more time

I could use some.  If you have free minutes to spare, feel free to put them into my account.

I have a lot to recap.  I don't particularly like writing re-cap posts.  I'd much rather blog about things as they happen.  That allows me to be more detailed and talk about things other than "this happened then this and this"  I like blogging about my thoughts, ideas, emotions, in addition to the day to day things.  But, I'm still juggling things and trying to find a routine (just when school is about to start).  I want to blog every day.  At least every other day.  I'm happiest when I can do that.  But lately, if I get one post a week, that's good.  And that doesn't make me happy.

But then, at night, when I have time to sit down for the first time all day and actually type things out?  I don't.  I find myself unwinding by reading other blogs, catching up on facebook and my boards...if, that is, I don't immediately crash.  By the time I've caught up on those things, my eyes are drooping and the last thing I want to do is blog.  Which isn't a good excuse, but I'm just tired at the end of the day.

I actually think going back to work in a few weeks will allow me to be more productive in a lot of areas.  Blogging on my lunch break was a good routine last year, so maybe I can keep that up.  We'll see.

Anyway.

So, my parents came to visit.  It was really good to see them and to let them meet Elizabeth and bask in the little person Abby has become.  We kept things pretty low key.  We went into the city once to take Abs to the Children's Museum.  But, mostly, we hung out at or close to home.  It was nice.  Abby enjoyed the extra attention of course and it was nice to be able to run a few errands without the girls in tow.  I love living where we do, but I miss my family a lot too.  It was really great that they were able to make the trip.

Thanks mom and dad for that.

Elizabeth is still doing the baby thing.  She's almost rolling over, but not quite there yet.  Like, 96% there.  She drools a lot, chews on her fingers a lot, and smiles a lot.  She's not sleeping through the night yet, but she's getting better.  Some nights she still wakes up twice, but more often she's only waking once.   She goes down around 6:30 and, on a good night, will sleep until 3 or 4.  She often wakes up again around 5 because it starts getting light, but she'll go back to sleep.

I'm 400% confident that she would be sleeping through the night if I could get her on a regular nap schedule.  She naps well, and she naps several times a day, but the times differ.  It is clear that she sleeps better at night when I am able to keep her on a 9am, 1pm, 4pm nap schedule.

She's not very big yet.  I mean, I think she's growing some - I just bought size 2 diapers, so that has to say something.  But she's not one of these squishy chunky fat babies.  She's very lean.  Abby was too, but Abby was underweight.  We have a doc appointment at the end of the month, so we'll get an official weigh in then.  I mean, other than being kinda lean, she's very happy and otherwise seemingly healthy, so I'm not worried about her.  I just want to make sure she's growing some.

In other news.  I did my first wedding photography last week.  It was a low key, backyard wedding.  Perfect for my first gig.  I had a really great time and I think I even managed to get a few shots I liked.  I also did a baptism shoot for a family I've worked with before, and that was fun.  Now - I just need time to process and sort through all these photos.  I should be doing that now probably...but I'm blogging.  Which is fine.

I'm so happy that I'm getting opportunities to take pictures.  It's crazy to me that it's taken me this long to realize how much I love this.  Over the weekend, I took my dad to the camera store I go to and I ended up getting a new lens, which I'm happy to have.  Photography is an expensive hobby for sure, but if I'm able to make a little money on the side to support it? I think that's a win.

Yesterday I joined an online group of photographers.  From amateurs to professionals.  It's a great resource and there is just SO much good information.  I spent a lot of time last night looking at pictures taken by others last night.  When I see a picture I like, I get all these emotions at once.  Somtimes I look a t a picture and think "I could do that"  And sometimes I get completely inspired and my heart starts beating faster with all the ideas I want to try, and sometimes I get discouraged because I'm just starting on this path and the amount of stuff to learn is so overwhelming.  But, then I just remind myself that I'm not doing this for anyone else, really. I'm doing it because I like it.  And, as long as I like it, it doesn't matter if I'm as good as so-and-so.  Or if I ever do this professionally or not.  At the minimum, I imagine I'll always have pictures of my kids.  Ok.  end ramble.

My house is a mess.  I clean it every day. It's still a mess.

I've had things I want to take to the post office for weeks and months.  Why is it SO hard for me to mail things?

On Monday, Abby hugged me and said "you're my best friend ever, mom!"  It was sweet.

I've had to wake Abby up from naps the past two days.  The first day, I got in bed with her, and when she opened her eyes she instantly said "Oh! Mommy's here!  I'll watch it with mommy now!"  when I asked "watch what?" she said "my dream"  she then told me she was dreaming about an Octopus.  Yesterday when I woke her up she said she was dreaming about tractors.  I love that she can tell me.

I've been brainstorming ideas for her birthday party.  Yeah, I know.  It's almost 4 months away.  But, I love me a themed party.  Her's, if it goes off like it I hope it will, is gonna be cute.

aaaaaaand, with that, the baby is awake.  I'll post pictures from mom and dad's visit soon.