Meet the Cooper Kids
Since its Thanksgiving tomorrow I thought it made the most sense to finally introduce my two crazy girls that I love so much. Josephine is my oldest and always known as the red head. She's sensitive but oh so sweet. I think of her as just this gentle soul. I'm almost so thankful for her seriousness mixed with awareness. I think she slept through the night at 6 weeks old-- literally your dream baby. I feel like she'll be this wise old owl type as an adult.
Now Louisa is a different beast. She's definitely got a determination to do things on her own. A free spirit type. Her laugh is infectious to everyone and she pretty much lacks self restraint (but all two year olds do right!).
I think as parents we tell ourselves we need to do a million things to be that perfect parent. It's like you have to remind yourself not to compare yourself to the mom at the PTO meeting or the mom who did the cutest goody bags. There's things we are all good at and we should just celebrate the stuff that makes us US. I hope my kids feel that from me most. That I want them to be THEM and they have special gifts too.
So tomorrow when you head off to see family for the day--- enjoy the ones you've missed seeing, hug all those kiddos and tell them they are amazing, and just drink some wine while you hear from someone who drives you bonkers. That's what family is for sometimes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Playing Catch Up
ls anyone else already sleepy and they haven't even ate that turkey yet! I know tis the season of playing catch up for most people. But when you have kids things only speed up. Could it be real I'm scheduling for January events. I just want to slow down for some Christmas r+r. I better break out the Christmas crates and start decorating before its December 24th! But till then I'll be sending out pretty albums to even prettier people. Check out this senior Victoria:
Stress Away Oils & A Photography Conference
While I was on my way to Arizona for the Showit United conference I put together a list of all the things I struggled with business wise and realized it was stuff I was struggling with life wise. Please tell me other people fail at time management. I had all these slashes between my jobs that made me feel a little crazy. Wife/mom/cook/maid/photographer/military/planner: I mean the list just kept going and I wasn't managing one thing great.
The first thing I had to do was admit I actually needed help. Then I had to enlist help. My husband and mother kicked in their time with the kids and helped clean. (ps coming home to a clean house after a 5 day trip was EVERYTHING!) I also made some new friends that taught some time saving tips for my business. I learned about the importance of turning OFF push notifications. Like seriously I was wasting 10 minutes of every hour with not batching things together. Instead of looking at my email every single time I got an email-- I now only check it 3 times a day and give myself time set aside to get those emails sent out. No more Facebook or instagram dings going off anymore either. I seriously feel free!
Let's talk about today for example: I got up on my first alarm (which never happens) and went grocery shopping first thing with my toddler in tow. Batching all my errands after in a line of locations mapped out, I was killing it on time. I had time for a coffee (and lavender in the diffuser) with scheduling plans by 10am. And I even got to spend some time chatting with my bestie IN PERSON -- and got to FaceTime with my brother for more than 5 seconds. I dug a pointless hole with my Louisa and did extra Math problems with Josephine. I even got some editing done. I don't feel stressed and I feel empowered for tomorrow. Now I know this won't happen everyday but it sure feels like I won today at least. I mean my husband did get a hot dinner. We're all pretty happy & its MONDAY y'all. So go forth and conquer your stress-- whatever that looks like. I'll be rooting for you too.
*photos from my first day in SEDONA, ARIZONA
