1. Hi, it’s me again. It’s been pretty quiet except for sneak peeks around here, hasn’t it? Lest you think I’ve run off to some deserted island with Jack from LOST my husband, I’ll share a little of what I’ve been up to.

2. I can’t quite remember if I’ve shared the news here, but I am doing a bit of rebranding. And when I say a bit, I mean the whole kit and kaboodle. New NAME, which means a new logo, new marketing materials, new everything! Including a new website, a new blog. New packaging. Oy, the list goes on and on.

3. I first started the rebranding process by meeting with my friend and business coach, Kathleen O’Grady. (I’ll be profiling her on the blog very soon!) Kathleen helped me to dig deep into who I am as an artist and how I want to define my business. She helped me brainstorm, she brought up fantastic points, she helped me muddle through the doldrums, and she cheered me on every step of the way. THANK YOU, Kathleen!

4. Geez, I love these two.

5. Macy has been quite the comedian lately. The other day, I got pretty stern with her about not listening to me, and she said “I don’t like you, and you don’t like me. Let’s talk about this.” Where oh where does she come up with this stuff?

6. Claire is at a stage that I think tortures a lot of parents. The stage where she pulls your hair or grabs your earrings and PULLS, or headbutts you. And then laughs and laughs when you correct her. Oh, it’s great fun, alright.

7. Why do I always get stuck on #7? I start off with furious typing, then always run out of steam by #7. Once I get to 8, the train usually starts off down the track again, but that elusive #7. Oh, and this totally counts as my #7!

8. We are heading to Georgia for a family reunion this weekend, and I’m excited. My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary just this week, which simply amazes me. I hope Mike and I make it sixty years. Heck, I hope I make it to 60 years old!

9. As we celebrate love and family, two dear friends are grieving the tragic loss of loved ones…one a husband, the other a father. I hope they both know that they and their families are in our thoughts and prayers every day.

10. Are you signed up for my newsletter? If not, what are you waiting for?! This month we had a very fun contest with a super cool prize, and there’s more where that came from! Plus, you’ll be in the know about upcoming events, see extra sneak peeks and get a first glimpse at new products! Stop on over to the photography website and sign up at the bottom of the front page. I’ll wait here…oh, wait a sec, no I won’t. That’s ten and I’m outta here!

Smooches!

I thought I’d share a few new pics of my girls. Macy is turning into a strong-willed little independent lady who does NOT like being told No. (well, who does, actually?!) And Claire, my baby, is walking. Say it ain’t so! Just a couple of recent snaps:

These two can just look at each other and start giggling. I love that. *sigh*

*new prop alert!* (ask me about bringing this antique high chair for your session!)

Out of the full memory cards of tongues sticking out, rolled eyes, silly faces…came this gem. I’m gonna have to print this one BIG.

Don’t let that big smile fool you…this is a girl who knows what she wants, and will stop at nothing to get it!

**Reminder about the Mommy & Me Mini Sessions! Email me at christy@christyjohnson.com to reserve your spot before they are gone!**

Sorry for the disappearing act on the blog lately…the Johnson household has been in such a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks…Claire turned a whole year old (sniff, sniff), my beloved also celebrated a birthday, and three-quarters of us were hit by a nasty stomach bug. Macy was the only one who escaped the bug, because as her PopPop puts it, she’s too fast for germs to catch her. Tis true.

Now that I’m feeling better, I’ve been a busy bee getting galleries and slideshows uploaded and orders packaged for delivery, as well as trying to straighten up our neglected house and tackle the mile-high piles of laundry. I also need to get packing! We leave after work tomorrow for my parents’ house in Virginia to drop off the kidlets while Mike and I head to Vegas, baby! We’re going to a big photography convention and are counting on some much needed away-time - away from work, the kids, the responsibilities, the obligations. I think we’re due for a little break.

But of course, not even a little vacation comes without its share of stress. It’s supposed to snow here overnight tonight, putting a big question mark on our planned drive to Richmond…it’s supposed to snow in Richmond, putting a big question mark on our early morning flight on Thursday. And then, just for fun, we’ll be taking the red-eye back Monday night/Tuesday morning, grab the kids and drive home, just in time for me to repack my bags and drive myself to Charlotte for a day of work training on Wednesday. Whew!

