Jocelyn's Journey

I had the pleasure and honor of taking photo's of Jocelyn (and a few of her sister Rylee). I have to say that the few short hours I was able to spend with this sweet little girl has literally changed my life. It was so hard to narrow down the pictures to edit (because I wanted to keep them all!), and I searched high and low for the perfect song to go with her video, and I found it! Jo is such a sweet & beautiful soul. She did so well for her photo shoot, her momma making her laugh and smile, and pretty sure her mood would brighten when Travis would walk through the room (Little crush maybe?) It is obvious the amount of love that Beth has for Jocelyn; Rylee as well, holding her sister's hands and giving her kisses. Not only is everyone who loves and cares for Jo fighting for a cure for Rett Syndrome, they are fighting for Jocelyn's life too! As I watched Jo and her momma I couldn't help but think what an extremely extraordinary person Beth is: someone who has so much strength and determination for her daughter. Jo is so blessed to have the mother (and family) that she does. I truly believe they will never stop fighting for her and for a cure for Rett Syndrome. It was an honor to be able to do these photos and spend time with Jocelyn and Rylee. Kennedy even made a new friend whom she doesn't stop talking about; I see many playdates in her future with "RyRee"! My life is forever changed. I cannot wait to come and support Jocelyn's Journey this year! I know it will be the best year ever. Exciting things are coming....

                                  

http://www.rsrt.org/support-rsrt/past-events/jocelyns-journey-2012/

Father's Day

  Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day! I thought this occasion deserved its own special post! I probably do not tell him often enough how much I truly appreciate and love him for everything he does for our family. We are two perfectly imperfect people living this life together, and who have brought 2 adorable, sweet, and perfect little girls into this world. I am so happy and blessed to be married to such a kind and great man. I couldn't possibly imagine a greater person to raise children and spend this life together with. God truly has blessed me with a wonderful, kind, honest, hard working, and caring person. Trav works hard at his job to provide a good life for us so I am able to have the option to stay home and raise our children, he makes sure he spends so much time with our girls, so they know they are truly loved, he loves to make me happy, he always makes his family and friends feel cared for and loved. I can't help but to feel so happy and content when I think about our little family. He works a job he is amazing at, he is a great & caring husband, spends time with our girls, and he undoubtedly loves his family more than anything. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for me, or anyone else who needed his help for that matter! He is my best friend hands down, I don't know what I would do without him in my life. This world and the people in it are so unpredictable, but I know I always have a "safe haven" at home with him. No matter how crazy things in life get I always know I can talk to him about anything.

   Kennedy and Harper adore and admire their daddy so much, it does my heart good to see them together. Trav works hard all day, comes home and wants to spend time with the girls. If he is home at night he wants to give the girls their baths, and read to them, pray with them, and put them to bed. He always makes the girls feel loved and shows them how important they are. It melts my heart to hear Kennedy tell Trav "You will always be my favorite boy, and I love you so much" I look at my girls and feel so blessed that God entrusted Trav and I to be their parents and protect them, guide them in the right direction in life, to show them love and how to love, show them how to work hard, and to be good role models for them. I can honestly say Trav is and shows all those things to them. 

  I have never met anyone who works as hard as Trav and who truly has a passion for what he does. He takes great pride in his work and I stand behind him 100%. He knows all of my different love languages, and does everything he can in his power to make me feel treasured and loved. He is simple, and at times I can be complicated, but he gets me. I know I can default to him on any important decisions that need to be made, and I know he will always choose the right decision for us, and knowing that I stand behind him all the way.  I know without a doubt our girls will always know how loved they are by both of us. We get one chance at this life, and one chance to raise our girls right and I know with Trav as their father and my husband we will do just fine!  We love him more than he can ever imagine and are so thankful for him.

                                            Happy Father's Day!

Friendship

    Last night as we sat down to have dinner with some friends of ours, I thought to myself how blessed and lucky I am to have the friends I have in my life. Maybe Kennedy's party has had me thinking about it, because I had so much help without even asking for it!
     I guess I am very sentimental! I have a handful of close friends that I don't know what I would do without them. I hold these people very close to my heart and there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them. Its also amazing how God knows just who to bring in your life at the times he does. God has placed different people in my life as different seasons I have gone through. I have made such good friends in the last few years, friends I talk to on a daily basis, friends who help me get through struggles that I may go through, friends who make me laugh so hard, friends I rarely get the chance to talk to, but when we do its like no time has passed in between us, friends I know would be there for me without me even having to ask,  there are also friends I have made the painful decision to distance myself from, and have even let friendships go. Each of the friendships I hold close are uniquely different. Each relationship I have with these women have taught me lessons about life and how to be a better person. There are a few friends I could absolutely not live without in my life!
    Here are a few things I have learned over the years about true friendship:
Friends are there for each other no matter what. They do not speak badly behind your back. Sometimes friends give you brutal honesty (at times each of us need it), they encourage and pray for each other, they accept you for exactly who you are, sometimes you don't even have to say a word for someone to know what you are thinking and understands you, and you can count on these people in good times and in bad times. True friends rarely come along, and when they do you hold them close to your heart, cherish and appreciate them always.
    I cannot express how blessed I am to have all these wonderful people in my life. I am so thankful for each of them!

