One day last week I found myself sitting in bed, editing on my laptop and waiting for the Today show to come on…well before sunrise. That was a JFP first. Sure I had gotten up before sunrise to do work before, but never was I able to do it while sitting in bed (thanks Apple for a wonderful laptop!).

But why was I working in bed when I could have been sleeping in bed? Jack had been up at 4:15am for a feeding and then I had to pump. 5:30 rolled around and I felt pretty wide awake. So I decided to take advantage of the quiet, alone time and get some work done.

Lately, I haven’t been able to get very much work done. My weekdays are filled with 30 miles round trip to preschool, grocery shopping, taking care of a newborn, doing laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, going to the post office, finding activities for Ally, attending MOPS meetings, trying to exercise, AND doing JFP! Yes, life is super busy! So, as a stay-at-home, small-business-owner mom, photographer and wife, I’ve got another confession to make…

I need to cut back when it comes to the biz. I need to stop expecting so much from myself and assume that I’ll be able to get as much JFP work done as I want. Because the reality is, there will always be something way more important knocking at my door…and that something usually includes twenty little toes and twenty little fingers.

During the daytime, my kids come first. If the kids are crying, hungry or need changed, I need to be ready to be there…not preoccupied with what’s going on on my laptop, or what I think needs to be done for JFP. Those little toes and fingers cannot wait, but some things with JFP can. So I’ve decided to cut back. I have personal pictures to blog, weddings to submit for publishing, website images to update, equipment to sell, a client welcome packet to revamp…and unfortunately, I don’t have time to accomplish those right now. So instead of feeling behind or overwhelmed because things aren’t getting done, I need to invest in what matters most and only do what my business absolutely needs.

Four major aspects of JFP will remain on the daily to-do lists for the near future. Sessions/weddings/meetings, editing/album design, emails/administrative stuff (blah, taxes and “the books”), and blogging. And even within the four, there are some limitations. I’m not going to be able to do many sessions during the week…things are going to need to be more “spaced out”. Editing and album design turnaround times may be a little longer. Email responses may take up to 48 hours (or more on the weekends…I try to stay away from the computer on Saturdays and Sundays) instead of 24 hours. And blogging may only occur 2-3 times each week instead of 4-5 times. If I’m able to do things a little better than that, I’ll make it happen. But I don’t want my expectations or the expectations of my clients and followers to be left unmet.

So things may seem “light” over here with less Facebook activity, less blog posts and less “new stuff”, but know that it’s only temporary. As soon as I’m better adjusted to life with two kiddos and figure out exactly how much I’ll be able to do during busy season, JFP will be back in full swing…and hopefully I’ll be back with some new ideas and new adventures so my biz can grow even more! Maybe a large workshop, website/blog overhaul, new client sites/online galleries!? I don’t love that I don’t have time for such things, and by no means am I complaining. But this stage of stay-at-home, small-business-owner mom, photographer and wife life is calling for some re-evaluation and re-prioritizing so I can give fair attention to each of my “jobs”, not just my paying job. I thought two months of maternity leave would be all I need, but I clearly wasn’t aware of how much my attention would be needed in areas besides JFP.

Cutting back is going to be challenging and I’m going to have to get used to “letting things go” (for a short while, at least), but again, I need to invest in what matters most, and that’s my family. I’m going to make sure I have enough time and energy to give to them.

And because I’ve been really bad at blogging Jack’s first two months AND because both kiddos are currently upstairs sleeping AND because I don’t have any sessions or weddings to edit, I’m going to share some personal pictures! Here’s Jack at just under a month old (I’m soooo behind!!!) when he met both my grandmas and had some portraits taken with Brian…

Daddy and son. 🙂

And Ally’s always right there to check on Jack!

You should see Jack now…cheeks are WAAYYY chubbier!

Miss Ally with Jack-a-rooni and my dad!

Great-grandma Smith meeting Jack for the first time…

And Great-grandma Vilella, too!

A few “accidental portraits” in Jack’s room…

I made that banner for Ally’s room before she was born. Jack’s room is set up almost identical to Ally’s when she was a baby…

So again, this post is not me complaining. It’s simply a confession of what needs fixin’ in my life right now and an update on what to expect of JFP over the coming months. I love my kiddos, my family and my biz, and I’m going to make all three work simultaneously as best I can. 🙂