Since I will be out of town, I may be a little slow to respond to emails or voicemails. I will get back to everyone by Thursday or Friday next week. I also want to share some of Claire’s one-year photos as well, so stay tuned for those.

And just because I can’t post without a photo, here’s several. I’ve been playing around with the ShakeIt photo app on my iphone…it’s so much fun! And free! So some random happenings from around our parts…

Valentine’s Day, the day to celebrate love of all kinds. It’s this weekend, by the way! Do you and your honey do anything special for each other? Mike and I have never really been that into it, but we’ll get each other a card, maybe a little candy or something small. But we really like doing a little something for the kidlets. I found these CUTE personalized fabric mail pouches at Pottery Barn Kids, and I can’t wait to stuff them full of some goodies! (I was going to link them here, but it looks like they have sold out! Never fear, I promise I’ll take some pics this weekend to share.)

I have been poking around one of my favorite sites Etsy looking for some unique ideas for the mail pouches, and I have found the most fun little gifts for little ones! I thought I’d share some here…follow the links to buy these sweets for your sweets!

This hat has got to be the most darling thing I’ve seen!

And look at this sweet outfit…couldn’t you imagine your little girl wearing this for a photo session?

This little sheep has stolen my heart! And it would be great for any occasion, not just V-day!

I can’t forget the little men out there…Valentine’s Day gifts are harder to find for boys, I guess. But check out this adorable Robot Love onesie! Be still my heart!

If you’ve never visited etsy.com, I highly recommend it. It’s become my go-to place for any kind of gift, and the best part is (if you’re short on time like me) you can shop from your couch!

So last week I went on and on about my dear hubby. It wasn’t too much, was it? I worried a little that he’d be walking around here all big-headed, but I needn’t have. He’s got his head on straight. He’s a good guy.

So I may have mentioned here that my schedule is, to put it mildly, OVERLOADED. I thought I’d share some ideas that help keep me sane and in the right place at the right time (most of the time.)

1. Write -or type- it down. I have a million things running through my head at any one time, so I have to write down everything. I have written to-do lists, 2 Outlook calendars and a Google calendar. I keep a notebook in my purse for jotting down things I need to buy or research, or notes on a vision I’d like to create with my camera, or a recipe I’d like to try. I even cut out pictures from magazines or catalogs and tape them in there, as inspiration.

2. Ask for help. Take help when it’s offered. My parents and Mike’s mom and stepdad each come to our house one Saturday a month to watch the girls while we work. Mike’s parents drive almost an hour and a half to get here, and my parents drive three. Three hours down in the morning, to arrive by 9:15am. And then after a day of chaos violence fun, they drive the three hours back that night.

That’s big-time to me. I always feel guilty for asking them to do this for us…I’ve always been very independent, very “I can take care of myself.” And it’s a lot to ask. But honestly, I can’t imagine our lives being lived in any other way. The best part is watching my girls develop strong relationships with their grandparents. It’s simply priceless.

3. Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. I’m a planner by nature, and typically very organized, so this comes somewhat easily for me. I actually created a chart containing meals, ingredients and instructions for 6 meals for the week. We have 6 of these meal plans, so we rotate through the whole batch of meals every 6 weeks. It took some work to create, but the payoff is great. I pull out that week’s mealplan, create my grocery list from it and go!

I’d be happy to email my meal plan chart to you! Why re-create the wheel and all that, right? Just email me christy@christyjohnson.com!

4. Schedule everything. I know I’m starting to sound reeeaalllly nerdy, but I swear by schedules. I have a Bookeeping Day, a Bill-Paying Day, a Grocery Store Day, a Laundry Day, and so on. There’s always room to move these things around as need be, but just knowing what I have on deck for the day is super helpful. It helps me to be less stressed and feel less overwhelmed, which is important to me. When I get too overwhelmed, I literally shut down and can’t accomplish anything at all. Less stress means I’m more effective and productive, which means I’m done with my tasks quickly and can spend more time with my family!

