Why is it that the week after vacation always kicks you in the tail? It makes the vacation feel like a memory with real life stretching far and wide in front of you with no breaks in sight.

Or is it just me?

We got home one week ago today but it seems like a lifetime. And I hate that.

This week I had 4 Fresh Art sessions, 2 Jodified sessions and 1 NILMDTS session. My sister and her family were in town, as was my Aunt, Uncle and 3 cousins plus a second Aunt… I barely got to see any of them. Grayson ran a fever for 4 days until we finally got him to the doctor where my diagnosis of MOLARS was wrong and he really had a raging ear infection due to the fact that his tube had come loose in one ear. Chris also started back to school which meant I was scrambling for sitters while I worked 7 sessions.

Maybe it’s just that this WEEK felt like a lifetime which pushed back the joy of vacation further than I’d have liked.

Anyway. I’m tired. I woke up tired. I went to bed tired. I’m sure I’ll be tired all day. And last night as I was working I realized that my tiredness is finally starting to effect my life in major ways. Because with three kids 4 and under of course I’m going to be tired. But it was worse with three kids under three. And bad when I had two under two. I’ve been tired for about 4 years now. But I always put on a happy face and masked my true exhaustion fairly well, allowing it to rear it’s ugly head very rarely. But NOW with a growing business PLUS my real life I’m faltering.

And I don’t know why I got on this tangent, I’m tired and my stream of consciousness is in full force it seems.

I think I’m telling you all this because I get asked daily in person or via email HOW DO YOU DO IT ALL? NO SERIOUSLY, HOW DO YOU DO IT?

And the answer?

I don’t sleep.

Every spare second I have I am working. And when I’m behind like I am right now I work really late. And my kids still wake up at night a lot with bed wetting, nightmares, general wakefulness so even when i should be sleeping I’m usually not. And my kids get up EARLY. 5:30am early. So when I hit the sheets at 1:30am, one kid wakes up at 2am, another one wets the bed at 3am and Chris is waking me up at 6am so he can leave for school… you do the math.

But we need my money. We need me to work. Hard. We need my business to keep growing so there isn’t such a strain on C’s teaching salary. And in a funny not laughable way I HAVE to work or I would go insane. I love working. I love blogging. I love new client inquiries. I love my camera and creating art out of everyday life with it. I love Photoshop and my computer. I may go to Mommy hell for saying this but I need the break from my kids this allows.

Whew.

So those of you that really wonder HOW I DO IT?

Just know I am tired. Know I work really fast when I need to. Know I am beyond passionate about growing my business and getting better at my craft. And please please please know that I fail at most things every single day. Not getting back to clients right away, taking forever to get prints delivered, keeping track of the money going in and out, keeping my office clean. And that doesn’t even begin to cover what suffers in my real life like playtime with my kids, friendships, etc.

But do you want the REAL answer to the question?

I do it because I love it. Every single part of it. Even the parts I hate, I love.

Now how about some freaking photos? HA!

This is another Florida session but they are actually from Missouri! We met at a flea market where Elizabeth had the cutest booth around! I told her I loved her stuff and asked if she had a website? She said no but that she was thinking about starting a blog. I gave her my card and told her to email me if she wanted help getting a blog up and running. Instead she called to book a session in Florida! So fun!

And her family was so sweet… I could have taken her daughter home with me!

Thanks Elizabeth+family! You guys were SO great to work with and I appreciate your patience in seeing your sneak peek!

Next up is my last Florida session and I KNOW Jessica is dying to see them! Either tonight or tomorrow Jess!

And I had a super cute session last night to share also.

AND head over to Fresh Art to see what we were up to this week also!

AND thanks for reading if you got through my ramblings at the start of this post!

WINNER announced tomorrow from yesterday’s post! Thanks for all the comments!