dan + knife = BAD

My adorable husband is still at the studio as I type this (11:30 pm) installing a laminate floor in our storage room. He's there late because he had a little issue with the blade as he was cutting a square! I swear.....this is like the 4th time in his life of almost cutting off a finger!!!!!! SERIOUSLY......YOU NEED FINGERS TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!!!

This is the blade that slipped and sliced right through his finger. He walked into my office very calmly, holding onto his finger in paper towels and said "well, I think I may need to get stitches." He was a lot more calm than me when I saw it!!!

He went to Urgent Care where they told him that the cut was so clean that he did not need stitches, but more of a cast-thing that they put on him. They cleaned it (ouch!), gave him a tetanus shot (double ouch!), and told him to leave the wrap on and to not get it wet for 3 days.

Dan wouldn't be Dan without coming right back to the studio to get back to work on the floor! His parents came in town tonight so that they could help us with things in the studio tomorrow, and Dan insisted that the floor needed to be done before they arrive. (The installation of the washer and dryer, part of our projects for tomorrow, is dependent on the floor being done.)

Oh Dan, I do love you so much, and I am very thankful for you doing the floor tonight....but PLEASE be careful with those fingers! I think we need to insure them for additional $$$!!!!! :) :) :)

no pants required

Dan and I learned a LOT about our business when we went to the class in Virginia last week. The biggest thing we discovered that needed change was the amount of time we spend on things. We are always frantically switching between designing albums, updating blogs, contacting clients, marketing materials, furnishing the studio, etc, etc, etc....all while our girls are also pulling our attention. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to believe that muli-tasking is not as productive as just concentrating and getting one thing after another thing DONE at a time. 

ANYWAY.......there is a POINT! It is that we came home with a new schedule to follow. No more working 7 days per week. We will kill each other and close our doors. Sundays are our day off. No excuses, no exceptions. Family time. Period. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Dan and I work at the studio, taking appointments, and balancing Natalie's needs between us while Sammi is in school. On Tuesdays, I stay home with the girls and my JOB that day is to just be mom. Dan takes this role at home with the girls on Thursdays. The other person gets one solid uninterrupted day of work which is planned out ahead of time. Saturdays we are either shooting a wedding (grandparents watch the girls) or working in the studio with both girls. 

This week is our first attempt at our new schedule. On Tuesday I stayed home with the girls. We didn't do much...this summer I'd love to spend that day taking them to the pool or hanging out with other mommy friends of mine. I decided to put Natalie in the bouncy seat that hangs in a doorway and she loved it! Sam was being really sweet with her and we were having a good day, so I sent Dan the following photos to show him what we were up to...

Sammi loves to gently bounce Natalie in her new seat!

Natalie has to be held up by stuffing burp clothes down in the seat, but she loves it!

A little kiss for her sister. :)

I told Dan about the seat because I figured he would get a lot of use out of it on his first "daddy's day home", and he did! He sent me this photo this morning from his phone and put "No Pants Required" in the subject line. I'm not sure why, but Sam loves to take off her pants! What a funny girl!

No Pants Required  

Daddy had a great day at home with his girls today, and I got a ton done on my day at the office! So far, our schedule is working better than before but I do think we'll still want to find child care for Natalie very soon!!!! Step by step......please let me know if you know of any nannys looking for work in my area this summer or GOOD, affordable daycare! (We LOOOOOOOVE Sam's school but flat out cannot afford it for both girls!)

Love and Hugs!

natalie is 2 months old

Our little Miss Natalie is getting so big! She had her two month appointment today, but she is really 2.5 months old! She is a big girl! She is in the 80th percentile for weight (12 lbs 2 oz) and 75th percentile for height (23 inches)! To explain the percentile thing...being in the 80th percentile means that 20% of kids her age are heavier and 80% of kids are lighter! (More on her appointment later...)

I kept trying to get her cute smile on camera but I kept missing it! Hopefully we can do a real photo shoot soon and get some of those adorable grins!

