Back from a little va-kay

It's been awhile since the last post. In that time we've taken gorgeous family photos by a ridiculously gifted photographer by the name of Nicole Ishida, who owns Lyrebird Images (http://www.lyrebirdimages.com/). The photo above was taken during a rare down moment for my otherwise BUSY one and a half year old daughter.

We then visited some family in NM. My sister-in-law is the multi-talented mind behind Sweet Bitty Bows (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7037667), the cutest and best quality clippies and bows you'll find for your little princesses.

Both of these women are so inpsiring. They have multiple children and choose to chase their passion while juggling full families and schedules. Nicole does her photo sessions on weekends, Denise has her laptop propped at the kitchen table to ensure she doesn't miss upcoming orders. In fact, she's been known to stay up until 2 a.m. putting bows together, after the kids have gone to bed.

I always feel so guilty about owning a business while raising my kids - am I doing enough? Am I spending the right amount of time with them? Are their imaginary cell phones and laptops crying out, "stop working and pay attention to me!" ...

And then... I have the privilege of hanging out with women like Denise and Nicole and am reminded that we all are beautiful and unique. We have dreams. We have goals. We are... still women in addition to being mothers, wives and daughters. And that's worth something. We moms talk a lot about never giving up on our kids. These women have taught me something else - the pure beauty of not giving up on ourselves.