biscuit's space | The blog of photographer Katherine Carver

Mar 16

Nineteen Month and Twenty Month Snapshot: Alexandra

I completed the monthly snapshots of our beloved Alex during her first year. Here is the snapshot of Alex’s nineteenth month and twentieth month! (You can view Alex’s thirteenth and fourteenth months here; Alex’s fifteenth and sixteenth months here; and Alex’s seventeenth and eighteenth months here). Alex is changing all of the time and she is still growing like a weed!

How is our little girl already twenty months old! The time continues to fly by very quickly! I cannot believe we will have a two-year-old in short order! This is such a sweet time, and there has been so much change in these last two months. Alex is finally sleeping consistently throughout the night and it has really made a difference. Since birth, Alex has not been the best sleeper at night. Right now, her sleep is consistent and predictable, and I am honestly getting the best sleep since before she was born. Her hair is getting longer, and she still has her lovely curls. We can even do little pigtails now! She is not a picky eater, and she is willing to try anything. She is also working on getting her two-year molars.

Alex is quite outgoing, she has a sense of humor, and she is fun and adventurous! She has the cutest laugh and giggle! She is dancing up a storm and she loves to dance (she makes up her own dances) on the hardwood floors at home! She loves music and she makes up her own songs, which she sings, and it is so endearing. She still loves her bath time and she loves practicing going under water and blowing bubbles during this time! She has even started to take a few showers with me, and she loves it! She also is really into balls right now — she loves to throw them and play with them! Alex is also captivated by her Daddy’s trains, shown below! She still loves to read her books, she loves for us to read to her, and she enjoys going to the library and bookstore. A favorite book right now, is the “I spy” books! She loves looking at her books, and she frequently says, “What’s that?” She is spending more time on her own reading her books and playing, which is great! She also loves coloring. She made the cutest Valentine for us at school and we gave the girls Valentine gifts, which they loved! Alex loves going to school and she enjoys learning and being with her friends at school. Alex is learning to count numbers and she is saying more words and she seems to comprehend and understand more and more each day. Her favorite that phrase is, “What’s that?” Alex still loves to be outside and go to the play grounds. She is quite curious; and, she never forgets anything!

However, it has been a tough winter filled with sickness here. Alex missed at least a week of school as she had fevers, a double ear infection, and bad cold. It took multiple rounds of antibiotics to kick the infection. I then got run down taking care of Alex, and I got strep, the flu, pink eye, and a bad cold all in quick succession. Then, Doug got a bad cold. This all happened over a six week stretch. We just cannot wait for spring to come fast enough, and it’s almost here, technically! Victory and Alex bonded during all of this sickness, as she is so attentive to everyone in our home. As a result, there are not as many photos taken during this time, as I did not feel well.

Once everyone felt better, we took Alex to the train store to get a few things for Doug’s train set up. After much work, Doug has nearly finished his train set up, a passion of his, and he can run three trains simultaneously! And, it is so sweet, because each night, Alex asks to go up and have Doug run the trains! The trains have never been run so much, ever! It is so nice Doug can share his passion with Alex! (A brief video is shown below). Doug even got Alex a girl’s conductor’s hat, and Alex loves to conduct in only her diaper, of course! We are working on getting Victory to come up during this train time, but she is not yet comfortable. So, we bring Victory up during this time, only to have her leave! So, we are working on it! For Valentine’s Day, Doug got Alex an Ikea train, which she loves and she is pretty good putting the track together and ‘running her own train’ liker her Daddy!

We also took Alex to Port Discovery, a children’s museum, with her little friend from school. Alex had a great time. It is one of the neatest and most interactive places that I have been to for kids. As you will see in the images below, there was a large slide, four stories high, and one had to be five years in order to go down the slide. So Doug broke the rules, and they climbed up to the top together, as he knew Alex would love it. They reached the top, and Alex sat right down on the slide; and, thankfully, the museum worker let them go down the slide even though Alex is clearly not five-years-old. It was neat to watch them go down together! Alex still seems to have no fear and she is pretty adventurous! There were so many activities for the children, and Alex really enjoyed pretending to be a cashier and pressing all of the buttons on the cash register checking people out with their food!

