Santa Barbara Zoo

For the past year and a half, Landyn and I have spent the weekends just the two of us. With the exception of time spent with my family or hanging with friends, it’s been her and I doing our thing. And while there’s been times I’d look around and see families out together (mom and dad and a couple of kids…you know the “perfect family”…), I’ve really learned to embrace what “her and I” really means. We wake up when we want to. We have impromptu Starbucks dates. We have lazy days at home or a girls day at the nail salon. We shop when we want to. We eat “healthy” take out in front of the TV and stay up past our bedtime. We blast our country music and have dance parties. We do what we want and it feels good. I’ve let go of my rigid routine I clung too for the first two years of her life… I’ve since learned this is both good and bad.

Now don’t get me wrong, this single parenting thing isn’t ideal… we have just learned to make the best of it. It has been a temporary season in our lives and coming out on the other side I can honestly tell you that it’s the best thing to ever happen to us (more about that in another post).

Enter Josh into our lives.

For the past few months we’ve been spending more time just the three of us and it feels good. I love that he completes that missing piece for us. Josh has been given a total “crash course” as we like to call it. He came in as a single bachelor that didn’t know the last thing about kids. It’s been an adjustment in all areas but its been awesome to see the relationship between him and Landyn blossom. He’s a natural. With each passing day, Landyn opens up more to him as she sees that steady flow of Josh’s influence in her life.

As any parent knows, children are unpredictable. Tantrums are thrown. Accidents happen. Boundaries are tested.

And he gets that. He also gets that he is her friend reaching out his hand waiting for her to decide who he will be in her life.

We are so lucky.

Santa Barbara Zoo’s new month old calf’s “Dane and Sunshine” and momma “Betty Lou” …

I loved spending the day at the Santa Barbara Zoo with my two favorites. I love discovering new things, making new memories, and spending time with two people that fill my heart with some much love it could burst. I love watching Josh and I adjust our sails from the way things were to how we want it to be… opening ourselves up to new experiences… one day at a time… coming together.