1.20.2013

Project 52 | THREE




From the time we were little my mom always emphasized, "She's your only sister!" I can remember being invited to play at my next door neighbor friend's house and she said, "I'm only inviting you, not your sister." When I went to ask my mom she said, "What about Denice?" I mumbled, "She only invited me, not Denice." Knowing it was in a mean spirit that this invitation had been made my mom told me I wasn't allowed to go and that I'd have to tell my friend. After coming back in the house, my mom again emphasized, "She's your only sister and friends who are mean to your sister aren't very good friends."

Today, my sisters are two of my very best friends. We love like sisters, laugh like sisters and {hardly} fight like sisters. I don't expect Cash and Grey to always get along, but I do expect them to love each other, respect each other and remember that they only have one brother (for now). ;) I hope to instill in them the love for each other that my mom instilled in us.

Right now, each morning Cash wakes up and want to be with "Gwayson." He likes to make him laugh, cuddle him and show off for his little brother. Right now Grey adores his big brother Cash. He follows his every move, laughs at his antics and is the only one who can get away with touching his brother's face.

I just know they're going to be good friends.

1.12.2013

Project 52 | TWO



BE LITTLE

Let them be little
Cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise
Give them love everyday
Let them cry, let me them giggle
Let them sleep in the middle
Let them be little

I love the words to this song. Cash is a walking tornado. Quite literally. He reminds me of Linus from Peanuts...minus the dirt flying around him. Haaa! Okay, half the dirt. My kid actually loves bath time. There are things that he likes to do a certain way and is very particular about. I find myself constantly asking the question if I stopped him from doing something a certain way is it me just hating to be inconvenienced for him being little or is this a habit I should kill now. I want him to experience being little. I want to have stories of his nuances that drove me nuts when he's twenty years old and taking care of himself. I want the home videos that show what our house REALLY looks like when the curtains are closed because I'd be embarrassed if anyone ever saw the inside our living room when we're trying to get out of the house. He won't always be little. He won't always want to play by the window, he won't always be into Thomas the Twain and Di'osaur Twain. I love his little bedtime prayers. I love how he pronounces everyone's names. Grandpa Al=Gwampa Owwwwl. 

I love him little. 

1.05.2013

Project 52 | ONE


I had decided before the new year started that I wanted to do a sort of personal project for my family and kiddos. There's a blog that I peek in on time to time and I noticed she did a project and used this theme for her 2012. I loved the idea. It was so personal. Spoke to me about the little things I'd love to tell my children at this age but know they wouldn't understand. At the end of the year I plan on putting it into an album form and keeping it as an heirloom. It was also to help me develop a consistent habit of blogging. I love to write but don't often find the time to sit down at a computer and type out my thoughts.

Watching how each of my boys develop has been so fun. Both of them are early teethers (Grey is popping out his second tooth already and he's only 4 months), Cash wasn't bothered with teething, Grey is very much a spitty, slobbery, raspberry blower kind of teether. Cash was more interested in sitting up, got frustrated when he couldn't and loved to watch everything around him. Grey is so chill. Loves his hands, loves his feet, could care less that his brother is a walking tornado while he lays on the ground. 

I'm really looking forward to this year. Happy 2013!

1.01.2013

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year! I am so incredibly excited for this year and everything that is changing with Urban Rose Photography and want to explain some things. This is the same stuff I would tell you if we sat down at Starbucks for a cup of coffee and explained what was going on in my life. So have a cup with me friend. :)

For years I have run Urban Rose as more of a hobby. I picked it up about 4 years ago and really honed the craft. I love to pick up my camera for a shoot and browse Amazon longing for new equipment. Currently, I work a part time job to help pay the bills and help out in our household. I sit in front of a computer balancing books and working as an office manager for a local company here in town. My kiddos go with my mom 2 days a week and a family friend a third day. The rest of the week I'm shuffling kids, cleaning house and ignoring laundry. Honestly, I was mostly okay with this set up until I had a second child. It got exponentially harder. I no longer had the time that I wanted to grow my hobby into a full fledged business, work, be mom and wife. By the time I crawled into bed I was exhausted and knew I was killing myself. I began to evaluate my priorities realizing I couldn't keep going this way. I shut down for the end of the year, with the exception of doing mini sessions I didn't shoot much, took some online photography business classes and began to restructure my hobby with a goal of being able to turn it into a business. My goal is to be able to work from home and have the flexibility to be the mom and wife I  know I need to be. If I have to work then I want it to be for myself and family. I love being a mom. I love being a wife. I love being a photographer.

That being said I knew it was time to restructure. I feel like I've acquired the knowledge, studied on the business and have a pretty good knowledge of photography. All I needed was a system. So I sat down and hammered it out. I worked on what I wanted to offer, who my target client is, chose the framing company I wanted to work with, how I wanted to present my business and strategies to network with other business, friends and previous clients. It has been a lot of work and late nights but I am so happy with the way it's developing. The primary thing that changed is that from here on out everything that comes out of my business will be a finished product! This means frames, keepsakes and albums. I will work with you step by step through every bit of your session, premier and delivery of your final product. 

I'm looking forward to growing my business but I'm more looking forward to meeting new friends, new clients, new kiddos and new families. I'm looking forward to 2013 and a fabulous year!