We were finally recently able to get Alex back into swimming lessons after everyone got over being sick! She still loves it! Doug and I take turns going in the pool with her! And, we now have Alex on a wait list for a gymnastics class since she is so active and loves to climb! That should be fun as well!

We also went with Alex on a school field trip to the Maryland Science Center, where she had a wonderful time with her class! Alex loved the Kid’s Room and she especially loved the dinosaur exhibit! She had a great time exploring, as always!

We were fortunate to get some fun outings in, described above, before things really changed out here late last week due to the COVID-19. We hope you are all staying safe. It is a really crazy time, isn’t it? We will have to be really creative to keep Alex occupied, while finding safe ways for her to burn her energy! Most everything is cancelled out here and work schedules have been modified greatly for many people.

Alex still cuddles with me for a little bit before bed and sits with me in the glider. She no longer falls asleep in my arms outside of her being really sick. It is a reminder that everything is always changing and it is all so fleeting. What I will remember from these months is how she wakes up talking to herself in her crib, and it is so captivating. She is entertaining herself more in the mornings, which buys us a little time! However, she loves to and prefers to play with us! How she greets Victory in the morning with a big smile and wave, whereby Alex says, “Hi Tory!” I always love her big smile, which melts our hearts. Alex also loves to run up to us, and she gives us hugs on our legs, while we are standing. It is so sweet. And, she is always up for an outing and adventure! She is becoming her own little person right before our very eyes! I feel so fortunate. It has been such as journey. We are doing our best to embrace the now, the present. We are so grateful!

A few iphone images from Alex’s nineteenth month!

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Victory being such a good ‘big sister’ to Alex!

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Alex feeding Victory some treats!

Here is a video from Alex’s nineteenth month — Doug and Alex running the trains together!

A few iphone images from Alex’s twentieth month!

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex coloring!

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex at her swimming lesson!

Here is a video from Alex’s twentieth month — Alex and Victory sitting together during a dinner together outside!

Mar 9

Transition: Integrating Your Furry Family Member

Before Alex arrived, Victory was our ‘only child’ for nearly five years! I previously wrote a blog post about preparing your furry family member when a baby arrives. However, this post, today, is about continuing to integrate your furry family member upon the arrival of a child and it can also be applied to a major life transition.

Even though our hearts expanded in every way, we are so, so grateful, and this is the best season of our lives, it was a big change for everyone when Alex arrived, including Victory. Our overarching goal was to be sure that not too much changed for Victory, even though a whole lot changed, if that makes sense! We are all in a groove now, getting sleep, figuring out things as we go, which is great for everyone!

First, we included Victory in Alex’s birth. Victory was at the hospital, the day after the birth, and it was so lovely and memorable. I am very grateful to the hospital staff for being so accommodating with our request. Victory was a hit with the hospital staff, and she got right up into the hospital bed by with me, by my side, and she did not want to leave! Our entire family was together, for the first time, and I will never forget that time together introducing the girls to each other.

Second, we always encourage Victory to be with us wherever we are in the house. She knows that she has free reign of the house, but we wanted to be sure she knew that she was still, of course, a part of all family activities, and that would never change. So, from the very beginning, she learned to go in Alex’s room and be apart of our daily routines, etc. It is very special to hear Alex say, each morning, “Hi Tory!” and waive her hand to Victory with a big smile! It warms my heart as Victory always follows me into Alex’s room each morning, even during the times when Alex’s room smells like a bathroom, if you get my drift! Victory wants to be apart of everything, which is so great! And, she has and continues to be extremely patient and tolerant of Alex since she was born.

Third, we encouraged the girls to bond. We never kept Victory away from Alex (Victory has never been aggressive to anyone); in fact, we encouraged her to sniff and interact with Alex. (There, however, have been times that we have had to keep Alex from Victory). And, since Alex was quite sick, this winter, both girls have really bonded, and it is so great! Victory loves licking Alex, and Alex knows not to pull on Victory’s fur or chase Victory, thank goodness. So they reached some sort of mutual understanding, even with limited verbal communication, between them! Victory knows so much, and is quite remarkable how in tune she is with everything and every person in our home. Victory has been by our side meandering through mountain tops and valleys, and she is so loyal and she is always there for all of us, and we never take that for granted. We feel so grateful for her.

