A time for everything.

It's a scary thing to take a leap of faith and hope that something or one will be there to catch you. David took a new job offer. It pays less but it means he will work Monday through Friday 8:00-4:30 so he'll be home in the evenings and on weekends. The job is solid. He'll be a claims adjuster/damage appraiser for a not so local but very large car dealership. It's one of the largest collision centers in the state. The thought of having him home in the evenings is sweet, but the idea of stretching an already stretched budget even further has my stomach in knots. I did want to learn to live on less, but I think I wanted a more theoretical lesson and less of a real life experience. :) I will be working more to make up the difference and trying like hell to get this photography thing off the ground. It takes most of my willpower just to keep convincing myself that I'm not pretending to be a photographer. Putting myself out there like this is hard work, harder even than taking the photos. Who knew the voices of self doubt could be so loud and relentless?

Erin starts school on Monday. We're both looking forward to a year that goes more smoothly than the last. She and I had a long discussion a few nights ago about how the last year took turns that none of us could have ever expected. We all knew there would be huge change, but we never imagined all of this. Now, the surgery is behind us and Hayden has become a normal and necessary part of life. We've all adapted to new routines and schedules. We've taken on this new life whole heatedly and with that comes the hope that school will be much easier and the routine that was so hard to find last year will come more easily for both of us.

Hayden is almost a year old. Please someone tell me how that happened! He has a new found interest in dancing. From a sitting position he leans forward onto his feet and pushes up with his legs so he's standing strong and tall on his chubby thighs and then begins to bounce up and down. When he is feeling very brave he raises his hands in the air and giggles at his accomplishment. He also loves to sing, play peek-a-boo, bang, objects together, chase the cats while screaming very loudly, and oh yes, play with the computer mouse while mommy is trying to type long overdue blog posts. As I type he is scrolling up and down and has even successfully deleted the entire post twice.