After all, they are my #1 priority. Every day.

I hope this helps someone out there in interwebland. And please leave a comment about how YOU keep from going crazy in your own fast-paced, out of control life!

And just for fun, a photograph from our snow day weekend! And look, I’m actually in it!

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared my own kids on the blog…far too long, in fact! I got some cute shots of them playing earlier this week in our (messy) playroom, so I thought I should come and share.

Claire will be a year old in February, and I just can’t believe it.

I know I’m biased, but admit it - you think she’s seriously cute too.

Awwww, sisterly love.

It just makes your heart melt. Until the big one grabs the little one in a headlock and spins her to the ground. Not that that ever happens around here or anything.

Claire’s latest thing is brushing her own hair. Good thing, since she’s got quite the messy mop!

OH! And she said “mama” for the first time today! I was cooking lunch, and she was really upset that I couldn’t pick her up. She kept pulling up on my leg, and I’d have to sit her back down on the floor as I moved from one spot in the kitchen to the other. Finally she pulled up on my leg one last time, and literally yelled “MAMA!” clear as a bell! Of course, she hasn’t done it again since, even though we’ve been trying since lunch. Lil stinker.

Is it just me, or does Macy look so grown up here?

She’s really giving me a time lately. Defiant, independent, stubborn, actively ignores me. We thought we were lucky because we never really had to deal with the terrible twos…but I honestly think this is worse. She is so smart and has comebacks that make me stop in my tracks!

Tonight, she absolutely refused to eat one. single. bite. of dinner. I know she was hungry, and I knew it was a control thing. I also know that I’m not the kind of mother who is going to get up from my dinner to go make something else for her. I tried taking away privileges. I tried reasoning with her. And as lame as it sounds, I even pulled out the old “choooo choooo…open up, the train is coming into the tunnel!” Oh yeah, she opened up, I deposited the “train.” One second later, she spit the food out and said “the tunnel is broked.”

Seriously! How am I supposed to discipline this child when I can’t stop laughing? (By the way, we compromised on 6 bites of dinner. And then some healthy, no sugar applesauce to make me feel better that at least she got a vitamin or two in her.)

No matter what though…this girl has me smitten.

We got about 5-6 inches of snow here today, and I got to stay home from work and enjoy some super awesome family time. I got a lot of fun pictures from today, so look for those to come (hopefully tomorrow!)

This blog has primarily been the place to share client images and photography specials, with a smattering of my own children as well. But lately I’ve been drawn to using it as a sort of personal journal as well. So I’m instituting Monday Musings! Just random thoughts, snippets of what’s happening in my life. I will share my own personal stories, and maybe build a little community where we can all share our dreams and our fears.

THE ART OF HAVING IT ALL

I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a daughter, a sister, a friend. I am a full-time employee. I am a business owner, a photographer.

I cook, clean, pay bills, grocery shop, do laundry. Spend quality time with my husband and my daughters. I try to spend time with family and friends, although admittedly this the area of my life that is most neglected. I plan birthday parties and clean up spilled milk and coordinate schedules. Give baths and hugs. Read stories, make crafts, wash crayon off the walls. I drive a 50 mile round-trip commute 5 days a week. I sell houses, and keep up with all of the day-to-day corporate nonsense that goes along with my job. With my business, I am the photographer, the creative mind, the editor, the designer. The bookkeeper, the marketer, the accountant. The bill-payer, the invoice chaser, the decision-maker. The right brain and the left brain.

Most days I am doing almost all of the above. Some days I feel like I’m going mad…something has to give. But what? Definitely not my time with my family. That’s a non-negotiable. As much as I’d like to give up the full-time job, that’s not an option at this point. I’ve been the bread-winner in our family for the past 8 years, and we rely heavily on my income. So…the photography business? My passion? The one thing -besides wife and mother- that I feel destined to do?

At what point does chasing your dreams become a liability?

