I've Been Tagged

My fellow blogging friend, Tiffany tagged me as a Theta Mom, which is defined as a True Authentic Mom.

My assignment now is to write about 5 experiences that have shaped me as a true, genuine Mom. The rules are to keep it real and then tag 5 other mom's with this honorable recognition.

So, what makes me an Authentic Mom? Gosh, I just don't know. I still feel so new to this world of motherhood. I sat down this morning to write. And I sat. And I stared. So I got up and carried on with the day's usual activities while still thinking about what makes me a creditable Mom.

After almost a day's worth of racking my brain, here is my response:

#1. Authentic Moms love being Moms.
I have noticed that I smile, a lot, every single day. Mike does too. I asked him, "What did we ever smile about before Cayman was born?" I try to think back to our life before she was here and it's hard to believe there are memories without her existence. It throws my mind through a whirlwind trying to comprehend that. Cayman's life has sweetened our days and it feels so natural to have her with us. I am grateful for Cayman's life.

#2. Authentic Moms want the best for their children.
For Cayman, there are times, I have googled and researched til my fingers and mind were raw. Daily, I am on my knees praying for my little girl. Even long before Cayman's conception, I prayed for my future children that I dreampt of being blessed with. I have found myself at the throne of God more regularly though, since Cayman's diagnosis. I am grateful for the experiences in life that open my eyes to the need for my Heavenly Father. I want the best for Cayman. I will never give up fighting for her quality of life. When she was a month old we drove nearly 700 miles to Duke University for her to receive a Cord Blood, Stem Cell therapy. Quarterly a year, since Cayman was 1 1/2 months old, we have taken her to the Naturopathic Doctor where he monitors her cell deficiencies and recommends several remedies to get her body working at its top best. Biweekly I take her to therapists that focus on strengthening Cayman's gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and speech. Much of what is apart of Cayman's care is not covered by insurance. Careful budgeting and financial sacrifices are made so that Cayman can continue to receive the very modalities that I credit to her development. Seeing her healthy and thriving is the best reward, more than what I could get from an updated wardrobe or a renovated kitchen.

#3. Authentic Moms feel tired.
Cayman is typically, an easy going, happy girl. I have written in the past about how rarely she cries and we celebrated it as a milestone when she finally found her "voice". While I will never stop being grateful for that little mind full of thoughts and opinions, I do grow weary on the days when the only thing keeping her happy is when I'm holding her and constantly giving her undivided attention. Those are my 'almost' days.

The kitchen is almost cleaned.

Supper is almost a complete meal.

My book I'm reading is almost finished.

By the end of the day I am feeling tired and overwhelmed. I know I could and should let Cayman crab for a little while before I jump at her every demand...but the truth is I soak it up that my baby wants me, even though I realize she is on the verge of becoming very, very spoiled. I am getting better at finding that right balance though. But after a whole day of uncompleted to-do lists and very fried Mommy-nerves, I have to remember to speak kindly to Mike and not snap at his every question. Then my forgiving and darling husband, takes Cayman into her room where they sit and play for awhile, and give me some quiet, down time.

#4. Authentic Moms have gray hair.
I'm not even 30 years old yet and I have gray hairs popping out. Gray or white hair is suppose to represent age and wisdom, right? So does this mean I'm aging young, or does it mean I'm wise for my young age? Hmmm...I'll have to ponder that one for awhile. I am grateful for my hairdresser, Jessie.

#5. Authentic Moms wear macaroni necklaces with their Sunday best.
I haven't personally experienced this one, yet. But I throw it in there because it is high in my book of a loving, humble way a mother can show her child they are important.

Somewhere around the age of 7, I made a macaroni necklace in Sunday School for a Mother's Day gift. I proudly presented it to my Mom after the church service was over. She oohed and ahhed at my gift as she slipped it over her head, and the dried pasta clanked together, settling around her neck. But it was when she took the macaroni necklace out of her jewelry box and put it on to wear the next following Sunday, was the moment my heart truly soared. I am grateful for my own Authentic Mom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So now I am suppose to pass this along to 5 other blogging moms. Normally, I do not like this part. I never want anyone to feel left out if I don't pick them, or if I do pick someone I never want them to feel obligated and pressured to complete it if they don't want to. But I'm going to run that risk because being forced to sit down and think about the acts that make an Authentic Mom and how I compare to that, while at first it seems like bragging about myself, actually turns out, it brought me to a greater understanding of what it takes to be an Authentic Mom.

