Part 1/3: The more things change, well no nothing is the same...

Hello friends! First of all I just wanna thank you guys for sticking by me this last year in my almost none existence! Pretty much from the moment I found out I was pregnant with Griffin some things had to take a back seat, Aly&Ash being one of them! I have contemplated several things over the year in regards to Aly&Ash, close it down, change the direction, hand it over to someone else - all leaving me too sad to think about it further. I even tried a total revamp to get myself re-motivated to post - we've seen how much that helped! I still haven't finished important pages in the menus! Arg! 

A lot has happened over the year. In a nutshell we have moved...and moved again! I gave birth to our sweet little boy Griffin, Asher has grown, grown, grown and the hubs accepted a new job. A new job that allows him to work from home (YAY!) but requires travel (Not so yay!). It turns out to be a good balance though and family wise we are doing amazing.

In January of this year I also made the risky decision to streamline my business and be solely a newborn and child photographer. I changed the name of my business, opened a home studio, crossed my fingers and didn't look back. My business doubled! Then my husband expressed how much he didn't like me working on Sundays and how he really wished I would keep it a day of rest as it was intended to be. I knew he was right and hesitantly took his advice. My business doubled again. It has been an absolutely incredible year for Jacquilyn Avery Photography and I feel so blessed.

So two kids, a husband, a successful and busy photography business and oh yeah did I mention I opened an online baby boutique with Liberty Elle? cause were working on that too! Ollalie Design Studio - you should check it out! (whew!)...where does crafting and blogging fit in? I've been trying to answer that question all year! Well I think I finally have the answer - schedule!

It is so hard to have a strict schedule as a stay at home mom. I am the queen of procrastination, the kids aren't in school, so we're really free to do what we want. Well I wasn't being a goon manager to my business or my family so I made the decision to hire a nanny three days a week. It was the best decision! Cori comes Monday, Wednesday, Friday and now I don't know how I'd manager without her. She takes care of the kids, does dishes, laundry, sweeps and mops the floor - she's amazing. The days she's here I devote to my business. I get editing done, answer emails and do various other administrative tasks. But the best part... I'm still at home with my kids. When moments arise when they just need their mama - I'm here. When they need me to kiss a boo boo - I'm here. I get the best of both worlds. I am able to stay on top of everything and relax on days she's not. Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't edit and I no longer feel guilty every second I'm not editing because my editing is scheduled and organized. I know exactly what will be done when. So I plan fun stuff with the kids, get a blog post or two in during naps and maybe even sew something or do a craft! Saturdays I'm in studio and spending time with my family and we all enjoy church on Sunday and our day of rest. Life seems to slow down when you remove stress and for that I'm so grateful!

So what's the future of Aly&Ash? It's bright! I have several projects I'm excited to share and have brought on a contributor you'll learn more about very soon! I have an exciting, different and new link party I'll be announcing next week and am so excited to get back to blogging! But I do have one question for you! What would you like to see on Aly&Ash? I want to make sure I gear toward my readers and give you something good to read! With the flood of blogs these days I know I only read my favorites so I want to be a favorite you read again! I hope I can earn you all back as daily readers and am really looking forward to it!

I will be posting Part 2 of my update tomorrow (Thursday) it is a very emotional and sensitive topic but It's a part of my life I want to share and hope though Aly&Ash I can be a support to others as well as gain support from you. More on that tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a great week & thanks for reading!

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