I'm Back!

Why the long leave of absence? Well, my Mac crashed. It spent a week and a half trying to back up and get repaired with a computer technician. That didn't work. Then, it spent a week and a half at the Apple store getting a completely new hard drive. So, I've been pretty much out of commission for a month.

Unable to blog (on here or on my business), unable to work on portraits, unable to work on marketing, unable to do pretty much all of the things that it takes to run an actual business. I booked a wedding in my kitchen during lunch time while my kids made a mess and I scribbled on pen and paper. Kickin' it old school.

That's not the only interesting thing that's been going on here. We got a second opinion on the $15k weekly shots. Turns out, they're good for preterm delivery brought on by contractions. I've never had that problem. My problem is premature pre-rupture of membranes. In my case, it does more harm than good. Plus, they will pretty much incapacitate me. The side effects will leave me feeling completely hungover/fluish. I can't take care of two kids, run a business and be a preacher's wife laying in bed. Oi.

So, in order to not automatically have to take those or have a section (our state laws are so backwards that there's not much choice in these matters), I have to drive to the next state for my appointments, labs, and ultrasounds. We'll even be driving over there to have him. It makes for very long days, but my midwives are super great with the kids that it helps to take the burden off.

I've been working on paperwork and blah blah blah to make sure everything is as smooth as possible. Of course people think I'm nuts driving 2 hours for better care when I could just "get it over with," but I'm not gonna just have a section. I've had two relatively normal deliveries before, and I can do it again. If I could deliver T on 27 ml of pitocin with no pain meds, I know I can do a natural birth if given the chance.

My assistant has been put on bed rest for preterm labor. Of course, I completely understand and I don't want her to come anywhere out of that bed. However, it just puts me in a hard spot. Weddings, portrait sessions, client meetings are all up in the air coz I don't have another assistant. Eek.

Add to all of that that I decided to redo the studio (I'm insane), go through all of Auds' old clothes to sell via virtual garage sale (let me know what you need!) and consignment (I'm really insane as they're taking over the studio), and get caught up on all of the month's worth of work that I'm behind on.

Oi.

And, my babies are growing up. Sniff sniff. T just made 2 on Monday. Two! I can't believe it. He's such a ham. I'll have to post pictures if I can get them off of my old phone. Old phone? Yes! My phone died as well, right before the computer. I had to get a new phone and have no pictures or numbers, which makes it very interesting when clients and friends call expecting I know who they are.

Anyway, the kids' birthday party is this weekend. We're doing a very low-key affair. I'm making a watermelon cake, serving fruits and veggies, and the kids are all going to play outside on their new swingset.

Auds turns 4 this coming Tuesday. Four! When did the time pass? She is too, too smart. She's an incredible artist and has now been working on writing. Most kids start with their names, but mine wrote "10 Commandments" today. Oh, yeah! Proud mama moment!

 It's not perfect, but considering she's never tried to write out a word before, that's pretty awesome! 

Hopefully things will calm down now. It's been a crazy start to the year.