This little guy is growing up so fast!  Wylie is 9 months old and really showing his loving, funny personality.  He is very curious, even sampling the grass once!  He's just a few months older than my Blair, and it's hard to imagine that she'll be crawling and pulling up so soon.  Wylie is a charmer and I love having him in front of my lens!

This truck belonged to Wylie's great grandaddy

He's all tuckered out!  I enjoyed being able to spend some time with Wylie and his family and I'm super excited about his 1st birthday party in a few months.  Time flies!

My days consist of time: time to feed the baby, time to get Salem ready for school, time to clean, time to work (ha!), time to eat, time to plan tomorrow's time...

Recently I put all that aside and just let time pass.  It's in the mid-60s here in Georgia this week (it is still winter, right?) and my girls and I spent the better of one day at the park.  I let the cleaning, laundry, emails, editing, and planning wait another day while I spent time relishing in the fresh air, watching Salem try a new slide at the playground, and memorizing the way Blair feels sleeping in my arms.

This comes on the heals of a wake-up call from my friend and photography mentor, Lindsey.  She did a Valentine's session with the girls over the weekend.  During our few minutes of chatting, I asked if she was enjoying working in her new studio.  She replied that she only does sessions there, and continues to do all her other work from home, enjoying as much time as possible with her small children.  

The more I thought about what she said, the more sheepish I felt about my desires for my own uninterrupted time and space to just work.   I want to build my sprouting photography business, I want to accurately document my children's early years, I want to coupon more diligently, I want to be a better vegetable gardener,  I want to sanitize the house each week, I want to cook healthy meals each day, but during the time I'm wishing FOR those things, am I wishing AWAY my babies being babies?

I recently saw a special on PBS titled My Life as a Turkey in which a man raises wild turkeys from eggs, and so becomes their turkey mother.  He spends 18 months with no other human interaction, even learning a few "turkey words" along the way.  He made one comment regarding his experience that sticks with me: he came to envy the Turkeys' ability to live only in the present.  They did not dwell on the events of yesterday, or plan out tomorrow's doings, they hunted for grasshoppers and played with squirrels today, completely involved in the present.

And so Tuesday (for a few hours anyway), I tried to just be a turkey, enjoying the sunshine and giggles NOW.  Thanks, Lindsey, for inadvertently reminding that Salem and Blair only have this day once and for inspiring me to take time to enjoy it.  The quest for balance among a work-from-home mom's many many duties continues. 

I was being a turkey so well that I didn't even take any pictures, so this is one from a few weeks ago :)