Happy Thanksgiving – 2017!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I know this week, it almost seems stereotypical to think about “what you’re thankful for”. Everyone is doing it – it’s Thanksgiving after all! But it’s something I wish we had a little more of in everyday life – I for sure know I need more gratefulness every day!

It’s amazing what the slight mindset change of looking for something to be thankful for does to your brain (and attitude). In years past, I’ve done the “30 Days of Thanks” challenge, where you post something you’re thankful for every day in November. I didn’t do one this year, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t spend my days, trying to be more mindful of what I’m thankful for in my life. And it changes things.

For example:
Yesterday morning, as I was finishing up my yoga practice for the day (pause button: I don’t want to give the impression that I practice yoga every day – it’s on my to-do list every day and I truly enjoy it the days I make time for it, but it’s not a regular thing – so if you read that first line & instantly got this elevated view of me as someone who “practices yoga every day”, just push the delete key a few times & erase that thought from your brain as it isn’t even close to being true!) My phone had dinged a few times & I knew my Mom was texting me. Braelynn was playing and being good. So, as I finished up my practice, I grabbed my phone & sat down to reply to my Mom’s texts. Braelynn had just gone upstairs and as I finished my texts, she came bouncing back down the stairs.

I’ll spare you the gross details, but the reason she had gone upstairs was that she had pooped in her pants. And the reason she was coming back downstairs was that she wanted me to help her put new panties on. There is a middle step in there though that had gotten missed (cleaning up the poop, ya know?) and as she came down the stairs & jumped up on the couch, she spread the “love” (aka poop) all over the stairs, the carpet, and the couch.

I was a little upset. And by a little, I mean a lot. We had been having a really great, productive, efficient, and clean day, and all that was over now. As I ushered her back up the stairs & put her in the shower to clean her off, my mind went to the fact that: Wow, I am so thankful for a handheld showerhead. It makes these (sometimes daily) cleanups so much easier! And that thought alone diffused the whole situation and took it back down to a normal level (instead of the angry level I was at before).

Fun story, right?
I’m sorry, but my days revolve around toddler antics, which more often than not involves snot, coloring on the walls, temper tantrums, and yes, poop.

But therein lies my point: I’m so incredibly thankful for this life – for this dream I’m living.

Since I was a teenager, my one goal in life was to own my own business so that I could stay home & be a stay-at-home-Mom to whatever kids came my way, while still supplementing my husband’s income. I’ve had that carrot dangling for probably 15 years. And in 2015, I took a bite out of that carrot: I went full-time as a wedding photographer and have been home with my baby girl every single day of her life. It’s amazing. I am literally living my dream.

And I am so thankful. Literally, without words thankful.
I could not live this dream without my incredible KAP Couples who trust me to capture the fleeting and precious memories of their engagement season and wedding days.

And when I remember that – the poop clean-up doesn’t seem quite so bad.

Okay, enough about poop! Hope y’all have the most wonderful Thanksgiving!
And, because what is a post without photos? Here are a few of the family photos that my sister (and favorite photographer) Ellen took of us a few weeks ago!

I love the photo on the right, but I love the photo on the left MORE. Why? Because Derrick dances with Braelynn every single night before she goes to bed & I love that Ellen captured them dancing!

Check out those pigtails! They’re quite different from last year’s pigtails!