Letters For Lucas

Wonders, Mishaps, Blunders and Joy.. commentary on my life as a mom in the form of letters to my son

A Love Letter

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Three years ago, I married my partner, lover and friend.

In just three short years, we have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

A month and a half after we got married, my father-in-law underwent heart surgery for a congenital heart defect. He made it through with flying colors and today is better than ever, but this was a very emotional time for us as newlyweds.

A month later, both of my parents died of carbon monoxide poisoning while living and working as educators in Tunis, Tunisia. My husband was amazing during this, the saddest and most confusing time in my life. He took my younger sister and I under his wing and helped us plan a double funeral, a trip to Tunisia and navigated us through countless decisions regarding their estate.

During this time I could not give him what he gave me and I will forever be grateful. He listened and held me and encouraged me to do whatever I needed in order to adjust to my new “normal”.

While I walked into walls for nine months trying to keep my wits about me and a career I loved, we decided that the best thing for me to do would be to leave my job as a marketing manager to focus on my grief, settle my parents estate, spend time with family and start planning a family of our own.

With hope in our hearts, just 10 months later, we welcomed to the world our son Lucas. Our pride and joy and new reason for living.

In three years, we have made our house a home, taken wonderful trips together, cried together, laughed together, fought like cats and dogs, grown stronger as a couple and as individuals and made two three. We recently suffered a miscarriage but are slowly, but surely bouncing back stronger than ever. I can’t wait to see what our future holds.

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year. – Paul Sweeney

I am so lucky to have found this incredible man to go through life with. A man that makes my toes curl and my blood boil; makes me laugh, makes me think and forces me *kicking and screaming* to be the best version of myself. He is a wonderful father and a good person.

I don’t say it enough, but I appreciate everything you do for me and us and I love you. Happy Anniversary, Todd. xoxo

The best is yet to be.

This is my 300th post!! How fitting that is a love letter to my husband because without this blog, I’d quite possibly be a bigger pain-in-the-ass than I already am!

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Baby’s First Haircut

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Someone got his first haircut today and someone else took 37 pictures of it.

Although he wouldn’t wear the cape and wasn’t crazy about his head being squirt with water, Lucas did great with mom and dad looking on and a cool VW convertible Bug to sit in.
I thought I’d be a lot more emotional about yet another first milestone that proves babies do grow up and he definitely does look different – older somehow, but overall I did just as well as he did.

The best is yet to be.

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Walk The Walk

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Almost every day, I walk 4-5 miles. Most of the time, weather permitting, it’s outside and Lucas is with me, but I have been known to get on the treadmill at 11:00 at night.

My favorite walks are the ones outside. I love our funky neighborhood, being so close to the beach and the fresh air and change of scenery seems to soothe us both.

Here are some random pictures of things in our neighbor that make our walks interesting, fun and worth every step.

The best is yet to be.

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Lions And Tigers And Bears

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We went to the San Diego Zoo this week with our friends Colleen and Jackson.

Elephant Odyssey is one of the zoo’s newest attractions.

Both boys enjoyed getting down and dirty with the goats in the petting zoo.

Jackson really enjoyed watching the monkeys. Unfortunately, Lucas slept through this part of our visit.

Lucas made a hand print animal to document our fun day…

…a giraffe.


By the way, we did see lions and tigers and bears.

The best is yet to be.

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Time Well Spent

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We don’t own a piano, but I have always dreamed of having one simply to display dozens of photos across. Instead, we have this beautiful side board that does a pretty nice job.
I couldn’t choose just one photo to write about, so I chose all 15. As I reminisced and went back in time, here is what I thought:

  • What a goofy grin on my face! I can’t believe my husband not only took that photo just moments after I had completed my first (and only) half marathon, he had it blown up and framed so that I would always remember that pain… and pride.
  • My perfect wedding.
  • My husband and his parents – they are my family now too:
  • I have the best friends a girl could ever hope for:
  • I’m sad whenever I remember that this is the last photo that I ever got to take with my parents:
  • My dear, sweet sister, whom I sometimes feel a million miles away from, but always hold very close to my heart. Here we are after our first grueling day on the 3-Day Walk:
  • The joy and hopefulness in my eyes as I rest my hand on the new life in my belly:
  • My perfect baby just four weeks old:
  • My oldest and dearest friend in the world and all of our children together at last:

And then I actually did become inspired enough to write a poem:

They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

What if a thousand pictures were worth just one?
I’d say much easier said than done.

