Pictures through the years

I was going to title this as another Wordless Wednesday but I just cannot give enough credit to ignited Photography out of Howel, MI.  Kevin and Heather are dear friends of mine and they have taken shots of Miss E since before she was born.  Here is a sneak peak of her 2.5 year photos!  I cannot wait for the blog teasers and will link those as soon as they are complete!  Once again, many many wonderful thanks to Kevin and Heather Autry!!!

Here you are my cute, lively 2.5 year old!

And here are some shots taken of you over the last 2.5 years from ignited Photography.  I love you so much kiddo!

Here you are as a newborn:

3 months:

 6 months:

9 months:

1 year:

18 months:

2 years:

I love you to the moon and back!

Mommy

Throwback Tuesday?

So, this morning I woke up in a bad mood.  Not sure why that happens sometimes but I'm guessing it partly has to do with the fact that I woke up several times in the last hour or two of sleep because of sprinklers turning on and not feeling very rested.  Yes, you read that right.  When we sleep with the windows open, I am a light enough sleeper that the sprinklers turning on from other people's yards wake me up.  (sigh)

I got the day started by folding a load of laundry, getting you ready for school and getting myself ready, all in under an hour.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  I could feel my mood starting to lift.

While I was driving on my way to work, I was flipping through the channels on the radio (because let's face it, who wants to listen to commercials very often), when I stopped.  Our song came on the radio, your daddy's and my song.  It was the song your Daddy used to propose.  I had caught it from the very beginning and proceeded to sing with it.  I'm Yours by Jason Mraz (you can listen to it here).  It was a song played a lot in 2008 and 2009, some even say it was overplayed.  But to me and your Daddy, it means the world.  Here is the story of how he proposed to me (please keep in mind, I was not a very good writer/story teller back then):  (smile)

 Picture courtesy of Kelly Dobson Photography

Typed on March 23, 2009 (proposed on March 22, 2009):

Okay, so my boss is really cool and understands that I am in no way getting any work done today.  It seems that I just can’t stop grinning and he told me that he is so very happy that we have some good news to share!

I also seem to be having some problems typing because I keep typing in the next word before I am even done with the word I had originally intended on writing!  Backspace is my friend!

Here is the long wonderful novel:

Saturday we went and looked at mattresses because I have been having back problems recently and we are attributing one factor of that to be the mattress.  So yesterday after J’s class at church, I had thought we could go to Art Van and purchase the mattress and on the way hit up Bed, Bath and Beyond for holdbacks for my curtains that I put up in my bedroom on Saturday.  He said how about we hit up the Bed, Bath and Beyond near his apartment instead and then we could see if we wanted to go to Art Van.  I was a little annoyed.  He had been spending a lot of time doing other things (great things now that I know about them) and not spending as much time with me.

So we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought the holdbacks and just mossied around the store looking at things we liked or did not like.  He even bought me a chocolate bunny (Harry Potter says chocolate always make you feel better).  Once we were in the car he apologized that he had been so busy lately and said he had a surprise for me.  He was going to make me dinner!  So cool!

We went back to his place and he led me to the dining room table where he had a bouquet of bright orange (I love orange!) gerbera daisies on the table.  He then showed me that he had purchased a bottle of wine, Reunite’s Lambrosco, and he wanted me to relax and get comfy.  So he made dinner, yummy lasagna, while I watched and talked with him.  We then sat on the sofa and watched some of a movie while it was cooking.  (Looking back, the movie was The Holiday, not a very good movie but we love it and bought it because it reminds us of this day.)

As it came time for dinner, he poured us both another glass of wine and we ate his fabulous meal.  He then said he had one more surprise for me.  Bursts were going off all over me because I thought it would be so cool for him to ask me now!  So I totally played it up and said, “Really!?  I thought the flowers were the surprise.”  LOL!  He said, “No.  I have one more surprise for you that is just a little bit bigger.”

He went into his bedroom and came out with his guitar.  He then set up our chairs so that they were facing each other.  He started singing and playing the Jason Mraz song, “I’m Yours.”  I was tear stricken instantly!  I knew it was coming.  He then held back tears as he sang and played the song.  As he got to the end of the song, he said “This is where the song stops on the radio, but I thought it needed one more line.”  So, singing and playing as if the song is still going, he started singing about our time together, from the moment we met, all the ups and downs, and to where we are now.  He then put the guitar down, still singing went over to the guitar case, pulled out the ring, and asked me to marry him!  I am getting goose bumps and teary eyed just as I type this!  I instantly gave him a kiss and said “Yes!”  He is so awesome!  I love him so much!  The ring is beautiful and I am going to try and take some pictures of it tonight to post on my facebook page.  I just can’t wait to spend an eternity with him!

