Cutest Model

Lydie’s been helping me with some product photography. It’s too much, y’all. It’s too much 😄😆 Her love for this star wand runs deep. 💫 @puccimanuli 💛

Butterfly Release Memorial

Last week I had the opportunity to document a local fundraising walk for families of children with CHDs—which is obviously a cause we are passionate about 💛💪🏻 The closing activity was a memorial for angels lost to heart complications, honoring both them and their families. Angel families were provided living butterflies in these satchels, and released them as the onlookers simultaneously released a large group of butterflies. It was a beautiful moment and the kids especially enjoyed it. 🦋

One Year Walking!

One year. She’s been walking for one year. I was surprised when a Facebook memory popped up and all the emotions hit me. I’ve been marking her progress these last few months—when we got back outside in the spring after the snow melted I immediately marveled at how much farther she could walk around the neighborhood; how much steadier her ankles were on uneven grass. Our jaunts out in nature ended in laughter instead of frustrated tears. She ran around public playgrounds anxious to participate instead of plopping down in the wood chips, content to watch. Baby girl, how far you’ve come!! Including a few of my favorite shots here from the journey, though I can’t include them all. The walker, the miles riding on Daddy’s shoulders, the bum scoot that got you where you needed to go 🥹 the propping you against walls until you could stand on your own, the ecstatic clapping when you did, the ankle braces, the teetering steps, watching you follow your sweet peers in adaptive PE & their exclamations of joy to see you… My heart explodes at it all. It is a joy to watch you grow, Lydie Girl, and to get to grow with you. Watch my stories to see how she’s learning to run. Don’t be deceived, in church last week she worked a hairpin turn & lost me in a crowd, giggling all the way, which earned a “She’s got moves!” from a laughing, seasoned mom. The fun has just begun. 😳😂💛 #misslydiefaith #theluckyfew

Need More Hiking

Two weeks into summer? We’re all in need of another hiking adventure, me thinks! ⛰ I have so many pictures left to edit from spring break… Bryce Canyon National Park is so uniquely beautiful with all the red rock & green trees. #am_twoboys

#am_nationalparks #mangosdobryce

First Week of Summer!

We survived the first week of summer! I was reminded every day that these kids have a lot more energy than I do 😜 At the same time it’s lovely to have them home & for us to be in charge of the schedule. I’m very conscious this year that they are growing up—fast. Hanging on to the last bit of “little” that I see in them for as long as it sticks around. 💛 Pinewood Derby competition this week. 👊🏻 So much love has gone into these cars. Can’t wait to see how they do. 🏎

Crib

L finally got over her nasty cold! It’s a shame because I almost enjoyed catching those snot bubbles she’s been blowing every time she’s laughed for the last two weeks 😆🤢 Now that we’ve cleaned up nice I’ll start pointing the camera at her again. I’ve missed this girl in my lens. 😘 Crib shots because it’s been forever.

Soaking Them In

So many moments recently have caused me to catch my breath. Maybe it’s because I’ve been sick which makes you reevaluate everything, or because each child has had their own close call during the last six months… Maybe it’s the social anarchy & darkness that has permeated society for the last two years and has brought so many questions and emotions to the surface… Or maybe it’s just because I’m a mom; we are the closest observers of time—how long and monotonous the days can be while they simultaneously wreak devastating & irrevocable change on the most finite details of our lives. Whatever it is, this great forced reckoning has me evaluating every moment and use of my time and leaving me once again and always in awe of these people I call mine. Coming home to them. My good friend @laurabeth.davidson wrote something the other day that has been haunting me—just pounding in my heart saying “This, this, THIS.” She said how especially important it feels, for all the reasons, to be documenting childhood this summer. And that, along with everything else, called me back to life. I’ve focused on client work for the last two months and it’s been wonderful & rewarding & exciting but this summer I give to my people. My beautiful people and our limited days. Because kids grow. Because people get sick or hurt or sometimes leave. Because the world is a horrible place. But mostly because they’re the most beautiful creatures I know and they’re full of magic and I don’t want to miss it. I want to cry my mama heart out over the beauty of them and let everything grow soft again as we make some beauty on this messy hard planet before they have to grow up and leave me and face hard. I want to wring every glimmer of light out of this summer. I want to not only document childhood, I want to let it in & let it change me.

