Complete

The past week we had family here visiting, which is why I haven't been blogging lately. Ethan loved having his Nana and Papa here to play with everyday. He got their sole attention and he was soaking in every minute of it. 

They left Tuesday and now we are back to just the 3 of us. 

As lonely as it can be without family around, I have to admit it is nice to have my son 'back.' 

My little shadow that follows me every where.

My little buddy who shares every snack and meal with me.

My snuggler who lays and watches movies with me.

My workout buddy who accompanies me at the gym everyday. 

Before becoming a Momma, I never thought my days would be missed without those things. 

I realize how much my whole day is surrounded by my little man and how much I miss him when he isn't with me every second.

I love you little man. 

I couldn't picture my days without you.

You make my life complete.

<3

Hot Summer Outfit

This weekend has been a busy one! Saturday we had a birthday party to go to, Ethan's little playmate turned 3. Happy Birthday B! Ethan had fun at the party, but he is so shy! He has trouble coming out of his shell. Hopefully daycare this fall will help him with that.

Now to the outfit, I went with something simple and comfy. It was 100 degrees Saturday and I knew I would be chasing my little man around all day. Here are the pictures:

 Top: Aero, Shorts: Pac Sun, Belt & Sandals: Target, 

Necklace: found in my jewelry box, I believe it was from high school, but I wanted to add a little pop of color [Time for some new accessories :)]

 There's my little shy guy :) Done with the party and ready for nap time!

If you were wondering about my hair, I colored it last week! 

Back to brunette :)

What did you do this weekend?

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Back to My Roots

Hair roots that is! Although I was loving my blonde locks, my roots were yelling at me to touch up. So this week I took the plunge and bought two boxes of hair dye. I got my hair 'did' by yours truly, okay that may sound a little silly and played out, but here is my new do!

I tried not to go too dark since it is still summer. You can still see some of my highlight, which is nice because it add dimension and prevents my hair from looking so flat.

Besides the sad senior picture pose, I don't think it looks too bad. Plus it definitely save me a good chunk of change doing it myself. 

Now I just need to get a trim...my ends are splitting! Just have to find a salon that doesn't have a tragic hair review. I once had a mullet for my whole sophomore year of high school due to an uneducated hairstylist (to put it nicely). She ruined my faith in haircuts.

Can't Be a Rebel Forever

I guess rebelling against your parents gets tiresome, because this is the third day in a row that my little guy has taken a nap! Let me tell you that 8 extra hours (two, 3 hr naps and one, 2 hr nap) has helped me a ton! 

I feel like I can get some work done around here and have a little more {me} time :)

I love taking pictures while he's napping (easier to get a good focus without someone wiggling around) so here he is after he fell asleep on the couch.

Two things I love, sleeping babies and baby toes :) (not weird at all!) 

Hehe. Can you believe he slept like this for 3 hours?

Perfect Moment in Time

Sometimes when I'm practicing photography I get so caught up in achieving the perfect picture. I worry so much about my camera settings, looking for perfect lighting, and getting super sharp pictures that I often forget to focus on the subjects and the moments at hand.

After an afternoon at the lake, a day full of pictures, snacking, and rock throwing, my boys were ready to head home. Walking back to the car, I stopped them for one last picture just as Ethan snuggled into Daddy's shoulder. The emotion and gratitude on my husband's face expresses how much he enjoyed that moment. As Ethan ages, we see less and less of these moments. He's independence has taken over and he doesn't need Mommy and Daddy as much as he use to. This is why it is so important for me to capture these moments.

Does this photo have perfect lighting? No. Is this photo perfectly sharp? No. 

But what it does have is raw emotion. 

A picture we will look back on and remember just how we felt.
A perfect moment in time captured.

This is what photography is about <3

Quest for Personal Style

This fall I am returning to school to finish my degree, so to get prepared for entering the 'world' again I am on a quest to develop my own personal style! 

The last 3 years I have been a stay at home mom/wife, so I've lost my touch with the fashion world. Most of the time you can find me in gym clothes or sweatpants, which are comfy but not very stylish. With starting school and maybe even entering the workforce, I want a fresh new style. One that expresses who I am and is grown up and mature. I want to leave the Holister clothing behind and look more like an adult woman than a tween.

Insert {What I Wore Wednesday} I figured if I participated in this weekly, it might give me the push to be more creative and try new looks. 

There are so many fabulous women with actual style participating in WIWW, so I might even gain some inspiration :)

Okay, so here is what I wore:

 Jeans: AE skinny (don't mind my pocket)

Top: Old Navy clearance

Sandals: Target

Hmm...I know what your thinking, not very stylish, eh & you look like your 12..

Well I agree this look is not very stylish and no I am not 12, try 23 :)

This is my simple I have errands to run look. Not much effort put forth for this outfit. 

I will have to try harder next week, for sure! 

But my goals are to develop style, but also be able to use most of the clothing and accessories that I already have in my closet. I wish I had the money to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe (how fabulous would that be??), but unfortunately the funds aren't available. That's okay because this will force me to be more creative :)

So stick around and watch as I develop style or make a fool out of my self, either way it will be entertaining!

Fitness Motivation

We all have those days, sometimes weeks, where we just aren't as motivated to get to the gym. So today I thought I would share some tips that get me motivated to workout. 

1. For me exercise = happiness. I can definitely tell a difference in my mood and in my body, when I don't go to the gym verses when I do go to the gym. When I don't feel like going to the gym, my husband always reminds me "a short workout will make you feel better." Which is just the motivation I need to get up and go. Thinking about how much better I will feel after working out is the best motivation.

I've also found that the days I don't want to workout, are actually the days I end up pushing myself the hardest. Last week I dragged myself to the gym after putting it off, and I ran my longest run yet, my first 9k!

2. If I'm not motivated to go to the gym, chances are I haven't been eating the healthiest either. Those days I don't feel motivated, tend to be the days after eating the worst foods (you know the ice cream, cakes, and chips). In other words, if i eat junk, i feel like junk! So instead of feeling guilty for indulging in junk food, I turn it into motivation to work off those not so good for you foods.

Hmm, that's an extra 30 mins on the treadmill!

3. Lastly, if I do not feel motivated for the gym, I think about the ideal body that I wish to achieve. I think mostly about my abs and what I wish they looked like. After having my son, its the one part of my body that I feel the most ashamed of. If you are a mother, you know exactly what I'm talking about, that extra saggy skin, those strerch marks and if you had a c-section, that ugly scar! Thinking about my abs and how I "dream" of them looking, gives me the motivation to get up and go. Sitting on the couch isn't going to bring me any closer to my dream body, but hitting the gym will!

Abs like Jillian Michaels? Yes please!

I hope you find these tips useful in getting you motivated to hit up the gym!

If you have any tips of your own, please share!

& remember it's never too late to start living a healthy lifestyle :)

One Through Ten

For the longest time Ethan has not been interested in numbers or letters. He could name off every animal and what noise each makes, but letters and numbers he wanted nothing to do with. Over the last couple weeks he has been a little more interested in them, so we have been encouraging him to watch the leap frog dvds. It seems that it has paid off, because today he counted one through ten all on his own! 

This makes me such a proud Momma! Hearing my baby boy learn something new and something that he will use so much in life, just puts a smile on my face. Our little guy is growing up so fast!