Moving up to the Primary Program

  Life is so busy around here. It feels like both our girls are growing up so fast. Harper is officially 6 months old today and Kennedy is only 2 months away from turning 3. Where has the time gone?! I knew the day was coming when Kennedy could no longer stay in the Toddler Program at Montessori, I just didn't think the time would come so quickly. We were informed that Kennedy would be moving up  to the Primary Program soon. I didn't think I would have so many emotions about it. I know she is completely ready to go, but that also means she is no longer my little baby! Its amazing to see her growth in Montessori over the last year. She is by far the smartest (almost) 3 year old I know :) She knows how to count to 25, she knows all her ABC's (minus a few she places in the wrong spot), knows all of her colors and shapes, she can spell her name, and we are working on tracing and writing it now. She knows the difference between right and left, and now we are working on learning her phone number and tying shoe laces. She completely reasons with you like a 10 year old (I often have to remind myself she is only 3). We do a lot of Kumon work with her at home and do arts and crafts everyday.
   I am excited for her to move to Primary class, but so sad that she is leaving the Toddler Program and leaving that part of her little life behind. I often go and observe her in her classroom its amazing she is not this tiny little girl always sitting close to one of her teachers anymore. She has become so independent. She is always painting or working on some type of work on her own. She knows all of her "friends" names in her class and is so careful to observe everyone around her. She is always helping her friends in class (maybe even bossing them around a little bit). She has a scary ability to remember anything and everything. Pretty sure she may have a photographic memory, she is able to recite anything you read to her.  I am a little afraid when she actually gets to kindergarten how bored she will actually be......
  I look at her with such amazement and know for certain that we are doing something right. She is so caring, we are often told what a well behaved and well mannered child we have (which makes us feel good!), she loves to love and be loved, she doesn't like to disappoint you, and loves to make you smile and laugh. She has become the best big sister ever. She belts out singing to the top of her lungs, "Hapu Avigail" Harper Abigail when her sister is crying. She loves to crawl on the ground and laugh with her sister. These are the moments to me that are priceless.
   Maybe its me having some separation anxiety realizing the days and years are only going to pass by faster and faster. I want her to stay forever my baby. I want her to stay this sweet little girl that looks at me with huge crystal blue eyes and calls me "momma". Who rubs my face every night when we read books together and tells me how pretty I am and how much she loves me. I want her to stay this little girl who loves to give me Eskimo kisses, and giggles uncontrollably with butterfly kisses. I am completely and undeniably so in love with both of my girls. There is no greater blessing or joy in life than to have those two little angels call me "momma".
    I often wonder what Kennedy will want to do in life as she gets older, for now and the last 6 months she says she is going to be a "sturgeon" (Surgeon), which may very well be, her doctor kit is one of her current favorites. Except she refuses to use her plastic stethoscope and uses our real ones. Whatever she chooses to do in life, I know she will do it with great passion. I am excited to watch her in this next phase of her life she is about to enter, but its leaving me with all sorts of mixed emotions. I know she is only moving up to primary class, and I can only imagine what I will be like when she actually gets to kindergarten (an emotional wreck I am sure) I am not sure how I feel about this....
    I am so blessed and thankful that we are able to send her to Montessori and give her a good start on education. I think the way she learns there, and the independence she is given will help further her along in life. I am so thankful for her teachers Liana and Kim who have loved her the entire time she has been in their class. I am sure she will excel just as much, and be loved in her new class.

Family Love

   I am completely obsessed with pictures of my girls.. I feel like I can't get enough pictures of them. I just know how fast they grow up and I want to remember every single moment of their lives and no better way then to look back at pictures! I am creating photo albums online like I do every year, and I officially have 2,000 pictures in this one from this year! I can't choose what pictures I want to add so I just keep adding them!! I initially didn't want family pictures this year because of my "baby weight" I still have to lose, but decided to do it anyway, and I am so happy and thankful I did. Travis brought up such a good but sad point the other day. He said "Someday you and I will be gone, and Kennedy and Harper will only have memories and pictures to look back on." After the painful feeling went away of realizing he is right, someday we will be gone and not with our girls, I want them to have something to look back on. I know they will grow up knowing how much they are loved, but I want them to always have something to look back at and cherish. I also want to be able to look back and not miss one detail of their lives. They will only be this age once and it seems time is flying by. I guess I am very sentimental when it comes to my family and my plan is to document their entire lives or at least try :) Anyone who knows me knows how much I love pictures!

