Letters To Our Sons || Vol 3

wild Little, 

I wish you were old enough to remember all of the things we've been doing this month. It's a good thing mom has been photographing as much of it as she can. This month was an awesome one! We came back to WA state because mommy photographed Mrs.Kelley's birth story. 

This isn't your first rodeo when it comes to flying but it was the first time flying with just mommy (:

It made for a special yet challenging experience for the both of us.

I think your favorite part was running around the air terminal saying "Hi!" to everyone and showing them your moves from "snowman". (Frozen)

My favorite part was when you were looking out of the window curious about everything. You're finally at an age now where everything peaks your interest and I just love watching you grow. (:

I have to say it's pretty funny that we've managed to do more now than we ever did living here. Looking back I wish we would have got up and just went somewhere. Just to see what all this island had to offer. Coming from San Diego mommy was somewhat closed minded and judgmental about living here and how small it was. But since being back I pay attention to the scenery when we go for a drive &  I make sure we get out and enjoy watching the sun set. We've even been to parts of WA that mom had no idea existed. 

Uncle Nick and Zack took us to the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim. We took the ferry to Port Townsend and while you've been on the ferry before, you experienced it completely different this time. You loved seeing the little boats in the distance and making friends on the ferry. 
The drive up was so beautiful and your little eyes followed every tree and bird you could see while you sang the entire Frozen album the whole way there. 
and Although you were terrified when the Llama, Yak, and Bison came to the window for some bread, it was the best experience ever! 

 I had mentioned that we had never been to Mt.Erie while we lived here. So on Valentine's day we hopped in the truck and went with Auntie Jess & Bev to the mountain top. It was such a BEAUTIFUL view!
Except you threw an unbelievable fit because you didn't get to finish your little nap. There wasn't enough fruit snacks and goldfish to put a smile on your face. But we made due and went on about our evening. 
In the end I think you enjoyed it.

Even though you probably won't remember any of this trip I sure hope you had fun seeing all of your friends and WA family. In just a couple of weeks we'll be on another plane headed to our next adventure.
 and i'll be sure to have my camera ready. 

I LOVE YOU BUBBA MAN! 

Thank you for stopping by and reading! Please head over to Courtney's blog to read her letter 

Letters To Our Sons || Vol 2

MY DEAREST WILD ONE, 

IT HAS BEEN QUITE AN INTERESTING MONTH.

I WAS ALWAYS WARNED ABOUT THE "TERRIBLE TWOS". I'VE EVEN WITNESSED SOME OF THE MADNESS WITH OTHER CHILDREN. BUT SON LET ME TELL YOU, YOU'RE SOMETHING ELSE. HAHA 

YOU TURNED TWO AND ALL OF THE SUDDEN DECIDED NAPS ARE NO LONGER A THING FOR YOU. (MOMMY REALLY NEEDS THAT NAP TIME WINDOW) 

YOU'VE ALSO DECIDED THAT THIS WOULD BE THE PERFECT TIME TO LET ME KNOW THAT WHAT I COOK FOR YOU ONE DAY MAY BE "SOOO GOOD" AND THE VERY NEXT DAY THAT SAME MEAL IS NOT SUITABLE FOR YOU. 

TALK ABOUT ROUGH DAYS AND LOTS OF TEARS. 

BUT, MOMMY MADE UP FOR THOSE TEARS WITH GIVING INTO "SNOW MAN" (FROZEN) 

SO MUCH "SNOW MAN" THAT MOMMY LEARNED THE WORDS TO ALL OF THE SONGS IN ONE DAY. NOW MOMMY WAKES UP SINGING 

"ELSA?!" (KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK) 

"DO YOU WANNA BUILD A SNOWMANNNN?!!" "COME ON LET'S GO AND PLAYYYY!" "I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE, COME OUT THE DOOR, IT'S LIKE YOU'VE GONE AWAYYYYYY!"

THIS MONTH YOUR FAVORITE THING TO SAY IS "OH MY GOODNESS" AND "WOW! THIS IS AMAZING"

YOU CRACK ME UP E V E R Y TIME.

