favorite drawing

I think this is my favorite picture Marlie has ever drawn. It makes me giggle. She tells me it is her uncle Brett. His nose is actually not big at all and he is pretty smiley in real life.

wrapping up work

Five or so months ago I wrote out a list in my office of all the work related projects that had to be completed before the baby arrived. I'm a visual person you know. I had to have something to look at...things to cross off. It was a long list folks. I wasn't sure it would really all get done. But one by one I've crossed things off and all be darned if I'm not almost totally finished with some time to spare...or sleep.



I've had my last photo shoots before my maternity leave with a few adorable little girls. Here are some of my favorite shots...

Tiny miss Anneka....





Little miss Lauren...





Sweet little Lucy...





Not only do I feel pretty good about getting work accomplished, but this past weekend two of my besties came over and spent the day helping me get the baby's room ready. Clothes are folded and put away and there is even a crib to put this child in. Hallelujah! Pictures coming soon after I finish some decorating.

They even spoiled me with some frozen meals for these last few weeks, some awesome jammies for the hospital, and took me out to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Thanks Amy and Beth! Seriously, what would I do without you?



To top it all off, it has been amazingly warm here this week. The ice is finally melting and Marlie and I have been on two walks in two days. I know it will probably get cold again before it stays warm, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. I bought a bunch of red tulips yesterday just because it means spring is so close! Tomorrow...a visit to the zoo perhaps?

snowy days

Oh my word. This winter has been full of snow...and ice...and a wintery mix. Sometimes its nice being stuck inside. I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I look out the window and see all of the snow. I have thoughts of pajama pants, pancakes, hot chocolate, and naps. But then I remember that I have a 3 1/2 year old who is entertained with those things for approximately 5 minutes. So, we've had to be pretty creative with our time around here lately...

cookie making...



Lots of book time...



Bath time in the middle of the day...



Turning a big box in to a an ice cream store. Marlie named it "Coldies".



And of course lots of playdough, more "Pretty Pretty Princess" than I can handle, and we're gonna need some new puzzles since Marlie can do all of ours with her eyes closed by now.



They are predicting a little more snow this week and I'm just praying they are wrong. Spring, you can't come soon enough.

baby Clara

I've been working with Molly and her family for the last few years. Last week I got to meet the newest addition to the family, baby Clara.



She is oh so tiny and cute.





Congratulations guys! She is adorable!

just the two of us

We got away for a long weekend. Just the two of us. One last just the two of us trip before baby boy comes along.



We slept in. We saw a movie. We walked and talked. We held hands. I read a book cover to cover. It was a great way to start off the new year.

I am now past the cute little baby bump stage and on to the look out here comes a big pregnant lady stage. Don't believe me? Here is proof.



I am large and people keep telling me so. That I look like I am due any day now even though I'm not due until early April. Oh well. I'm growing a person, what can I say? It didn't really matter to me this weekend because this guy always makes me feel beautiful. I like him.



A HUGE thanks to Terry and Mary for lending us the condo. It was once again phenomenal! And thanks to all of you who left comments on my last post. I really appreciate all of the encouragement!

welcome 2011

There will be some big changes in my work world and personal world this year. This post has been floating around in my head for months and I'm still not sure it will come out quite right, so bear with me here...

THE BASIC INFO...

After lots of praying, thinking and getting advice from wise friends I have decided not to completely stop doing photography, but I am going to scale back quite drastically. I have a few shoots booked for this month. I'm going to spend February and March wrapping up pending projects and getting ready for this baby. Then, with the exception of second shooting a bit this summer, I am going to take 6 months maternity leave. Starting this fall I'll only be booking two shoots a month. When they are full, they are full. My hope is that this will allow me to give each shoot more attention and that each shoot will feel like a fun creative break for me. Trust me, this should lead to great photos for you.

Also, I won't be booking any weddings this year. Wedding photography might be something I eventually start doing again, but for now I won't be taking any contracts. On that note I do highly recommend Jen Seris for wedding photography. Jen has been second shooting with me for about 3 years as well as doing some weddings on her own. She's been slowly growing her business and just recently launched her new website and blog. She. Is. Awesome. We spent New Year's Eve shooting a wedding together. That's right, she gave up spending New Years with her new hubby to shoot with me. She's dedicated. She's fabulous. Check her out. I'll be second shooting for her whenever I can and I'm pretty excited about that.

