Last week I had to stay at the Grand Californian (after trying to check into the wrong hotel-haha), while I photographed a few events over the course of a couple of days. Little T, Grandma K, and Big T met up with me on Friday night. On Saturday morning, Little T woke up and was amazed that the moon had disappeared from the window (we had the blinds open). He was moon gazing all night, sweet baby boy.

After we woke up, we went to Disneyland for a little bit. Little T met all of the princesses at the new Fantasy Faire, and was quite the little charmer. He’s learned that the ladies really enjoy it when he blows them kisses, and had a blast telling Cinderella and Snow White about every single cut, bruise, and scrape he’d ever gotten, and then threw in that he really really loved basketball.

He didn’t know who Princess Aurora was, so he told her all about how he’d just met Snow White and Cinderella, while probably wondering why this Aurora lady was dressed up so fancy.

After we met with the princesses, we had to change hotels and move to the Disneyland Hotel. Big T and I photographed an awesome wedding that night until about 1:30 in the morning, but this didn’t stop Little T from waking us up at 7:00.

We went swimming in the pool for a while, then drove over to San Diego for Baby N’s birthday party. By this time, I was too exhausted to lift a finger and couldn’t take any more photos!

Last week, I got to be a part of an art show in Pomona that features local artists. When we got there, my display kind of fell apart, ack!

Big T and I were the oldest people there, and my photography was by far the most cheerful. We decided that in order to fit in, next time we’ll need to take angsty pictures of parenthood like dramatic photos of Big T at 6 in the morning with Little T jumping on the bed trying to wake him up. Holy moly, we’re getting old. I may or may not have needed a glass of wine the size of my head to get through the night.

On Friday we drove up to Fresno. I was amused that Big T’s head was cut out of this picture, and told him I was going to make it my Facebook profile, heh heh. We celebrated my mom’s birthday, and had the hardest time fitting all those candles on her cake.

We took Little T to the park and played for a while:

I can’t decide, is it lazier to not use your arms and bend over to get a drink, or to do it the usual way?

On Sunday, we went to celebrate the life of my late step sister at her memorial service. There were so many people there, which just goes to show how so very loved she was. Here’s Little T with his cousins after the memorial.

We’ve mastered the art of a four hour drive with a two year old, and came up with this sticker reward chart. Every time he is good and gets to certain places on the map, he gets a Cars sticker. If he gets all the stickers, he gets a lollipop. This kid is super motivated by lollipops.

In one week, going to two birthdays, two weddings, and a memorial service made me realize how important our family is. They’re the ones who get us through life. The good times, the hard times, and the bad times. So I’ll end this post with a quote that I love,

“Family, we may not have it all together-but together we have it all”.

The other day I was doing a photo shoot that I’m not allowed to talk about (teehee). I’d been communicating with everyone who was collaborating for the shoot through e-mail, and was excited to finally meet everyone in person. I kind of ran through the day in my head, thinking about how I’d wear my hair in one of those trendy hair knots with an outfit that looked stylish and still functional. You know, I was doing all those girly things you do when you’re trying to make a nice impression. I should have guessed that this was a recipe for some sort of embarrassing moment, because that always seems to be the way things roll around here.

On the day of the shoot, I had those exciting little butterflies swirling around in my stomach. It had felt like we’d been planning this shoot out forever and I was happy the day was finally here! I met everyone, got to work, and tried to be as professional and fabulous as I could. At one point, everyone began to walk together towards another location, when all of the sudden it began to happen. I lost my balance mid-sentence, and felt myself tilting forward and beginning to stumble with my camera in hand and some very important people around me to see it happen.

This was not one of those trips that happened in an instant. It was the kind of fall that took about a minute to play out. There were actually many points during my fall that I thought I might not fall at all, only to begin falling again. Near the end of this stumble, I gave up and realized I was heading towards the ground no matter how hard I tried to regain my balance. I splatted face down on the floor and all of my belongings spread out in front of me. I laid there really still for a moment…perhaps because I thought if I held still enough, maybe nobody would notice me on the ground. Of course, everyone was very concerned and felt terrible that I had taken such a bad fall. I wished there had been someone around to start laughing so I could have felt a little better about things (so just as a general note, if I ever fall flat on my face in front of you, PLEASE laugh your head off. I’d really appreciate it.)

In a way, it made everyone feel a little more human. It made me feel a little more human. It also made me realize that no matter how hard I try to be cool, this may never actually happen. It seems like this may actually be a pattern with me.

A friend of mind said that at least everyone would remember me. I guess there’s always that, right?

I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you for growing with me. When I started White Rabbit Photo Boutique a year and a half ago, I was planning on having it be a part time thing. I imagined it being a job that I would do while I tried to find another job, and never dreamed it would become the business that it is today. I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am to everyone who has supported me and been there helping me along throughout the past year. Especially my husband, who just tried to cheer me up by jumping around with a Thor hammer…no joke. Now my editing time has turned into working 7 days a week at 60 hours or more. I seriously start working from the second I wake up, and fall asleep at the computer. This is what I love to do, but I think my husband is beginning to miss me a little bit.

