welcome summer

as of last monday, harper and i are officially on summer vacation. and boy, did we have a rough start considering all the events of the past few weeks. but it's getting better and we're enjoying our long warm days. we have filled them so far with a few lazy hours at home, visits with friends and family and long naps for both harper and mommy. we're planning lots more- trips to the zoo, a few days at daycare so mommy can still work with some kiddos, visits to the pool, doctor appointments, a road trip to visit family in d.c., a fourth of july weekend spent on the beach with friends. overall, we're just planning to enjoy the beautiful weeks of warmth and togetherness that we have.

and this spot?







this is my new summer heaven. this is a spot from my childhood that will be visited many a time this summer. we first came back here after my uncle's funeral, and my memory bank flooded. i forgot how much time katie and i spent at this place all those summers growing up. and i forgot how much i missed it. we spent the day there today while katie was still in town. we chatted and reminisced in our adirondack chairs. collier snoozing happily in the shade of his stroller.





harper digging and splashing in the sand and water.

no, she did not intend to eat the sand. and yes, she has another bug bite, this time on the other eye.

we spread out the beach blanket and ordered lunch from the grill. we swung on the swings with a perfect view of the lake and the boaters and jet skiers.



nap time was completely overlooked, but no tantrums were seen. not here. not at our spot. after a few hours, we walked back to my aunt's house (a mere block or less), rinsed off the sand, grabbed a quick snack and popsicle, said our goodbyes and off we were in the car. and here was the backseat passenger a mere 5 minutes into the ride home.



she continued to snooze for 2 hours in her bed after the hour long drive home. she was exhausted. our beach drained her energy. but we will be back. we will sit on the sand and scoop and build. we will share ice cream cones on the dock. we will try to catch the minnows while standing on the shoreline. i will relive my childhood memories and introduce them to my daughter. because that's what summer is all about. and i can't wait for it.

**lots more photos and posts to come. i'm inundated with pictures to go through and blog about!

bruiser

more to come, but had to post this picture from last week. harper got a bug bite under her eye (the mosquitos are horrendous this year!) and by the next day, she looked as though she'd been in her first girl fight. lovely little one.

warning- the post to come may be a bit long...lots of family, lots of pictures.

finding the joy

it's been a rough couple of weeks. this weekend, my uncle passed away. at the end of this past week, we went through our second miscarriage. it's very difficult to find the joy in much these days, but that doesn't mean that joy doesn't still exist. it is still all around. i just have to open my eyes and see it.

and so i am. i am opening my eyes and seeing the beauty and blessings that we have in our lives.

in saturday mornings at the farmer's market. this time with nana. and the sweet, little screams (did i really just call those sweet? i must be exhausted.) from harper calling out for apples. then strawberries. and not being able to make it home the 2 block walk without stopping three times for another berry or 2.

in afternoon impromptu pool dates with our friends, kellie and anna. late afternoon sun and water, and girlfriends to lean on and cry with and take our minds off things, even if just for a bit. thankful is what i'm feeling about that.







in last minute throw together bbqs with our neighbors- chad, jacque and hunter. where michael and i have to quick step the 3 houses down the sidewalk to keep up with harper's excited sprint to see her friend. where we carry the grocery bag of beer and brownies, so at least we have made some contribution. where we laze in the backyard, enjoying the grillings and watching the kids as they slide and swim and swing. and the sweet end to our evening, after our frosted brownie dessert, when hunter and harper share the tot chair and hunter puts his arm around her, gives her a peck on the forehead and says i love you, harper. oh, jacque, girlfriend. we're in trouble. and then we slowly make our way back home for bed, with harper all nestled into her daddy.







in the first summer ice cream truck visit to our street, and my joy in being able to share this age-old tradition with harper. standing on the sidewalk, dollars (yes, dollars. no more 25 cent ice cream treats.) in hand. listening to the music and waiting for the truck to pull up to choose which delish frozen happiness we'll savor.

waving goodbye to the truck. til next time.

in a sunday afternoon matinee with a girlfriend. thank you, kellie, for abandoning all brain cells with me, while enjoying a tub of popcorn and chocolate-peanut butter deliciousness while we laughed and cried and cringed during sex and the city 2. the escape to fictional and dreamy life was necessary, and so appreciated more than you know. and i really did have my camera in my purse the entire time, in case the mood struck. but, didn't end up getting it out.