So here's the 5 Moms I tag for this assignment:

• Lisa.
  I feel like you're always on my "tagged to pick" list, and I hope you don't mind. I just love your thoughts and writings. I always grow from the things you have to say.
• Jill.
  You are a true Authentic Mom. Your strength inspires me daily. I know you're still at the hospital with Matthew, and perhaps being tagged will give you something new to do, but if it doesn't seem enjoyable, then don't worry about it. I know how difficult it can be trying to find words when you're in the middle of an exhausting situation. We're still praying for Matthew everyday!
  
• Amy J.
  Your stories and pictures of your children could win awards.
• Sara.
  You certainly know the depth of struggles of fighting for Kadyn's life and health. Yet you are full of joy being his mother. I would love to hear your thoughts on how Kadyn has helped shape you as an Authentic Mom.
• Ann.
  I am always so touched by the way you adore your two little boys. I think it's a true gift when mom's like you cherish each moment and don't take it for granted.
  
  
  Cayman quietly playing in her room.
  
  
  

A Slumbering Angel

I am grateful to be a stay-at-home Mom.

Rolly Ball

It's a game we played with our nieces when they were little. Sitting only a few feet apart from each other, we rolled the ball back and forth.

It's a simple game. Fun. Safe. Harmless. Well most of the time it was harmless. A few times the game went awry, and the ball was flung towards Grandpa's TV and then there was some yelling. :)

Pregnant with Cayman, I sat on the floor and played rolly ball with my niece CeCe. In that moment, I thought, "I wonder if I will get the chance to teach Cayman this game?"

I proudly share with you the pictures of Cayman playing Rolly Ball...

I am grateful for dreams that come true.

Dear Great Aunt Linda and Uncle Martin...

Thanks again, for my mirror. I still play with it everyday!

Love,

Cayman







I am grateful for toys that bring Cayman so much enjoyment.

Mission Organization

Yesterday, I briefly mentioned our home's undefined spaces cause a bit of a problem for me to stay organized. Here is what I mean by that (one example):

In our house there is this closet...

It was originally designed to be a coat closet. Later, an addition was build onto the front of the house creating a new entry way along with a another coat closet.

I have no need for two coat closets.

So, when we moved in, I decided the old closet would make a great place to store all my cleaning supplies and other household items like light bulbs and things of the sort. There was a bit of a problem though. Being designed to store coats, there was only two, small shelves in the whole space which resulted in one very messy, unorganized, piled on top of each other, broom closet.

So, we gave the closet a makeover, repurposing its space, so that it is now clearly defined as a well organized broom closet.



I am grateful for my willing and newly DIY husband that helped put my cleaning frustrations to an end by bringing my organized plans to a reality.

Gratitude Attitude

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I have been enjoying the "Gratitude Attitude" that people have been spreading on their blogs or Facebook.

The assignment is to write a daily note, during the month of November, of something, big or small, you are thankful for.

I am jumping on the wagon a little late, half way into the month, but none the less, I am bursting with gratitude and am dieing to share what I am grateful for.

I am grateful for my camera.

It has a special story behind it. Allow me to share...

When I was pregnant with Cayman, I did not know if we should be planning for a funeral or a nursery.

But when she lived...

And we got to bring her home...

To be a family together...

That put within me the desire to retain every beautiful piece of our lives with her and never forget the amazing gift Cayman's life is to us. Photography has been that avenue to keep those precious memories sharp in my mind and heart. The pictures and videos I take, enable me to forever capture a special moment and freeze it while the rest of life continues on.

Mike began to recognize this passion within me awhile ago. That's when he did something completely untypical...

