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Families + Kids, Personal

It’s crazy to me that we have 2 toddlers in our house! Remington will be 2 in September, which I can hardly believe… And Lucy just turned 3 in June! Dogs count as toddlers, right?! Well, rather than planning another birthday party for Lucy… Yes, yes, you read that correctly. I’ve had birthday parties for Lucy, just one actually. Granted, aside from myself, the only other guest was our cat, Lola. It was for her 1st birthday. I blame it on being pregnant and stir crazy! Last year, Remington and I sang Happy Birthday and took her for a walk. So this year, we were even more low key about it all. Even though she’s not allowed on the furniture, I did include the very chair that we bought the day we found Lucy. And gosh, she has changed since some of her earliest photos at 8 weeks old! I still remember when she used to curl up on my shoulder and snooze while I edited photos! It was so sweet! Little did I know that she would show me a tiny glimpse of what it might be like to be a mother, with a tiny, precious being cuddled up in my arms. And now these two are great friends! Remington likes to chase her more than she would prefer, but it’s just because he loves her so! Her antics make him giggle and screech, which in turn makes her bark…which in turn makes him laugh even more. Although it’s nap time in the house right now (Lucy and Lola nap when Remington naps!), I can still hear their giggles and arffs echoing in the living room. And it makes my heart full.

I’ve always loved her expressive eyes!

What I didn’t expect was Remington and Lucy to sit together!

I think he will love this photo when he’s older!

It took some coaxing to get Lucy to get on the chair, let alone to sit there for a few photos!

Luckily, I had some help! More on this in a minute!

Remington learned the word “Up!” that day, and climbed right onto the chair to show Lucy what to do!

After Lucy had eaten all the treats I had set aside, Remington borrowed a few poses from Lucy! 😉

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lucy! We love you!

Thank you for being a sweet and loving pup and for becoming such a good friend to Remington!

A Boy’s Best Friend

Happy (belated!) Mother’s Day to all moms, moms-to-be, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, all those who serve as a mother to someone in this world, and those we remember in our hearts! You are the best! And I hope you got to spend some time with those you love!

We traveled to my parents’ house to visit with my Grandma and my Uncle Mike, who traveled from Florida to spend time with his Mom! It was so fun! We enjoyed a delicious lunch with our family’s favorite pizza (Pizza King!), salad, breadsticks, and a carrot cake that I baked for dessert. We took Lucy along as well, and she enjoyed playing with Uncle Mike! I had also packed my camera to get a few snapshots of our day.

Remington with his Great Uncle Mike!

Me and my sweet Mom!

Remington loves cars and anything with wheels, so when he sat down to spin the wheel on this, I couldn’t resist!

Love his little curls!

When we found out we were pregnant, I prayed that my child

would be blessed with Reggie’s curly/wavy hair!

Some raindrops had started to fall, however, this little guy didn’t feel like going inside.

My mom snapped this photo of me and my son, and I love it! We had to take several, as he was twisting and squirming in my arms to get down and run barefoot through the wet grass.

Grandma and her grandson!

We walked around the yard in the golden glow of the evening. My parents have a gigantic lilac bush, which smelled so amazingly wonderful! I love Remington’s little scrunchy face when we asked him to smell the flowers! Ha!

Little did I know that being a parent could bring such immense joy. This precious gift makes me smile, makes me laugh, and reminds me to live in the moment, as much as possible, each and every day.

And for that, I’ll be eternally grateful.

I love you, my sweet Remington! On this Mother’s Day, I truly felt like I was the lucky one. Thank you for your sweet hugs and kisses and the way you make me melt when you call me your mama.

The Lucky One

Hasn’t the weather been just lovely lately? We enjoyed some family time over the Easter holiday weekend, as well as tackling some projects around the house! Well, maybe I should clarify that Reggie tackled some projects around the house – shelving in the garage! I didn’t photograph that, however, I did take some photos while we painted Easter eggs the night before and then when we visited my parents. Remington loved chasing Lucy around the backyard, finding Easter eggs, and smiling in the sunshine! And I’m happy to say I’m checking off one of my goals for 2014, which is to take more photos while with family!

Remington really wanted to get into the colorful dye! Maybe next year, little man, maybe next year! 😉

Love this!

My sweet Grandma, Remington’s great grandmother, checked out the eggs that he had found!

Proud grandparents!

I remember hunting for Easter eggs as a kid. My parents and grandma would hide them all around the yard if the weather was nice. Once I found them all, I’d ask them to hide them all over again!

We did 2 rounds of egg hunting with Remington!

Lucy relaxed in the shade after racing around and helping Remington find eggs.

My two favorite guys! And yes, they do sort of match!

Remington chose Daddy’s shirt before going to church in the morning!

Looks like he found the perfect Easter egg! Ha!

Happy Wednesday!

A very “Hoppy” Easter!

As many of you know, my husband Reggie is a super-talented and creative guy. He loves working on BMWs, as well as special interest cars, like old GMC and Chevy trucks, vintage MGs, cars of all kinds. Some of you have seen his sculptures over the years too. We used to have a table made from an engine block that ran for the last time at the track during a driving school. It will soon be for sale, since it’s not the most toddler-friendly coffee table around! He’s also made a taller cocktail type table, a cat, a dog …all out of recycled BMW parts that he keeps around at his shop. They are all so cool and so unique! Well, this Christmas, I unwrapped a camera box, which he found in the basement, and inside was another one of his hand-crafted pieces…a camera! I couldn’t believe it! I was totally surprised and totally flattered by this one-of-a-kind work of art, complete with a rotating lens!

I love that the shutter is a nod to old school film cameras. Using a 35mm, Reggie studied photography in high school learned to process his own film in the darkroom.

A friend of ours has commissioned Reggie to build a similar camera as a gift to her husband!

I love his perspective on the world, and how he always sees things in a different light. I’m so blessed to be married to such a imaginative, inspiring, and supportive man, who continually encourages me to chase my dreams. I love you, Reggie!

That One Time I Got A New Camera for Christmas

Happy Friday! Just a quick post to share some personal photos with you, photos that are perfectly imperfect, photos that I will always cherish, photos that capture moments in time that I always want to remember. They’re all taken with my iPhone camera, and they all happen to be in black and white! My little guy is almost 18 months. He walks, he runs, he chases the dog and laughs and squeals. He loves red grapes and strawberries and bananas. Giraffes and monkeys are two of his favorite animals, and he’s particularly talented at making sheep noises….baaa! I love him to pieces. And I’m so thankful to be his Mommy!