My mom thought it was hilarious that I work until I fall asleep and snapped a picture:

I just want to thank you for being so patient and understanding while I work through all the things that a new business goes through. I want to continue to be the kind of photographer that really knows you. I want to know the names of your family, know what colors your wedding dresses are going to be, and be so incredibly excited for your wedding that I can’t stand it. I want to answer e-mails as fast as possible, get your photos back in a short amount of time, and send you a product that you will cherish for the rest of your lives, because really what do you have to look back on after your wedding day besides your videos and your photos? I want you to have the most amazing photography experience and look back at your photos and think…that was a beautiful day.

All of this has gotten a little harder because I overbooked myself a few months ago. But oh-how I am learning and growing from these experiences and growing pains. I’m having to make a few changes to my 2014 year so that I can keep running things the way that I envision them, and also would like to leave a little more room for balance in my life. I’m booking less weddings in 2014, trying to find help (which is hard because I’m a perfectionist), and taking classes on business and photography workflow.

Thank you so much for understanding while I work this all through. In the meantime, thank you for continuing to be patient with me. I promise, I am working as hard as I can. It’s been a crazy, exciting, amazing, year, but it’s also been a little stressful and full of growing pains as I’ve had to figure this whole business thing out.

I just want you all to know that I love you and I’m working hard, and I’m so thankful and happy that you enjoy my photography and have supported me. Photography is the way I share my heart with the world, thank you for letting me share my heart with you.

When I finished, I asked what was going to happen to all the flowers. M offered me an arrangement, so now I have a beautiful bouquet with roses and lambs ear sitting on my kitchen table. I told M that I decided working in a floral shop would be much better than working at a pizza place, because you would always smell like roses instead of sausage. She agreed, teehee.

After photographing flowers, I had a small break and used it to catch up with a few friends I hadn’t seen in a while who work around the resort, and then met with a potential wedding couple. I love these meetings. I get to put a face to e-mails and go over plans and explain the photography process. They brought their daughter/soon to be step daughter with them, and the dynamic between the three of them was so much fun, they’re going to be a cute little family.

After the meeting, I had to run to the Jazz Kitchen to photograph some details for a wedding they were having there. I wasn’t hired by the bride, so I ran into their photographers in the Brisa Courtyard and introduced myself and told them to just kick me if I ever get in their way! They were really nice, and we talked about cameras and lenses and they showed me some of their photographs they’d taken. The bride was beautiful and her wedding was New Orleans themed. It really was a beautiful set up, I always look at weddings like this and feel a pang of, “oh, I wish I’d done something like this for my wedding”, and then I run through potential friends who I can possibly persuade to have a New Orleans themed wedding some day, heh heh. Something tells me, that’s not going to fly, but one can hope?

After meeting their photographers, I went to the Jazz Kitchen to take a few photos of the decor. I’m always amazed when I go there at how positive and organized their staff is. I used to work in a restaurant, and it wasn’t anything like it is there. B, their manager, was so professional and had everyone excited about setting up the decorations for the wedding. It was really fun to feel like a part of it. They had a New Orleans band that was going over music in one of the rooms upstairs, and it was fun to hear their music playing.

After a while, Little T and Big T showed up to bring me a light stand that I’d left in my car. Little T loved hearing the band and wanted to play on the big drum. At one point, the band walked up to Little T and took his hand, and danced with him while they were playing. Little T, of course, thought this was amazing.

When it came time to photograph the wedding couple (the New Orleans band was leading them from the Brisa Courtyard at the Grand Californian to the Jazz Kitchen), I stood above on the top floor of the Jazz Kitchen to grab my shot. I was looking down at the rehearsal dinner that was going on, and suddenly realized it could possibly be the wedding I’m photographing today. When I’d run into one of the wedding planners earlier, she was telling me that the bride I’m photographing (today!), was so sweet and friendly and beautiful, with hair that looked kind of like Kim Kardashian. I was looking down at the rehearsal dinner from above, and noticed the bride looked a lot like her description. I ran downstairs to quickly see if it was her, and was so excited to discover that it was. She said it was funny because she’d been staring at Big T and Little T (they were downstairs at this point waiting for the band), and she thought they might be my family because she’d recognized them from my Facebook Page. I was really excited to meet her the night before her wedding, and it made me look forward to today even more!

When the band and the bride marched up, it was really exciting and energizing. I could hear the band playing and everyone outside the restaurant cheering, and everyone began to march into the Jazz Kitchen with New Orleans umbrellas, beads, and instruments. I thought it was one of the coolest reception entrances I’d ever seen, and kind of got teary eyed, because I always do that when I see large groups of people who are all just happy and having a great time. What can I say? I’m just /mush like that.

