Journal › Personal category

I met my friend Brandi Johnston in those first few hours of my freshman year at college. She listened to me talk non-stop about a “Doug Bowman” for a solid two years, then occasional mentions of him for the last 16 years. How’s she still my friend, I’ll never know! I cherish Brandi because she is an amazing person, someone I wish I could be like. Some of my best college memories are with, and because of, her. continued ›

I’ll be the first to admit there may be a time or two I might cut a corner. Usually to save time that I just don’t have anymore. Emma kept tripping for some reason. She was becoming really clumsy. It finally occurred to me that maybe she needed new shoes. I measured her feet, and she actually skipped a whole size!

I was really bummed because I already bought a couple pair that she hadn’t even worn yet. I had several store credits to use, so I did a little on-line shopping for new shoes for Emma. Apparently, I didn’t read the fine print. Maybe I didn’t even read the name. It became apparent when our new “Wee Squeak” shoes arrived yesterday! I’ve deemed these the “Daddy and Emma” day out shoes!

A friend of mine told me a very sad story this week. Her best friend lost their two year old son very unexpectedly. No apparent reason. Just didn’t wake up. In an instant, gone. This isn’t suppose to happen at two years old. Children this age are suppose to be happy and healthy, getting under your feet and driving us crazy.

My heart aches for the poor family and has made me love Emma even more. I didn’t know it was possible. For all the times I want to pull my hair out or think the day will never end, I am grateful for the amazing child we have. I’ve held onto her desperately this week, never wanting to let go. I just can’t imagine life without her.

She must sense something is up. She’s really taken advantage of the ice cream this week, that my friends will probably come to an end very soon!

Emma is having so much fun with soccer. I can’t stop smiling when I watch her! Here is a bit of soccer practice week 2.

Emma had her two year check up today. We’ve had to postpone Emma getting vaccinations several times now. Every time we go to the dr. she conveniently has a cold or allergies. Today was no exception. However, I was really excited. Emma is now in the 5oth percentile for hieght, 50th percentile for her head and we are holding strong at the 12th percentile for her weight. She is tiny but perfectly healthy, minus the cold/allergies.

On a much happier note, today was our first soccer practice. Check out our girl learning foot action!

I’ve realized that I have saved drafts from Emma’s 1st birthday. So instead of trying to catch up, we’re just going to move forward.

I’m really excited. Emma is starting soccer tomorrow! Neither Doug nor I know a thing about soccer but Emma has shown a great affection for kicking balls and running. What a perfect time to introduce soccer to our girl! She loves being outside and the weather here is finally improving. I’m sure you’ll be getting a ton of new pictures and videos very soon!

In June we had our first family photoshoot, dog included. The photographer captured some amazing pictures. As most of you know, it’s been a crazy few months for us. We sold our house, Emma turned ONE, and we moved back to San Francisco. Our lives have been in complete disarray. I wanted to get a few photos up from our session. Hopefully we will have a slideshow all of them soon. For now, here’s a quick preview of the photos! Thank you to Veronica Duran for an amazing job!

Dear Emma,

Your dad and I went to bed last night just as we did one year ago. What we didn’t know then was it was the last night we would be going to bed as a couple. The next night we would be going to bed as a family of three.

Each and every night since then I thank God for the greatest blessing of our lives. You are amazing. You have changed our lives for the better, and we couldn’t be happier. It hasn’t been easy by any means. But I would do it all over again a million times.

I still remember the minute you were born. I couldn’t believe how small and precious you were. How all the fear I had just disappeared as I was holding you. And here you are, one year old. I am sad and happy all at once. I remember those first few months being the most difficult of my life. Now I wake each day filled with great anticipation of what surprise you have in store for me.

Thank you for being our little girl. Thank you for making us better people and showing us what love is all about.

Love,
Mama

Emma is now 8 months old. Just when we think she couldn’t get any cuter, she does.

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Doug has always wanted a dog. He never had a dog growing up and couldn’t wait until he was able to have a dog of his own. I grew up with several Labradors and had hoped one day to have another.  It was just a few months after we got married when Jackson came to live with us. Jackson is a unique chocolate lab to say the least. He is a faithful dog with high energy and stamina. He can fetch and chase a ball until the sun goes down. That’s about it as far as lab traits go. He is finicky, too hard to pet, and barks at everything that moves. We were a little concerned how he was going to react once he found out he would be sharing his dad with a baby. 

Over the last few weeks the two of them have become fast friends. Jackson shows his love by licking your ear.  If Jackson licks your ear you know he loves you.  Jackson has been sniffing Emma for a while now.  We’ve been watching them closely lately. It wasn’t until yesterday that Jackson decided Emma was worthy of a good ole ear licking! It must be love.