37/52 38/52 39/52 (the catch up edition)

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

We've been travelling so much over the last 2 and a half weeks that I haven't been able to post my weekly portrait. So here are three weeks worth, the catch up edition, if you will:

37/52 (top left): Hanging out in Toronto with her great grandmother. Clementine's wearing handmade pants and a bonnet (made by her grandma) and lying on the blanket I knit for her. Yay for handmade.

38/52 (bottom): Girlfriend loves her hammocks. Especially Colombian hammocks.

39/52 (top right): Sucking on her toes. All. The. Time.

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

in transit

After a fortnight of traveling around Colombia, we arrived back in Vancouver this morning at 2 am. We're here for 3 days before heading back to Sydney, and although we are getting tired of traveling, I really don't feel ready to leave here. I just love this city, and my family in it.

As I sort through and edit my hundreds of photos, I'll be posting more about our South American trip. I've also had a few people ask me about traveling with a baby, so you can expect a post on that sometime soon. Finally, you may have noticed that I gave the blog a little face lift. I've been wanting to post bigger photos for a while now, so I was delighted to find out that blog milk's templates now come in 3 widths. I've always found that the only problem with re-designing your blog is that inevitably all of your old posts will look terrible as the formatting gets screwed up. Oh well, it's nice to have a fresh start. 

whistler getaway

For our last hurrah in BC, we went to Whistler for 2 nights. Just the three of us. We stayed at a cozy hotel in the village, and got outside as much as we could. My husband spent a day mountain biking while Clementine and I walked through the village, followed by sunny deck time. We also strolled around Lost Lake while Clementine napped in the Ergo, and on our last day we took the gondola to the top of Whistler mountain. Clementine woke up as soon as we reached the top, so I nursed her in the most amazing spot overlooking the snowy peaks. Afterward we wandered some more and enjoyed a mountaintop lunch before coming back down.

It was so beautiful at this time of year that we couldn't help but dream of moving there. Even in summer, or late summer as it were, the air is so crisp and clean feeling. The lakes are stunning (and cold!) and the mountains just take your breath away. Oh yes, I can definitely see as living there for a season.

p.s. sorry for the photo overload, I couldn't cull.

 

 

 

 

4 month Clementine

In the last month Clementine has changed so much. At 4 months old she is still tiny, but boy does she have a big personality! In the last week she has started to laugh. A full belly laugh that involves lots of kicking and squealing to boot. So far, her dad and her uncle have been the ones to elicit her laughter and it's safe to say that it's my favourite sound in the world.

While at 2 months old it was all about her hands, at 4 months old it's all about her feet. Clementine has figured out how to grab both of her feet and get them into her mouth, all the better to suck her toes. Oh does she have some tasty toes!

Finally, she's learned how to roll from her belly to her back. She hasn't quite gotten the back to belly roll yet, but I'm sure she will soon. It seems like she's learning something new every day. It amazes and delights me, and I can't wait to see what she learns this month!

 

tips for photographing your baby

Today you can find me over on Trish's blog, Under Lock and Key, talking about tips for photographing your baby. I loved putting together this guest post for her and I hope you find it helpful!

memory keeping

 

 

 I used to be diligent about memory keeping. I printed out all of my photos, spent hours creating beautiful photo albums and scrapbooks, and even kept journals. I was especially careful to document my travels, and have the giant photo albums to prove it!

In the last 5 years that I've been living in Australia, I haven't printed a single photo. Not. One. I always said it was because I never knew where I'd be living in a year's time, and photo albums take up too much suitcase real estate. But having Clementine has finally given me the push I needed to start memory keeping again. I want her to be able to flip through family albums and see what she was doing as she grew up - what she looked like, who her friends were, where we travelled and what she liked to do.

I was torn between printing out photos and making albums, or creating photo books. As you can see, I went with the latter. I like that photo books are much less bulky than albums, and they look so nice and professional. I used Artifact Uprising, a great new site that makes all kinds of photo books and accessories. I went with the soft covers (because the hardcovers were out of my budget) and they are just lovely. Nice matte paper and a great size. The only problem is that for those of us outside of the US, the shipping cost is very expensive (as much as the book itself in some cases!).

I'm pleased as punch that I took the time to make these, and I even just finished making one with Vancouver photos. I think I'm finally back in the memory keeping rhythm and I'm determined to continue!

p.s. photos in the spreads above are from Gui Jorge and Belinda.
p.p.s. I would've shared other pages but they all have photos of my husband!

36/52

"A portrait of my child, once a week, every week, in 2013."

Clementine: Sweet (and talented) Veronika snapped this photo of Clementine relaxing at Kits Beach. One of our favourite places to hang out.

Tomorrow we head to Toronto and then to Colombia. Then it's back to Vancouver before finally boarding a flight to Sydney at the end of the month. Posting will be light during this whirlwind of travel, but I do have some posts scheduled so check back. You can also follow our South American adventures on Instagram. Wish us luck!

Joining in on Jodi's 52 project.

lately

 

 For the last few weeks, I've been collecting photos in a folder called 'Summer.' Today I bring you a random assortment - perfectly illustrating how we've been spending our time. Lately we've been all about soaking up the end of summer. Eating alfresco, letting Clementine hang out naked, going to the beach, exploring different neighbourhoods, and lying in the hammock. Ahhh I just love summer in Vancouver.

We also got the chance to hang out with Veronika (formerly of Girl & Closet, now of By the Shore), her husband and her cute pup last weekend. She shot that last photo of me and my girl, and the photo of Clemmie asleep in her sling.

How have you been celebrating the end of summer? Or if you're in the southern hemisphere, the beginning of spring?