After I’d photographed their grand entrance, it was time to say goodbye. Big T, Little T and I, walked through Downtown Disney and stopped to hear some live Latin Music. Little T ditched us to dance with a group of pre-teen girls, who were definitely feeding into Little T’s ego by going on and on about what a cute little toddler he is. :p I tried to dance with him at one point, but sadly, even at the age of 2, there are moments where mom just doesn’t make the cut. Here he is, running away and breaking my heart.

All in all, a good day.

My poor dad, is used to me and my quirky “untraditional” ways, but he is the kind of guy who believes in ceremonies, and so it took a lot of convincing when I explained what we’d envisioned for our day. My Dad had really wanted to walk me down the aisle, but my wedding didn’t have an aisle to walk down and Big T and I didn’t want a formal event. Instead, we asked my dad to read my favorite Beatles song during the ceremony, “In My Life”. My Dad, who has a great voice and used to sing at weddings with my mom, surprised us and sang instead. Hearing my dad sing such a special song for me, was the best gift he could have given me on my wedding day. When I think back to that day, it’s always one of the first things I remember.

Here I am, crying away, photo taken by Beverly Hills Photography:

Little T: Sometimes I look at sweet Little T, and wonder what day it was that he sprouted up so quickly. I’m amazed at how much he’s learning, how much he’s talking, and how much he’s grown. He’s a fun loving little toddler, even though a week and a half ago, he woke up and officially began his terrible two’s. Big T and I looked at each other and scratched our heads, as his new favorite word became “no”, he suddenly decided that everything was “mine”, and he began to show his more “spunky” side. At the same time, he is still the sweetest little boy who loves and remembers everyone, and can win a smile from anyone he meets. He fiercely loves all his grandparents and cousins, and constantly asks us to take him to see them. He plays basketball like there is no tomorrow, and has made us listen to the Pirates of the Caribbean song approximately 314 times. He loves all things Mickey Mouse, Cars, and Tinkerbell. He has a silly side and loves to laugh. My friend Janet, commented on my Facebook page the other day, saying he was such a kid. I think that’s the perfect way to describe him. Little boy, through and through.

Big T: I love to watch Big T and Little T play together. They’ve become best buds and to my dismay, love to sit on the couch and watch Football and Basketball together. I see a lifetime of sports ahead of me! 0_0 Because of my crazy schedule and workload, Big T drops Little T off for daycare, helps out with the dishes, gets him ready for school, packs his lunch, and gives him his baths. He gets a A+ for daddy duties and I don’t know what I’d do without him.

Life has brought us a lot of unexpected turns over the past year and a half, but Big T has been there the whole time, cheering me on. Of course, we’ve had our little fights, but if I was to throw them in a pile, they’d be nothing compared to the support he gives me every day. Last night, I was upset because I can’t help with Little T as much as I’d like because of my busy schedule. Big T reminded me that I was with Little T 100% of the time for the first year, and that my schedule is temporary and not forever. Big T is kind of awesome and supportive in that way. 

Momma J: My foot is still healing, but it’s doing so much better than it was 9 months ago. I’ve gained more weight than I would care to admit from not being able to walk or exercise, and am beginning the slow process of shedding the weight. My business has been amazing. I can’t think of a better job than photographing people on one of the happiest days of their lives. I’ve discovered that I love my job, love having a business, but hate taking money from people. If only my payments could grow from the orange tree in the backyard…then I’d be a happy camper.  

Our family looked at my schedule for the next year, and we’ve made some decisions about how many weddings I can book in a month. This is so my family life will be a little more balanced. Having so many weddings is an amazing problem to have, so I’m not complaining! Oh, how I wish I could do them all! But I want to make sure I have time for my two T’s. 

Running a business is definitely much harder and time consuming than I thought (think 60-70 hours a week), but there are great perks. I can work in my pajamas, I can be in the living room so that I can still listen and feel like I’m a part of Little T and Big T’s playtime, and I get to make my own decisions. It’s been a lot of learning this year, but it’s been amazing.

And that’s where we are right now! Pictures to follow of all of us at the Rose Parade this year

My step dad, before the parade!

Little T’s cousin R and her family.

My Mom, giggling with Little T

Little T, giving out high fives to total strangers.

Big T and Little T, getting their energy out before the parade.

The rose parade theme

Little T was going through a mommy phase UNTIL he saw Big T play football and win their league championship. Now Big T is a god in his eyes.

We had the trendsetter awards for the association of bridal consultants. I didn’t win best photo, but I’d like to think my photo did help Disney win for best Momento. Fairytale Hair and Makeup made me look presentable. I loved my hair so much, that I couldn’t stop looking at myself. Teehee

And isn’t Little T beginning to look so grown up? What a cute little man he is, I can’t believe how much he has grown. It goes by way too fast. His favorite thing to do right now is give people high fives, go on Pirates of the Caribbean, play basketball, and shout “I DID IT” whenever he is able to do something by himself.

Please give your family members an extra hug for me this Thanksgiving.

Love, Jenna