Schaefer Family Adventures: August 2019

Just as a heads up….this a very Grace-Full post. Lots and lots of photos of her! I only realized this once I started editing the photos that I didn’t have many of John, but that OK there’s lots of him in other months!

So August came and went like a wind storm. I was surprised that it was already here when August 1st rolled around and by August 31st I was shocked that it was done! August was one of those months that was just so busy, I hardly realized it was flying by! It was FILLED with shoots for me, I felt I was either constantly taking photos or editing photos. And I kind of was.

We didn’t really go anywhere or do anything special during August, which I know makes for a pretty boring blogpost. I was in survival mode. My sister Becca left half way through August, so I felt her absence so keenly the second half of the month. She was so so incredibly helpful and just a joy to have around all summer. I had gotten so used to her just being around, playing with the kids, helping cook and clean that when she left, I wondered….how am I going to do this?? But I had been doing life with two kids and running a business for 5 months before she came and now that she’s back in NY I’ve figured it out again.

I feel like both kids grew in leaps and bounds over the course of the summer and during August, I saw even more growth! John’s capacity for expressive language is just exploding! He’s had so much vocabulary just stuck in his head and I feel like we are finally getting a taste of what’s going on up there in his little brain. He is working on the names of colors and counting. He’s starting to sing songs…”here comes the sun” is one of his favorites! I’ve also started to lazily potty train him…so most days he can be found wearing just a long t-shirt and running around the house and the yard in all his potty training glory! He would prefer no clothes at all if I let him!! He is actually doing quite well, and I am hoping to having him fully potty trained by his 3rd birthday. He definitely seems ready…it’s just me that needs to get my act together!

Grace is crawling everywhere and pulling herself to stand at everything: coffee table, couches, book shelves, toys. You name it! This little girl just wants to GO and explore the world! She puts everything in her mouth so I’m having to survey the toys John has out to see if she will choke on any of them. She has begun to clap her hands and loves when I say “ Yay Grace!” She also shakes her head “noooooooo” and it’s just so adorable. She has been having a tough time recently and is MUCH more clingy and I think she must be teething. Or at least that’s what I feel like parents console themselves with when there isn’t a clear answer. “Oh, it’s probably teething.” The poor thing just gnaws on everything and she just wants to be held, constantly. So it’s been a long month but I have to remind myself that I will look back and miss this all.

Before Becca left for school, she wanted to do a little photoshoot with Grace in their matching dresses. I just love these pictures! They both look so beautiful and I’m so glad I have these to frame and look back on! I will have to make a point and do a little Grace & Aunt Becca photoshoot every summer that she visits us! I think that would be adorable!

The other photos are from two collaborations I did with two amazing small businesses! The photos of Grace in the yellow dress and navy bonnet are from a collaboration with Arcadian Hearth. Madison makes ADORABLE bonnets and bows and I highly recommend checking out her work! The second collaboration was with Lilies and Loaves and I just LOVE all of their products!!!! Seriously, check them out! We took the kids to the Portiuncula to take photos around there since John’s shirt was Franciscan themed! It was the perfect setting for those photos!

As we exit Summer and enter into the last quarter of the year, I am starting to think about Fall and birthdays and the rest of the year end holidays! This year is flying by and it makes me so glad that I am doing these monthly family posts, even if they are just for me! I’ll be able to look back at them and see what we did each month and how the kids grew!

And now, for the photos that are full of Grace!