YOU'RE  (ALMOST) ALWAYS HAPPY, LOVE SAYING "HEY! WHAT'S UP" TO EVERYONE AND HAVE BEEN TURNED ON TO SAY "THATS RIGHT!" WHEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU YOU'RE CUTE LOL

SERIOUSLY THOUGH, YOU'RE GROWING UP SO FAST.

I JUST HOPE TO DO YOU RIGHT AND CAPTURE IT ALL. 

I HOPE YOU KNOW I ALWAYS SEE YOU. 

I SEE THE WAY YOU DROP YOUR SAUSAGE AND CRACKERS OFF OF THE HIGH CHAIR SO THE DOG CAN EAT IT.

I SEE HOW YOU DANCE AROUND THE ROOM WHEN YOU HEAR A GOOD SONG. 

I SEE YOUR EXCITEMENT WHEN WE GET DRESSED TO GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY.

MOST IMPORTANTLY THOUGH, I SEE HOW YOU LOVE. 

HOW YOU RANDOMLY KISS MY FOREHEAD AND SAY I LOVE YOU.

HOW YOUR LITTLE FACE LIGHTS UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE WHEN YOUR DADDY COMES THROUGH THE DOOR. YOUR LITTLE ARMS WRAPPED AROUND HIS NECK SO TIGHT. 

I LIVE FOR THOSE MOMENTS!

MY HEART IS FILLED WITH YOUR LOVE. 

YOU GIVE ME LIFE BABE. 

WHEN YOU'RE DONE HERE, PLEASE CHECK OUT PHOTOGRAPHER FRIEND COURTNEY AND SEE WHAT SHE WROTE HER SON..

Weight Loss P|365

I DON'T PLAN ON SHARING MY JOURNEY OFTEN, BUT FOR THIS PARTICULAR POST I WANTED TO SHARE A LITTLE.
I'VE ALWAYS HAD FLUCTUATING WEIGHT SINCE I WAS ABOUT 12 OR 13. GROWING UP I WAS ALWAYS "SKINNY" AND WAS SURE I WOULD NEVER PUT ON WEIGHT .. WELL LIFE HAPPENED (PUBERTY LOL) AND THAT ALL CHANGED VERY QUICKLY.  
THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL WAS SORT OF THE SAME. I ALWAYS PUT WEIGHT ON AROUND THE SOFTBALL SEASON AND THEN IT KIND OF DISAPPEARED AFTER, AND THAT CARRIED ON A LITTLE AFTER I GRADUATED. IN 2009 WHEN MY HUSBAND AND I GOT TOGETHER I BLEW UP! WE WERE ALWAYS EATING OUT AT THE TACO SHOP, IN N OUT BURGER, SIT DOWN RESTAURANTS, ETC. IT WAS BAD. BEFORE I KNEW IT, CLOTHES WERE BECOMING TIGHT AND IT WAS LIKE WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! I DECIDED TO GET ON THE SCALE ONE DAY AND THE NUMBER I SAW MADE MY MOUTH HIT THE FLOOR. THIS WAS AFTER GETTING OFF AND ON A FEW TIMES. THE NUMBER SAID 189. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST I HAD EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE. ALL I COULD THINK IS HOW THE HELL DID I GET HERE? HOW COULD I GET THIS COMFORTABLE AND LET MYSELF GO... 
MY HUSBAND (THEN BOYFRIEND) NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT MY WEIGHT BUT I COULD SEE THE CHANGE AND OTHERS STARTED NOTICING TOO. UP LATE ONE NIGHT I CAUGHT AN INFOMERCIAL FOR P90X AND SAID ONE DAY I'LL BUY THAT AND TAKE THE PLUNGE. I WENT BACK AND FORTH OVER A COUPLE OF WEEKS AFTER CONSTANTLY SEEING IT AND DECIDED TO BUY IT. MY HUSBAND HAD DECIDED TO JOIN THE SERVICE AND HE WAS LEAVING FOR BASIC SOON SO I FIGURED WE COULD WORK OUT TOGETHER. WE DID ONE WORK OUT AND THEN IT WAS BOXED UP AND SAT ASIDE. ONE DAY WHILE HE WAS GONE I SAID TO MYSELF YOU'RE GOING TO DO THIS. 
IT WAS ROUGH THE FIRST 2 AND HALF WEEKS OF IT. I COULDN'T MAKE IT THROUGH ONE WORKOUT WITHOUT STOPPING. I HAD TO STOP AFTER EVERY MOVE WE DID. TAKE MY INHALER A FEW TIMES AND GUZZLE DOWN WATER BECAUSE I WAS SURE I WAS GOING TO DIE. BUT AT ABOUT WEEK 3 I COULD MAKE IT THROUGH WITH ONLY STOPPING DURING THE ACTUAL BREAK. I WORKED OUT CONSISTENTLY, COUNTED CALORIES, AND PORTIONED LIKE CRAZY THE ENTIRE TIME MY HUSBAND WAS GONE. IN TWO MONTHS I HAD LOST 59LBS! 59LBS OF ME WAS GONE! TO BE 130LBS AND LOVING EVERY INCH OF MYSELF WAS ONE OF THE MOST LIBERATING TIMES IN MY LIFE. WE EVENTUALLY MOVED TOGETHER AND AGAIN WE WERE EATING OUT AND DRINKING WITH FRIENDS. I SLOWLY STARTED PUTTING SOME OF THE WEIGHT BACK ON. IN MAY OF 2012 I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT. ALL OF MY HARD WORK WENT OUT THE WINDOW. I DIDN'T GAIN A TON OF WEIGHT DURING PREGNANCY. I'D SAY ABOUT 35-40LBS. SO A BIT MORE THAN WHAT MOST DOCTORS WOULD LIKE YOU TO GAIN. AND THOUGH I LOST SOME AFTER HAVING MY SON, SOME STUCK AROUND AND SO DID BAD EATING HABITS. 
SO HERE I AM STARTING OVER AT THE SAME WEIGHT. ITS A CRAPPY FEELING TO NOT LIKE YOURSELF. SO I'M MAKING A VOW TO TREATING MY BODY THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE TREATED. TO BE FED GOOD FOOD AND EXERCISED. 
GOAL: I WANT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR AND BE PROUD OF WHO I SEE AND HOW FAR I'VE COME. 

