The Aviary

I decided to take Brayden up to Pittsburgh to the Aviary one day a couple weeks ago. We had a ton of fun. Pittsburgh has a whole complex of educational places like this including a Children's Museum, a Conservatory, and a Zoo/Aquarium. It was a lovely Mommy/Baby day out. Here's some highlights. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of photos due to a too-slow shutter speed. (Silly me had my camera on aperture preferred with a wide open aperture!)




These little windows looked into the penguin enclosure. As you will see, this was Brayden's favorite part of the aviary!


This bird had caught a mouse! Later you'll see one of the mice family that had moved into a large flower pot in this enclosure.


These are Victorian Crown pigeons. They are the largest pigeons in the world! They were very cool.




These are Lories. They have encounters with the Lories a couple times a day. I didn't have any cash on me to feed them nectar, but it was neat to get up close to them nonetheless. I got one to perch on my finger, but Brayden was slightly less than excited by their close proximity.





The aforementioned mouse. He was quite adorable.



As part of an educational encounter in one of the enclosures, the guy had a volunteer hold a worm in the air and the bird swooped down and took it. In the next photo you'll see where the female was chirping like a chick and the male flew over and fed her the worm.






Brayden loved this sculpture! He kept saying "dinosaur!"


He really did love these windows.


There were glass domes in the penguin enclosure where you could stand up in them and your head would be in the middle of the penguin land. This little guy was right next to us!



He found a friend in the penguin area. They ran around together for half an hour! It was totally cute.




These tunnels led under the penguin enclosure and to the underwater windows.


Shooting through the large pane of glass to Brayden playing in one of the windows in the tunnel.















He had so much fun! This will definitely be an exhibit we will go back to. Eli wants to see it, too!

Happy Father's Day

I know I'm not on much anymore. I'm just spending so much time enjoying Bradyen and Eli and our life that I'm not getting on to write about it. In fact, I've taken to not even photographing much of it. I find that when I have a camera in my hand I feel like I'm missing out on the moment and the fun. Besides, there's all of maybe 5 people who read this thing and I talk to you all and update you all the time anyway. But this is about Father's Day.

My sister-in-law made a post in honor of today and it got me to thinking about the fathers in my life. My own father isn't here any more, and I truly wish I could say that I wish he was. But the sad truth is that I don't. I have few happy memories of my dad. The ones I do have are pleasant, to be sure, but I don't feel like his presence is missing in my heart. And for that I will always mourn.

But I do have a great step-dad. Clint has been part of my life for roughly twelve years now. Even though he and Mom have never gotten married, I will always think of him as my step-father. He is such a good man. We were never really close as I was growing up like some parents and children, but I do love him and he has always been there. I know he has always supported me and been proud of me, and that has made me feel loved and secure. I love that he loves us kids like we are his own and I love how much love I see in him for my mother. I also love seeing him with Brayden. Brayden adores his Paw Paw. He has always emulated whatever is was Clint was doing when we were visiting - whether it was painting the living room or fixing the car. I love him as if he were my own father and am glad he is in my life.

I also have who may possibly be the best father-in-law ever. I adore Eli's dad. He is such a good, kind man. I feel like in him I have found the father I always wished I had. He is so giving and has treated me far better than I may have deserved at times. It is because of him that I have found something in my life that I feel is mine. He didn't have to buy me a camera and teach me how to use it, but he did and I love him for that. I love the help and advice he gives and a single word of praise from him warms my very soul. I hate that we don't get to visit often, and when we do I don't get to spend much time around him. But I always love the few minutes I get and soak it in. I love him like he is my father by blood, not by marriage.

Of course the most important father in my life is the father of my son. I love Eli with every fiber of my being. He is an amazing, loving, Godly man and I still maintain that marrying him was the best decision I have ever made. I love to see him with Brayden. I love how much Brayden loves his Daddy. I love those moments when Brayden wants Daddy and not me. To see Eli pick Brayden up in his arms and to see the look on Brayden's face as he lays his head on Daddy's shoulder and pats on him...it's a moment that could warm my heart on the darkest and coldest of days. Eli is such an incredible man and I can't wait to have many more babies for him to father.

I have three great men in my life and I thank God every day for each of them. Happy Father's Day.

New Wardrobe!!!

My most favorite clothing store, New York & Company, is having a buy one, get one 50% off sale. I realized that if I'm going to start handing out business cards to people, I need to look a bit more adult and professional. And I'm tired of only having three things to wear! So I went shopping! I got 9 new tops and a necklace. Then today I took them all to a girl in my knitting group who is a seamstress to have them altered so they fit properly. A bit more costly than I had anticipated all told, but I won't need new tops for the rest of the season. And they look great! Now I just need a couple pairs of nice pants, one or two skirts, and a couple pairs of shoes and I'm all set! Oh, and maybe some accessories. Anyway, here's what I bought. Please excuse the bad fashion show pictures. Eli isn't the best photographer and I'm not the most ideal subject. So we compensated by having some fun with it!
































While I was taking photos of the clothes laid out, Brayden came over and looked up at me standing on my chair and said 'Cheese!'. So adorable! Here's a couple shots of him cheesing it up.