I’m going to try to make this post quick because I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to put it together. I’m now a mama of three and life just got way busier than it was a few weeks ago. Why? Because Miss Natalie Vella came into the world… 🙂

Our Natalie was born on January 11th at 5:36 in the morning. She was 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 20 inches long. My contractions started just before midnight on the 10th and after four hours of laboring at home and trying to convince myself I wasn’t really in labor, we found ourselves at the hospital ready for delivery 10 days before my due date. I was strapped into my hospital bed shortly before 4am and little miss came less than two hours later! I was told I’d have a quick and easy delivery, and I did. 

The name Natalie had been at the top of our girl list for some time, but June and Virginia were also recent contenders and I honestly thought Natalie wouldn’t be our baby’s name if it were a girl. But after she came and got washed up, I knew June and Virginia didn’t fit. And where did “Vella” come from? It actually comes from my friend Jason who suggested it back in November. My maiden name is Vilella and I wanted to incorporate it into her name somehow. I originally thought of the middle name “Vi” for a girl, but when Jason suggested a variation of Vilella instead, I loved it! So Vella is a simple nod to Vilella and my Italian family. 🙂

Life with three kids ages five and under has been nothing shy of challenging. Two kiddos in diapers, one needing to be at school by 8:40 every day, another needing to eat every 2-3 hours…there’s a lot going on with my three little monsters! But we’re learning and trying to make the best out of every situation. And really, it’s all a matter of adjustment and balance, which is why I’ll be on maternity leave for a little while. From now until mid-April, I’m planning to do as little work as needed so I can concentrate on taking care of Natalie at home. And I’m glad I’ve set things up the way I did because I’ve already found it challenging to do the littlest of things for the business…like write complete emails and write this blog post.

So during this leave, I’ll be emailing when I can (instead of a 24-48 hour turnaround, it may be a few days to a week turnaround) and hopefully sharing some blog posts along the way (I still have sessions and weddings to share from 2015…aahhh!) I’ll be doing a few sessions during this time, but have made my calendar very limited in terms of shooting. And I don’t have a wedding until May 28th! While it may seem like I’m MIA over the next few months, it’s probably because I am…ha! But I’ll be doing my best to keep JFP active and of course I’ll be sharing updates of Natalie and the kiddos, too. 🙂 

I thank you in advance for your patience during my maternity leave and I’m sorry  that I won’t be able to accommodate everyone. This time with my new bundle and my family will be so great and I’m definitely looking forward to some time off. Hopefully I can return with a bang this spring!