Fourth, we also continue to take Victory on outings, which she always loves, and Alex loves them, too! Even in the dead of winter, when there are not too many options for places to take Victory to, there is always Lowes, on standby, which Victory and Alex love! We also take Victory with Alex, year-round, to get soft-serve ice cream at TCBY, which is a hit with Victory! We are very much looking forward to the spring, just around the corner, and the summer where there are a myriad of options for outings with our girls! Victory loves outings and it is always a ‘morale boost,’ for Victory, especially during the winter when she can get cabin fever, at times.

Fifth, we continue to take Victory on vacation with us! Even though it is not always easy to find a rental that accepts both a small dog and a small child, we make it work! Doug is always really good about finding places for us to stay! Victory has been on every single vacation with us since we adopted her in the fall of 2013! We would not have it any other way!

Finally, most of all, our love never waivers with Victory, and we spend time with only Victory each day. She loves her time with us! She is our fur girl, forever! And, she is such a great ‘big sister’ to Alex! You can see their love reflected in the recent images, below. Doug and I are so fortunate. We love our girls with our whole hearts.

All of this said, if you take the time, and make a conscious effort, to include your furry family member during a big change or transition, such as adding another family member, it will work out for everyone in the long run!

Mar 3

Artist Talk: Sally Mann

I recently came upon this very interesting and fascinating talk with one of my favorite artists since high school and college, Sally Mann. In this talk, Sally Mann spoke with curators about her exhibition “A Thousand Crossings” at Jeu de Paume, Paris, that was on display through the fall of 2019. During this talk, she also touches on being one of the first distinguished photographers who was both an artist and a mom.

For over forty years, Sally Mann has made experimental and haunting photographs that explore the overarching themes of existence: memory, desire, death, the bonds of family, and nature’s indifference to human endeavor. What unites this broad body of work is that it is all bred of a place, the American South.

You can view a portion of the body of work that was on display, below.

Feb 25

Every Moment Matters

Today, in one of my daily readings, contained in this book by Cyndie Spiegel, gifted to me by a good friend, this quote, below, stood out to me and rings so true. Especially now, I find the most precious moments in the in-between, ordinary moments.

“Every moment matters — not just the big ones, but also the small ones, the seemingly irrelevant ones and the quiet ones. All of these moments add up to a life well lived. Don’t take the presumably unimportant moments for granted. Look for them and treasure them instead. Listen for the words unspoken. Notice the quick glance. Feel the soft touch. The long-held hugs. The sadness. The graciousness. The in-between. The magical sweet spots between tiny and massive moments are your life. Don’t forget to pay attention to them. In the end, that is really all we have.”

Feb 20

Tips: To Document Your Family

One of my favorite things to do since becoming a mom to a little human, is to document our everyday. I am certainly not good at all ‘domestic mom things,’ but I enjoy documenting our family and it is really important to me. It takes effort, but if you have a DSLR camera, here are a few tips that might help you document your everyday more easily versus always relying on your phone to take images. (I still use my iphone to take images). I want to remember these moments of our life, and I continually make family photo albums, which I cherish. I print the images I love and I update the photo frames in our home regularly. I am also working on the magnets on our fridge to reflect Alex’s second year, which has been fun, too!

Have a place where your camera lives. I have my camera ready to go with a CF memory card loaded, battery charged, along with the lens attached, and it is always in the same place in my office, unless it is in the car as I have brought it somewhere. So, if I see a moment I would like to capture, I will quickly get the DSLR camera out and it is all ready to go making things easier to use the DSLR camera. Alex and Victory do not seem to mind the camera, and Doug is usually pretty cooperative, too. In fact, looking back, Doug says to me sometimes, that he did not even remember Alex looking a certain way without the images as a reference. Having the camera in the same place and ready to go makes it so much easier to utilize the DSLR camera.

