Its a wrap...

I'm feeling like work is starting to level out a bit as the holidays approach. I've meet so many wonderful families over the last 4 months... and I could have never guessed that a photography business could have bloomed the way it did in such a short amount of time. I am slowly learning how to balance life with a growing business...my illness has forced me to control the levels of stress in my life. There are few things that will cause a flair up.. and stress level is a major factor in staying healthy. Its amazing how God works... and the unique ways he forces his hand so that you make necessary changes. Otherwise I just might have run myself right into the ground.

These are just a few photos from Halloween this year.. I haven't the chance to edit until recently.
Max is still doing wonderful and continues to make excellent progress in school. His immediate relationships have improved drastically and the stress level in the house has dropped. Now that he is in control of himself we can work on reward systems. (before recently this would have never worked... he hadn't the impulse control to care about the consequences). I have started a marble jar for him. Each day that he does well and shows intention to do well..he gets marbles for his jar. When he does things to intentionally defy the rules...he gets marbles taken out of his jar. After the goal is met.. he will get to go and play games at a local arcade for 2 hours. This was his choice and is very excited about doing well.

busy busy busy

So I got a phone call from my mom tonight "BECKY, YOUR GRANDMOTHER AND I ARE GOING THRU BLOG WITH DRAWL... ITS BEEN OVER 4 DAYS!!!" lol, sorry mom.. I've been sucked into the addictive world of facebook networking! Oh my goodness!! Get me out of the zone. For those that think I've died... I also blogging daily "Here" and my fan page is "Here". The networking on facebook is incredible!! I'm suddenly in regular contact with people whom I haven't spoken with in YEARS... and I may never have again if it weren't for "friend me". So, so cool... and I can randomly chat with my family...IE my auntie and I don't have to pick up the phone. Which by the way is damn near impossible these days. My children are gluttons for torturing me while I'm on the phone. From a recent and totally random personal poll... this kind of parent torture is more common than I thought.

So now for your regular update... Lucy is not walking yet.. in fact shes an expert speed crawler. I don't think she'll ever need to walk if she can get anywhere at light speed by crawling. She speaks regularly in baby sign language... did I mention that I recommend this to ANYONE!!! Its saved me a lot of un-nessesary tantrums figuring out what she wants...because she can...(that's tantrums from both of us)

Katy is quickly becoming queen of the house... need to nip that one in the bud. Not sure how I'm feeling the dominant personality is here to say...hmm I wonder where she gets that from???..lol. She insists on wearing her "birthday dress" and dress up clothes everywhere...I let her. I have to throw in my .2 by forcing her to wear the matching converse hightops. Girls are really a lot of drama... its definitely a different challenge...but equal to having boy.

Speaking of Boy, Max is growing up so quickly these days. Showing a lot of interest in playing with the older neighborhood boys. He desperately wants to keep up. Two weeks ago we took the training wheels off of his bicycle and he started practicing to ride like one of the "big boys". Frustrated easily, Max threw his bike down (several times) and gave it a break for a while. Today he asked to put his sneakers and helmet on and give it another try. Got on his bicycle and rode it like a pro. I'm so proud of him. I recall learning to ride my bike the same way... just got on it and went. We have decided to let Max go to kindergarten this year... we'll give it a shot...I'm sure he'll do just fine.

Andy is doing well also, its nice not to have to worry about the house. He's keeping busy tinkering with his car and playing computer games.

My photography business is growing very quickly... it amazing how much improvement 7 months will give to someones skill. Here is a photo taken when I just got started.

to this:

Im loving it!! Im already starting to book up for next month. God does answer prayers doesn't he??

What goes down must come up!

Okay, so...not a fun week. Never quite expierenced this much ill chaos in my house before. It started Last week with Lucy's stomach bug...then Tuesday night with Andy spiking a fever and feeling some bronchitis coming on. Then Wed night it hit me...vomiting...the whole 9 yards. So Andy and I were completely laid out Thursday ... who took care of the kids??? They are alive and well, so it seems we managed some how. Then Lucy started back up again, Katy then yesterday and Today Max. Wowza...not fun. I'm feeling better, but I feel like I have hang over.

On an up note...I may have scored my first official photography gig. A girlfriend of mine does print design and needs someone to do some product photography for a client. I am excited about the opportunity. She also discussed with me doing some firework photography and then later on down the road possibly photographing an assisted living facility. I never even thought about web photos or commercial photography as an option...but I totally think I can do it. Now only if I can figure out how to build an inexpensive DIY light box... Drea...Jenn... anyone..Ideas??