Get ready for another Jalosky Weekly because this post is packed full of fun things from the last TWO months! I’ve been living that Pittsburgh photographer life over here. I’ve been so busy with family sessions and weddings since the last time I released one of these. So hang on tight, because this is going to be a wild ride!
Layla has the best red curls growing on the back of her head right now. I still can’t believe we have a REDHEAD! Like how did that happen? 
We found a giant snapping turtle in my grandparent’s yard! It was so ugly looking. My grandpa kept saying it looked like it just walked out of a grave. Turtles frequently lay eggs in their yard as there is a pond (that used to be a lake) just below the property line.
We have spent a lot of time at the lake this summer so far! I am so glad that even with my crazy schedule, I can make time to relax and be with family.
We remembered our sweet Aria on her 4th birthday in heaven, at the end of May. I miss her so much. I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since we lost her. I’ve been telling the story of our loss on a new instagram account called Loss & Hope stories. My desire is to share other people’s stories as well. Not much is shared about miscarriage, so I want to end that silence. Mama’s are losing babies every day and they deserve to know what can and will happen in the process. But I also want to share the hope that comes after every loss. God has been so good to us and I want to share His goodness with the world. So you can follow along here: instagram.com/lossandhopestories
It’s been rainy a lot of weekends this year. And so we’ve had to come up with some fun ideas to get out of the house. We walked around a trail in downtown Oakland (Maryland) and stopped by the outdoor area of the railroad museum! The girls loved seeing the trains.
The last of my irises has come and gone. New things are starting to bloom in my back garden! I can’t wait to share those soon!
We had a visit from Jonathan’s two aunts who brought presents for Alethea & Layla’s birthday! It was so much fun to have them here and we had a great time.
My sister Ruby and I took a class at the community college on perennials! It was so much fun being back at WCCC and I can’t wait to take another class with her again very soon! Also, Ruby turned 16 the day after this. How is my baby sister that old?? I must be super old.
Alethea has started building puzzles!! And she is SO good at it! Just this week, she has been building them all by herself with no help from me whatsoever! I’m so proud of her and the ways she is growing!
Then there’s this little girl. Her personality is in full bloom and she is speaking so many new words! She knows her own name and she loves playing with her belly button.
I’m also teaching her the alphabet! (not really. haha)
I got myself a new and the final lens to my collection! Hard work pays off. Paying cash for everything has been so important to me, so I have had no debt! I don’t think I would’ve made it through last year if I had not stuck to that!
Perhaps one of the best things we’ve done lately is a trip to the zoo! But not just by ourselves. My college besties and their families came too! It was so wonderful to see everyone again after so much time being apart! We had a blast, and can’t wait until the next time we can all be together! My friend Sarah hosted us all for dinner at her new house afterwards and Alethea keeps asking when we can go back to Sarah’s house! She had so much fun making new friends!
Are you ready for the best news of all?
Grammy is FINALLY HOME!!! After 6 months of ups and downs, in the hospital, in nursing homes, in rehabs, she is finally back home and doing well! My girls were so excited to see her finally in person! Of course, right after she came home, we came down with the first of our summer colds so we had to wait a few days to see her again.
Jonathan and I snuck away for a date night at Buffalo Wild Wings. It has been good to get some time alone this year, though this month might be lacking a date night. We will see I guess.
Layla found the toilet paper. I knew this would happen eventually. But she surprised me one day, not just by unrolling it, but by shredding it as well. She thinks it’s hilarious now. Somehow, I need to teach her what a precious commodity that toilet paper is. LOL
We watched through the whole season of Loki as it happened. It was so exciting! I loved it. And I’m so excited for them to release season 2.
Jonathan and I attended his cousin’s wedding at the Geyer Theatre a few weeks ago and it was just lovely. They both are performers and they actually sang to each other an entire medley of songs from their favorite movies and shows. It was so unique and I just loved it! Afterwards, we got dinner at a new Deep Creek restaurant, Firewater! We were hoping to eat outside on their patio, but there was a threat of storms. So the experience wasn’t all that we were hoping for. But the food was delicious.
We celebrated Father’s day at the lake. Alethea picked out a candy jar with a balloon attached and we filled it with peanut butter m&m’s! She was so excited to give it to him all week leading up to this. She nearly gave it away several times! We also got him a WandaVision t-shirt to add to his marvel t-shirt collection. 🙂
Then we got a surprise later in the week! Jonathan was working very close to home so he took his lunch break here! Alethea just loved having Daddy home in the middle of the day, but was sad when he had to leave again.
I came home from Alex & Ryan’s wedding to find this deer in our backyard. She’s been visiting us every couple of days now.
I’ve been having a lot of late nights to get my editing done, because I have found out that when you have two kids, it is much harder to accomplish anything during the day. So late nights it is. There have been good things come out of that though. I finally finished my business course which I enrolled in over a year ago! It was amazing!
I hate going to bed at different times, but unfortunately there are some sacrifices that have to be made. Jonathan left me this sweet card one night for me to find at my desk. He is my biggest supporter, even though we’d rather spend 24/7 together for sure.
This is NOT a pregnancy announcement! But rather one of the photos I took for the Loss & Hope stories instagram series I am doing. We got to see our baby Aria on ultrasound a few days before we lost her. I will cherish these photos forever.
And after much internal debate, I finally got my haircut! It’s been so nice not having so much hair on the super hot days we’ve had. I really do love my hair when it’s short.
The 4th of July was a blast! Even though Alethea was coming down with yet another summer cold, we had a great night with glow sticks and sparklers. Then once Layla was in bed, the fireworks on the lake began! We were going to go to the big display at the WISP, but we decided to just stay at the house since Alethea wasn’t feeling well.
Our neighbors across the lake gave us a fantastic show! It was actually so much nicer than sitting on the side of the road. Instead, we sat in the boat and just relaxed as they put on a spectacular fireworks display! Thank you neighbors!
D’Artagnan started limping a few days later, and I wasn’t sure what was wrong. So I took him to the vet and two days later he tested positive for Lymes. So he’s been taking a round of pain meds and the medication for Lymes and has been doing so much better! He’s had several ticks take a liking to him over the past year, so I figured it was just a matter of time really.
I had a wonderful wedding at Deep Creek two weeks ago. Carina & Ryan got married at Sang Hill Farms! It was so much fun to shoot a wedding at Deep Creek and I hope to do it again soon!
Since Alethea didn’t feel well over the fourth of July, we didn’t make it to our annual lavender farm trip. But we made sure to make it out the week after even though I was getting sick then! All of the lavender was so beautiful and in full bloom!
Alethea finally put a costume on and kept it on for more than 30 seconds! I found this Anna costume in a box of things and it was just her size! She still only kept it on for about 5 minutes, but that was a record for her! Of course, she kept telling me that she was ELSA not ANNA. And that I was Anna…because she wanted to be QUEEN Elsa. LOL
I’ve officially begun preschool with Alethea! Yes, it’s not August yet, but she’s been asking to do school for a while now. So we started early! Perks of homeschooling.
My brother turned 19 last week. Like I said earlier…that makes me so old. He was born when I was 10 so…yeah.
The days just keep getting sweeter with these two. Jonathan had to have some major dental work done this week. He’s been in pain for so long now. Like months. But thanks to covid and other things, it’s taken this long to finally get him an appointment to have the repairs the he needed. We’ll be relaxing this weekend for sure, and we’ll be spending some time together at another cousin’s wedding! 🙂 I can’t wait.
Love Deeply. Live Passionately.
Ellen
