Since my last blog post a few years ago, not too much has changed but so much has changed at the same time. I went back to office work. Something I realized after the initial adjustment, I really needed. I needed the adult interaction. I needed to challenge myself to learn new things and have the ability to help the employees I serve. I have learned that working full time without my daughter 24/7 is hard but also so very beneficial for us. I miss her while I am at work but she has blossomed being in school. She is the teacher’s helper. She loves to help take care of the babies. Something I am sure she picked up from watching me take care of children while I nannied with her by my side. My baby is also not a baby anymore. She is now four years old, very independent and head strong. 

 

Dakota is sweet, chatty, helpful and funny. She knows how to make us laugh when she is in the midst of getting in trouble. She is smart. She can tell us where we are going by the road we are on, something that I cannot do as a 30 year old. Her favorite person is Wonder Woman and she wants to be just like her. She wants to fight off the bad guys and be tough just like Wonder Woman. Raising this little Wonder Woman is challenging on a good day. She is just too smart, too quick to justify a behavior she thinks is ok and she is too cute for my own good. 

As a parent, you give up a lot of things. Some things you don’t miss but some things you do. Free time, sleeping in, drinking a whole cup of coffee before it gets cold, being able to potty by yourself, using a more adult word for “potty” and other things along those lines. The thing I have missed the most is I gave up doing photography for the last four years. At first, I gave it up because I was just so tired all the time, then I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her after I started my office job but now that she is older, I am picking it back up again. Photography has been part of my life since I was 8 years old. It started with a disposable camera and the land we owned. In high school, I was able to get my first digital camera and I focused on sports photography. As an adult, I was busy most weekends with family photography. I didn’t realize how much I missed it until recently. I have since decided to jump back into it so with several sessions booked, a new camera and my little Wonder Woman by my side, I can’t wait to get back to the work I love!