I just posted about how getting these pictures done was a bit crazy and I wasn't sure if it was going to happen at all, so I thought I would post some!

1. 35 weeks today - 5 weeks to go! Ah!




2. My Christmas shopping is done and I am just about ready for Christmas - I just need to wrap a few more things and get one more thing in the mail!

3. This is my last week of babysitting kids. That makes the baby coming even more real!

4. I think I might be done wearing jeans until this baby is born.

5. We have a name for this baby!

6. Ava stopped waking up at 2 or 3 am every night. I might be jinxing it but sleep feels so good! Have to enjoy it while it lasts.

7. A week until Christmas! And my transmission needs some help or some replacing so the Jeep is parked at the mechanic's. Probably for Christmas. :(

8. Thursday is my birthday and I am going to celebrate by taking a nap!

9. We finally got a few family pics taken! After rescheduling like 5 times because of the weather and having the Jeep quit on the way there we still managed to get a few pics with all three of us and some of just me and the bump and with Ava and I. I haven't seen any yet but Mandy is great so even though it was absolutely freezing I'm sure we got some good ones. I was getting nervous that this baby was going to get here before I could get maternity pics! Now to decide on Christmas cards. If you don't get them done until after Christmas do you still send 'em?

10. I am slowly checking things off my "before baby" to do list. Being done editing all of my weddings and having all of the Christmas gifts done for clients has taken a huge load off!

1. Sciatica. Is killing me. I am blogging because I laid down with Ava and can't get out of bed. The searing shooting pain just gets worse as this baby gets bigger. And I've been stretching! Ava has been more clingy and wanting to be picked up and I lift her into and out of her carseat and that makes it so much worse. Groceries, vacuuming, anything involving bending or lifting makes it worse. I think two kids is good. I feel like I'm 90.

2. I am catching up on editing! Still behind but getting there! I am done shooting weddings for the year now so that makes a difference.

3. My goal this year was to be all done my Christmas shopping in November. Well I haven't really started. But it's not too late right? I just need to finish editing three weddings and some other sessions in the next two weeks, too. And a whole list of other things I wanted to have done before December. When you have lots of editing to do the days fly by!

4. Ava is 2! I can't believe I have been a mom that long. I love that kid! She makes my day every day. She isn't a baby anymore but I think I squish her and hug and kiss her almost as much as I did when she was. It's crazy how all of a sudden your baby is telling you stories and chatting with you and counting and telling you shapes and colors and having an opinion and remembering so much! I am trying really hard to just soak up the last couple of months of just Ava and me time.

5. I am still getting family pics done this year but they will be in the snow! Next year we are doing warm weather and not putting it off for when I'm not busy because that just doesn't happen.

6. I want to get out the Christmas decorations! I keep telling myself just one more wedding, or one more session....

7. I think I figured out my in-law's Christmas present. That is the hardest every year!!

8. Clark is helping coach basketball and he has Council meetings and other committee meetings with that so he is gone most nights. Ava doesn't go to sleep very well for anyone but me apparently (and not even me) so i may just not leave the house in the evening this winter!

9. I am trying to not go crazy buying newborn girl props for January.

10. I am speaking in church on Sunday. It's stressing me out. It's not the first time in my life so I don't know what the deal is.

11. Maybe 10 has something to do with the fact that I taught Relief Society a couple of weeks ago and totally bombed. It just did not come together. Oh man. I'm sure some of the ladies just look at me and think "what is she doing here??"

12. I feel like I am learning about saying "No" lately. Sometimes the hard way. I am just not quite as amazing as I would like to be and I can't do everything I want to/need to. And I hate letting people down or disappointing them. This summer/fall being pregnant and babysitting kids and editing I feel like I am not doing much of anything else that I want to/need to. I finally remembered 15 on the 15th today. I didn't capture the day as perfectly or artistically as I would have liked but I took pictures so at least we have some everyday life captured!

13. We have our Super Saturday tomorrow! We have such creative, talented women in our ward!

I finally took my own child's picture! I take snapshots on a more regular basis but lately I haven't taken any "good" pics of my little girl. She was wearing her dress from church already so we took a few minutes and I'm so glad we did!

1. Yesterday I realized that if I was going to get my passport application in the only day I could go was today. So Ava and I took a quick little trip today. I was nervous about her sitting and being quiet so I took my iPad and I had my phone ready with Netflix but she was so good and just sang songs with me (in the car) and looked at books and entertained herself. It was so fun to spend a day with just me and her. 

I am working with a few other awesome photographers on a new project! We each have a day and we submit an image to a blog - thelightchasers.wordpress.com.

I have been taking an online class through the Chic Critique Forum to get organized. And I've loved it! It has been 6 weeks of reading assignments and homework assignments and actually getting organized! Assignments included organizing your office, your email, putting together outfits so you have something to wear when meeting with clients, and taking "me" time for yourself.

1. We got a trampoline and Ava loves it.

2. Our anniversary was on Thursday. I had kids come at 7 am so I was a little distracted with that and didn't even think about it until Clark wished me a Happy Anniversary. Oops.

3. Loved the long weekend! We took a nice little drive to Lethbridge and looked at plants and yard stuff. I don't remember the last time I was in Lethbridge when I wasn't in a rush to get back for something. So nice to just do whatever and take our time.

