Gratituesday: Sleep

Whew! We had such a whirlwind weekend! Tommy's crazy town race (more on that on Thursday!) started at 12:01am on Saturday morning (Friday night) so after going to bed earlier enough and missing the start of the race, I woke up at 2:45am to crew for him. What crewing means is I drove to the aid stations to be there to support him when he came in, offering fresh shoes/socks/clothes, chicken broth (sodium!), lots of ibuprofen, and endless words of encouragement. Then he would leave the aid station to keep running and I'd gather everything, hop back in the car, and drive to the next aid station to meet him. And so on and so forth. (By the way - have I mentioned how inspiring I think he is?!)

This was following weeks (weeks!) of me getting about 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I know, it's really bad for my body. But with my busy season workload and Sunday's relapse in excellent sleeping habits, I have found myself pretty much wide awake around 4am regularly. I knew it could only go on for so much longer but truly I couldn't figure out HOW to sleep more. My body was just go-go-going!! I had stuff to do! Clearly, I am an insomnia newbie.

My mom came this weekend to stay with Sunday while Tommy ran in his most insane race yet and I crewed alongside of him. When we all got home around 7pm Saturday evening we c-r-a-s-h-e-d. My mom took over Sunday duty (okay - she actually had it since Friday night) and Tommy and I were able to sleep in. Then later in the day we both got naps! What a glorious feeling! Here I am at 5:20am writing this Gratituesday blog post about getting enough sleep while feeling completely rejuvenated and well-rested. (sigh) Turns out all I needed was a night of barely any sleep to make my body crash (finally!).

So anyway, this week? I'm super grateful for the sacrificial love of a mother (and grandmother), and the opportunity Tommy and I both had to catch up on our sleep this past weekend. So amazing it deserves it's own Gratituesday post! :)

Join us for Gratituesday at heavenly homemakers!

Gratituesday: A playful husband

A confession: It's really hard for me to "play" with kids. It always has been. It's not something I desire to do (to be frank: it bores me). So when Sunday comes up to me and wants me to sit down and play with her, I have to force myself to do it. There are times when I do, and times when I don't.

That said, this week I want to express my gratefulness that Tommy loves to interact with kids. Some people are "children" people. Some people are not. Tommy has always been great with children. While in college, he worked one-on-one with autistic children, and he learned a lot about intentional play. I am pretty sure that's the wrong way to say it... but he is a lot more creative when it comes to interacting with, teaching, and disciplining Sunday. (Plus he enjoys it!) I see things in black and white... he sees lots and lots of color. And the ideas (!!) that he comes up with to teach her! I have so much to learn... and I am learning a lot from him.

What I am trying to say... is that I am really, really glad I married someone who enjoys playtime with his daughter. Because it's something that doesn't come easy to me. (Some day I will write about playgroups and how hard it is for me to make them a priority for us!) Having a partner who balances me in the parenting arena is soooo helpful in lifting the burden of mommy guilt.

Don't get me wrong - I DO play with Sunday. We DO have intentional "teaching" times. It just doesn't come easy to me. But we hang out and spend time together all the time! (Shopping, walking, eating meals together, etc.) I'm just really, really glad that "play time" comes easy to Tommy. It's hard to think of something that brings me more joy than seeing him laying on the ground making Sunday laugh out loud.

He is such an awesome father. And I'm really, really thankful for that.

#Instagratitude Re-cap

I cannot believe we are already at the end of November! What a fun month this has been! I thought at the beginning of the month that I was wrapping up all sessions and seeing the end of the portrait season nearing. Well... turns out I still have some sessions on the calendar and I don't think I'm taking a holiday this year! Hah! It's awesome though. I am still making up from taking all that maternity leave, so I'm totally loving every minute of work right now. I hope that doesn't change anytime soon!

