7 going on ... 17?

Emma had her first phone call from a boy tonight!  AT 10:18 pm!  Seriously? 

On the last day of school, Emma took some cards to her friends with her phone number inviting them to call for playdates over the summer.  Well, this was her first phone call!  From Kevin.  You may remember Kevin from last year.  I mentioned him in this post.  Sigh

Hoods

It feels like Summer!  I'm eating strawberries!  My sister Danielle came up for a visit and brought me 4 flats of my favorite strawberries from Oregon - Hood Strawberries. (As in Mt. Hood, Oregon).  They are only available for about 3 weeks each year, but with Mia this year berry picking would be too tough. So, I made several batches of strawberry jam and froze a few bags of strawberries for later, too.   And there was shortcake and fresh whipped cream.  Strawberries and cream = happiness

 

My sister's visit was just what I needed.  Its been a rough couple weeks.  I'm unable to share why everything is so hard these days, but I am so grateful to her for all her kindness.  I sent her a text the other day saying ... "Sometimes I am so very unhappy."  And she just listened.  Thank goodness for summer, thank goodness for strawberries and thank goodness for sisters.


"Sweet is the voice of a sister in the season of sorrow."
~Benjamin Disraeli, 19th Center English statesman

Alarm Clock

This morning:

Me:  "OK, Tyler. Just to be clear, these are the rules - do not wake up your brother by punching him and do not wake him up in the middle of the night!"
Tyler:  "OK"
Me:  "Unless there's a fire or something."
Tyler:  "Yeah, then I can punch him!"

 

Old shot from last year at my mom's wedding.  Blurry, but accurately portrays Tyler's keen sense of brotherly love.

Happy Birthday!

I love my husband.  I love him!  Chance bought me a new camera for my birthday last week and I'm in love with it!  He spent too much (especially since I didn't really get him much of anything for his birthday two days later...oops) but I love playing with this camera.  It brings me joy.  Now that I have a DSLR of my very own, I'm (finally) going to take Karen Russell's The Photographer's Workshop.  I can't wait!  I've been on the waiting list for 3 years.  Mostly because I didn't have the right equipment, but also because there are hundreds of people on the waiting list and the classes fill up in minutes. 

Here are a few pictures I took with it recently:

 

Aren't they beautiful?  And I don't have a clue what I'm doing yet.  It's very exciting.  I'm sure there will be more to come....



“The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.”
~Dorothea Lange, Depression-Era Photographer

Happy 5 Months!

Somehow five months have whizzed by since little Mia came into the world.  She is "everything I never knew I always wanted."  (Name that movie.)  I adore her.  She is delicious!  We all adore her and I hope we don't ruin her with too much love.  Another shot from our recent photo shoot:

Mia came along in the midst of a dark time for Chance and I.  We all go through our rough patches, but those first couple of months were enormously difficult.  Having a newborn is always a bit of a challenge.  But I can honestly say I have never felt such despair.  Work and financial stress, marital discord, exhaustion, postpartum depression, whatever ... it all piled on until I thought I would never find happiness again.  I suffered countless nights holding Mia in the wee hours; tears streaming down my cheeks and feeling an incredible loneliness that I feared would consume me.  In my mind I knew that everything we were going through would have been so much easier if she had never been born.  But in that same moment, my heart stopped at the thought of life without her.  I realize now that caring for her kept me sane, kept me focused and just kept me going.  I thank God every day for my sweet Mia.  She saved me.

"In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I wanna be
In my daughter's eyes."

 

~Martina McBride,

lyrics from In My Daughter's Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLS0Y40WwlA

 

Shoebox of Photographs

I purchased a photo session recently for my sister and I for a steal at a consignment sale in Kent.  The photographer (Jessica) lives in Hawaii and was only here for a few weeks and did some local shoots in Maple Valley.  I wish more than anything that my friend, Ashley, hadn't moved away to Arizona.  It's tragic!  I miss her and her mad photog skillz.  In any case, Jessica did a pretty great job, too.  My only regret is that I spaced getting Noah's haircut and he looks a little overgrown.  Oh well, we're just keeping it real here.  Enjoy!

Wacky Hair Day & Other Tales This Week

Monday:  Mia is now 4 months old!  (well, actually, she turned 4 months on Sunday).  She is adorable and lovely and exhausting.  And she now sits in this seat:

Tuesday:  Emma having lots of love meltdowns.  It's takes about 27 kisses and 14 nice long hugs for her to say goodnight. I hate it and I love it.

Wednesday:  Another visit to Urgent Care for Noah.  Had to get a wrist x-ray to rule out a break.  This boy likes to experience life to the fullest!  He ages me so.  Thankfully, new insurance coverage was effective YESTERDAY.  Whew.

Thursday:  Spent another morning at the doctor's office for Mia and Emma. Mia had her 4 month shots which was very sad. Emma told everyone all about her private parts which was strange. :/

Friday:  Wacky Hair Day. I told Emma that her buns were super cute and she cried. She didn't WANT to be cute! So we put straws in them so she'd be "wacky" instead!

Emma is pretending to be a foot doctor:

Emma:  "Can you be good for Dr. Emma, mommy? Don't kick me in the face now!"
Me:  "OK..."  (Squeezes my toes....)  "Ouch!"

Emma:  "Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to motivate your toes."
Me:  "Motivate my toes?"