We were so happy to hear that Uncle D got an incredible job in Oregon building hand made mandolins. The downfall, is that Uncle D and his girlfriend K are moving to Oregon. It was all very last minute, but we managed to get together to enjoy Bloody Mary’s, hand picked blueberries, good food, and a few laughs before saying goodbye. Little T is going to miss them, but we are looking forward to having another reason to visit beautiful Oregon. 🙂

I know I’ve shared about this before with Little T and his hypertonia, but Little T has this funky little thing going on with the right side of his body, where it’s a tiny bit stiffer than his left side. It’s one of those things that you wouldn’t notice unless A) you’re around him a lot,  or B) a physical/occupational therapist. It’s little things, like he can only go down the stairs with his left leg first, or he is right handed unless he’s doing some things that uses his fine motor skills, and then he switches to his left hand because his right hand is a little stiffer/weaker. He’s a bright kid and tests very well in everything else, it’s just this slight muscle stiffness that he can’t seem to shake. He’s been going to physical therapy and occupational therapy since he was 6 months old through the regional center, but when he turns three he loses all those services. *As a side note, I have to tell you that working with the regional center has been awful and frustrating, but that’s a blog post for a different day.*

So Little T is in this weird place. He’s doing well enough that everyone tells us he most likely wont qualify for services through the school district when he turns three. It’s not that he doesn’t _need_ services. It’s just that he isn’t as bad as someone who has more severe issues, and so he’s going to be glazed over as this child who can function and get by, even though he’s not able to do things at his full potential. It’s really frustrating as a parent, and I think the thing that drives me craziest is when people tell me that he’s going to be fine and that it could be worse. That’s all true and I’m glad that he’s doing so well, but Big T and I aren’t at the point where we feel we can give up on his leg and say that he’s doing good enough to get by. Yes, he is doing fine. Yes, he is going to be okay. Yes, we should be trying everything we can so he doesn’t have any issues at all.

What makes it harder is that the older he gets, the more he is able to communicate with us about his leg. He mostly says his leg hurts in the morning when he wakes up. Yesterday, we were walking, and his right leg was turning out a little bit and he was picking it up a little bit less than his left leg. He started hitting his leg with his hand with frustration and was saying that his leg wasn’t working. Moments like that are so hard.

Today, we’re going to see a physical therapist and an occupational therapist through our private insurance to see if he can get some more PT covered once his services through the regional center end, so keep your fingers crossed for us. If it doesn’t get approved, I’m not sure what we’ll do. I just want him to be able to play basketball and do all the things he wants to do without any limitations. If that doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen, but I don’t want it to be for a lack of trying.

So anyway, thanks for listening, I’m getting super frustrated over here.

As much as I love my home, I do love traveling to visit my family in Fresno. Before I leave, I always stock up on a few things that I just can’t seem find anywhere else. It’s an added bonus to a fun trip.

1) Jasmine Tea from Teazers World Market.

I buy Jasmine tea in bulk here. I’ve tried finding it other places, but for some reason Teazers has that magic touch.

2. Bobby Salazars Salsa:

This salsa is so amazing. I hope that someday they branch out and start selling it in my local grocery store.

3. Fresh bread from Charlottes Bakery:

Sometimes they make garlic bread, sometimes jalapeño, other times ill just go for white or wheat. I always bring home a loaf or two.

And the last thing, is my stepdads soup or chili. He always makes extra and sends us home with a container or two. I realize you can’t purchase this from a store, but maybe if you ask him nicely, he’ll make you some too. ;p

Little T’s new favorite word.

I was feeling a little down today. We’ve been having issues working with the regional center, and we had some unexpected bills come up that made me wish I could plant myself some sort of money tree. 😉 Anyway….this downward spiral in thinking was interrupted by a scuffle in my kitchen. I figured the cats had probably brought in a bird, but to my surprise it was bigger than a bird. It also couldn’t fly and started to cluck, which made me think that perhaps there was a chicken in my kitchen.

After some Facebook postings, if was confirmed that my cats had indeed, caught a chicken.

When Big T got home, we put the chicken in our wagon and walked him around the neighborhood. We stopped at the home of the department chair for the animal science program at the college where Big T works. We thought they might know what to do with our new friend, who I decided to name Tofurkey.

They own a pet pig named Penelope, and I always love having a reason to visit her. 😉

They asked if we wanted to drive to the college to grab a little handful of hay for the bottom of the dog (now chicken) cage, and to see all of the new baby animals. This day was increasingly getting better. We got to see pigs, horses, sheep, mules, and lots of other fun animals. They even let Little T sit in a tractor for a few minutes. It may have been the most exciting thing to happen to him ever. 😉

It turned out to be a nice adventure for a hard day, much better than sitting around and feeling stressed out about stuff.