Sammi and Natalie were with Grandma and Grandpa Brand while we were on workation. Sammi always has so much fun at grandma's and always comes home so tired from all the playing! 

Her first day home she went from reading and playing...

...to sound asleep on the floor in blankets she brought out from her bedroom! How funny...this was not during naptime, but 10:00 in the morning! :)

Natalie has not only been working on her beautiful smile, but has also been cooing and "talking" a lot lately! It's so sweet!

When Sammi was at grandma's, grandma had her do "chores" everyday. Sam was in charge of filling the dog bowl everyday. She was so excited about her responsibility that we made it her chore at home too! 

She lifts the lid and fills up a scoop with food...

Very carefully walks it around the kitchen table to the dog bowls...

Dumps it into the dog bowl...

Then loves to run back and get more!

I have mixed feelings on paying for chores. I know Sammi's way too young to learn about budgeting money, but I also feel it's never too early to start teaching. Part of me feels like the only way to teach about money is to let your children earn it and teach them what to do with it. (How would you learn without having any?) The other part of me feels like responsibilities around the house are all a part of living in the house and should be expected without pay. 

I really like an idea I heard a few years ago... The three piggy bank system. You get your child three piggy panks. One is for saving, one is for spending, and one is for giving. Of every dollar they earn or receive, 50% goes to spending, 40% to saving, and 10% to giving. (Of course, you can set them however you want, as long as you're consistent.) I don't really think it's too early to start this with Sam. I want to think on it a little. For now, I am enjoying the fact that she is enjoying her chores!

And now to Natalie's Doctor Update...

Natalie has a multitude of problems, all stemming from her acid reflux problems. The first few weeks of her life we thought she was an easy dream baby.... but she is a little (er, a lot) more difficult these days. Poor baby spits up all the time. She spits up while she eats, when she burps, and even 2 hours after eating has been known to randomly projectile vomit curdled milk. Ew. The spitting up itself is not a big deal, but the fussiness that it has brought on is very difficult.

Not only is it hard to see her in pain, but non-stop screaming for what sometimes is for hours is unbearable at times. When she is happy, she is the cutest thing! But, she cries a lot in the day and around 6pm goes absolutely psycho until we lay her in bed and she falls asleep.

Also, she has had a stuffed up yet runny nose for 3 weeks. I wondered if maybe she is allergic to something or has a cold. Dr. Rupp said that although it is totally possible she has a cold, that reflux babies tend to have upper respiratory problems which are causing her to not be able to breathe well and she chokes on the drainage. It's terrible.

We are going to change the way we give her the reflux medicine (all at once instead of 1/2 twice a day) and are also switching her to 100% AR formula. (We were mixing it with regular so her BMs wouldn't be so difficult.) Because we have to switch her formula, now we also have to put her on a stool softener. If all of this doesn't help, the doctor is going to double her medicine. 

Regardless of all of this, she does sleep pretty well at night, although her sleeping hours are totally unpredictable. Some nights she sleeps almost 10 hours straight and then goes back to sleep for 4 more hours. Other nights she's up every 4 hours but goes right back to bed. Hopefully soon we can expect her to sleep through every night! 

Other than her reflux problems, she is doing great. She HATES tummy time so she can't hold her head up when she's on her stomach. This worried me, but the doc said she does not like tummy time because her tummy is so sensitive with the reflux. She's not worried at all because Natalie has great head control when you hold her. She smiles and coos and grabs onto things, which is very fun to watch. 

So that's our update for now...I'm off to a photographer webinar! 

Love and Hugs!

workation

Our 4-day class in Virginia was just 45 minutes away from friends of ours, Chris and Dana, who live in Washington DC. We couldn't possibly drive the 12 hour trip without spending an evening with them before heading home! It was absolutely fantastic. Good friends, good food, good sightseeing, and a nice break from business before heading home.

I should have taken a photo of us trying to figure out the metro...even with our detailed directions from Chris! 150 people must have come and gone while we stared at the machines, trying to figure out: "Fare or pass? One way or two? For how much? Huh?!" What tourists we were!

