And now it is April?

I guess that is what being a new parent is all about. You look at the calendar one day and then you get swept away in the chaos and loveliness of raising a child. The next minute you look up and you have a 7 year old dog and an 8 month old child.

Pure craziness!

I’ve always been nothing but real here, so I’ll just come right out and say that I’m having a difficult time trying to find a good balance. But I take comfort in knowing I’m not alone, that every parent is constantly struggling to find a balance between work, marriage, parenting, and life. But I’ve never been happier. Truly.

What does that mean for my business? Well, I just don’t know. Priorities change, especially when someone (Maggie) comes into your life that you worked so hard to get. I know that dogs and photography will always be in my life, but I don’t know what direction I’m supposed to go in yet. So I do what I always do, I will sit and wait for the right answer.

While I try to figure out what the heck I am doing, you can find me more often over on my facebook page. I find it easier to quickly visit that site to post updates or pictures than I do here.

Because really, who wouldn’t want to spend all their free time with this adorable little nugget named Maggie, Maggie Doodle, Maggie Magoo, Maggareno, Piggy, Monkey…

… and the best big sister anyone could ever ask for. A big sister who is patient, kind, and makes her little sister giggle like no one else in the world can.

See what I mean?

She is such a gift. A gift that we worked incredibly hard for, cried many tears to get, paid tens of thousands of dollars to get us closer to, injected so many drugs it hurts to think about, and then to have her miraculously come of her own accord. Well, we just can’t help but want to spend all of our time with her.

How can you not love this precious little angel?

Untile I figure out what I’m doing…

XOXO,
Erin

I’m slowly working my way back from maternity leave. I can’t believe my baby girl turned 5 months on the 15th. It has been a whirlwind for sure. A friend of mine wasn’t kidding when she told me that pregnancy sucks all things creative out of you and I would venture to say that the suckage continued throughout the 4th trimester. But life seems to be getting back to a new normal for us which feels awesome.

Dog photography sure has come a long way in the last year and that excites me. I’m always looking for something new to do with my photography as I tend to get bored really easily. So I have a few new ideas brewing in my head and I’m excited to try them out over the next few months. Miss Gracie, my loyal assistant, is helping me work on a few things. She’s such a good girl. I can’t believe that she is going to be SEVEN next month. SEVEN?

It’s good to be back!

Good kisses Gracie! That’s a nice girl. (Kisses are highly encouraged around this house)

Last week she brought the wrapped stocking over early and put it under the tree along with some presents for Maggie. 5 minutes later Gracie figured out which present was hers and took off with it into the other room. She unwrapped it and even managed to open the vacuum sealed plastic that surrounded the toys.

We loved watching every minute of it.

Here she is with one of her Christmas stuffies :)

But to see my two girls together hanging out so peacefully sure is a close second :)

Gracie makes an excellent Boppy!

Unfortunately we set her down in “Gracie’s spot”.

About 10 minutes into her nap Gracie kept hovering over the spot and driving me crazy. I looked at her and said “I am so not giving up my spot on the couch for you.”

And then I did just exactly that and sat on the floor so Maggie and Gracie could have the couch.

But then she did this and I ran to get my camera before the moment was over.

Totally worth giving up my spot on the couch.

I feel like I’ve entered a secret club of some sort with a sick and twisted initiation ritual that goes something like this: “Let’s see how long you can go and how crazy you become without a full nights sleep!”

Miss Gracie had a really hard time the first week. She moped around the house, slept in strange place and positions, and made my heart break just a little bit more each day. But we have been able to take the girls on a few walks around the neighborhood and she seems to have moved past the denial stage and accepted the fact that this screaming little person is sticking around :)

Of course, she might be putting on a little weight here and there from extra cookies and she still gets her spot on the couch.

She came in, sniffed Maggie, checked out a poopy diaper, stuck her nose up my rear, grabbed her stogey, and laid down.

I would say it was a perfect introduction. I think they’re going to be lifelong friends :)

Last night we just hung out in the back yard and enjoyed a gorgeous summer evening. Taking pictures is not an easy task with a huge belly but I wanted to catch a few last shots of Gracie as an only child.

I love this shot. Every year the bee’s come to the lavender and Gracie spends hours nosing them. It doesn’t really bother me that neither are in focus, I can still feel what was going on here.



Stogey!