A Long Overdue Update

Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? I have received some really sweet comments of concern sent to my business email address lately, and a couple here on the blog, too - from people who wanted to check and make sure everything was ok, since, as my mother recently reminded me, "the last blog post you did was on August 20!" Rest assured, everything is going very well here. The girls are good, Nolan is good and so am I. I've just become a bit overwhelmed with trying to keep the household and my new business afloat and as much as I didn't want to do it, I decided that blogging needed to be put on the back burner for a little while. It was either blogging or my sanity, given all that I was trying to crunch into my 24 hours. I am sorry if I have caused anyone to be concerned! I'll try to do a quick catch up on the last month or so and then hope to post a bit more regularly, as I am taking the rest of the month and all of December off. WOO HOO!!!! I love my job, I truly do. I am just looking forward to a break from having to juggle family, editing, sessions and all of the never-ending administrative tasks that come with running your own small business. Plus, we have a fun family getaway planned that I hope to blog about in the coming weeks. YAY!

So, here's just a little bit of what we've been up to...

Mia turned 5 in October. Boo hoo hoo. Where has my baby gone? She looks and acts so big - although she is still outrageously funny!

She had a cheer-themed birthday party, which turned out to be lots of fun for her and her friends.

Leila got glasses. I think she partially needed them and partially wanted them because some of her friends have them. :)

My brother and his family moved from a state away to just 15-minutes away. It is so great to have them so close. We were able to attend a few of Jorge's football games, one of Lucy's soccer games and play lots and lots of four-square over the past couple of months. We visited our favorite pumpkin patch a few weeks ago. And yes, that pose is all Mia. I catch her making this pose in the mirror many mornings. That girl is too funny!!! :)

My beautiful niece, Lucy.

And my adorable nephews, Jorge & Joe.

The mini- zip line for Mia.

The big zip line for Kara and Leila.

And then, of course, there's Halloween. We had a Toy Story "Jessie", a gypsy and a scarecrow pay a visit to our house this year.

Kara had to work hard to make this "mean" scarecrow face. She kept bursting into laughter.

And our most recent "happening" at our house was a trip to the E.R. yesterday for Mia to get three stitches in her upper lip. She was hit by a flying toy truck in Sunday School yesterday morning. I was so proud of her. She was so big and brave and didn't flinch as she got the stitches. I, on the other hand, almost passed out and ended up kneeling on the floor asking the Dr. to go get my husband for me. Here, my baby girl is taking it like a champ and I couldn't bear the sight of that fish hook (NOT what I was expecting!!) going through her sweet little lip. Fortunately, Mia was concentrating so hard on staying still, I don't think she even noticed that my words of encouragement were coming from the floor and not beside her. lol!

We still ended up making it to a Chinese tea party a little over an hour later. Mia and her friends learned some history of tea and were able to pour their own and sample three different kinds. Then, they worked on a craft project. It was such a fun little play date/party for the girls.

Well, that's it for now. Thanks again to those who reached out to check in on us. I'm sorry that I had anyone worried. I'll try to do better.