He bought something very expensive without talking to me first! (uh-oh) *insert the scary doom music here*

It was Christmas time (of last year). Mike ordered my gift but had it secretly shipped to his parents' house so I would not find it.

Now, I am not a snoopy person, but I am so organized and aware of every crack and corner of our home, it makes hiding anything from me very difficult.

That is true of me except for our house where we live now though. This place has a decent amount of space, but it's so undefined that it's taking some time to bring it up to the state of organization that I like. Mike just might get away with hiding my Christmas gift at our house this year. :)

When Christmas day came, he brought out the neatly wrapped gift, that I could only assume he had someone else wrap for him. (Mike's wrapping jobs have a presentation all of their own.)

I ripped away the red and green Santa Claus paper and stared blankly at the Nikon camera box in my hands. I shot a look at Mike that said, "I can't believe you bought this without talking to me first!"

Knowing what I was thinking, Mike said, "Kris, we can afford this, I will make sure of it. Besides, the gift is not from me. Read the card."

There was a little piece of torn wrapping paper, folded over, and taped to the outside of the box. I turned it over and read the familiar scribbles of Mike's handwriting:

Because you are the best Mommy in the world!

Love,

Cayman

Mike had bought the camera under a full refund policy so if I decided I did not like it or could not relax about the money that was spent, it could be returned.

For the first three days Mike snapped pictures, played with all the fancy settings, and showed me some tricks. After that third day, when I began to relax, I picked up the camera, snapped a picture of Cayman, and the rest is history.

Nose Itchies

Question:
What do you do, when your nose itches and politely scratching it just is not getting the job done?

Answer:

Dig a little deeper and hope nobody is watching.

Mike's Golf Clubs

Mike won a brand new, shiny set of golf clubs in a drawing!

He was so energized by receiving his new prize that he wasted no time taking them out to the golf course when he got off work. However, there is less than an hour of day light left by that time. The manager at the course had just closed everything up for the night. Mike just wanted a few hits, just a small opportunity to play with his new toys, even if it was only for a short while. The manager was such a nice guy and let Mike do just that.

Mike swung his new clubs until the sun went down.

*** A following-update on Cayman: She seems to be feeling just fine. I think her middle-of-the-night sickness was nothing more than just some sinus drainage that irritated her tummy.

Comment Spam

Twice now my blog has received a spam comment. So hopefully to prevent this from happening again I enabled the word verification step. I wish I could keep it simplified and eliminate this step. I even tried after the first comment was received. But when the second one came in (from viagra, none the less), I decided the word verification step must be done.

Please, please don't let that stop you from commenting. Cayman and I love your comments! It's like having tiny, little conversations through out our day.

Up In the Night

Mike and I were abruptly awoken in the middle of the night, to the sound of Cayman coughing and choking. She vomited. I am not really sure why. She seems to be Ok now. We're just hanging out, snuggling in our warm, fleece jammies.

We get through all parts of life together.

Shoot

I was reading a photography article on Being Imaginative.

This article expounded on learning how to become innovative with your picture creations by thinking outside of the box. A couple of their suggestions to accomplish this was:

Find ways of bringing motion into your photograph. Sometimes blur can create the feeling of energy.

or

Use framing. Shoot a picture through an object.

I chose the latter one for my practice "assignment".

Here is my picture...

I call it "My Little Blog Star".

Road Trip to Africa...an African Safari that is.

Do you ever have those moments when you try to schedule a get together with some good friends but something always seems to keep coming up instead?

That is how it has been for us lately with our friends Nicholas and Valerie.

For weeks, maybe even months now, we would all make plans and set a date to get together. But as the scheduled date drew nearer, the timing just was not right. So the get together was canceled and rescheduled, only for it to happen all over again.

We found the solution to that dilemma though. It's called spontaneous plan making. So when life is too busy or unpredictable to schedule anything out in advance, spontaneity is the solution, I do believe. Or it so happened to be for us this time around.

Valerie contacted me on Saturday and within a few short minutes we had a road trip, get away planned for the very next day. It was the perfect break away for our two families....a chance to get out and feel some of life's stresses melt away into a fun filled afternoon.