I’ve worked a non-traditional schedule for the last 8 years. I work a lot of weekends…a LOT. I’m usually home on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. My schedule means that Mike and I rarely have any days off together. Even less now that, as of recently, my weekends off have been reduced to four. That’s four per YEAR.

Before Mike and I had children, we didn’t mind the schedule too much. (This was also back in the good ol’ days when I was able to take one weekend off per month!) Even when Macy came along, we adjusted pretty well. By the time Claire was born, I had started up my business. The real estate market was suffering badly, and my income took a 45% nosedive. OUCH. Two kids, two full-time jobs, new money worries, and working full-time on a fledging new “part-time” business. It’s enough to make you want to throw in the towel some days.

But the craziest part of this entire story is that I have never been happier! And before you start dialing the nearest psychiatric hospital, I’ll tell you why.

I have the unconditional support of the greatest man on the planet. Mike is my rock. My best friend. He is the one who dries my tears and makes me laugh every day. He brings me back to earth when my worries could send me to the moon. He takes care of a lot of household chores and never complains. I swear he’s destined for sainthood.

He shares my core values, and encourages me to chase my dreams. He is the one standing behind me even as I spend hours upon hours working on my computer while neglecting him. (Sorry honey!) We are steadily putting plans into place, brick by brick by brick, to secure a better future for us and for our children. It’s been hard work, and we will continue to make sacrifices, but together we are making it happen.

I never want to take him for granted, and I try to make sure he knows he’s appreciated. We’ve instituted Date Night on Friday nights, which we both look forward to. And right now, because we are watching our pennies, date night consists of watching a movie on the couch at home, with some microwave popcorn. But we talk about how one day, when our finances are a little more stable, we’ll be hiring babysitters and hitting the town!

Mike, I want to thank you for always being there for me, for being so understanding and supportive. For working so terribly hard at reaching our shared vision for our future. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am to you! I feel like we have grown so much closer, even during this most trying time of our married life. Thank you. I love you. I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner for us!

Next Monday, I will share some things we do to help keep all these balls in the air, including chore-sharing, daily tasks and menu-planning.

Oh, and I know it’s like a cardinal sin or something for a photographer to make a blog post without also posting a picture. Oh well, they’ll just have to throw me in blogger jail! (Hey, maybe I can catch up on some sleep!)

I cannot believe my little baby is three years old. Where does the time go? It really does seem like just yesterday that I was sitting in the hospital room, waiting for my little girl who just didn’t want to be born.

Macy, when I met you that day, I felt like I had always known you. You fit right into our lives as if you’d always been part of our family. I could sit and watch you and your funny antics all day long! You love to sing and dance, and you live to jump. Everywhere we go, people always smile and laugh because you don’t just WALK places…you hop. You skip. You leap with joy every minute of your day, and I love that.

I love how you sing everything these days. I love how you call Daddy “Mr. Daddy” and I love how you turn every word into something new…lately it’s “Macy go-dacy” or “Mommy go-dommy”. You are definitely a mommy’s girl, and you love to snuggle with me. (Please God, I hope that never changes!)

You love your sister so much, but I can see now she’s a little more mobile, you are becoming protective of your things and your space. But wow, no one can make Claire laugh like you do. She adores you. We all do!

You are my snugglebug, my lovey, my darling little girl. I love you.

It’s been awhile since I shared photos of my own two girls. Claire is almost 8 months old, and she’s a master at sitting up and scooting around on the floor. She also loves that thumb!

So serious, sometimes! But she has the best belly laugh - it’s so contagious! But watch out, she does have a bit of a temper. And her latest thing…pitching a fit when you lay her down on the changing table. She thinks she’s going to bed, and just doesn’t want to slow down!

Sweetness.

Now THIS one…Macy will be three next week. I can hardly believe it! It really does seem like yesterday when I was holding her in the hospital, taking off the little hat to reveal all of her blonde hair. *sniff, sniff*

Stinker!

So sweet and so sassy!

The loves of my life.

Claire was about three weeks old in this picture, so technically it’s not very old. But it makes me laugh, so I had to share.

HOLLA!