Grand Canyon

AR and I had the experience of a lifetime this past Monday. We got to visit the Grand Canyon and we got to see it by helicopter! It was a check off both of our bucket lists and one that we'll never forget. When we first decided to take our summer vacation to Phoenix, I knew I wanted to visit the Grand Canyon. It was about three hours away but I figured when would we ever be close enough again so we had to make the trip. I researched and researched and researched some more trying to find the most affordable yet best way to view the Canyon. After hours of research, I decided on a Detours of the West tour and it was the best decision! Everything from booking to pick up to the tour and dropoff was easy peasy. This was definitely the BEST option!

First stop was at the Red Rocks in Sedona. We stopped to get a scenic view of the red mountains first.

We had a great group of people on our tour, mainly all couples, one guy from New Zealand visiting the States for the first time (luckily he was wearing a bright orange shirt so we always kept in in view!), two sets of parents with their adult kids then AR and me. I'll be honest, I was worried that AR would be bored but she was an all-star! She loved looking out the window, I let her take pictures and we didn't even get the tablet out until the last three hours of the trip (we started at 6AM and didn't get back until 8PM!). Two of the couples complimented her on how well behaved she was as the exited the tour bus and I was so proud of her and couldn't agree more.

We stopped at some stores in Sedona for about 30 minutes. We took in some more views then AR and I were off to find some postcards, it was the ultimate scavenger hunt but we found them!!! Here's AR posing with the Snoopy Rock in the background.

I snapped this picture on a whim and it might be one of my all time favorite pictures of her now, doesn't she look so grown up?

Waiting on the last few people to get back to the bus, I couldn't resist snapping this... love those bright colors!

She was "freezing" on the bus so she hijacked my jacket!

About two hours later, we got to our next stop. I hadn't told her what we were doing so she was super surprised when she saw the helicopters and found out we got to ride in one! She was also excited because a girl on our helicopter looked like a mermaid from Mako Mermaids...

This is us right after takeoff!

OMG! This girl LOVED the headset and monopolized the air space. Our pilot, Sean, would tell us some facts about the Grand Canyon. When he finished, she'd say, "Thanks, Sean, that was interesting!" She even complimented him on his music selection. I was also very proud of her for asking questions like how deep the river was and where the other helicopters went. I love to see her being confident and not worrying about what other people think.

Holding her Mama's hand as we takeover, I'll forever cherish little moments like these.

And now the wonder and awe that is the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River!

Even from above, it is impossible to capture the massiveness of this place!

All smiles from both of us!

AR and I shared photography duty and we both captured some stunning shots.

After the chopper ride, we got to see the Grand Canyon by land.

Looking to see how far down it is... it's amazing to me that there weren't more guardrails or safety precautions but I guess everyone knows to respect the Canyon and it's greatness.

AR with the Duck Rock behind her... it took me awhile to figure this one out but I finally saw it!

I love being able to share experiences like these with my girl. She's an amazing travel companion and we both learn so much from each other.

 

Oh, we also loved that the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix although the altitude and dryness really messed with our sinuses. 

So don't quote me on all this but I think this is the Little Colorado River. It has calcium in the water so the reflection from the sun makes it this pretty blue color.

We even got to walk below the South Rim! I think our guide said maybe like 20% of people that visit the Grand Canyon do this so we're in the minority here. 

This was our guide Mr. Mark. AR asked him to be in this picture with her. To me, it looks like they are photoshopped in the picture but they're not, that's nature's real beauty right there! Shoutout to Mark for showing us some amazing sights! With our tour, we also got a delicious lunch which for AR and I was enough for both lunch and dinner.

This girl is so brave and fearless! #lovemyAR

Photo by AR, love her point of view!

Seriously... best...kid...EVER!

The colors are just so beautiful, it's hard to capture it all in photos!

I think AR took this one and it's one of my faves, we also love all the blue!

We got in a few jumping pictures, too!

I even got in on it too... not sure if I'm more impressed with the height I got or AR for capturing this picture in motion...

Oh and of course we can't go anywhere without cartwheels!

Then on the way home, we saw the sun setting through a wild fire. Pretty awesome pic!

 

And that, my friends, was the trip of a lifetime!!!

AR's 5th Birthday Party

My sweet baby girl is turning five this coming Thursday, I'll post about that later, but tonight we're focusing on her birthday party! We had it last Saturday at my work. It was really easy to put on, they ordered the cake, had the goodie bags, and we just showed up. My mom, the master storyteller, told a story to the kiddos where she told AR that she was a king of chickens, AR's reaction:

The chickens had to lay eggs for the king, here's Nanny trying to lay an egg. 

Nanny even asked the dads to come up and help lay eggs! Thanks, Dads, for being such a good sport!

AR and the other kids thought this was hilarious!