so this week will be eventful. the last week of school. the wake and funeral. another doctor visit. life moving on. i try to remind myself to take time each day to find something simple and meaningful and beautiful in our daily routine, so as not to get bogged down with everything else swirling around us. harper makes that so much easier. her giggles and smiles bring more sunshine into our lives than i ever could have imagined. and that's a beautiful little gift.

six twelve

i do love nothing in the world so well as you. ~shakespeare

dear michael,

6 years ago today, we made a commitment. before God and our families, we pledged to each other to love and honor one another through anything that came our way. in sickness and health. for richer or poorer. for better or worse. and today, as i look back on 6 years of marriage, i pledge those vows to you all over again.

when we made those commitments, little did i know what we would encounter. little did i know how much i would rely on you for support and love in times of sorrow and happiness. little did i know how much stronger we would become together. we have met our share of happiness and pain. our first house. job changes. our first "baby," maximus. a flooded basement. loss of family members and friends. pregnancy ups and downs and two miscarriages. the birth of our beautiful baby girl. so many times we hear that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. and while i do believe that, i also believe that God leads us to our forever someone who will make us that much stronger, so that we can handle life's misfortunes. and you are my someone.

i love this quote from the anniversary card you gave me today...

"someday, many years from now, we'll look back on this crazy time in our life together and wonder how we did it all...and then, those ordinary, everyday moments that we often take for granted will shimmer like stars as we recount them...i'll sit close beside you, you'll take my hand in yours. we'll look at each other and say: i'd do it all again...and i wouldn't change a thing."

it was only true bliss and joy the day i became mrs. petrous. and i look forward to six times sixty more years of more bliss. i love you more today, for who you are and who you've become. and i'm so thankful that you are my forever someone. happy anniversary.

and as our wedding song replays in my head, i promise i can only give you love that lasts forever...that's all.

love, emily

our anniversary dinner out. thank you to auntie jen and pat for watching our harper while we celebrated our 6 years of marriage. from a yummy dinner downtown to hand-held walk through crowded streets to after dinner cocktails before a comedy show, i couldn't have asked for a better night out.

a run and a birthday

our sunday started off very rough. with tornado sirens calling out their warnings, we were up and down the stairs multiple times in the wee morning hours, grabbing harper and maximus, blankets and pillows, our phones and laptop. sleep was just not to be had on the couches in the chilly basement. when we finally thought we were settling back into our own beds, the phone rings and michael gets called off to my parent's house to save their lower level from possible flood damage. thankfully, a flood didn't happen. michael came back home and finally nodded off to sleep around 4 am, only to wake up 2.5 hours later to get ready for his first 10k. harper and i joined him, as tired as we all were, but we wanted to be there to support him. this was a big day for him, and harper and i wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else (even our nice comfy beds).

and we are so proud of him! he finished in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 1 second. he kept a nice, easy pace the entire race as he wound through tree-covered streets, up and down hills and along the river. we spotted him just before the finish line, and i handed harper over to him so they could cross together. all she wanted to do since she saw him take his first steps across the start line was to run with daddy. michael, we are so proud of you, and are looking forward to standing at the finish line of your next race.

harper enjoying some of the post-race treats.

that evening, we celebrated kelly's birthday. michael has twin sisters, but jen was out of town. kelly left today for germany, so we celebrated with her before she left and will celebrate with jen later in the month. it was a momentous night, for harper that is. she actually ate chicken fingers (doesn't typically like any type of meat) and bit off some of the actual cupcake after polishing off the frosting first. usually it's frosting only, and the cake gets tossed aside.

happy birthday, auntie kelly and auntie jen!

photo walk

on saturday morning, my girlfriend christina and i joined in on the i heart faces photo walk. this photo walk was being held all across the united states, and our chosen locale was eastern market in downtown detroit. the hustle and bustle of a saturday morning market was a bit overwhelming. give me a kid to photograph, and my clickin' camera won't stop. but put me in the middle of docks and docks of flowers and produce and i'm out of my element. when told to photograph anything and everything, i just didn't know where to start. i tried to look at angles that others may not see, but seemed to struggle. however, once we finished the market walk and got to meet up with our 5 models that were ours to move and pose and snap away, i found my shutterbug again. what i most enjoyed, though, was the coney island lunch where we got to pick the brains of our 2 photo walk leaders- the amazing photographers jean smith and laurel hogge. i loved asking questions to dig deeper into whether or not this is an adventure i'd like to pursue. still deciding...

here are some of my favorites from my 500 shots.