The Stamm family

along with

The Rice family...

Nick, Valerie, and their daughter Ashalyn

All traveled a couple hours away to Port Clinton, Ohio to enjoy what was our first adventure through an African Safari.

It was so much fun!!

Allow me to take you on a multi-picture tour of our gratifying day.

On foot, we followed the walking paths to view some animals.

We saw the liveliest bunch of Apalacas, running and play fighting...


We saw a very stinky and ugly Worthog...

An exquisite peacock...

Some silly ducks...

And a Putty Tat.


Then we got back into our vehicle and entered the drive through safari.


From the rolled down window we were allowed to feed the animals from the bucket of food purchased at the gate and carrots.

I was amazed at how unfrightfully the animals came right up to the vehicle.


And ate out of our hands.



On the contrary perceptive belief of this picture, that is not Mike feeding Cayman's hand to the deer.

The deeper into the safari we traveled, the bigger the animals became.

We saw the Buffalo up ahead but thought, "Surely they don't come right up to the vehicle like the deer do."
Oh how wrong were we. As soon as the Buffalo spotted us, they trotted eagerly toward our vehicle in search of food. It did not take us long to button up all windows and doors tightly as we watched these large creators get closer and closer til they were right up on us.

This look on Cayman's face is priceless and pretty much speaks the scared but amusing feeling we all felt from being surrounded by animals that could swallow us.


Poor Nick...we forgot to warn him that the passenger window cracks open this much automatically and there's a trick to getting it to remain shut. What a shock that was for him when he rolled his window up and it began to roll back down all on its own, all the while a huge buffalo is trying to stick its head inside of the vehicle. (lol)

A Longhorn that forgot to have its morning V8.


The Giraffes are my favorite. I could watch those incomparable animals all day.



After the Safari tour we found a perfect dining area for our picnic lunch.


Cayman's first Dorito.



We threw bread down to the seagulls.

Daddy handed Cayman a slice of bread for her to toss. But she decided to keep it and eat it herself...until it was time for us to go and then Mike tossed the remainder of the bread to the birds.

Cayman watched, so sadly, as the birds ate her slice of bread.

Mike bought us ice cream on the trip home though and that made Cayman happy.
That smile just melts my heart.

Ashalyn was a perfect little girl all day. And look at that adorable face. Couldn't you just stare into her pretty eyes all day?

After dropping off the Rice family at their house, there was just one more stop to make.

The car wash...

To get rid of all that animal slobber.

Leaves, Leaves, and More Leaves

Our yard was well over due for raking the leaves. So we set about the work on this beautiful, sunny Saturday. We killed 3 1/2 hours of raking time. We were nearly finished raking the front and sides of the yard when Mike stood up straight, stretching his back. He let out a groan and a sigh as he glanced over the rest of the unraked leaves and then looked at the growing pile at the road side. Leaning against his rake he declared, "I didn't know we lived in a frickin' forest!".

After spending 3 1/2 hours raking leaves...

all by hand...

a couple blisters later...

and very tired, sore bodies...

Mike and I determined, we are doing this all wrong.

It's about working smarter, not harder.

And so that means, looking into some equipment that will make this job a lot quicker and easier in the future. We live in a wonderful modern time when we have such conveniences available and I think we should own them. :)

Can you see Mike way back there, at the end of the long leave pile? Click on the picture to see it full size and that might help. That will give you a better depth idea of how big this leaf pile really was.

Fall Experiences: CORN HARVESTING

We like it when the corn is harvested.
Finally we can see around the road intersections.

Fall Experiences: HOT APPLE CIDER

I drank a lot of apple cider during the Fall of '07 when I was pregnant with Cayman. We kept a constant supply of it in the refrigerator, right next to the crunchy Kosher dill pickles. When the Fall season was nearing the end and the Apple Cider supply was dwindling in the stores, we bought several jugs and froze them for the months ahead. It was a classic experience of an intense pregnancy craving I had.