Then Rapunzel even came to the party!!!

She loved her cake and having everyone sing to her!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

AR took Rapunzel around the room and introduced her to all of her friends! 

Matt and I celebrating our girl! 

After cake, story, and Rapunzel, we headed to the pool! My sister and H got AR a mermaid tail that she absolutely LOVES! She's been asking for one since we saw one in January!

Me and the birthday girl!

This picture cracks me up! Doesn't look like any of us were too thrilled about the dumping buckets of water! 

Unlike these two who loved it! Thank goodness H came to the party, it was great to have her help plus what five-year-old doesn't love being with her big cousin! 

More pics of the mermaid tail, it was a hit with all the kiddos!

I'll be carting this around to all the pools this summer!

Her aunt got her some new heels and she was super pumped about that!

We asked her friends to bring change to donate to the local humane society instead of gifts. We wound up with $246.50 to donate to the shelter. We're going to go on her birthday to give it to them.

A big thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us and who helped raise all this money for the humane society!!!

Mother's Day 2017

Today I celebrated my FIFTH Mother's Day with AR. Those five years have been a whirlwind of change, happiness, tears, love, fear, the unknown, and so much more, and you know what? I wouldn't change any of it for one minute. Every thing I've been through in the five years since I've had AR and all the years leading up to May 18, 2012 have made me the mother I am today. I'm not perfect, I'm not even close. I'm impatient. I'm demanding but I would do anything in the world for this girl. I love her and I love her hard. This little diva is my whole world, my best friend, my partner in crime, my biggest cheerleader, and she's stuck with me whether she likes it or not!

I started the day off feeling awful, allergies, sinuses, and all that other gunk but I'm a single mom and even though it was Mother's Day, there was things to get done. AR and I headed outside where I mowed the yard and I'll be honest, I was feeling a little down because it was Mother's Day and I had to do laundry, mow the yard, wash dishes, pack lunch, etc... After I finished mowing, I decided I was going to tackle putting together the trampoline I got AR for her birthday. My girl came to help me and all my sadness was gone. Sure, I wasn't "getting the day off" but I had the best helper ever right there beside me. We may not have gotten it all done but we worked together and she was cheering me along the whole time.

We were waiting around to see what Nanny wanted to do but she was having some people come over to help her unload the truck from Florida. So AR and I headed to Six Flags which I was still feeling pretty awful but we still had a good time. I introduced her to the Joker ride which she loves now. We didn't stay too long and then headed to Nanny's. After our showers, I remembered that we needed to take our annual Mother's Day photo which turned into an impromptu photoshoot.

AR asked to take some pictures of me and I have to say this is now my favorite picture of myself because it's through the eyes of my daughter. No make-up, no professional photographer, just a girl taking a picture of her momma.

Then our pictures from Mother's Day every year!

Mother's Day is always bittersweet. I will never forget the struggle and heartache we endured trying to get pregnant. I'm beyond grateful to be a mother but I hate that so many of my friends are struggling to get their miracle. I pray for them every day that they get their own blessing like I did with my AR. So, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, women like moms, men like moms, moms-to-be, furbaby moms, moms to angels, waiting moms, and future moms, we all deserve to be celebrated!

P.S.

If you can't tell from how all over the place this post is, I'm suffering from a major headache and headed to bed now! Sorry for the rambling and randomness!

Small Stuff is Just Small Stuff

Last Sunday, AR and I were lucky enough to do a mother~daughter photoshoot with Melanie from Water to Sky Photography. We got to wear matching outfits, get our hair and makeup done, and AR was totally rockin' the part of creative director. She was coming up with different poses and places for us to take pictures, she was really getting into it! I was so proud of her for stepping up and sharing her ideas, not being afraid to share her opinion with the adults. It's the kind of woman I'm wanting her to grow up to be. It was just a really awesome afternoon that made me a proud momma.

Now, fast forward to today... AR had a crown put on her tooth so it was quite the experience for both of us. She was so brave, didn't cry, squeezed my hand every now and then, although I was probably squeezing hers harder than she was me, and once again, I was so proud of my girl. Again, this is the brave, young lady we want her to grow up and be.

After her appointment, we came home and rested for a bit. We skipped gymnastics because her "tooth was still asleep" and I was worried she might accidentally bite it so we just rescheduled for next week. I made dinner then we ran a few errands and came back home. As I was cleaning up the kitchen, I got out AR's medicine to take. Let me say that she HATES the last two meds she's had, just doesn't like the taste. Most of the time she takes it fine, just making a face afterward, but every now and then, it's a battle. Tonight, I gave it to her like I always do then she opened her mouth, making the ew face and it came pouring out. I moved her hand up to her mouth to try and catch it, doing the same with mine but that only encouraged her to spit it out even more. By the time this was all over, about ten seconds, there was medicine all over both of our hands, her shirt, my shirt, the Magic 8 Ball in her hand, the floor, and anywhere but her mouth, and then I had a Mommy meltdown.

