Abby’s Saturday // One Hundred Sixty-Four

Highlight of the Week

Look at this photo! We had 4 dogs at the lake house over Labor Day weekend! That’s the most we’ve ever had! From the left, it’s my parent’s dog Buster, Ellen & Jonathan’s dog D’Artagnan, then obviously Abby, then Zeb & Emilie’s dog Stewart! It was quite hilarious to see all the pups together (we even succeeded at getting Abby & Stewart to play tug-of-war with each other). It got a little crazy at times, but overall it was super fun (and I got the best picture out of the whole thing!)

Yes, This Happened

• Abby went to the groomer’s this week! She came home smelling squeeky clean, with shorter nails, and super soft fur. I always wonder what dogs think when we take them places & leave them (the groomer, the vet, to be babysat by Grandma & Grandpa) – do they think we’re leaving them? Do they understand that we will be back? Either way, she was a super good girl and was just a little extra “clingy” the rest of the day after she came home (in other words, she wouldn’t leave our side).
• Derrick published a new roller coaster video on his YouTube channel this week, did you see it? He writes all his own music to accompany his coaster videos, and I think this is one of his strongest themes yet! Check it out here!
• All toddlers fall and get bumps & bruises, and Braelynn is no exception to this rule. Her knees seem to always be scraped up. But this week, while we were at Grandma’s house & she was playing with Auntie Ruby, she fell & hit the corner of my Mom’s toy-chest. She hit right above her right eye and there was instantly a huge bump. It was bad – to say the least. We sat with ice on it for a good 20 minutes at my Mom’s before coming home & sitting with ice for another 45 minutes before the swelling finally went down to a minimum. We woke up the next morning with a crazy bruise. In all honesty, it looks like Braelynn found some purple & pink eyeshadow & applied it all over her right eyelid. The swelling is gone and we’ve been watching her like a hawk for any signs of a deeper problem, but she seems completely fine. Yikes.
• I think I might have a gluten intolerance. To make a long story short: Derrick & I cut all gluten/processed foods out of our diet at the beginning of this year. We ate basically a Whole30 diet 6 days a week with one cheat day to eat all the pancakes & chocolate we wanted. It was great! However, with summer & a crazy travel schedule, that “diet” has kind of fallen by the wayside. Around the same time, I got this patch of eczema above my eye & behind my ear (weird much?!). I basically ignored it, thinking it would clear up & go away on it’s own. When it lingered, I still, very passively, tried to treat it. When it continued to get worse (and we’re taking this is going on over a 3 month span of time), I began doing a little more research. One of the websites I read suggested it could be caused by a gluten allergy. And that’s when the lightbulb went off: I had cut it out almost entirely & when I reintroduced it into my diet, that’s when this eczema appeared. So, this week, I’ve gone gluten free. And guess what – it’s almost entirely cleared up. How weird is that? And boo, because gluten is yummy.

Feeling Blessed

We’re back at the lake house this weekend for one last relaxing weekend before we find ourselves right back into the thick of things with traveling & weddings! I must admit, July & August were fun – they were packed out with weddings & fun things, but it’s been wonderful to have the last few weekends “off” (and I use that term loosely because I still did a photoshoot last weekend). Wonderful, but at the same time, I’m suddenly itching to get back into it & shoot another wedding (Casey & Nick, I’m coming for you)! No matter what, I’m determined to make the most of this last slow weekend before the calendar is full again for the next 2 months!