A Hand to Hold

A sweet story for you. If you’ve been watching my stories, you know that my migraines have picked up lately. Often before I get one I’ll get an aura, which usually involves my vision going wonky in one or both eyes. It’s super weird. Sometimes I see sparkles, sometimes everything goes gray. It starts out as a speck then grows to fill the visual field of the whole eye. Auras usually last about 20 min for me, and are followed by the migraine. Last night, my 9 yr old son & I were at a store last minute shopping for items for one of his school projects when I got an aura out of the blue. I warned him that we needed to hurry because I was probably going to get a migraine, and also that my vision was a little blurry. 😅😬 He sweetly said not to worry & that he would help me and took my hand. 🥹 We rushed into Hobby Lobby to get the last few things (I still had one fully working eye 😅) and as we were walking through the store the aura ended & I exclaimed, “Oh good! My eye is back!” My cute boy responded, “Just in time to see the flowers!” And sure enough, at that exact moment we were passing the floral aisles. Yesterday I smiled at that, but today as I was in bed recovering and thinking over the whole thing—the hand hold, the empathy, the fact that he knows I love flowers and that would cheer me up—whole streams of tears poured down my face just for the love of him. 🌸💗

#am_nationalparks #mangosdoarches

Mother's Day

I go to bed thinking of you and I wake up thinking of you. I am at peace when you are safe and most anxious when you are troubled. You are in all my prayers, many of my tears, and most of my smiles. You exhaust me and inspire me. You are the most beautiful work I have ever participated in. Within 15 minutes’ drive lives a tiny 5’2 woman with a heart of gold that I call Mom who I know feels the the same & carries all these sacred weights for me. And if you expand that circle a little farther you’ll find the aunts and teachers and mentors and neighbors and cousins and sisters and friends and loved ones bursting with femininity who have carried and nurtured and held and built me up all my life. To the women: you shining rays of light. 💛

Yard ball

All kinds. ⚾️ ⚽️ 🏈 🏀

Hammocks and Books

In the spring it feels like we put the hammocks up one day and take them down the next when it rains, but I’m excited for the not too distant future when it’s hammock time all the time. The boys are very into the Hardy Boys series right now and this pleases me. 🕵🏻‍♂️

Homework

I love that unruly mop of hair.

Catch Up

Hi, friends. We’ve been a little MIA over here. The last month has been nuts, even for us. I won’t go into all of it, but it’s been wow. The good news is we’re all ok and mostly functioning 😵‍💫😂 There have been blood tests, an EKG, a CT, staples, multiple neurologists, an MRI on order, and a ton of antibiotics. Also multiple family members with issues at the same time, including myself. I am very tired, and I think it’s safe to say I had no idea what adulting or parenting would entail. 🤪 Some days I wonder how I am still standing and I have honestly concluded: by the grace of God. Also, with the aid of my living angels—you know who you are 🙏🏻💛
We really are ok (miraculously) but if you could spare a prayer or two that May will be peaceful & restorative & healthy for the Mangelsons… I’d appreciate it. Bless you. 💛 #wecrazy #idontknowwhy

#am_nationalparks #mangosdobryce

Heart Kid Immune System

We got L’s regular labs back last week. The results were mixed. Her thyroid looks great but she’s not growing and she has no immune system. We don’t really know why on either of these issues. Trying to boost her calories by adding more healthy fats & proteins. Her diet is literally the healthiest of any non-fiction human I know. That & I’m already supplementing a million vitamins to help her immune system so I’m not sure what else to do there. She does have sleep apnea so I figure that’s my next battleground—getting the four year old to wear a cpap. 😬 Send prayers. Today someone asked me what I was going to do for school for her next year and I honestly don’t know. The plan is to send her—I want to send her—but last fall taught us that if she catches every cold she’s exposed to she spends all her time being sick & recovering instead of learning & that’s not helpful. We’re currently striking a balance between exposing her to as many germs as her system can reasonably handle while getting her as much therapy as we can. Will she grow out of this? Is this the heart warrior kid life? Is this just her system? I don’t know. Some days it all feels like one big question mark… with a side of vitamins. 🥗💛❓

Labs

Got her annual labs done today. ‘Twas not a happy moment but we have recovered and are watching & singing along to our favorite Super Simple Songs so all is well 😄