Identify ‘good light’ in your home. I know where we have good natural light in our house, and I take advantage of those places, which makes it easy to capture our little family. Knowing where ‘good light’ exists during certain parts of the day, as the light changes, is also good to note. I also take note of ‘good light’ outside when we are out and about. So, it is good to know the places in your home where ‘good light’ exists and during what portions of the day that light exists.

Have a designated memory card for family images. I always keep a large CF memory card in the camera so I am ready to go and hopefully do not miss the moment I hope to capture. (And, I do my best not to let the CF memory card get full.) Additionally, I do not take images of anything else on this family CF memory card outside of our family, which makes things much easier as other files/images are not commingled.

Have a designated external drive to save the images and edited images. I have two large external drives where I keep our family images and edited images, which is organized by year and month, which makes it fairly easy to go back and find images. I download the images from the camera usually weekly, or when I am able, in order to not fall too far behind on editing of the images.

Know when you have taken enough images. As time goes on, and Alex gets older, I usually know when I have shot enough to capture what I want to put in a spread of our family photo albums. And, with a toddler constantly on the go, the moment usually is defined.

Teach your spouse/partner how to use the camera. I have taught Doug how to use our DSLR camera after setting the settings for him, so he can also help include me in family photos. This has been very useful.

Remember that you do not have to be perfect. I have learned that conditions are usually never ideal, but you do your best in order to document your family. I rather have the images of our little family versus ‘perfect images.’ I love capturing our candid moments, which are so fleeting.

Below are a few images from Valentine’s Day morning with our little loves opening their Valentine’s gifts and cards together. And, they are getting along again so well now; and I even got a few images of our little loves together now that Alex knows and she has learned that she cannot chase Victory and pull on her fur! They love each other so much. Victory is back to licking all over Alex and Alex approaches Victory gently with lots of treats, which makes life so much easier for everyone!

Happy Thursday!

Feb 14

Happy Heart Day!

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” — Maya Angelou

Feb 11

Dog Rescue: Beer Cans

Have you heard about the recent heartwarming story about a dog, Hazel, shown in the blue bandana below, that was reunited with her family after being discovered on a beer can?

Hazel went missing in Iowa roughly three years ago. She is reunited with her family after being featured on a beer can in Florida via Motorworks Brewing helping to raise money to build a local shelter in Manatee County. Hazel, 7, was one of four dogs chosen to have their smiling profile picture featured on the beer cans at Motorworks Brewing in Bradenton, Florida, in hopes that they would get adopted.

Monica Mathis, who now lives in Minnesota, was scrolling through social media when she spotted a story about a Florida brewing company featuring adoptable dogs on their beer cans. “I was looking at the dogs and I was like oh my gosh, that’s Hazel,” Mathis told CNN.

Hazel left the Mathis’ home one day in 2017. “She was an escape artist; she was very good at getting loose,” Mathis told CNN. Hazel known as “Day Day,” entered the shelter in March of 2019 as a stray, Hans Wohlgefahrt, with Manatee County Animal Services, told CNN.

Hazel did have a microchip, however, the contact information for her owner was outdated. With no method of contacting Hazel’s owners and when no one came forward to claim her, Hazel went up for adoption.

Mathis submitted vet records and photos to the shelter and she was able to claim her long lost dog. While it is unclear how Hazel made her journey to Florida from the Midwest, Wohlgefahrt said she is healthy and a very happy pup!

What a wonderful story and a unique way to promote dog rescue!

Feb 3

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Eight Year Blogiversary!

Today is the eight-year Blogiversary of the blog! It is really difficult to believe that eight years have already passed by so quickly! Where has the time gone? Many things have changed recently, but some things remain the same, fortunately. I am grateful for this little space here.

If it were not for our beloved Biscuit, I am not sure I would have ever started blogging and I know that I would not have started my long-term photography project, which I am, finally, onto the final steps, for which Biscuit and Victory are my inspiration. Biscuit was such a blessing and gift to us. Biscuit permanently changed our lives in so many positive ways and Biscuit sent us our precious little rescue sheltie, Victory, who we adore and love, shown below! And, coincidentally, Victory is as old as the blog!