So I would almost expect Cayman to have a natural love for apple cider.

But she looked at it in disgust...


Then she looked at me....

Looked back at it...

Then she tried it...

She drank just one ounce...

And then went on her way.

Fall Expreriences: PUMPKIN CARVING

Mike and I were excited to dig in and pull out the guts of the pumpkin for Cayman to touch and explore. Her tactile sensitivity has been at its all time low lately and we were anxious to watch her reaction to the slimy mess. Knowing our girl well, we figured she would not love the feel of the gooey guts. So I was ready with the camera to capture all the gross faces we anticipated Cayman would make.

And once she had enough of it....

Well, you'll just have to take a look for yourself...

Daddy showed Cayman how to scrape clean the inside walls of the pumpkin.
Then it was Cayman's turn...

She took the spoon...

Put it inside the pumpkin...

And then tried to eat it.

Lisa, I included this picture just for you. Do you see your Grandfather's print so beautifully enhancing our dining room?



I put a pencil in Cayman's hand and with her help, (or more accurately stated, with her resistance), we drew the face of her pumpkin.

The Ghost Mike.

The Headless Mike.


"Hey, this thing's looking at me!"

"Ok, I am officially creeped out!'"

Fall Experiences: LEAVES

The tree in our front yard, produces the most amazing bright, yellow leaves. When the sun shines through its branches, the leaves practically glow in the light. It's gorgeous to look at!

This tree is quite generous with its leaf production. So when the leaves fall, the ground is completely saturated. That means lots of raking. But that is a small price to pay for the lovely enjoyment of this gorgeous tree.

This look on Cayman's face has me imagining that she is thinking, "Where did all these leaves come from?? We just raked a couple days ago!"

And here she might be thinking, "What's this?? Not another hat!"

"Mom, I'm taking this ridiculous hat off!" -Cayman
"Cayman, don't you take that hat off. Mommy worked hard making it!" -The Mommy

"Oh man, now I have hat hair!"

"I guess I'll put the hat back on."

"Hey, why won't this go back on? A little help please!"


"You're right, Mom. I do look cute in this hat!"

Fall Experiences: HALLOWEEN

Cayman lived out her Summer experiences fully.

Summer Experiences #1
Summer Experiences #2
Summer Experiences #3
Summer Experiences #4
Summer Experiences #5
Summer Experiences #6

Now she is getting acquainted with Fall and what this beautiful season brings to our lives.

Fall Experience #1: Halloween

Cayman dressed up as a Ladybug and greeted each child that came to our door Trick-or-Treating. She stared in quiet, wide-eye wonder as Daddy made a loud, abrupt appearance at the door for each child that came knocking. Once Mike received a satisfactory scare from each child he gave them some candy. And for the kids that he could get to say "Go Buckeyes" he gave them several pieces of candy. One little boy was even dressed up as an Ohio State football player. Mike nearly emptied the candy bowl in that kid's bag. :)

Maybe next year Cayman will experience what it is like to be a little Trick-or-Treater herself.

Cayman as a Ladybug

Halloween

To Scare?
or

To Be Scared?That is the question.


Happy Halloween!

Praying for Matthew

Remember Cayman's betrothed, Matthew?

In the last month and a half he has been in the hospital from the H1N1 Flu. He recovered and went home. Then he was readmitted for pneumonia. Again, he recovered and went home. And this time he is in the hospital for seizures. Matthew is being kept sedated and put on a ventilator just in order to control the seizures. He is in the PICU in critical but stable condition.

We are all hoping and praying for a full recovery for him. Please join me, will you?

I remember when Cayman was in the hospital, receiving comments and emails, brought so much delight to me while being in such a stale situation. I know Jill (Matthew's Mommy) would love it if you would hop over to her blog and say something. Even if you don't know them that's OK. The comments to us bloggers, even from complete strangers, has the power to make our day brighter.

Thank you and God bless you all for caring so much!

To comment on Jill's blog, click here.

