A Breath of Fresh Air

This Presidents Day weekend has been pretty great so far. We started off yesterday with taking the 2 hour trip to my favorite place to shop, a town called Rancho Cucamonga. They have an awesome outdoor mall with lots of yummy food options. We got our tires replaced, shopped at REI looking for some compression sleeves for my calf muscles, Doug and the kids saw a movie while I shopped for some new clothes. We then went and picked out some wine and came home.
Today I had a photo shoot with a friend, so much gun! She wanted to do something for her 10 year wedding anniversary, so she put her wedding dress back on, she looked amazing; and we went to town. My husband in the mean time, was so sweet, he stained and distressed my wine rack for me, and tomorrow we get to hand it. Yay! Now I will have a place to store my wines! I wasn't really a wine person when I came to California. I still haven't even been to a winery. Thanks to a few awesome friends they have taught me to appreciate it. Some are an acquired taste but I've learned to really like them and I'm even starting to taste a few of the different flavors in the wines.
Upstairs got nice and cleaned today. I went through Chloe's clothes and got rid of stuff that she never wears or are too small. I cleaned the walls and started the bathrooms, now all we have to do is clean the carpets and the bath tubs, and a few more loads of laundry. I also started two new art projects for the walls in the kids rooms. I love DIY projects. They are really helping me to be more creative on the things I want to do to decorate my house. I'll post pictures tomorrow as well as Lucas's video of him walking..

Have a wonderful night!
To

He's Officially a Toddler.

Its amazing how quickly things change. Just yesterday Lucas spent all day crawling around the living room floor, giggling and laughing and chasing the dog making whimpering noises. They are my favorite. Its how he says "Puppy". We will go to the store and he will see a stuffed puppy and make little woof sounds and reach for it. Its the cutest thing. Then last night, Doug and I were sitting on the couch; I wan finishing the tutu I was making for Chloe to wear today at school; and all of a sudden Doug yells "He's walkin!" I look up, and sure enough he's got this huge smile on his face and he'e walking right to Doug. Lucas thought it was hilarious. So he kept getting up and walking after Chloe and the dog, and Aiden finally came in and joined in on the fun too. We played for about an hour like this and he finally got tired. Doug made a video of it and I will post it soon for everyone to see.

This morning I woke up and I started to get everyone ready for school and realized, he's not a baby anymore. Now that he walks he's officially a toddler. I'm thankful that I spent every second possible enjoying his baby-ness, yet I still can't believe that, that's it. No more babies. The other two have grown so fast, now just as soon as I blink, Aiden will be 13, Chloe will be 8 and Lucas will be 5 and in Kindergarten. This precious time goes so fast.

Aiden already has his first "girlfriend" he even bought her a silk rose for Valentines Day. He said, "Mom if we buy her this one, then she can keep it forever and not have to throw it away" Smart thinkin for an 8 year old. He was so excited. He wanted to buy her everything that he saw. He's gonna grow up to be just like his Daddy, because Doug does the same thing. He's got an amazing heart and is always thinking of others, Aiden does that same thing. Whenever he wants to spend his money, its never on himself.

And Chloe, I can already tell that she will make one amazing Mommy. She is already so sweet and gentle, not to mention patient as ever. Especially when it comes to Lucas. Lucas can get pretty rough. Believe me he doesn't take anybody mess. He can hold his own. But even when he's being a stinker, Chloe just smiles at and taps him lightly on the nose with her finger and says, "No hitting Loukie. Silly fat boy" and kisses him on the head.

I am so proud of the three if them. We are so very blessed, I wouldn't change a thing about any of them.

Lots of Love,
Ro

Love can conquer all odds

The past few months have really re-validated to me the reasons I chose photography as my calling in life. The importance of a photograph and not only that but a good photo session. It is so important to capture the moments to look back on such wonderful memories. Quite a few months ago I had a wonderful friend adopt a special needs child. She, her spouse and her kiddos did wonders for this little man. Boy has this little man thrived! He has come so far from where he was when they first brought him home. They got a compassionate reassignment to be closer to a doctor that could take care of his needs. I had offered a completely free photo session in celebration of their new son, which was never fulfilled due to schedule conflicts. Not even a month after their PCS a devastating tragedy stuck their family, and her husband died in a helicopter collision during a routine training exercise. This piece of news, hit way to close to home. It was my first experience of a friend losing a spouse. As a military spouse we never think that, even though their "Boots are on the ground" it doesn't mean that things can't happen even when they are not deployed. I cried, I prayed, and cried some more a lot over the last 2 months! The question deep down in my heart, one I tried to ignore, was "How is she going to take care of him without her husband?" She has three other kiddos to take care of. She was fighting with this herself, and had to make a decision on what was best for this sweet little boy and for her family. He was a struggle even before her husband died. So she came to her decision, one we all knew was going to break her heart. Many of us believe that God used her as a tool to get him out of the situation he was in to the next step. She has done everything that she could do, and now his story continues with a new family. It will be strange to not hear about how he's doing or see pictures; she would post tons of pictures and videos; but he is loved, from one end of the country to another. And now his new family gets the joy of watching him continue to beat the odds the doctors keep setting on him. I will continue to pray and he will always be in my heart.
Rowan