  Michelle came up with the fabulous theme for our photoshoot. I wanted something that was "vintage" she did an amazing job. Her passion for photography really shows in her pictures. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job!! They will be cherished by our family forever.

Thankful and Loved

  I  have been trying to slow down the last few days and cherish each and every second with my two precious angels. It seems like life gets so busy and goes by so fast, that it is so easy to get caught up in the little things and in life... If I could freeze this time with them I would. I never want to forget one memory, one funny thing that they do or say, or one minute of their lives. I know this time will slip by us fast so I am trying to not let the small things that have happened or may happen worry me and focus and the much bigger picture of the here and now. I often think about what college they might go to, what career they might want to have, hoping that one day they will grow up and find great husbands who love and cherish them as much as Trav cherishes me, but for now I want them to stay this age forever... I sit here trying to describe my love  for them, the feelings I have I cannot even write them down because I can't describe them in words.... Here is my best shot....

  Kennedy is now 2 1/2 and she really has the most outgoing and beautiful spirit. She loves to love, she is slightly stubborn,persistent, she never wants to disappoint you, you can see her soaking up each and every word we say and every action we do, she is curious, respectful, playful, caring, she is one of the smartest kids I have ever met. Everyone who comes in contact with her falls in love with her. She always knows what her sister "needs". She put her arms around me last night and said "Mama you are so beautiful and I love you so much" it instantly brought tears to my eyes. The whole world stopped for a what seemed like an eternity (I am sure it was only a few moments), because all that mattered at that second  was to sit on her bedroom floor with her in my lap  (tears running down my face) and hug her, and tell her how much I loved her back.This little girl will never know how much she is loved.

  Harper is 2 months old now and has filled just as big of a space in my heart as Kennedy. I always thought that it wouldn't be possible and I couldn't possibly love another little girl like I did Kennedy.. but I do! She loves to cuddle and be cuddled. She has the most beautiful piercing blue eyes (and Kennedy too), she does purposeful smiles at me and it melts my heart.. I  often find myself thinking what will she be like when she is older.. Is she going to be like her sister? I love the way when I kiss her on the nose my lips fit perfectly on the bridge of her nose (just like her sister) I love to cuddle her and smell her "new baby" smell. When she looks at you she smiles and studies you.  I love how she wraps her tiny little hand around my finger. I am in love....

  I want my daughters to grow up radiating love, honesty, gratefulness, compassion, kindness, confidence, forgiveness, to have a thankful heart, and a love for God and for life. I want them to know how much they are truly loved by their parents. I have to ask myself am I emulating those things (they are watching every move Trav and I make) that I want them to be? Its something I strive for everyday... I want them to know that they always have parents here for them no matter what. I never want them to feel a sad day in their lives. I will protect them to the ends of the earth. I want them to know how so very thankful I am to have them in my life.

  I am not sure what I have done to deserve the life that I have... I have been through happiness, heartbreak, sadness, hard lessons, and mistakes, but I cannot describe how thankful I am to be where I have ended up. I guess each lesson (happy or sad) I have learned in my life has made me who I am today. I have a great husband who loves me unconditionally, he is an amazing father to Kennedy and Harper, he goes out of his way to make sure I am happy, he is kind and has am amazing heart, and I know he will always be there for me no matter what. I have two perfect little girls who are happy, healthy, and growing perfectly. I have the greatest friends that anyone could hope for.. I have a great career that I worked insanely hard for... But my most important job to me at the end of the day is to be a good wife and mom to my children. To raise our children right and in love.We only have one chance to raise them ... As small as the girls are now I feel like I learn important lessons from them daily in love, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, and how to slow down and appreciate and enjoy the here and now.... God knows exactly who to place in your life when he does... I am so THANKFUL and LOVED.

Harper's Grand Entrance

After a long awaited 9 months Harper Abigail is finally here ( 7#15 ounces and 19 inches long).. It seems like the months went slowly and the days leading up to my C-Section flew by. I was so excited to meet this little princess and so nervous at the same time for surgery again.. My good friend Michelle Anderson of Mango Mahalo Photography agreed to do birth pictures for me. After clearing it with my OB, Anesthesia, and the Nursing Manager of L&D everyone agreed it was ok for her to go into the OR and do them!! I was so nervous that Harper would come before the "planned" day and I would miss out on these pics. When Michelle gave me the pics and slideshow yesterday I never knew I could get so emotional. I missed out on seeing the birth of both of my sweet girls because of having to have C-Sections. I am pretty sure that is the hardest I have cried in a while and didn't dare look at Travis or Michelle after the slideshow because I am pretty sure I would have cried even harder.. They were tears of pure joy and love for this little girl we brought into the world. There are no words to describe how extremely thankful I am for these pictures. They are priceless to me. It was even more special that Michelle got to share in this time together with us. I may even saw a tear or two from her :) It was so hard to choose between the 200+ pics but here are a few of my favorite!