Nap time

In the last couple weeks, Ethan has been rebelling against nap time. Every time we lay him down to sleep, he sneaks out of bed to play. After a few days of fighting with him to try and get him to nap, we decided to give up the fight. If he doesn't want to nap he doesn't have to.

Seeing the nap times go away made me very sad.

Not only do the missed naps mean I no long have "me" time, it also means my little baby is growing up. He no longer needs those extra hours of sleep to get him through the day.

 But his missed naps and late night bedtimes have finally caught up with him. 

Today he fell asleep in his buzz tent.

Seeing him sleeping reminds me of when he was a baby, and would nap most the day away in my arms. Some days I long for those days of cuddling together and watching this precious face sleep.

Although nap time will completely pass someday soon, his sleeping face will always remind me of those days.

I may always have to sneak in during the night to catch a glimpse of this sleeping face even when he's 18 :)

Just Keep Running

It's been two years since I have taken working out seriously and made it an everyday part of my life. A little over a year ago I fell in love with running. Running has been the one thing that keeps me going. It gives me energy, relieves my stress and keeps me in shape. One year ago today I bought my first Nike+ which has helped me keep track of my runs.

I am proud to say in one year I have run over 410 miles! And here's the proof

 

For long distance runners and marathon runners this may not seem like a lot of miles, but from someone who started out not even being able to run one full mile, this is amazing! What's even more amazing is being able to witness my hard work through the Nike+ program. It records my runs, my pace, calories burned and it's all available to look up online. The Nike+ has truly given me the motivation to keep running. I just hope in the next year I can double my total miles! I may need some new shoes for that though ;)

Incomplete

Last summer after we departed from the Marine Corps we were at a transition stage. We went back home to Wisconsin and spent a few months there catching up with our friends and family. It felt great to be “home” after being away for so long.

This summer it has hit me that we aren’t in Wisconsin for the summer. We are in Colorado. A place we have attempted to call home, but we will never feel the comfort or the familiarity that we feel when we are in Wisconsin. We don’t get to share memories or special occasion with our friends and families. We don’t get to see our child grow up with his grandparents or cousins.

Instead we are here in a state with little friends and no family. Where I can’t help but feel lonely on a daily basis. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of our summer in Wisconsin. Little things trigger my memory and my heart felts empty.

When I smell fresh cut grass I think of this,

When I see thunder clouds roll in I think of this,

When I see countryside I think of this,

When I think green I think of this,

When I think of celebrating the 4^th of July I remember this,

When I see the swimming pool I remember this,

When I think of summer nights I remember this,

When I think of happiness I remember this,

When I think of life I think of this,

My wild flower, surrounded by love & happiness

These make me miss last summer.

These make me miss Wisconsin.

These make me miss family.

These make me miss friends.

But most of all these make me long for a life at home.

A life filled with family, friends, and new memories. 

I just hope someday our dream comes true and we are back where we feel we belong.

Where we wont live thinking of old memories, but instead live creating new memories.

DIY Name Sign

Have you ever completed a project, and shortly after decided you wish you did it differently? 

Well it happens to me all the time! After completing this I decided to go with different colors in Ethan's room, so I redid the project into this:

I decided to go with an "All American Boy" theme for Ethan's bedroom. 

What says all American other than red, white, and blue, right?

Here is a closer look.

Before & After

So much more happy with the end result!

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