My first year working as a mother.
Surely, I would have been accepted, attended, and graduated from some law school by now. Even after the first application attempt and deciding to decline, repeating the process again some time later, and then just completely giving up on the idea. I finally realized I had my dream career. I was sure that I wanted to be an attorney and sometimes I wonder what I would really be like in the courtroom. But then my little girl will giggle and I remind myself of the wonderful choice I have made.
I am a stay at home mother, so thankful to my hardworking husband. Joshua, you truly do make all my dreams come true - dreams I never realized would come into fruition. We share a home together with our little human - the apple of our eyes - and while you are away helping babies, Abigail and I are dreaming up new ways to cuddle and clean up our messes. There are many days, days like today, where I never even change out of my pi's. Abigail and I are both in dire need of a bath and the kitchen is a mess. Oh, and so is the bedroom, the living room, and my office.
Being a housewife makes me want to hug my mother a little tighter every time I see her. While I grew up I never saw her get up for work. But boy, was I wrong. She never clocked out of it! I hope that I can be almost as good as her. I'm trying. Abigail was playing with me in the office a few days ago and was just quite simply terrorizing everything she could get her little hands on. At some point I gave up trying to do what I was doing and just hugged her. She smiled and gave me a kiss, a sloppy one. I walked over to Joshua and rhetorically asked him if, "If I was an attorney, do you think I'd let her into my office?"
Yes. Yes, I would.
My point is, that while I am a housewife and stay at home to take care of my home, child, and husband I am also a working mother. As a business owner, I have no one to turn to when something happens other than myself. It is my responsibility to maintain operations operating. If I have a sick day, great. I can stay in my bedroom. But sometimes sick days do not coincide with my free schedule and pop up at worst possible times. Times when I have work to finish, deadlines to meet, and people to see.
The hardest part is definitely trying to work with my little one always two steps behind me. But I make it work. I have no choice. Well, of course I have a choice but I choose to be the primary caregiver for my little one. And my choice makes me happy. I consider myself a problem solver; I think analytically. So best case scenario, I am training my very own assistant!
Cheesy joke aside, I make it work. Sometimes I simply do not have a sitter and Abby will simply tag a long. I bring her everywhere I can with me when I can't I rely on my beloved family to step in and aid me. They are who I ask for help. Whether daily tasks, meetings, or small planned or impromptu sessions, I make it work. But the hardest parts are wedding days! Breastfeeding a baby is no easy task - especially when you have to be away for sometimes 8 to 12 consecutive hours a day!
But my little one, she is always by me.
At a mere 21 days old, I cuddled with my little one while I waited for my first bride and groom meeting of the new 2013 year. She was tiny and slept so well.
Oh Joshua, aside from this being one of my favorite photos, you were such a big help during this full day of work.
My aunt and my mommy so graciously watched Abigail for a Brownsville wedding...
… And then Abby got hungry so she found me - all the way at the Gladys Porter Zoo!
A quick break after portraits and before the reception meant lunch time for this little one.
Here somebody called me very last minute to hire me for some portraits. I had no one available to watch Abby so I improvised. Baby wearing is awesome and has helped, so much!
Here's Joshua again just a few feet away while I am photographing a lovely family.
My momma, cruising the pathways of the Hilltop Gardens with Abby while I work.
For this engagement session, my grandmother helped my momma take Abby on a nature walk for a whole afternoon of shooting at Quinta Mazatlan.
No, I am not an amazonian river woman with my child on my back while I trek through the jungle with a large clay jar of water on my head walking back to my village. I have commodities, options, and choices I can make. But I choose to be with my child and find inventive ways to work and do what I do while still taking care of her as much as possible. It was hard and it may never get easier but the memories that I get to make are so much fun and worth it for me. I am just a girl trying to grow her business, learning to be a wife and mother, and trying to keep sane - with a baby on my hip.
I can't imagine taking my baby girl into the courtroom, could I? Ha! Guess I'll never know.
So if you are a working mother, whatever your line of work, I applaud you. If you are a stay at home mother, of one or many, I applaud you. Mothers are amazing!!! I hope I can live up to the expectation of such a honorable and humbling word.
To my loving family who is always there to help, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To my amazing clients who are understanding and simply the best, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To my little one who loves me, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!