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Can't believe it's been 45+ days since my last blog post. eeek! Perhaps I'm having withdrawals.
One might be thinking..."good for her"! Another may assume it's because her priorities have finally been appropriately aligned. Like maybe those dishes aren't still piling up, that laundry mountain(s) has been tackled, maybe those rooms (yes ROOMS) filled with "waiting.to.be.donated" items have been delivered to their desired destinations...but no. As we speak dishes mount (AGAIN), Mt. Everest is still waiting to be put away (AGAIN), and those boxes in undisclosed areas of the house are still (sadly) collecting dust. :-( It's the crazy-cycle around here! Of which I'm sure ALL can relate. You're just lying to yourself if you deny it.
Let's just say (aside from my motherly/wifely domestic duties) my little photography biz has also picked up speed. Fall is "primetime" for family pics! I am loving this new state of "self-inflicted busyness" I have for no good reason, other than it's fun (?), thrust myself in. oh well. It is what it is. And I am thankful.
Can you believe THIS IS MY 500th blog post? I know. What? How did that happen? Too much time on my hands I guess. (right!) But seriously, where has the time gone??!?! It seems like decades ago that I wrote that first post...
I've been absent from the blogosphere for so long, I almost feel like I need to "re-introduce" myself...
Sometimes,
my focus is SO MUCH about my children, that I feel hidden in their
shadows. I have been spending so much time editing other families
digital memories and am behind the lens so much, that I rarely get
captured in the viewfinder. Which is fine (because I'm not the most
photogenic), but also somewhat hypocritical. There is some buzz going
around the World-Wide-Web about the "disappearance of moms"...you know,
we use our kids faces as our Facebook profile pics, our calendars and
Social Media "check-ins" revolve around our kids' schedules, etc...
As
a person who is insistent and almost obsessed with documenting history
and journaling important events/milestones as they happen, I am somewhat
dissapointed in my efforts of preserving my own sense of self. What
footprints am I leaving behind? who knows. who cares.
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so
here goes. (below is an introduction I wrote for another "project" I
was working on & didn't want to see go to waste) hehe
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I am
a young professional (former Advertising & all things Media JUNKY), turned stay-at-home mom,
special-needs advocate, picture-taker, video-maker, church-worker/volunteer and blogger. Oh & newly crowned V.P. of the DSA. woot!
During
this season of my life, family is my whole world. I am trying my very best to take full
advantage of every moment with my children while they are young (while trying to suppress, as best I can, those all-too-familiar temper tantrums of course). Seize the Day. I have a wonderful husband who stands beside
and supports me in all I do. For this I
am grateful.
I officially
became a blogger during the wee morning hours back in January 2010, not long
after our second daughter Macy was born. Our family blog
was initially created (while spending many quiet hours in the Children's
Hospital NICU) as a way of sharing health (and emotional status) updates with family and friends.
You see, we had just learned, that our Little Miss had Down
Syndrome. Our world was rocked to the core. Every thing
we thought we knew was being challenged. Priorities reassessed. Life
goals realigned. It's crazy to think how something as simple
(and microscopic) as an extra chromosome can change everything (but also,
in many ways we
later find, not much at all).
Now
blogging serves as a type of therapy, release and creative outlet for me. Getting
my thoughts and feelings down on “paper” allows me to better process all that
is going on. Not to mention a fun way to journal our adventures as we adjust to
this world of Special Needs and simply being a family of four :-)
"We
write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." --Anais
Nin
I'd say the same theory applies to picture taking. I have a passion for snapping photos
of everyday occurrences from creative angles and perspectives, to later being
delighted to discover the beauty & wonder that is (sometimes accidentally) captured. Forever frozen
in time in the form of still frame images.
I guess you could say I’m obsessed with weaving pictures and words to tell
a story, our story. We all have a story,
each one deserves to be shared.
"A shutter is clicked, the flash goes off, and you've stopped time, if
just for the blink of an eye. And if these picture's have anything to
say to future generations it's this: I was here, I existed, I was young,
I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my
picture." ~one hour photo
If I am just one "happy" post away from saving just one precious (and life-deserving) soul from being terminated in the womb, due to it's "genetic make-up", than so-be-it. It just might be worth it after-all!
A little more about me? I married my college sweetheart on September, 21, 2002. Joe and I are the proud parents of two beautiful baby girls.
Both my girls are perfect...
McKenzie (5) is special beyond measure, as she's the one who taught me how to love & gave me a "momma's heart"...Little Miss Macy (almost 3) is the one who broke this "momma's heart", shattered it into a million pieces and repaired it 100x BETTER than it was before!
Macy happens to have Down Syndrome. But Down Syndrome does not define her or our family. She is amazing. We are so thankful to be on this journey we call life with her. Afterall, it's the journey, not the destination.
We live in Elkhorn and things we love most (in no particular order) are spending quality time at home, heading out to the lake for the weekend,
okay - so there's my little "bio"
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I feel it's appropriate that this post (incoherent ramble) comes out as we near the completion of Down Syndrome Awareness Month. It is during this month of October that I'm supposed to be focusing my posts on Down Syndrome (here's last years post), helping to generate awareness and acceptance for all those who posses this extra (some call magic) chromosome. Helping to facilitate a sounding board for all issues, challenges, successes and resources relevant to the interest of Down Syndrome.
So, I guess...in some strange way, that is why I'm glad this post does not JUST focus on Down Syndrome. That would be an injustice. And we shouldn't give this chromosomal abnormality that much credit.
After-all, Down Syndrome Awareness happens every waking moment of our entire existence. It is in celebrating the SIMPLE things in life that acceptance happens each and every day. Not just during the month of October.
In fact, it is when we acknowledge the craziness and normalcy all intertwined together into one very complicated existence when "awareness" is truly spread. Awareness that...IT'S ALL GOOD! Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da (Life Goes On)
I hope it illustrates the fact that our stresses and anxieties are stemmed by the very same annoyances that plague everyone else down the street, around the corner and across the country. (I will say, however, that all this extra assessing, evaluating & testing by Macy's TEAM as of late (cuz she's almost 3) does have me a little anxious (and quite honestly, inconvenienced). oh & just had big sister's first Kindergarten P&T conference today, turns out, our "typically developing" kiddo has some things that don't come quite so easy to her either, go figure, looks like we have things to work on with her too - HA!)
But, all in all, my mind is not consumed with worry, fear or anxiety as it relates to the unknowns of our girls future, etc...nope, I AM totally stressing, rather, over the fact that those dishes are NOT washing themselves, wondering why the heck (in this 21st century) they have NOT invented machines that wash/dry/fold & put away our d@mn laundry FOR US. I mean seriously, is that asking too much! And for the love of God, why hasen't that SAINT of a DELIVERY TRUCK arrived in my driveway with 4 strong men knocking down my door to take MY OLD CRAP AWAY!!!
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So there. That's it. I just HAD to get that off my chest. I feel amazingly better! Thanks for listening (reading) - your genuine interest in my mental state has saved us a boat-load in therapy bills. ha!
Now, in these next few weeks...I have a lot of blogging to catch up on and will (in the future) make an effort to get our family happenings (big & small) posted in a more timely fashion. less words, more pics!
This fast approach of cold/non-photo-friendly weather, coupled with the arrival of Daylight Savings is sure to assist me in achieving this goal. :-)
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I leave you with one picture!
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| a recent return trip to our favorite place in the world |
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| one more...because y'all know it's dang near physically impossible for me to take, let alone, post just ONE picture at a time. This was in Ponca last week :) Yay Leaves!! |
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