THE LONG WINDED EXPLANATION...

The question I get asked most frequently these days besides, "How are you feeling?" is "What are you going to do about work after baby #2 is born." It's a good question. A question that I have asked myself repeatedly over the last year or so knowing that we wanted more kiddos.

Though I don't talk about it here on this blog very often, balancing motherhood and my business is very challenging. It's not just dividing my time that I find so hard, but dividing my attention and heart. I've tried different ways over the last few years to strike a better balance so that it wasn't so challenging. Some things have helped, but the conclusion I have come to over the last 6 months or so is that no matter how you slice it, being a stay-at-home mom is a full time job. Period.

I know that there are moms out there that do both and do it well. And while I've tried to convince myself otherwise many times, I am not one of those moms. It has taken me a long time to be able to say this, but that is OK. Some people thrive on being super busy and love it and somehow manage to find a way to do it. I'm not one of those people, and that is OK.

Some time this summer during a work related melt down Shane finally said to me, "Babe, its come to a point where you either need to work less or be OK with Marlie being in daycare." And he was right. Please hear me when I say that I am in no way saying that daycare is not the right choice for some families. I am no one to judge what each family chooses in that area and by no means is this post meant to heap some ugly mommy guilt on anyone. Heck, my mom worked when I was little and I think I turned out just fine. However, I knew that for us it wasn't what I wanted at this point.

We sat and talked for a bit. I told Shane that when I thought of dropping off Marlie somewhere to be taken care of my heart physically hurt. But what I needed him to understand was that the thought of giving up my photography business, or at least severely scaling back, hurt almost just as bad. Not as much, but almost. That may sound horrible from the outside, but it's the truth. It has taken 6 years of learning, growing, investing and changing to get my business where it is today. And I've poured my heart in to every hour I spent working on it. It has been very hard to think about giving it up.

But God has been working on me. I'm at a place now where I feel ready to scale back as much as I am. I'm ready for this change. Ready to read books some nights instead of editing every night. Ready to be able to focus on being a mom a little more. Ready for each shoot to feel like a fun and creative outlet.

A friend recently asked me if I worry about losing clients. The reality is with less shoots available I will. There are days, moments, when that bothers me. Moments when I think about all of the workshops and conferences I will probably miss. The new trends and gear I probably won't be able to keep up with. The fear that I will feel bored or feel like I've lost part of myself without all of my work to do. Like I've traded in my creative side for a pair of mom jeans. Or even worse, some Pajama Jeans. But when I start to worry about all of those things I feel God saying, "Just take care of your family; I'll take care of you." I'm trusting. I'm letting go. Which leads to my one goal in 2011...

Take it one day at a time.

So, here we go.

I finally updated my website with some more current work. Its been on my to do list literally for a year. So, check it out clients, you might be up there. My available fall dates are on the calendar page. Book ahead. Why not? If you made it to the end of this post...thanks for reading :).

Let's review

Happy New Year to you blog readers! I have a post swimming around in my head about 2011, but I'm a little behind as usual and feel the need to review 2010 first. The goals I set for myself last year were...

1) Spiff up the studio.

2) Go on a big trip with Shane.

3) Find new album options for my clients.

4) Learn more about off camera lighting.

5) Paint at least one room in the house.

6) paint two paintings that have been swimming around in my head for months.


Goal #1 check! I keep meaning to post photos. I will some day. But it is spiffed and I love it.

Goal #2 check! Oh Mexico. It was so so nice.

Goal #3 check! I've been offering Artleather albums and Digilabs coffee table books.

Goal #4 check! I went to the One Light Workshop this summer. It was awesome. I learned so much and have been using off camera lighting in some of my shoots.

Goal #5 check! We painted our entryway and hallway as well as the walls going upstairs. Pictures wouldn't be fun, its very neutral but it looks nice.

Goal #6 boo. Those paintings are still swimming in my head. I just didn't make time to do it. Perhaps this year?

It was a good year. Shane was home with us instead of in school at night. Marlie grew like a weed. I scaled back on business a bit and it was a good change. I started growing baby #2 in my belly. Thanks 2010.

Tomorrow....2011 and some big changes around here.