Diane!!

We are looking forward to getting to know Erin better ... maybe Diane can plan another Mom's weekend away to her Lakehouse and she can bring Erin this time!