ready and waiting

So the nursery is finally finished. It has been so fun and stressful putting it together. My mother in law and I made pretty much everything but the furniture. She made most of the stuff that required skilled sewing like the sheets and the quilt and I made the decorations and helped with some of the more simple things like valances. I even made the pillow all by myself! Sure hope Gracie likes it.

it's the final countdown...

I know that a lot of people who are 9 months pregnant are doing everything they can to get their babies out -- but not me. I have to say that I cannot wait for her to get here but I know that she's coming and she'll be here soon enough. Life is about to change for Cory and I and I am sure it will change in ways we haven't imagined. That's why I am happy to enjoy the last few moments of life as it is. I'll miss feeling the squirms and kicks inside my belly. I'll miss Cory rubbing my belly like a crystal ball and saying really goofy things to our little human growing inside. Pregnancy has been such a miracle that I want to hang onto it as long as I can -- but when the time comes for us to begin our lives as parents, we're ready and so grateful for the opportunity. We are so excited to meet our little girl.

2 wonderful years

You know the show “Everybody loves Raymond”? Well, I grew up so worried that that’s what marriage would be like. I worried that married people lived together, had kids together and maybe even loved each other, but didn’t like each other. I thought that people who seemed to be happily married were probably faking it a little bit. I am so happy to say that I have learned that happy marriages where husbands and wives not only love each other but actually like each other do exist.

I am grateful everyday to have such a happy marriage and wonderful husband. We have made it through two short years and I look forward to the rest of eternity. If I were more the gushing type I’d go on and on about how amazing my husband is and how he’s my best friend and how much I love him, but since I’m not much of a gusher I’ll just say Happy anniversary babe. I love you.

new chapter

So I have begun a new chapter in life. I quite my job at Bad Dog and am starting up my own business photographing babies, toddlers, and children. I want to be home with Grace when she is born and I think this is the best solution to supplement Cory's income and still have the flexibility to be home as much as I want.

I have to admit it is all a little scary right now. It is hard to build a client base and it is hard to build up enough confidence to feel good about charging people for my services. This venture is really forcing me out of my comfort zone, which is never something I love in the moment but am always grateful for later on.

I would appreciate any referrals! My business email is bitsylane@gmail.com and my website (though still under construction) is bitsylanephotography.com.

Here are a few photos I've done but check out the website for a larger sample.

a new decade

So it is happy birthday to me today. I am now 30 years old... yikes. I have to say I am happy with where life has taken me and I am happy with the pace I have set. I am looking forward to the next decade that I get to begin as a new mom. I've packed a lot in to the first 30 years -- let's see how much I can pack into the next 30.

My first birthday-- April 28, 1980

inspiration

I apologize that it has been so long. I found out I was pregnant on Christmas and I was totally unmotivated to do anything for my whole first trimester. That's not to say that I wasn't thrilled to pieces that I was pregnant, I just had extreme laziness instead of morning sickness.

Anyway, I am not going to catch you up with this post. I just have something on my mind that I need to get out. It seems that the media and grocery check-out line conversations are all filled with doom and gloom these days. I have noticed the media making a bit more of an effort to find a bright side lately but, in my opinion, it's not enough. Our society completely undervalues the use of inspiration as a valid tool to accomplish the hard tasks. We, as human beings, react to our environment whether consciously or subconsciously. Just think of how much you can be affected by a grumpy person or by someone who goes out of their way to do something nice for you. If we filled our conversations and media coverage with stories of hope and examples of people doing good and making the most of their misfortune, would we be more motivated to do good ourselves? Our government has to take action to deal with some of our nations issues, there is no question, but small acts of kindness and communities pulling together to take care of those who are struggling do more for us individually than billions of dollars being thrown at our problems. I am not saying that we put on a happy face and pretend that everything is fine, but we can do so much more to help ourselves rather than waiting for the government guardian angle to come and make it all better. I am a firm believer that there is a great lesson to be learned in every hardship. This is our opportunity to come together as communities and friends to inspire each other to do more than we thought possible.

I challenge all of us to be more of an inspiration to those in our sphere of influence. Take a few minutes this week to brighten someone's day. Kindness is contagious and it can do more than any stimulus package to turn the attitude of our society from that of despair to that of hope. Obama doesn't know our neighbors but we do.