Cayman's First School Pictures

Taken at her Tuesday morning Playgroup

Bath Time

Refrigerator Art

On Tuesday mornings Cayman attends Playgroup, an Early Intervention program for children from the age of 18 months up to 3 years old.

Stories are read...

Toys are played with...

Fish in the tank are viewed...

Snacks are eaten...

Crafts are made...

Music is heard...

Here is some of Cayman's artwork she has made at Playgroup. I hang them with pride on the front of our refrigerator.

Apple

Pumpkin sprinkled with Nutmeg

Footprints turned into ghosts

Cayman Likes to Move It

Today...

Happy Birthday to my little brother, Tyson!

{Cayman's Uncle Ty Ty}

Good News, Good News, Good News

Yesterday's CT scan and Neurosurgeon appointment went beautifully. Thank you for the all the notes and comments letting us know you were thinking about us. That always touches me.

We arrived to the radiology department almost on time. We were just eight minutes late. Once upon a day, I would have been horrified by that. I use to think that if I arrived at the exact scheduled time I was late. My opinion of on time meant being early. My how I have changed.

The staff accommodated us so kindly and patiently regardless of our tardiness. We were even shown to a private waiting room secluded from the other patients. I had requested for the technician to perform the CT scan without sedating Cayman first. Usually in a new setting Cayman is quiet and I thought there might be a hopeful chance she would hold still during the imaging. They agreed to this with no questions asked especially once they saw how calm and sleepy Cayman was upon our arrival. The receptionist stared tenderly at Cayman with a look in her eye that gave me the feeling that the desk between her and us was the only thing holding her back from snuggling Cayman into her own arms. Cayman is quite the snuggle bug when she is sleepy.

Putting us in a solitary room was meant to be unstimulating in the hopes of keeping Cayman quiet. The nurse turned off the lights and we patiently waited for her to return.

I stayed with Cayman during the CT scan which was successful without sedation! I could tell by the look in Cayman's eye she was alarmed by the machine and each time the table passed her through the ring she lifted her head completely off the table bringing her chin to her chest. I did not even know she was capable of doing that!!

The technician showed me a trick. By placing my hand on Cayman's chin with my fingers stretching across her jaw helped brace her head and Cayman felt more secure about being less mobile. With my my other hand, I held up her favorite toy as a distraction. All of that along with the technician holding another flashy toy, froze Cayman's attention just long enough for them to perform the scan.

It was then off to the Neurosurgeon's office for the review of the scans.

Mike and I felt fairly confident that there would be good news delivered to us but sometimes it feels scary thinking that way. The weight of bad news can feel like a heavier hit when there is an expectation for only good news. But by the end of the appointment we had big smiles on our faces and a slip of paper in hand saying Cayman's next return visit is in 8 months!

It was ALL good news!

Cayman's brain has grown...

Her skull bones have not prematurely fused together (a condition called Craniosynostosis that Cayman is at high risk for)...

And the distal catheter of her VA shunt has plenty of room for growth before it pulls away from the heart vessel. Which means it pushes the replacement surgery for her shunt farther into the future. We know it will need to be done someday but that someday will not be soon.

Here is Cayman's brain scan from yesterday's appointment:

Review: the blackened areas in the center is all the fluid. The gray area around the fluid is the brain tissue.

It looks significantly better than it did when Cayman was first born. Her head was filled mostly with fluid and only the tiniest amount of brain was noticeable on the edges and none at the roof.

Here is the scan from the day after she was born:

I cherish days like these!!

Here is a few more random pictures from the day...

Mike allowed this picture to be taken only because Big Bird was willing to hold Mike's Ohio State hat.

Mike and Cayman playing with their ipods.
Notice the expression on Mike's face. Does it look familiar from this post?


Getting Cayman's weight. 18 1/2 pounds. She's a little peanut.

Cayman watched Judy intensely as she took her axillary temperature.

4:47 a.m.

Cayman and I are heading out for the day. I know it's early but we have to leave at this time to make it to her scheduled 7:30 a.m. CT scan in Ann Arbor, MI. When radiology called this week to notify us of our arrival time I remained set in my natural, mild personality and just said, "Ok! We'll be there!" while calculating in my mind what time that means I will have to wake up at.

