Maycee's first trip to the beach!

We just got back from San Diego. And I'm asking myself why we live here in Mesa? It was so fun to enjoy the fresh ocean air and spend time away from reality. I am so glad we could bring Maycee along with us on our trip. It was a debate considering she was sick. But it was worth having her considering she LOVED the ocean. Shanna, Mark, and Nixen were with us, too, and that was fun having more people than just us three. We got home late last night and are feeling exhausted today. Maycee has been napping for the last 3 hours. I'm anticipating her waking any moment. I want to post this before the opportunity passes. School starts back up on Monday, along with our crazy lives. Did I mention, we are past the half-way mark of the semester and I will be finally doing hands-on clinicals? I'm really excited to start patient contact. Anyway....Shem and I both have enjoyed the break and will continue to enjoy it until Sunday at midnight.

Maycee was a good girl for most of the trip. Naps were off schedule and eating habits were horrible. She's still alive though, and that's what we're thankful for! She recovered quickly from the flu and has been a happy girl since. Unfortunately, I didn't get a ton of pictures. Just a few here and there. It was hard to be a mommy and photographer at the same time. All I can say is I love being a mommy and being with Maycee is my favorite thing to do! Shem and I love her to death!! :) Enjoy the pics!

Where we stayed: San Diego Mission Valley Worldmark (timeshare)

The view that we waited three hours for...long story...
But hey, I can't complain about a great price in a fun city!

We ate at Hash House. This is our tradition every time we visit! Everyone loved it. How couldn't we? It's the best breakfast place ever! Maycee and Shem walking. She's getting so good!

On the way to the beach..she fell asleep in minutes! Getting her beauty sleep, ready to play!

We went to Imperial Beach!

When we got to the beach, we took Maycee up to the shore and she loved the water rushing back and forth. It is was SO cute. And then she discovered the sand. I gave up chasing her and let her explore around. We discovered that she liked sand. She kept eating it and eating it. We were laughing so hard I could barely get any pictures! The next day, each poopy diaper had a bunch of sand in it. So glad she didn't get sick!

Nixen got buried in the sand!!
My two favorite people!

We hung out at Mission Beach and rented bikes. The kids were too cute sitting next to each other. It was fun to ride bikes along the boardwalk! Beach cruisers are the greatest!

Getting ready for our trip

Maycee came down with the flu this week. We've never seen her so sick. The poor thing was throwing up and sleeping tons. Let me add, she slept a ton, but not like we would have liked her to...up for two hours in the middle of the night crying. :( I hate not being able to take her pain away. She is such a happy, chipper little thing all of the time. Today we have been packing to go to San Diego. We weren't going to go until we saw improvement in her health and today she seems much better. Her fever went away yesterday mid-day. Although, her temp began rising again today so I immediately gave her some tylenol to reduce it. So far it's working. We are so excited to take Maycee to SD with us. It's going to be her first trip to the beach! We are watching her closely and have confidence she will be just fine for the trip...so don't go thinking we're practicing back parenting. Right now as I type, she's resting her little head on my chest...aw, she is so cute when she is sick. I took some pictures of her because she was acting hilarious earlier today. By the way, she is almost walking! She walks perfectly if she's holding someones hand. And last weekend she took her first steps without any help! Hopefully she'll be walking this coming week as she begins feeling a hundred percent better! Time flies, I say it over and over because I can't believe the little Maycee I'm looking at is already 13 months old.

photography

I recently took photos for a new friend of mine, Tiffany. She gave birth to her little one last week. Let me add these photos were taken 2 days before giving birth. She really is a beautiful woman, isn't she. I'm sure many women would kill to look that cute pregnant. Thanks Tiffany, I enjoyed taking these!

As for my hobby, I am keeping up with it despite being extremely busy in nursing school. I take my time post-processing and am extremely picky. I will share those photos I feel confident in sharing. That being said, these were my favorites of Tiffany. My photography blog will be open to public viewing after tweaking is finished. I've had it set to private for months and have grown confident in my work, ready for others to view it. If anyone is interested in doing a session, I am fairly priced and would love to be of assistance! Contact me at anlynphotography@gmail.com.





In the future, my photos will be open to view on my photo blog, family maters only will be posted here ;)

Our other baby

I just realized that I have not really mentioned our other child. No, it's not a human...it's our sweet little love bird. I am writing this mainly because I am procrastinating studying and I have missed blogging. This is something I'm trying to work at. Obviously I've not made much improvement.

A month after Shem and I were married, he felt like I needed a bird. Haha, HE felt this way. Shem had gotten a bird before we ever were engaged and I had begun believing he loved that bird more than me. We named him Doc and I loved him for the first 12 hours of getting him. He was a green quaker parrot and needed a new home where he'd get lots of love. I'm not sure what was wrong with that bird, but as soon as I left the house and left him alone with Shem, he began hating me. So from then on, I was afraid of Doc and couldn't understand WHY Shem loved him so much. Where am I getting at? Well, this is why Shem wanted to get a bird for me. So I would feel loved. HAha, and it worked.

Shem researched birds and wanted to get me a lovebird. I was getting really excited and demanded to have get one that looked just like Tweety. A yellow one, with peach cheeks. That's the classic lovebird. But we couldn't find any! Finally Shem found a little yellow one with green and blue feathers mixed in. Yep, we bought him. The moment I held him I was in love. He dove down into my shirt and got comfy right away. He's so precious. We named him Jax, although Shem refers to him as "peanut". We love him SO much because he's the best bird we've ever had.

Doc and Jax became good friends until the time we had to move. When we moved, we had to sell Doc because he was a larger bird. I'm telling you, I actually cried when we sold him. Even though he didn't like me, I knew he LOVED Shem and that Shem loved him. I was sad Shem wasn't going to have a little friend anymore. :( Wow, why am I writing about this?? Random.

Anyway, last night we were admiring our little Jax as he was inside Shem's shirt pocket. Isn't this adorable?! He just hangs out in there. He loves small warm places to cuddle down into. I love him! I have always been a dog person, but I sure do love these little creatures. :)

One, already?!!

Obviously, Maycee is one! Hooray!! She is the light of our lives and such a joy to be around. Her little spirit is captivating and she makes friends with everyone she meets. That sounds a little cheesy, but it's absolutely true. She is a special girl and I know she is going to be such a wonderful person as she grows and matures. Happy Birthday, one-year-old! We are excited to watch you walk, talk, and get more sass!

So, for her birthday, I sent out invitations...made a tutu...bought cupcakery items...and set my standards WAY too high for celebrating year one. Although my perfectionist expectations weren't met, we made some fun memories and discovered that Maycee does not really like cake.

First off, for the original day of her party, everyone on Shem's side was sick and could not make it. :( So my side of the family came and we had some delicious subs and cupcakes. Then...the next week, when the Wanlass side was in tip-top shape, Grandma Wanlass threw a party for Maycee. It was nice to celebrate the birthday seperate considering each family does things a little bit differently and things were less chaotic with a smaller crowd. I loved spending time with each side and thank everyone for their support! It was such a joy seeing Maycee react to all the fun around her! It wouldn't have been so fun without her family there to be in on the action. Love you all, Wanlass' and Couch's.