So now that you have read my novel, what do you think?  Romantic?!

Tid bits from our weekend...

There are so many things in life that I cannot wait to show you and experience with you.  I know it will all come in due time but to think of all the wonderful things that you will do in your lifetime, well, it gives me chills to know that you were entrusted into our care.  Here are some jottings of your personality and activities over the last few days:

We took you to eat your first ice cream cone on Thursday and it was so neat!  Our church was putting on a fundraiser for orphan children in Kenya at Oberweis and it was so cool to see all the people from Church or from word of mouth come out to support the cause!  And you, well you choose a chocolate ice cream cone and LOVED IT!  You started off by just licking it but once you got it to be the size of your mouth, you put the whole thing in!  (smile)  And you ate every single bite!  Daddy helped you a little bit to keep the mess to a minimum (it was melting fast since we were sitting outside).  Take a look at your happy little face!

 Pretty sure you like ice cream cones:

 

 

 Look at that contented chocolate face!

On Saturday, you tested your boundaries, which your two-itude seems to be doing more of lately.  (smile)  You had decided it was funny to call me by my first name.  We however, did not find that as amusing.  You had done that back on Christmas Eve 2012.  You had heard me being called Aunt Krystin all day while at Nanny and Pappa’s house and insisted on calling me that the rest of the evening.  We learned then you definitely know our names.  However, it is not alright to call us by those names.  Saturday you kept saying, “Krystin, I love you!” and it was adorable to hear you tell me you love me but not so adorable to call me by my first name.  Which lead to lots of sitting on the step.  And lots of conversations on being nice and being mean.  At first you choose to be mean.  I asked you if you wanted to be nice.  You plainly said, “No.”  So more time on the step.  It finally got to the point we had to threaten you with not seeing Nanny.  We were heading to a birthday party that afternoon and Nanny would be there.  But we weren’t going to go if you continued to be mean.  You started to choose to be nice.  (smile)

We headed to the party and you were great!  You played a ton with Mason and to watch the two of you in the bounce house together was so incredibly sweet!  The love you have for your cousins amazes me!  I grew up without any cousins and the ones that I have are all my parents’ cousins that are out of state.  So to watch you with him was so much fun.  You screamed, laughed, played, you plainly had a blast in that bounce house!  You were sad when Mason didn’t want to be in the house anymore so you even tried to pull him back in!  (smile)

On the way home though, you pushed your boundaries, again.  You insisted on calling me Krystin again.  So I took your balloon and I played with it.  And you little stinker, it took you all the way home before you got that we meant business.  You finally asked me to turn around and said, “I love you.  Can I call you mama and not mommy?”  Yes you can sweetie.  (smile)

I'll leave you with one last thing.  Yesterday, while getting ready for church, you ran into our closet and shut the door.  A moment later you turned on the light and several moments after that, you came out and we were both impressed and laughing.  You walked out of the closet wearing my boots!  With heels!  And you looked right up to me and said, "Look Mama! I'm Jessie!"  So adorable!  You thought you were like Jessie from Toy Story 2 because of the boots!  Hilarious!

Jessie's boots!

And upside down silly Jessie!

I love that your imagination is really starting to take shape and you recognize things, like the boots that Jessie wears in Toy Story.  You’re a good kid even with all your two-itude and twama.  (smile)  And I love you so much.

Mommy

It's one of those days...

Today is one of those days where I just don't want to get out of my pajamas.  There are some issues going on in life that have gotten me down, so much so I've been up since 3am.  I just wish someone would come over, and let me cry.  Let me cry and let them understand my tears.

In an attempt to perk myself up, I went on Pinterest (which I am completely addicted to as evidenced by the sheer number of pins I have pinned) and looked for some inspiration.  Here are some of the pins I found and I hope you find your inspiration in them as well:

This one could not have more truth in it.

I have been trying and trying to thwart the attitude.

The change needs to come from within.

I will change, for my child's sake.

This one is especially true for me today:

Yes, yes yes:

I need to read this everyday.  Most women need to read this:

I am trying.  Really I am.  I may not show it, but I am trying:

Know that we all have bad days.  And you can have bad days.  Let yourself time to grieve and feel.  It is human.