We did make into the city, and arrived at the Navy Memorial station... 

From there we walked to the National Air and Space Museum.

We saw lots of amazing things, including the Apollo 11 command module and the lunar lander (not the one that's still on the moon, but one just like it)... so cool!

We walked by the Capitol Building the day we arrived. The next day, Dana had set up a tour through the Capitol for us. We also received special passes to sit in on the House of Representatives. For two politically-uninvolved people, it was very interesting and we felt so honored to get to see it! 

We also walked by the Washington Monument.

That night we met Chris and Dana at a fabulous tapas restaurant called Jaleo for lots and lots of food and catching up! (Bye bye, diet!!!) After that, they drove us all around the city, giving us a personal tour at night. The buildings were gorgeous and we learned a lot too! It was so fun. That night we stayed with them and stayed up way too late chatting --- well worth it! :)

Their dog, Puppy, joined us too!

Chris was sooo sweet to take the next day off to drive us around the city again! (He even cooked us an awesome breakfast!) After our Capitol tour, he drove us to the Lincoln Memorial. It was enormous and absolutely beautiful. 

Looking out the other way was the Washington Monument.

Chris and Dan.....high school buddies and college fraternity brothers!

On our way home we found an Ikea in Pittsburg to stock up on some shelves for the studio! It just wouldn't be a Brooke and Dan road trip without a stop at Ikea!!!

We loaded the car!

It's a good thing we did not pick up the girls until the next day!

Our trip was a wonderful experience...mostly work with a little vacation, that we are soooo glad we had the chance to do. Thanks so much, Chris and Dana, for being such amazing hosts and taking us in! We really hope to do it again soon...there is so much to see, learn, and appreciate in DC! And, it's always wonderful to see such good friends. :)

big head

I have a very big head right now. But not the arrogant kind of "big head".... the kind of head that has been stuffed with so much information over two days that I feel like it might just explode at any minute!!! (And we have two more days to go!)

Dan and I drove through six states in 12 hours on Thursday to get to Virginia for a photographers' financial software class.

A smile before ticket #1 for speeding in Indiana... #2 was for going through a yellowish-red light in Virginia...grr!

About 8 hours in, I jumped in the back seat to watch a movie...

3 hours to go... many coffee breaks!

We are transferring all of our books over to this new financial software, and it does so much more than I ever imagined it could that I think we need to come back every year to learn more! 

So I'd just like to say thanks...

Thanks to my amazing husband of 5 years for sharing this experience with me.

Thanks to this seminar and the people teaching it to allow us to grow our business.

Thanks to the great photographers we've met for sharing their businesses and lives with us here.

Thanks to Dan's parents for taking our two daughters, one of which isn't even sleeping through the night, so we can be here.

Thanks to my parents for taking care of our house, our studio, and our dogs so we can be here.

And thanks to God for giving us this amazing life! 

Here are a few photos of the girls last week (as I am looking through them anyway because I already miss them!) Don't get me wrong though... I am savoring EVERY minute of uninterrupted sleep this week!!!!! :)

Reece and Sammi playing at the park-

A cat came by to say hello.

Sammi likes to lean way back when swinging!

She is such a big girl!

At the studio one day, admiring the "beautiful princess" in the mirror!

Still loves to jump!

Making daddy laugh, as usual!

Jessie came in from Texas for a visit! See Cooper's photos on our professional blog by clicking HERE.

Playing "chase you" before leaving work one night, Samantha's FAVORITE game!

Good thing we have a nice big camera room to run!

"Come get me daddy!"

The night before we left Reece knocked on our door and Joe and Lisa asked if Sam could come out and play while we packed and got ready for our trip. Then, our next door neighbors came over and asked if they could walk our dogs for us because it was so nice out! We definitely have the Best. Neighbors. Ever. 

Best buds. :)

"Uncle Joe" teaching Sam how to pedal. 

We'll be home Wednesday with more photos to share! Now off to bed before another day of stuffing my head tomorrow!!!

Love & hugs!!!