VLV Photography

The days on the calendar seem to be zipping on by.  We’re almost to the end of May already and it seems at this rate, it won’t feel like we’ll have much of a summer.  My oldest turns 5 next Monday.  It feels like 5 years but only because so much has happened in our lives since he was born.  We’ve moved a few times, had two more kids, remodeled a couple homes, and then I started my business.

Reflecting on this Mother’s Day now passed, I would have to say so far, in this whole motherhood experience of mine, that the first 5 years seem to be the hardest.  I’ll probably change that notion once I have teenagers but for now that’s my feeling.  Little people go through so many changes and stages in those first {seemingly short} 5 years.  The responsibilities of parenthood haven’t really hit me until now either.  Once kids start asking questions that are diffiult to answer, then it’s a whole new ball-game!  They hang on your ever word and watch and learn from everything you do.  Parenthood is a huge responsibility and the goal of mine and my husband is to raise our kids to be responsible, productive citizens in society.  That is yet to be seen but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy all the silly things my son (and his sister’s) come up with and enjoy the ride!  I read a funny quote recently:  “If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylum would be filled with mothers.” ~Edgar Watson Howe  {my mother-in-law who is a teacher appreciated this one}  Right now mothers reading this are shaking their heads, saying to themselves “mmmm…hmmmm…Amen to that!”

Yesterday I attended the baptism of my newest nephew as his Godmother.  You may recall his newborn pics here.  Anyway, he made sure everyone knew he was hungry.  That boy has got a pair!  His mama can hear him a mile away, I’m sure of it! 

My oldest two had their first sleep-over at grandma’s house over the weekend as well.  They got spoiled and sugar-loaded and my daughter got primped with nail polish, make-up, rollers…..the works!  They’re excited to do it again.  I was originally going to just have my middle daughter, Alexandra {age 3 1/2} stay, but knowing that she would probably sleep better with her brother there, I had both of them go.  They look forward to the next sleep-over and I enjoyed the peace and quiet, which doesn’t happen too much these days!

Over the weekend I also signed up for Mozy, an online back-up storage service.  The program is in the process of backing up my entire computer in case my hard-drive were to just crash {knock on wood}.  Because, it isn’t a matter of IF your hard-drive will crash, but WHEN!  If you can say right now that everything on your computer is backed up, to include all your precious memories, music, important documents, etc., then you’re one step ahead.  However, if you have not taken the steps to safe-guard your digital memories or anything of importance, then you’re going to one day regret that decision!  I read a post recently on the Momtog Blog on this and actually immediately after reading it, I signed up.  I don’t know what took me so long but it’s done and once everything is backed up, I can sleep better knowing all my memories are preserved.  Now if you’re reading this as a client and thinking “oh my gosh, she doesn’t back up my images?”  No need to worry!  I back up everything on discs but that’s not the only process one should only depend on.  I also have an external hard-drive too, but those can crash just as easily as a hard drive on a computer.  Also,  discs degrade over time and just as you can usually find products in the categories of good, better, best;  the same holds true for discs.  So do your homework to find a product that works for you and back-up, back-up, back-up! 

And because no post is complete without a pic, here’s another from my session with adorable little Chaya

Until next week~Live, Laugh, and Love the one you’re with {because everything in life is better with someone to share it with}.