First Steps!

So Owen started taking some steps behind a little push toy this weekend! It was SO cute! Each time he tries, he gets a little better!

Watching him learn so much in the past 8 months has been amazing. It seems like he just grows a little more each day and learns a little more each day. It truly is fascinating to see a baby, who has only been here a short while, be able to learn and comprehend so much. It really is a miracle.

Having Owen has completely changed my perspective on life. It also has changed the way I view my relationship with my heavenly Father. From the love I have for Owen, I have seen a teeny tiny glimpse of how God feels about me. That unconditional love is so powerful, and if I never had had a child, I'm not sure I would have grasped that. Its so refreshing to see God as my father, and not this big, bad judge peering down his nose at me. He is rooting for me. He wants me to succeed. For so long, I just had the wrong idea of who God is. No matter what Owen ever does to me, I will always love him and he will always be my son. I'm excited to know that no matter what I do to God, He will always love me and I will always be His daughter.

And knowing that God is rooting for me and not peering down his nose at me gives me the desire to do better because I know he wants me to, but he's not making me. I know these seem like simple concepts to Christians, but for some reason it had not clicked with me until I had my own child.

All this to say, I'm grateful God has blessed me with a child, and because of Owen, I am a better person. :)

Copy/paste the link below into your browser to see the video of Owen walking (not sure if you can click on it or not):
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1412922168868

Our crazy life...

So I keep naively thinking that "next month, our life will slow down a little bit." WRONG! I just looked at my April calendar today at work, and we have something going on every weekend in April except for one. Just ONE. It is crazy. So anyway, that is another reason I have failed to update the bloggy-blog, because between work, hubby, baby, church, new photography business (I'll get to that in a minute), friends, family, birthday parties, trips, website maintenace, facebook maintenance, my prayer life, my Bible reading, exercising, calorie counting....I'm just going to stop there because I'm exhausted just from reading that, but between everything going on, there is just no time. It has really become frustrating because I feel like in every area of my life, I am just treading water, just enough to stay afloat. I am never on the surface or ahead, I'm just always barely making it work. And that is not typical for me, so it has definitely been an adjustment.
One thing I've realized on this new ride of motherhood, you CANNOT have & do it all. I would like to think that if I was a stay-at-home mom, my house would be cleaner, more organized, more dinners cooked, etc. Not sure if that really happens since I see now that it is hard to get things done with a little one around. But I know for a FACT that I cannot do it all while working. I go to work, to the job that helps pay the bills, then I come home to the job that I truly love. And the funny thing is, the job I truly love is the harder one. But, I have learned that my house is going to looked lived in, and if someone drops by unexpectedly and sees our lived in house, I will just tell them "Welcome to our home! Just move the laundry over and have a seat or you can just sit right on top of it! Or better yet, why don't ya fold it?!" Haha...its kind of nice to be at that place..of realizing that I don't have to be perfect.
I think you have to let go of things and realize that its more important to play with your kiddos and spend time with your family than have a house that sparkles. So, I can TOTALLY deal with that. :) And, I mean, look at this sweet face. Wouldn't YOU rather love on him than do house chores? I THINK SO! :)

On the bright side, our yard guys will be starting soon, so that is one area I'm GLAD to let go of!
Ok, quick note about the photography business...it is just a side thing we are doing, more like a hobby that I get paid for! Which is great. It has really started picking up and I feel like with each shoot I learn a little more and get a little better. But I still have a ways to go and a lot to learn...which I am looking forward to!