I have so many favourites, but I think this last one is my top pick…

Here are a few of my favourites…

The family shared a little ice cream treat at the end.  Figs hogged it a little….

Top news with Levi:

1.)  He finally decided that it was a good idea to get on board with toilet usage.  He also thinks it’s pretty cool to pee outside.
2.)  He’s a real helper.  He likes to be heavily involved in whatever you’re doing.  ”Levi helping” he says.  Of course, it’s usually quite the opposite at this stage.
3.)  He talks.  A lot.  Most of it makes sense (to us, at least), some of it not so much.
4.)  He has this fake laugh he does when everyone else is laughing and he wants to be a part of it too.
5.)  He just got a trampline, or “trippa-troppie” as he calls it.  He’s THRILLED about it…. as am I since it tuckers him right out =)

He LOVES to stay up and watch hockey with daddy.  Daddy loves it too.
He likes to do everything just like dad, actually…
He likes to keep busy and try to pull his weight around here….
But most of the time he just likes to play…
I still find him especially cute when he’s asleep…

Top news with Ruthie:

1.)  She’s a whole 14 months old.  She’s still all chubby and squishy, and I love it.
2.)  She’s walking around everywhere, and especially loves to try to sneak up the stairs…. but she REALLY loves getting caught on the stairs.
3.)  The girly, diva-like drama is starting to emerge. *sigh*
4.)  She has a few definite words, such as “mama”, “dada”, “hi”, “no”, “uh oh”, and “thank you”.
5.)  She is so heart-broken if daddy doesn’t make a huge deal over her for a few minutes first thing when he gets home.

She requires a lot of bathing.
Loves to be with daddy…
And she’s always getting into things and thinks it’s pretty fun…
I find her hanging out in the funniest places…
My life here at home with these two is a mixture of entertaining, incredibly rewarding, and often downright exhausting.  It takes 4-5 times as long as it should to complete any task, and my house is never all pulled together.  I kinda love it, though.  I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do a job that I love while being home with two of the people that I love most.  I was reminded (and much relieved!) by reading a great article the other day that my kids don’t care at all about how clean or well-decorated the house is, that I make a new and elaborate dinner, or that they are part of the best organized activities.  What they really, really want is me.  They want me to pay attention to them, play with them, listen to them, chase them around, build forts, and jump on the “trippa-troppie” with them.  I spent Monday and Tuesday this week out of the office and just hanging out with them and doing some light housework while they were napping or playing together.  It was amazing to me how much Levi’s behaviour changed.  He wasn’t frustrated with me, nor I with him.  We had a great time, and life calmed down significantly.

Me not working isn’t really an option, nor is it even a desire of mine since I love what I do and the variety it brings to my life.  Seems as though the goal should be keeping the two as separate as possible and maintaing a good balance.  For quite some time, I’ve been feeling an overwhelming need to get a better balance between my chosen roles, first as a wife, then as a mom, and finally as a photographer.  I’m currently in the process of finding childcare for two days each week and developing a super-effificent yet realistic workflow that allows me to cram all of my portrait sessions, editing (both portraits & wedding), order processing, packaging & invoicing, and nearly all of the other numerous office tasks and business errands into those same two days.  It’s a monstrous objective, and I’m not so sure yet just how I’m going to pull it off.  So far, I just know that I really, really want to.

Somewhat on that note, I can only take a very limited number of sessions each week and my summer months are filling in very quickly.  So, if you’d like to book a session in the next few months, please get in touch asap!!