One word that fully encapsulates smiles, fun, tears and laughter,
Hopes, dreams and the happily ever afters?

Would it be: Happiness? Joy? Blessings? Love?
Ah, love, that’s fitting. After all, isn’t it the only word to speak of?

Photographs take us back and remind us of travel and distant places,
Moments with family and friends in possession of warm and familiar faces.

Our snap shots are displayed like treasures,
Out of love, in memory and for pleasure.

We capture, frame, post and share with everyone our two dimensional grins
But mostly, our photos are for our own selfish whims.

Whether they are in color, black-and-white or over exposed,
The images are not always of what is being proposed.

Were we just smiling for the sake of the lens,
Or were we truly satisfied with our lives and friends?

A sense of mystery can lie in each and every one,
“Why was I wearing this or that?”, “Look at my hair!” and “I didn’t know what was about to be done”.

Protect your memories and your photographs as if they were gold,
Something that can never be traded, bought or sold.

And remember, L-O-V-E is what they represent
And just gazing at them is time well spent.

The best is yet to be.

I wrote this post for Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop – Prompt #2: Write a poem about a picture.

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Sumertime

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Get your buckets, pails, sunscreen, wide brim hats and bathing suits ready, it is time to hit the beach, summertime is here!

We spent Father’s Day at the beach yesterday and Lucas had no fear of the sand, ocean or waves, so something tells me that we are going to be spending a lot of time there this summer and I for one can’t wait!
Today I am guest posting over at Mommy of a Monster and I’m talking about one of my favorite things on the planet (next to my adorable son and summertime) and that is of course, wine, glorious wine! Check it out.

Happy first day of summer, everyone!

The best is yet to be.

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A Onederful First Year!

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Today you are one year old! While some days certainly seemed a lot longer than others, one year never went by faster!

One year old. Wow!!

Looking back on all of your monthly milestones, I am in awe. You have grown so much, learned more than I ever thought you would and are becoming your very own little wonderful person full of character and charm.

Like every other month, this was a big one full of lots of firsts; like:

  • Visiting Legoland
  • Graduating from your second Kindermusik class
  • Graduating from wearing the Doc Band (read all about our experience here)
  • Sitting forward in the car!!
  • Knowing where your belly, head and toes are
  • Picking your lovey and a favorite little stuffed monkey out from a pile of several other things
  • Can follow simple commands like, ‘go get it’ and ‘put this in there’… we are still working on ‘no’ and ‘don’t touch that’
  • When asked a ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, or ‘why’ question, shrug your shoulders and turn your hands up. This is the most adorable thing I have ever seen a toddler do!
  • Developed a love affair with every household appliance we own… hence the reason to learn the word ‘no’!
  • Attended two more birthday parties (for a grand total of six in just your first year of life!)
  • Your eyes are still blue and I think it’s safe to say that they are going to stay that way. 🙂

We celebrated your special day yesterday at home with a BBQ, balloons, cupcakes and plenty of gifts. Your two aunts and grandparents came to visit and it was a lot of fun.

I will never forget the day you were born and how I held you in my arms until the sun came up, just staring at you in complete adoration. What a great day. Happy Birthday, son. I love you.

Your destiny is waiting and the best is always yet to be.

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Memorial Day Weekend

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We had a big, furry, delightful house guest for the weekend and no, I’m not talking about Elmo… thank God! Many words come to mind when I think of Elmo and ‘delightful’ isn’t one of them, but that’s another topic for another day.