Anyway - So I participated in #instagratitude this month. You know, I didn't really think everyone in the world was going to be posting thankfulness posts in the month of November. I'm not really sure what I was thinking! But it was a fun little challenge and truth be told - not difficult at all. I almost wish instead of winging it daily, that I had really planned ahead what I was most thankful for in my life and spent 30 days expressing those things with intention. It was an uplifting time, yet a total breeze to be sitting on the couch and pause to take in my surroundings... to think "what am I thankful for in this moment?" And you know, then I'd snap a picture of my living room or my daughter's silly toys. Which created a bright moment in my day. Of course, it's awesome to stop and think about all the small things to be grateful for, but a few times I had the thought of wishing I were approaching the project a little differently... with more intention. Perhaps I'll revisit this whole idea next November!

Anyway - here are some of my favorite posts. These are actually the ones I posted to Facebook. It's near impossible to quickly grab Instagram images for web publishing without sharing them on facebook! But you can always browse my entire instagram feed to see what Facebook is missing! (I try not to spam my facebook friends TOO much... :))

What a happy November! Holidays, vacations, portrait sessions galore! All the things I love. I am feeling so blessed. #instagratitude

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I LOVE Thanksgiving... this is the kick off of the entire holiday season in our home! Que the Christmas music, delicious foods and cozy decor...!

Now that we have a November 20th birthday in our home, I have made the official decision to put off all holiday decorating and other traditional holiday activities until after Sunday's birthday in order to focus on the celebration of her. Yes, I once was the lady who decorated right after Halloween. I have no shame. But now, I figure... we should let Sunday have her big day before we transition into celebrating the holidays. And that we did!

But we're here now! One of our holiday traditions is whisking off to the beach after Thanksgiving dinner. We load up the car and drive 5 hours to Oak Island, NC for the long weekend. It's one of my favorite weekends of the year. It's so quiet and peaceful down there this time of year. We do a lot of sweatshirt wearing and sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch while overlooking ocean. Oh yes, it is that cliche. Tommy always jumps in the water at some point and I always step out in the sand with my camera in hand and visions in my mind of beautiful beach landscape shots. This will be our 5th year (last year our plans were derailed by welcoming a newborn!) and I hope this is still just the beginning of a lifelong tradition!

But first up... before we take off to the beach, we are headed to Thanksgiving dinner with the family. This year I'm trying something a little different. Will you join me? Thanksgiving Unplugged (oh Tommy is going to LOVE this!)

Thanksgiving Unplugged is bold campaign created by nationally renowned etiquette experts Diane Gottsman and Thomas P. Farley to challenge Americans to disconnect from their digital devices before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of fixing their gazes on LCD screens or popping in earbuds, families will commit to focusing on giving thanks, savoring a good meal and enjoying the company of their relatives and friends. Freed from the increasingly inescapable distraction of cell phones, laptops, tablets, hand-held games, music players, social media and the web, families will once again reconnect with the true spirit of the holiday.

So after I post this, I'll be unplugging for the day. Okay... the truth is, I'll be unplugging until we hit the road to the beach. Y'all know I can't enjoy a 5hr car ride without my phone to entertain me! :) But I will be leaving the phone in the car as we celebrate the holiday with our family. You should give it a try, too!

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. I am so super grateful for you and all of your words of wisdom and encouragement you have shared with me this past year. I hope you have a wonderful day with your friends and family! <3

Gratituesday: The right to vote

We were out of the house bright and early this Tuesday morning to cast our vote for the next President! But before we left the house I spent a few minutes on Facebook (who doesn't?!) and read a status message that someone posted about deciding NOT to vote today. Just... a casual "eh, I don't think I'll vote." It got me really fired up.

Being a mom has definitely changed my perspective on a lot of things, voting in elections is one of them. I see now that my responsibility to educate myself and cast my ballot surpasses just being an American citizen. I am setting an example for my daughter. I am voting for HER future. I am honoring those women before me who fought for the right of their daughters to vote. I am honoring those servicemen who fight for our freedom!

How do people miss this? How do they not understand the great responsibility we have to vote? (sigh)

So this week... it's an easy one! I am grateful for my freedom to vote! And my freedom to express frustration about those who choose NOT to vote! :)

Join us for Gratituesday at heavenly homemakers!