I read an article once about how easy it is to clean up spilled milk but how hard it is to fix self-esteem. Here I was, freaking out because medicine was everywhere and she didn't even get any and blah blah blah stuff that doesn't matter. How long did it take me to clean up the floor? About ten seconds. She had to have a bath anyway so it's not like I did anything extra to clean the medicine off her and her clothes were going to be washed anyway. So in the big scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal, right? Yet here I was losing it and I don't even know why. Immediately I felt bad and took a few deep breaths but when I went to talk to AR, she was the one that told me it was alright and that she'd always love me. And then I almost lost it again...

I've been so stressed out lately and I know I've been short with AR. I've honestly just spread myself too thin between my FT job, writing, keeping us busy on the weekends, trying to socialize, and stay busy when I don't have AR and my sleep has been lacking. I've also been working out WAY more than I have in oh...forever which exhausts me too. Oh and I've been putting so much pressure on myself about if I'm making good parenting choices that it's only racking that stress level of mine up higher and higher. Long story short, I need to get more beauty rest!

So when I got online and saw this picture that Melanie posted from our shoot , I got tears in my eyes and I've wanted to cry all night long. I'm still upset at myself for getting upset with her over something so small. I'm so caught up in all these small things that in the end are just that, small. I need to chill out and let some of this stuff just roll off my back. I need to look at this picture every day and remind myself of the awesome relationship I have with my daughter. I have so many fears of what the future will be like, how she'll be that I'm not even enjoying today. It's moments like these that I need to cherish and make more of. I love my AR more than anything in the world and I really to focus on making sure she knows that. Tonight, I feel like a mom fail but then I look at this moment that was captured and know that I'm far from it, I just need to work harder to make more moments like these.

Image by Water to Sky Photography 

Let Baseball Season Begin!

Baseball season officially began for AR and I yesterday. We drove down to Springfield to watch the St. Louis Cardinals (the red team as AR called them) and the Springfield Cardinals (the white team) battle it out at Hammons Field. The Springfield Birds did pretty well, keeping the lead for the majority of the first part of the game. We got there when the gates open and went straight to the dugout by first base. That's Kolten Wong there on first base. 

We were down there for only a few minutes when we saw one of AR's favorites, Matt Adams. In her little girl voice, she shouted his name. Matt turned around, saw her, waved, picked up a ball and came straight to her. She got him to sign the ball for her and they chatted for awhile. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the two of them but she was pumped, that was her main goal of the game-to get Matt to sign her ball that he threw her last year!

She also yelled at Greg Garcia who waved while he was taking BP. When he got out in the field, he ran a ball over to her and signed it too.

The players were great, listening to her stories, and taking pictures with her. FYI-Greg's wife, Hannah, is pretty awesome. I follow her on IG and I think she's just a great role model for AR and little girls out there. And Greg is awesome, too!

Kolten Wong came over and signed for AR and took a pic.

Matheny came over and here are two great stories.

AR asked him very politely, "Could you please sign my ball?"
Matheny: "Yes and you have very good manners."
Me beaming proudly!
Teenager beside us to Matheny: "Dude, we were at the game in Memphis last night-"
Matheny stops signing and looks up: "Did you just call me 'dude'?"
Kid shrugs and doesn't answer
Me: "Didn't you just hear him comment on her manners? You shouldn't call adults 'dude.'"
Matheny: "Yeah, you should take some lessons from her."
As though I didn't love Matheny already, he made me one proud momma right then!

After that was over, AR looked at him and asked, "Do you get marker on your hands a lot?"
Matheny smiles and nods: "Yeah, I do."
AR: "Me, too, at school."

Then along came Fredbird and her world was bursting with excitement!!! He signed her ball, too.

Next came Jacob Wilson! Haley met him a few years ago at spring training and loves him. AR met him last year at spring training and he was super sweet to her. AR was also excited because he was #4 just like she is in soccer.

We got a TON of autographs from the Springfield Cardinals players then made our way to our seats. Not a bad view, huh?

And oh hey, look who we found sitting in front of us! H came down with our friend Lisa but we didn't buy our tickets together. Funny that we ended up being so close!

It got a little chilly but this little chica refused to wear her coat, only her gloves and hat.

Another one of her favorite parts of the game... Take Me Out to the Ballgame!



While she may not have been cold, I was freezing so I pulled her on my lap and we got some silly pics out of it while I tried to steal her body heat.

And I talked to her into one non-silly one to commemorate the first day of baseball season for us!

A huge thank you to all the players, mascots, and coaches that made the day so special for my girl! We look forward to seeing everyone play and I'm sure we'll see you all soon! Now... GO CARDS!!!