I am time traveling . . .

. . . thanks to the idea from Amanda, who got the idea from Annie.

My first blog post ever . . . over at Yahoo 360 June 2006, almost 1 year ago! Another reason to introduce this 'time traveling' post to you . . .

And here's just how blogging began for me . . .


My dear friend, Alexis, inspired me to start my own "blog". It seems to be "the thing to do" these days. I use to keep a journal every day, until shortly after Noah was born. It use to be part of my life. So now I think it's time to begin one again. (Although who would have ever thought that I'd be writing it from a computer posting it to the big world wide web instead of pen and paper into a journal that sits under my bed?) Not only is a good outlet (I need some sort of stress outlet these days), but because perhaps one day my children will want to read it and learn about their mommy, daddy, and what their young little lives were like through the eyes of their mom. So, thanks, Alexis, for the inspiration! You are such a good writer. I only hope I can write half as good as you.

It's already the middle of June. The summer is going by way too fast. I feel like the older I get, the quicker time goes. I wish time would just pause for a moment so I could get all my work things done as well as all the things on my endless to-do lists. The one thing I have learned, though, is that time stops for no one. So this summer we've got a lot of things planned. Not as much as I would wish, but on the weekends that I don't have a wedding to shoot, we have some fun things going on. It's going to be a fun year with Noah 2-1/2 and really interested in everything around him. He talks all the time (and we actually understand him!) which makes every day with him so fun and interesting. He is such an amazing little boy. I can't believe this is our 3rd summer with him in our lives.

Speaking of Noah, today I took him to a "class" at the carriage house. It was for 2-3 year olds. He was one of about 8 other little ones. They made a gift for their daddies. They had the children take off their shoes and socks and have their feet painted and then make prints of their feet to be framed for dad. Noah wanted nothing to do with it - at all. He sat on my lap as each child one-by-one had their feet painted and giggled because it tickled them. He'd laugh at the other kids, but every time I asked if he wanted to take his shoes and socks off to have his turn he'd say "nuh-uh". I didn't realize it until today how shy my son is. My mom tells me that I was just like that when I was little. But it never got better over time. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun little adventures and I don't want Noah to miss out on them, too. Maybe it's just a phase? I sure hope so. Truth be told: he looks so much like his daddy, but his little mind works so much like his mommy's. Underneath my uncertainty about that shyness, I'm smiling.

So, onto my little Miss Maia. She's growing up way too fast too. For these reasons I wouldn't mind it if time stopped. She still makes my heart melt. Just within the past week she's had two big milestones! 1) She can sit up on her own and not tumble down, and 2) She can now drink out of a sippy cup! I think I am more excited about #2 because perhaps it means mommy will get a break now and again from nursing. While I love it with so much passion (and yes, that's coming from the same person who hated it with so much passion when Noah was an infant), it's really tiring some days to have to nurse constantly every 3-4 hours. But she's almost 8 months old. How much longer can it last? (I know Alexis is saying 'oh, 10 more months, Val!') Laura, a friend of mine, told me that once she is weaned I'm going to wish for yesterday. And I know she is right. Which is why I hardly ever complain about it. I'm trying to cherish these moments as much as possible. Life (my life and her life) is too short not to.