Thank you for reading this blog for however long or short you have been visiting! I truly enjoy creating content for the blog to share with all of you, and I hope that you continue to enjoy visiting and reading the blog!

Thank you so very much!

Finally, below are two recent videos of our girls, who love each other and who are forever bonded!

Jan 29

Loving: Winter 2020

Happy winter! Below are a few things I have been recently loving this winter! (And, we hope to have no more sickness in our house for awhile!)

1. Paperless Post — I have been using Paperless Post since this fall, when I discovered it. I love sending paper cards, and I was saddened to hear, recently, that one of my favorite paper card stores, Papyrus, is closing. (We got our custom wedding invitations from Papyrus.) Anyway, Paperless Post is great! I love it. It is great for sending a card that you instantly want to be received by the recipient, whereas a card via mail would take too long, in some cases. Especially if you have friends and/or family living abroad, for example. The designs are beautiful and there is a large selection in many categories! There is a small nominal fee to send these cards, but I think it is worth it! I highly recommend, even though I have not given up sending paper cards!

2. Born Boots — I love these boots! They are simple in design and super comfortable with a nice lining to keep your legs warm! I highly recommend them!

3. Peloton Tred — We recently got the Peloton Tred over the Holidays, and we love it. We gave up our gym membership for the Peloton, and we are so happy. We are able to use it daily, outside of the time we were all sick, and Doug and I trade off in order to get daily exercise, and Alex can remain at home with us, which makes everything easier. The tred is very smooth to walk and run on, and the classes are great, too. (And you do not have to have a Peloton to do the classes!) It is so convenient and wish we had made the decision to get it sooner!

4. Instacart — Doug and I recently started using Instacart from our local Wegmans. Doug really wanted to try it, so over the holidays, we gave it a try, and we have not gone back. It is a huge time saver and we love it! Doug and I work on the list together before placing our order, and pervious orders are saved, which is nice so you do not have to resubmit your list each week and you can modify the list as needed. There have not been any mistakes, thus far; the shoppers all text with substitution approvals; and all of our order have been on time, except for one. I was not so keen on doing it, initially, but it is really nice not to have to fight the crowds on the weekends and have a little bit more time, which feels like it is at a premium these days.

5. Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy Balm — Alex had had some patches of dry skin during these cooler months that we were unable to resolve. The pediatrician recommended this balm, and it works great, and cleared everything in a few days, and Alex’s skin feels so, so soft! It does not have a smell and it is not greasy, which we love! I have even used it myself, and it works great!

6. Dog Sherpa Throw — For Victory’s birthday, we gave her a large sherpa throw for our bed, where she likes to lay during the day. It is so soft, and it washes up well, too. Then, for Christmas, we gave her the smaller sherpa throw to use in the car, which works really well, too! I highly recommend it for any furry family member! Victory loves it!

You can view other things I love here!

Happy Wednesday!

Jan 21

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Victory: Trusted and Loyal Fur Sister

I do not have a blog post prepared this week. Sickness hit our house recently, and Alex has been quite sick for almost a week with a terrible cold, double ear infection, and fever. And, I caught strep and Doug is not feeling well either. We have been in full caring and healing mode here. Alex is getting better on her new antibiotic, thankfully. Victory, as always, is always there for us. During this time of sickness, there has been a silver lining — Victory and Alex have bonded. Victory has given Alex lots of love to include licking all of the wet and dried mucus off of her nose and face. (A short video is shown below.) Alex does not seem to mind all of Victory’s affection. Alex now holds her hand out gently for Victory to give her licks, ‘kisses,’ and she thinks it is great, which always brings a big smile to Alex’s face. Alex is giving Victory loads of treats and she is now petting Victory gently on the head.

Victory means the world to us. It is amazing to me how she always knows what is going on, even if she cannot express it in words to us. She must know Alex is not feeling well. (Typically, Victory is a bit timid about getting too close around Alex who is constantly in motion.) Victory is such a smart, loving, loyal, and protective creature. We are the lucky ones, and we are so glad that Victory is a part of our family. Victory is such a great fur sister to Alex and she is always teaching us something about life.

Here is a video of Victory being such a loving fur sister.