4. I built my garden boxes! The second one of the two is a lot better than the first. Guess I learned a few things in the process! It was fun. The dirt is coming tomorrow or Thursday and I have most of my seeds. I am a few days behind but oh well!

5. I hung curtains in my bedroom. Checking another thing off the to do list that took way too long!

6. I put Ava's closet organizer together which I am very excited about. I think I put it off forever thinking it was super complicated but anyway it is finally done!

7. I sorted through my closet and got rid of some super old clothes. Like too old to post on the swap 'n buy. It feels good to have some space in the closet! (Time to fill it up...haha)

8. I got two sessions edited during Ava's nap since I had no kids to babysit for most of today. And I got them in the mail. :) The house was so quiet - I even did laundry and folded it!
I felt so productive today. I have been doing better at working out and I have noticed I have more energy. Until 8 pm when I am done. Just like my dad.

9. I went for a run in the rain and I loved it. Love a good run in the rain.

10. My word for this year is DO and I have really been trying to put it into practice this week. I have a big list for tomorrow. Also, I really want to make a summer bucket list. I was reading about a family that made one and it sounded like so much fun!

Our day in 15 photos - this is harder than it might look! :) A really good job of this challenge would mean that the pictures spoke for themselves. I'm still getting there, so some of these have descriptions.


 
Waving goodbye to dad as he leaves for work.







Ava's new thing is blowing bubbles in the water during bathtime. I tried it out and of course got my whole face wet.



I found some mini clips and we tried them out for the first time

1. I finally have a place to hang a towel in my main bathroom. And I kinda like using a drill. I got a new little shelf for my entryway with hooks for coats. It's funny how excited you can get over such little things. My house is so bare and un-decorated that any progress is pretty exciting. :)

2. We are getting a fence!! The holes are dug for the posts - I can't wait! We are lucky to have awesome neighbors - one of whom is building the fence for us.

3. I went to the dentist after way too long and no cavities! This made me way happier than it probably should have. It's like getting a good report card when you're too old to get report cards.

4. My baby brother graduated! I went to the whole day of grad in Taber. I am so old, but I'm so proud of him. :)



5. In a few weeks one of the kids I babysit will be done so I just took on two new kids. Kids are tiring, I'm not gonna lie, but I've lucked out with good kids so far. I am so excited for a fence to contain them so I don't have to worry about the street as much.

6. My little girl is getting so big. On Saturday my mom told me I didn't have a baby any more. She just looks and acts so big to me lately. And she won't stop growing.

7. Our anniversary is this week - 4 years. Wow.




8. Tonight I was just so tired after a kind of long day and Clark fed Ava supper, changed a poopy diaper without even complaining, and told me to go take a bath. Best thing ever. I had a brownie for supper. Nice huh? The lengths I will go to, to get out of cooking. For the record, Clark and Ava finished off the leftovers.

9. Mother's Day - I have the best mom ever. And Clark got me the orchids I wanted, and garden boxes. I think that's the most practical gift I've ever been excited about. How your priorities change over time...

10. I really should have learned my lesson by now and started wearing shoes all day every day in the house. I can't believe how often you get things dropped on your toes and step on and run into stuff when you have kids around. This morning Ava dropped my iPad on my toe, corner down, and let me tell ya, it was almost as bad as stepping on lego.

1. The Purolator truck came today during the 5 minutes I took to shower. Sad. This time I will get that little sticker!

2. My kid has discovered how fun it is to tell me no. Emphatically. To anything I ask. Fun!

3. I am so excited about spring. I sat in my driveway for an hour today watching the kids play, in the freezing wind in a coat hoping for just a little color on my legs.

4. Still excited about the garden.

5. My little brother graduates from high school on Saturday. Which means I have a high school reunion coming up next year. Yuck.

6. I almost cried on Thursday from embarrassment. It was a just-gotta-survive, tired, up-all-night-editing-not-cleaning kind of day (which is rare for me lately) and I actually got dressed and had makeup on so I was feelin' pretty good! Until a friend stopped by with her mother to tour my house. Oh my. I completely forgot. The bathrooms had been cleaned the day before so no icky toilets or anything but watching a lot of kids all week (extras) = destroyed house. And it looked pretty presentable two days before and the day after. Ok I can't talk about it anymore - it's still too fresh. Awful.

7. I started interviewing my grandma to help her write her personal history and I am learning so much about her. It 's really cool.

8. The Mother's Day giveaway is over and I'm so excited for the winner. She just had a baby a week ago. And i just have to say, people are so nice! So many deserving moms.

9. I just got a new soft box and it feels like Christmas and it feels like my life will never be the same. And I'm almost not even exaggerating. And my new pocket wizards will be here tomorrow. New lighting equipment=better reception pics, better studio pics and more fun!

10. I never made the maxi dress for Ava. I had to reschedule a grad shoot and I missed the sewing night I was going to. So one of these days I will get around to it. And Ava's ABC book for church.

11. I took Ava to Costco for groceries and she fell asleep in the cart. She didn't wake up when I moved her into the car, either. I had her passport photo taken and I'm not sure why her hair is slicked so flat to her head. Poor kid.

12. I got a call from Scranton, PA and I instagrammed a pic of it. Yes I am a desperate housewife. ;)