No, our furry guest was a beautiful Weimaraner named Winston (I Might Secretly Be A Dog Person), my favorite dog on the planet.

Although the two of them have met before, Lucas and Winston are definitely still in the “getting to know you” phase of their relationship, as evidenced by these photos:

Winston wouldn’t hurt a fly and was very tolerant of Lucas’ poking and prodding. It was really fun to watch the two of them together and imagine what our lives might be like with a four-footed friend around permanently.

I spent the weekend calling Winston Lucas and Lucas Winston and it got a little chaotic at times, but Winston is such a joy to dog sit and in almost every way, a hell of a lot easier than a toddler!

Before I sign off, I am very excited to report that my blog has been reviewed on Blog Brew Review, a very cool blog dedicated to reviewing blogs. With so many blogs and so little time, this site is a wonderful time saver! Please check it our when you have the time.

A special thanks to Natalie (Mommy of a Monster (I Mean Toddler) and Infant Twins) for writing such a nice review. 🙂

And last but not least, to all the brave men and women, who serve our country, who have served our country, and those that have given their lives, and to all of their families, God Bless you… and thank you for fighting for our freedom. Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

The best is yet to be.

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Second Chances

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I am finally doing something that my friend Natalie over at Mommy of a Monster (I Mean Toddler) and Infant Twinshas been encouraging me to do for a while now; enter Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.

This meme is hosted by Mama’s Losin’ It each week she offers different prompts to chose from and you write about the one you picked, hence tapping into your more creative mommy side. So, here goes nothing!

Prompt #2: If you could do your wedding over again, how would you do it?

I was fortunate enough to have the gift of a wedding re-do and this time with the right groom!

My husband and I have been married for three years this August and like most brides, whenever I think about our wedding day, I feel all warm and happy inside. It was the perfect day.

My second wedding was exactly what I had wanted the first time around: small, intimate and all about the two of us and our love for our closest family and friends.

Since I had been married before and could care less about having another big princess/fairy tale-type shindig with everyone I have ever (or in some cases never) met as guests, we decided to keep it simple, yet elegant.

It was held in our home and we invited 40 guests (27 were in attendance).

You’d think with such a small gathering at home, planning would be a cinch.

Not the case.

All of the typical wedding planning frustrations over menu options, scheduling conflicts, budget constraints and discussions about cake flavors and invitation wording existed, but we had fun planning this amazing party and would both do it again.

We hired our favorite restaurant to cater, help with service, set-up and clean up. We hired a local Spanish guitarist to perform, rented tables, chairs, linens and glassware and asked a friend of a friend to make our cake. Champagne, beer and wine were purchased at Costco and I ordered my dress on Nordstrom.com. I was shocked when it actually fit, which has never happened to me before… EVER! It was the dress I was meant to wear.

One of the sweetest moments was when my sister sang an impromptu solo of “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” and I love that after the cake was cut, our living room turned into Dance Party U.S.A.!!

Nope, I honestly wouldn’t change a single thing…. Okay, there was the sweaty photographer that we had my mother-in-law ask to leave shortly after dinner was served. To be fair, there just wasn’t enough for him to shoot. We stayed in the same location and he had the same three dozen guests as subjects.

I was pleased with his work and here are three of my favorite moments he captured:



Second changes are pretty rare and I count my lucky stars that I was able to have this one.

The best is yet to be.

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Lovey – Update

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On the day you were born, the first family member you met was your Aunt Leah. When she arrived at the hospital, she brought you Arnold the Snoring Pig.

Arnold makes snoring sounds, talks in his sleep while his ears and body move when you press his hoof.

You can’t quite press his foot yet without help, but you LOVE this pig and think that all of your stuffed animals have a “magic” paw. It’s really cute; you hand us monkeys, giraffes and teddy bears and want us to make them move.
Clearly, no matter how many furry, fuzzy, plush toys you have, your heart still belongs to your lovey.

The best is yet to be.

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