#motherhood inspired
Fall is here and it is always the busiest time of year for photographers. The foliage allows for the most beautiful backgrounds making it a perfect time to capture family photos. If you’re strapped for time or money this year, don’t fear, you can capture your own FOR FREE! Here are all my tips and tricks for taking great family photographs:
“Motherhood. Powered by love. Fuelled by coffee. Sustained by wine.”
How do you keep your sanity in motherhood? It is a topic that I personally struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Some days are great, while others, I feel like pulling my hair out. I just need a BREAK! I asked my friends on Facebook to help me with this one and I was overwhelmed by all the comments that I received (thank you!!). Let’s be honest, most mothers run the household. It just wouldn’t work without us! We keep track of absolutely everything, it’s like we have a giant daily schedule stapled to our foreheads. But how much time do we actually take for ourselves? Those minutes of “me time” are like gold to moms, so I’ve put together a checklist of ten things that you can do for yourself each week.
Whenever we have family come to visit us in Calgary, we transform into tour guides, trying to show off the beautiful province that we live in. It’s a vacation for them and a staycation for us. This past weekend, we headed to the Canadian Rocky Mountains to explore the crystal clear lake waters that make Alberta famous. If you haven’t been here, then come experience a little bit of heaven on earth.
I started this blog about a year and a half ago because I wanted to inspire other stay-at-home moms to not give in to the “mom-rut”. As moms, we are unanimously tired. There’s barely enough time to drink a cup of coffee and scarf down a piece of toast in the mornings, let alone time to shower, get dressed, do your hair and put on make-up. Well, I’m here to tell you, MAKE TIME. And this is why….
I’ve been waiting almost a year to be able to share photos of the time that my son and I spent on set, filming AMC’s Hell On Wheels. So with the final few episodes now airing and Cooper’s big debut revealed, I’m excited to finally share some stories and photos from our amazing experience.
Let me first say that there is nothing like being a part of the magic of show business…
I’m a thirty-something mom of two little boys and I live a three and a half hour plane ride from the nearest family. Starting a family was something that both my husband and I really wanted. I knew it was going to be tough, being without grandparents to help but I didn’t care, I wanted babies. I would stay at home and raise them, like my mom did, and he would go to work everyday to provide for us. The plan was in place. And after three pregnancies and the birth of two beautiful boys, our family was complete.
And I was happy. I loved (and still do!) being home and being a mother. It’s the hardest and most rewarding “job” there is in life. But what maybe I wasn’t so prepared for was how mentally and physically exhausted I would be some days. A cup or two of coffee in my favourite mug from The Top Knot Boutique and a glass of wine were things I looked forward to every single day.
After awhile, something started creeping in: resentment. I would watch my husband every morning: wake up well rested, get dressed up in a nice suit, take his travel mug of hot coffee and head with purpose to the office. He’d come home at 6:00 (or later) every night telling me of the nice lunch he’d had at a restaurant downtown or the beer he’d shared after work. All the adult things he got to partake in. Then there was me: feeling like if I had to deal with one more tantrum, change one more diaper, do one more load of laundry, or empty the dishwasher one more time, I was going to go outside onto the front porch and scream.
My heart goes out to all the families affected by the wild fires in Fort McMurray. On special days like Mother’s Day, a time for love and family, so many people are experiencing absolute devastation. Their homes and neighbourhoods destroyed and they have lost everything. I know that safety is always the number one priority and obviously lives are way more important than tangible items. But I don’t think we should disregard how important some things are to us too. How do you put a value on those sentimental objects?
It got me thinking about the contents of my home. If my home was on fire, and I could save one thing, what would it be? What’s something that no amount of money could replace? After only a moment’s thought I decided it would be a letter from my mother…