Have I ever told you that I am not a morning person? I try to be and want to be but my body refuses. My body is most happy starting a day at about 8 a.m. not before, especially not at 4:45 a.m.

Mike has taken part of the day off work to come along with Cayman and I. I for one am glad about that. I never do well with these long trips alone when they are very early in the morning. Plus I am feeling a bit edgy about this appointment and Mike's presence always soothes my nerves. It is just a routine CT scan but Cayman is older now and will need to be sedated for it.

It's the sedation part that leaves me feeling fidgety. I am sure it's a bigger issue in my mind than what it really is in reality. And that is what I am telling my mind but I still feel a bit jittery and I will be glad to have this appointment behind us.

My mind has never forgotten how fragile and tiny Cayman was as a little baby. She fit into preemie clothes until she was 2 months old. She had six surgeries within the first 4 months of her life. The familiar beeps of the vital monitors pacified her to sleep just like a Lullaby.

But my mind is pulled back to our blessed present day and I am reminded how strong and healthy Cayman is. I am reminded how far she has come and has thrived so beautifully. Can you imagine the emotion I felt when this past August I took Cayman into the Pediatrician and the doctor's words were "she is one very healthy little girl."

Well we better get out the door.

I leave you with a picture of Cayman's morning messy hair. If only I could look that cute upon waking up I would have slept in a little longer and spent less time fixing myself presentable.

Happy Birthday today to Cayman's Aunt Cara!

A Gift that Speaks to My Heart

I love taking pictures. Back in the day, before digital cameras, I went through plenty of film. I was about ten years old when I received my first 35 mm camera with the manual winding film track. I would take a hike in the woods with a friend and snap pictures, pretending I was a great photographer. My dolls, guinea pig, or my little brother, Tyson were just some of the many willing subjects I would pose. I am sure Tyson regrets that now since my collection of props and wardrobe consisted mostly of TuTu's and tights. :)

I have oodles of shoe boxes filled with photographs from those days.

Almost two decades later and not much has changed. The camera technology has evolved greatly but my love for taking pictures has remained strong. I still walk around taking oodles of pictures and pretending I'm great at it. The first time a digital camera was placed in my hands I was sure I had been given a little piece of Heaven on Earth.

It is not just about snapping pictures that holds my enslaving passion for photography. More specifically, it is about freezing the moments that I know I never want to forget. My desire to retain every vivid memory in my mind and heart has led me to explore the stunning art of photography.

I started a separate blog where I have been posting my favorite photographs. Check that out here.

I am all the time trying to perfect my skills and learn news one's. In doing so, my many Google searches have led me to some photography blogs that I follow. But there is one specifically that I follow very closely.

Kim Fordham Photography

Her work captured my eye the instant I saw it.

The clarity...

The lightning...

The elegant colorful style...

The collection of knit and crochet hat...

Oh yeah, I was hooked. Each new photo Kim posted deepened my love for her photography style and stirring within in me the desire to not just pretend to be a great photographer but perhaps the pursuit to become one.

I have followed Kim's photography blog for many months, secretly, watching and waiting for new posts to pop up. Then one day I decided to write her. I told her about how beautiful her pictures are and how I dreamed of booking a session with her someday. Kim wrote me back and gave my family a gift that will forever mark our walls and hearts with her kindness.

Want to know the rest of the story?

Click here. Beautiful pictures of Cayman awaits your viewing pleasure.

Signs of Teething

Gnawing

and

Crying

Business Trip

Last week Mike went on a business trip. Cayman and I got to go with him!

You didn't even know we were gone huh? We're kind of sneaky like that.

It was a short trip. Just three days. While Mike attended his training seminar, Cayman and I spent our time vegged out at the lovely hotel we stayed at. We were living the life of luxury.

Room Service...

King size bed...

Spacious bathroom...

Maid Service...

Fresh towels...

Pool Spa...

Our Bed

Cayman's bed.
Yea, she thought she was getting jipped too after seeing the king size bed.