Slowing down and Starting up!

Well, I'm back!  Ashby is now a year old and has taught me so much.  When I had her I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I was now a mother.  When my first was born I was in shock.  I hadn't planned to have kids and I was full of fear.  When my son was born life was very rocky and he was well loved but lost in the shuffle.  Then came Ashby.  I think the fact that she was born while living with friends in California set me up to be more focused and introspective.  I didn't have a to-do list.  I was being taken care of by someone else.  I was surrounded by love.  And then when I met her and the weeks that followed I was surprised by how I was now a mother first.  That at my core I was a mother, to all my children.  As a result I really slowed down, while staying very busy.  I think the lesson I learned most was to try and only do one thing at a time.  I am still working on this but I now see multi-tasking less as something to brag about and more as something to minimize and only use when necessary.  

When I am able to focus on one thing I get better results, stay calmer, and am happier.  I have missed blogging and plan on being back in this space more.

I have been gone for so long that I thought I would reintroduce myself:  I am a mother of three who is in the process of becoming a midwife.  I am currently in my third year of nursing school to get a BSN and then move on to graduate school.  I homeschool my children because my oldest who is in Kindergarden is very artistic and would not thrive in the public school environment.  But, I am not anti-school.  I also homeschool because I live in a very homogenous area outside of Cincinnati and I do not want her to grow up thinking that the whole world is white.  I am learning to be a mom and learning how to be a grown up.  And that is what my 30's are for!  There will probably be a little of everything on here but right now I am focused on working on my parenting, my health, and my photography.  

Here is Ashby on her first birthday.  In hr IKEA rocking chair we bought her!