But seriously though, if anyone needs a pet chicken, please let me know. I think our cats have some dubious plans for that little guy. 😉

• Little T is becoming very good at impressions. He can now do a “Darth Vader” face, where he scrunches up his eyebrows and glares. He also does a “Baby Cry”, “Peter Pan”, and my favorite….? When he throws a towel over his head and bats his eyes and tells me he’s acting like Snow White.  lol
• The other day he didn’t want to go to daycare, so he gave me a fake cough and said that he was sick and needed to stay home and drink Gaterade and watch Harry Potter. Sounds like a good day to me. :p
• His other trick when he doesn’t want to go to daycare, is to wave to Big T and shout, “goodbye, have fun at work Dada”, thinking that Big T might forget Little T is supposed to come with him.
• Little T is obsessed with basketball. He knows every basketball term he can think of, it’s all he wants to do or talk about. He also loves cars.
• Little T has quite the imagination. Sometimes when we’re driving, he’ll tell us to hurry up because there’s a ghost chasing after us. One time he had me convinced that there was a worm in his car seat and I finally pulled over to see what was going on. Yeah, it was just a piece of string.  :p
• Little T’s favorite movies are Peter Pan, ParaNorman, and Beauty and the Beast.
• His favorite T.V. shows are Little Bill and Little Einsteins. We watch Little Bill over and over and over again.
• Little T has just discovered that the ladies love it when he blows them kisses.
• He’s a total boy, through and through, but he does still love those princesses. Especially Merida.
• His favorite place to go is Disneyland, and he always asks to go to Disney on Ice.
• One of the cutest things he does now is sing. I love to hear him singing to himself.
• And my favorite is how he will tell us he’ll do everything we’ve ever wanted him to do when it’s bedtime to get out of going to bed. He doesn’t ever want to use the potty, unless it’s bedtime. He doesn’t want to eat pasta, unless it’s bedtime. He doesn’t want to clean up his clothes, unless it’s bedtime. I think we should use this to our advantage and start putting him to bed earlier, so that he’ll do all the things we need him to do within the hour before his real bedtime starts. Silly guy.
• And my favorite, the other day he pointed at me and said, “That’s my momma. I love my momma”.
• 

I’ve planned this letter so many times in my head, started to write it out, then started all over again….Isn’t the beginning always the hardest place to start?

I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you for growing with me. When I started White Rabbit Photo Boutique a year and a half ago, I was planning on having it be a part time thing. I imagined it being a job that I would do while I tried to find another job, and never dreamed it would become the business that it is today. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am to everyone who has supported me and been there helping me along throughout the past year. Especially my husband, who just tried to cheer me up by jumping around with a Thor hammer…no joke. Now my editing time has turned into working 7 days a week at 60 hours or more. I seriously start working from the second I wake up, and fall asleep at the computer. This is what I love to do, but I think my husband is beginning to miss me a little bit.

My mom thought it was hilarious that I work until I fall asleep and snapped a picture:

I just want to thank you for being so patient and understanding while I work through all the things that a new business goes through. I want to continue to be the kind of photographer that really knows you. I want to know the names of your family, know what colors your wedding dresses are going to be, and be so incredibly excited for your wedding that I can’t stand it. I want to answer e-mails as fast as possible, get your photos back in a short amount of time, and send you a product that you will cherish for the rest of your lives, because really what do you have to look back on after your wedding day besides your videos and your photos? I want you to have the most amazing photography experience and look back at your photos and think…that was a beautiful day.

All of this has gotten a little harder because I overbooked myself a few months ago. But oh-how I am learning and growing from these experiences and growing pains. I’m having to make a few changes to my 2014 year so that I can keep running things the way that I envision them, and also would like to leave a little more room for balance in my life. I’m booking less weddings in 2014, trying to find help (which is hard because I’m a perfectionist), and taking classes on business and photography workflow.

Thank you so much for understanding while I work this all through. In the meantime, thank you for continuing to be patient with me. I promise, I am working as hard as I can. It’s been a crazy, exciting, amazing, year, but it’s also been a little stressful and full of growing pains as I’ve had to figure this whole business thing out.

I just want you all to know that I love you and I’m working hard, and I’m so thankful and happy that you enjoy my photography and have supported me. Photography is the way I share my heart with the world, thank you for letting me share my heart with you.