Friends, we have reached July’s monthly blog. In September. Who’s counting?? Time’s totally topsy-turvy during the pandemic anyway. This is the month we became pretty sure her eyes would be blue like her Dad’s, she started to roll over, and demonstrated that she could grab toys, with toy #1 being Mom’s hair.
Yes, I still take photos of my son. He just has photographer child’s syndrome and is SO OVER being photographed most of the time! Here he is with a blueberry smoothie beard.
Bicep workout with a 3-month old 14 lb weight, and the world’s most disappointing pandemic cinnamon rolls, made with baking powder instead of yeast. Bleh.
My son made a “cherry picker.”
By purest chance we stocked up on yeast one week before shelter-in-place began in Illinois on March 13, 2020. I’ve been hoarding it and only making no-knead bread because it’s super easy and only calls for 1/4 t yeast. It’s also super forgiving if you need to use weird flour – I’ve even made it with cornmeal (1:1 with all purpose flour)!
Fourth of July selfie on the front porch!! You can see the hanging pots that I totally planted with hostas that I dug up from the side of the house. Haha!! These were in the days when we were too scared to go to Home Depot.
Lightning bug…and investigating said bug in the bug jar. Bug was promptly removed after toddler lost interest, ~5 minutes.
Ah yes, kiddie pools were the hot-ticket item this summer and I felt so lucky to score one. So here we are enjoying our “pool day” for the Fourth of July!
Homemade bread and kiddie pool. Ahhhh pandemic summer.
This is the first year my son was excited about fireworks! We’ve experienced Midwest Fourth of July’s before, but let me tell you, nothing prepared us for the level of black powder burnt up in Chicago this year. It sounded like popcorn going off constantly from sundown to midnight the entire Fourth of July weekend. I poked my head out the front door at ~11 PM one night and it was SMOKY from FIREWORKS. Please note we came from California where the vegetation’s all dead by May and even sparklers are illegal from a fire hazard standpoint so this was pretty crazy for us.
WE. FINALLY. MADE IT TO LINCOLN PARK. I think this was trip to Chicago #2 since we moved here in August 2019.
We were supposed to walk along the lakefront, but then I saw this boardwalk area and said, “ooh, let’s check it out!” and then proceeded to completely lose it as we turned the corner and saw the Most Instagrammed Sculpture In Lincoln Park and it was Right There. So we took photos and then ran out of time to see the lakefront before my husband had to head home for a work call. That subsequently was cancelled by others the instant we got home, dagnabbit.
Tummy time got easier, the neck muscles got stronger. And! The start of her fabulous pompadour.
Please note the hearts in the window in support of first responders and how it looks like my husband is kissing my daughter’s head and there’s a little cartoon heart like that’s his reaction emoji. Also her foot is small.
AND she has knuckle dimples.
Got a foot out, Mom. My foot’s cold, Mom.
You may have noticed there’s a carbohydrate trend for this month, and this image depicts both the cellulose and starch varieties. We lived in Seattle for seven years before the Bay Area and one of our favorite places to eat was The Crumpet Shop at Pike Place Market – so I tried to make crumpets except I don’t have crumpet rings but I did have gingerbread man cookie cutters. It sort of worked.
My husband was bummed that we totally missed visiting the lakefront, so we went back the following weekend (for Chicago visit #3) and lucked out with GLORIOUS weather.
Fancy camera mask courtesy of Miller’s Lab.
Homemade nutella on my homemade bread because that’s how I roll. And…that’s how my daughter rolls.
We a BIG tea drinkers around here (like…5 cups a day kind of tea drinkers), and we discovered that we can make our own custom tea blends (seen in these custom tins) at Adagio Teas. My son’s is lemon verbena-chamomile-lavender, and my daughter’s is earl grey with cardamom.
It was actually pure chance that they were color-coordinating so I had to take advantage.
She’s pretty awesome.
Playing with friends at Scoville Park, and gearing up for a fancy photoshoot (see August’s blog!) along with vanilla scones, peach-lavender preserves, and passionfruit curd from Rare Bird Preserves in the Oak Park Harrison Arts District.
Kristen Hazelton is an Oak Park, IL (Chicago, IL metro area) and Livermore, CA (San Francisco East Bay Area) senior, family, and engagement photographer. She occasionally photographs in San Diego, CA, Tucson, AZ, and Seattle, WA. You can inquire about your own photoshoot here!
