The last 9 days were so great. It was like waking up and thinking - hey, is it Saturday, again?
Why YES it is!!! (Even though it was Monday or whateva.)
These three punks were my focus...
Clark made it home from the other side of the world safe and sound.
And we kicked off our stay-cation (for the most part) by sleeping in till 8:30 the next morning! Yahoo!
Over the course of the week, we did lots of great things... went to the Zoo, to the beach overnight one night, out for a ride on our neighbor's new boat, hung out at home and just laid low together.
Baby girl cut her first tooth.
She and Macho blew slobbery raspberries at eachother on more than one occasion... like they were carrying on a conversation... giggling in between breaths.
That was neat to watch.
Macho all but lost his mind because the hotel we stayed in at the shore had a huge kids pool that was basically a miniature water park - complete with shipwreck style foamy waterslides, waterfalls, and plenty of squeeling kids.
We ate lots of ice cream... and went out for pizza. We cooked at home, and I even had a chance to visit with a friend I hadn't seen in over two years.
Yes... I still had to work. But I tried to sqeeze the editing into the spaces of my days when the kids were napping or off to bed... or if we were riding in a car somewhere.
Otherwise - I stayed the course and focused on just "us" time.
And it was heaven.
Clark and I had a very frank talk about my workload and determined that I just can't continue at this pace unless I either drop some things - or enlist some more help.
After careful consideration, I've decided to enlist some help now through the end of August. We have a family member/babysitter home from college for the summer in need of extra employment and I really didn't want to get into any kind of long-term commitment with a nanny.
I realize the photography will taper off as the weather cools... cyclical. Financially, I don't know where I'll be in a few months or if I'll be able to afford the extra help - so this arrangement just makes sense.
She starts next week. And I'm glad.
My big goal with this is to really try to separate my work time from my family time. What doesn't get accomplished during my workday will just have to wait until the next day... and that includes - sadly - the writings and rantings on this space.
So often I leave this for last and I end up writing in the wee hours of morning and come sun-up I go and look at the dang thing and I can't even make sense of it sometimes!
Can't believe you guys keep coming back!!!
You must think I'm really losin' it!
At any rate - I've got lots to catch you all up on - photo shoots with ADORABLE newborns and toddlers... some wedding photos I can't wait to share - family shots from our week at home together and some other tricks I've got up my sleeve.
Welcome back, party people.
Hope your time celebrating our Independence was as awesome as mine.
