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- Sunshine – WHAT IS THIS MAGIC? We’ve actually seen the sun this week & it has been nothing short of magical. I opened all of our curtains & blinds & let glorious light flood every single room of our house – it has been an utter delight.
- We had our taxes done this week! WHEW – I’m so glad that that is over! Tax-time is always so nerve-wracking as a small-business. I mean, I am an Enneagram 1 – I keep meticulous records – but it’s still scary. And after owing large chunks of money to the IRS year-after-year-after-year, it kind of ingrains in you that “brace for impact” feeling (we were never unprepared to owe at tax-time, we have always had a good gauge on what’s going on with our money & how much we need to set aside – and paying taxes isn’t “bad” [well, yes they are – that’s a whole other topic] – it just means I’ve been profitable! Working at the bank was the worst though, because as I was writing a large check to the government, I was cashing huge refund checks & it still makes me bitter – I digress..) Having 2 kids really helps in the tax-department & recently a lot of changes have come into play for small businesses that make tax-time a little less painful – so, needless to say, it isn’t as scary as it used to be. I’m just completely relieved that it’s over & done & I don’t have to think about it again until – well, I was going to say next year, but I now have to make quarterly “estimated” payments to the state, plus I pay sales tax quarterly – so I don’t have to think about taxes again until – next month – pfft.
- Leander is in hard-core teething mode. The poor little fellow was absolutely miserable last Saturday & Sunday & into Monday. For a while, we were playing the “is he warm because he’s fevered & getting sick or is it because he has all 4 molars coming thru at the same time?” game (spoiler alert – that’s not a fun game to play). We basically sat on the couch & watched endless rounds of Baby Shark. On Tuesday, as we were once again on the couch, I started Googling “teething help” when on a list of suggestions I came across: “Wear an amber teething necklace” – I literally could have punched myself in the face. DUH. Why didn’t I think of that?! Braelynn instantly ran upstairs to grab Leander’s necklace, we put it on, and within minutes, he was a completely different kid. He wanted to get down off the couch to play, he was following Braelynn around, he was chattering up a storm, and the cherry on top: Braelynn was being silly & he started laughing. I literally sat on the couch & cried – my smiley, happy, sunshine boy hadn’t laughed in days & he was laughing again & I don’t think I have ever heard a sound so sweet. Since Tuesday, he’s been wearing his teething necklace non-stop & he’s been his normal, happy self. And, I can finally see his molars beginning to poke thru!
- Speaking of Leander, (other than teething) here’s what the little dude is up to lately:
-He has become proficient at giving kisses – really good smoochy ones too. It’s literally the best. Every night, as we put him to bed, he showers us with kisses & it’s basically my favorite time of the entire day.
-He has learned how to open the trash can – and he’s watched us enough to know that we throw things into the trash can. In other words, I now have to keep a close eye on our garbage so that he doesn’t throw something important/valuable away (and I’m half-scared the he might have already disposed of something & I’m just not quite sure what it is yet).
-He figured out that if he comes over to my desk & punches on my keyboard, not only will he make my computer come to life, but he can “do” things. He has renamed files, relocated files, searched for “Mmm mmmm ,//’\[-=;”, and literally who knows what else. In other words, if the door to my office is open, I have to put my keyboard up. - On Monday, Braelynn, Leander, and I went to Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh with my Mom & sister, Ruby. I photographed a wedding ceremony at Phipps in 2018, but other than that, I haven’t been there in probably (at least) 15+ years. We had a lot of fun! It was so beautiful to walk thru & enjoy all of the gardens & rooms & flowers (it’s just a little over-priced, if you ask me).
- GOAL UPDATE: So, one of my major goals for the year that I wrote in my “Year in Review” post last December was that I wanted to put together a “Family Yearbook” from 2019. It’s something I really wanted to do last year, but the process just overwhelmed me & I felt like it swallowed me whole. So, this year, I decided that not only was I going to write the goal down, but I was going to break it into more manageable bites. This is a task that must happen before wedding season rolls in, or else I will never have time to tackle it (and my first wedding of the year is at the end of March). I’m super proud to say that I have officially gone thru & pulled all of my favorite DSLR images from 2019, and I’m half way thru iPhone images. This is the part of the process that derailed me last year & I’ve already learned a ton of “tricks” to make the process even easier for next year (setting myself up for much smoother success in the future). I’m in a really good spot at the moment – and by the next Abby’s Saturday, I should have finished going thru my iPhone photos & will be ready to start the design process – the fun part! I am so excited!!
- Speaking of favorite images, over the last 2 weeks I have posted my favorite “professional” images from 2019! Did you catch those posts? Favorite wedding images, favorite engagement images, favorite portraits, and favorite roller coasters!