{3/365} "RESOLUTION" 

SURE, THE AMOUNT OF WEIGHT YOU SEE THERE MAY BE SMALL. BUT IN DUE TIME IT WILL GROW. MY BODY DESERVES TO BE TREATED THE WAY IT WAS MADE TO BE, I SHOULD ENJOY PICKING OUT CLOTHES AND GETTING DRESSED, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY I SHOULD BE PROUD OF THE REFLECTION I SEE IN THE MIRROR. HOW CAN I ENJOY AND LOVE OTHERS IF I CAN'T LOVE WHO I AM. 

P|365

{2/365}

 BECAUSE A PROJECT 365 WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THIS LITTLE GEM. IPHONEOGRAPHY HERE I COME! 

Project 365

BECAUSE I'M CRAZY! KNOWING THAT THIS IS A TASKING PROJECT. ONE THAT MOST GET HALF WAY AND  THEN THROW IN THE TOWEL. BUT I FEEL THAT IF I WANT MY PHOTOGRAPHY TO GET BETTER, THIS IS A JOURNEY I NEED TO TAKE.

 {1/365} "HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY BABY BOY! I LOVE YOU TO PIECES! IT'S BEEN AWESOME WATCHING YOU GROW, CAN'T IMAGINE LIFE WITHOUT YOUR CRAZINESS!

{Letters To Our Sons}

Dear Jaycen, 

December is coming to a close which means you're almost a year older. This has been quite an interesting last couple of months. I'm not sure when you started knowing all of these new words but you're vocabulary has exploded! I find my mouth is often hanging open to the floor at the words you know and that you know how to use them ("damn") properly. You've learned how to count a little past ten, and you've learned some of your Alphabet. You finally ditched your beloved "poppy" (paci). You had an everlasting love to that thing like your mommy and let me tell you we weren't sure if you were ever going to give it up. We got a dog and you love her to death. She is your best friend and you love helping me get her food and water. Your favorite part of it all is grabbing your ergo carrier and saying "walk mommy" so we can take Savannah out for a walk. I love watching you grow up and become more independent everyday but I still wish you could be my five pound little baby. I hope you know how much I love you. They say you don't know what love is until you have a child and who ever said that is absolutely right. 

Please head over to my friend Lynzi's blog to read her letter!