picking up

Life is picking back up again, and I'm so happy.

It was a long, wedding-less winter. This being my first "slow season", I wasn't quite prepared for just how slow slow could be. It was fun at first when we traveled to France, then moved to a new apartment. But then not much happened for about 7 weeks and I got bored. Then I got sad. Then I started questioning my life purpose.  I talked about going back to school and getting a second job and doing all sorts of things, and Tim was all like "it gets better! we're going to be busy again soon!"

I remember him going through this a little bit last year, but I didn't really understand. A long winter break from work sounded amazing to me then, but I've since learned that there's a reason they call it an "occupation"...it's supposed to take up most of your time. The weird thing about being a wedding photographer in a cold climate with harsh winters is that for 3 months out of the year it actually doesn't occupy your time at all. Now I know for next year that I need to plan my time better so I don't feel so useless until Spring. On to better things.

Five days ago, the best thing happened. I became an aunt.

The long of it is that Amanda went a week overdue, then had to get induced, then had to labor for 36 hours with little progress, then after a few dropped heart-rate scares, the doctors decided to do a c-section. Bless her heart. I nearly went crazy during that time. It's a hard and scary thing to have a loved one struggle through a tough labor. We were all so relieved when it was over.

Here's the short of it:
 

We are so in love with this little girl. We miss her when we go a day without seeing her. She's a precious tiny Zaylee nugget and Tim and I come up with ridiculous reasons for being "in the neighborhood" so we can drop by and snuggle her littleness. I think happy chemicals get released in my brain when I have a baby in my arms. Someone google that for me.

We're headed to California soon to shoot our first wedding of the year, which just so happens to be my dear friend Erin's. We got a new camera, new clothes, and new haircuts just for this. We're pretty pumped.

I'll sign off with a treat for your eyes. My Timothee.  My precious guy.