2011. It's almost history. As I put this post together and pulled some photos from the archives, I realized how long ago some of this seems. I started the year with a baby who was just learning to hold his head up and ended it with a hyper little boy that runs around like crazy. I laugh when I think about our sleepless nights with a newborn. I get teary eyed when I think of some heartbreaking curveballs God allowed in my life. Blessings came, plans fell through and still, I don't think I could have ever forseen this all. It makes me wonder what 2012 brings, but at the same time it teaches me to live each day, not worrying about tomorrow.
The biggest thing 2011 taught me was to embrace my role as a mother and homemaker. I stubbornly held onto my aspirations and dreams as a photographer and I put my family on the back-burner because of it. I thought that it was only a matter of WHEN my business succeeded that I would have more time for them but I quickly realized, the busier I became, the more I lost sight of my priorities. Thankfully, God's mercies are new every morning and I have a loving husband that is so patient with me! I've learned to balance my home life with my work life, and praise God He's continued to bless me with enough business to keep me creative yet not take away from my real job. I honestly never pictured myself as a stay at home mom and now I don't see it any other way. I'm grateful for the blessing I've been given. I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had. I'm humbled for the lessons I've learned. And I'm ready to take on 2012.
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JANUARY. We were going on our second month again still with no sleep.
I still couldn't get over the fact that I was a parent. |
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JANUARY. This was one of my last projects. Knitting had stopped because of Kaiden and wouldn't
pick up until later this year :) |
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FEBRUARY. I decided to try something wild and so I chopped my hair and got it dyed. Kaiden
sat on my lap almost the entire time (hence the crooked bangs). This one goes on the regret list. |
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| FEBRUARY. Kaiden started to develop his personality. He loved his bouncer and was a drooling machine. |
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| MARCH. Kaiden started laughing and smiling more. A lot more :) |
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| MARCH. I attended my first photography workshop ever with Zach and Jody Gray. |
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| APRIL. I witnessed my first snowfall in California. |
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| APRIL. We fed Kaiden his first spoonful of vegetable solids. |
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MAY. God blessed me with an incredible second shooting position. The job helped me stay creative
while helping me prioritize my role as a mom. |
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| MAY. We celebrated my first mother's day :) |
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| MAY. Kaiden was an expert crawler. |
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| MAY. Kaiden celebrated his six month birthday in Wisconsin. |
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| MAY. We rejoiced in E's best friend's wedding in New Jersey. |
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| MAY. Kaiden met his cousin Avery for the first time! |
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| JUNE. Kaiden played in a pool for the first time! |
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| JUNE. We celebrated E's first Father's Day. |
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| JULY. Kaiden went on several baby dates with his girlfriend Evee. |
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JULY. We spent a lot of time in our pool swimming around.
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| AUGUST. We went down to Southern California and Kaiden + I got to see Laguna Beach. |
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| AUGUST. I went surfing for the first time in my life! |
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| AUGUST. We made several trips to the Golden Gate all throughout the year. |
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| SEPTEMBER. Kaiden learned to stand. |
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| SEPTEMBER. It started getting harder and harder to take pictures of him looking into the camera. |
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| OCTOBER. We had our first yard sale :) |
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| OCTOBER. E ran his first race ever, a 10K obstacle course. |
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| OCTOBER. We were a Scooby Doo family for Halloween. |
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| NOVEMBER. We got a new puppy! |
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| NOVEMBER. We celebrated Kaiden's 1st birthday with a party and bounce house. |
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| NOVEMBER. We did a last minute cake smash for Kaiden. |
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| DECEMBER. We put up our tiny, fake tree :) |
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| DECEMBER. Kaiden spent Christmas at DisneyWorld thanks to my parents :) |
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| DECEMBER. Kaiden became attached to the blanket I knitted for him. |
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