Oops.

So......I'm totally a bad blogger. This is the longest stretch I've gone since starting the blog without a post. Man, life has really caught up with me though! Between the holidays, the monster, the new monster, my business and my real job I haven't had a second to even think about the blog. Honestly, part of the problem is that I have been working on photos so much for the business that it sort of replaced working on our personal ones. Oops. Not anymore though! I'm not making a resolution, but I will slowly be getting everything up from the holidays that I want here. If I keep putting it off though I will miss other stuff in the meantime! I figure I'll start posting again as of now and that stuff can fill in the gaps...

Yesterday we had a snow day. They said we'd get snow, but we don't trust "them" anymore at all. Well, we actually woke up to snow and it kept coming all day long. It was nice that we didn't have anywhere to be and so we relaxed at home. To say we were all tired is an understatement too. Carson has been up by 6:20 EVERY day for weeks now. Carl and I are seriously contemplating going to a hotel for a night just so we can sleep in. That is so sad, right?!?! I've seriously been so pooped with being busy (and pregnant) that I just got our tree down yesterday. Oops.

Anyway, yesterday morning Carson did his normal thing of stripping down butt naked and playing in the bathroom. I've been letting him do this as much as he wants because I figure he'd have to actually pee sometime. Yesterday after breakfast he comes running out yelling about going pee-pee. We go in there and sure enough, it looks like he had gone. We celebrated and cheered and he finally got that coveted sticker that's been dangling in his face with all the potty talk. We put his big boy underwear on him and he refused to put any other clothes on. During lunch we are sitting at the table and Carson jumps down to go play. Next thing I know he is back under the table grunting. Under the table is one of his coveted "poop spots" where he goes to do his business and freaks if you look at him in the process. This time we grabbed him and told him to try and go on the potty. After a few minutes he opens the door and yells for me. I go in and see that he had gone poop, even if it was on the toilet seat. That meant he really tried and seemed to grasp what we were saying. 

Fast forward a while to nap time. I lay down with him on the couch to try and sleep which goes beautifully. We wake up two hours later and I realize I hadn't put him in a diaper beforehand. Oops. We were both covered in pee and there was a pee puddle on the couch. Yay for leather! haha  I didn't get mad at all and tried to change him into new undies. He seemed really upset by it, but went along. About 30 minutes later he was standing in the front window watching Carl shovel. Next thing I know I hear a dripping sound. He is staring at me while peeing straight down into a heat vent. Luckily it was closed, but there was pee all over. Again, yay for wood floors! After this he demanded his diaper and was done with the potty. I guess there's always another day. It at least gave me some hope that it shouldn't be too much longer.

And I have a single photo to post in closing. This is Carson working feverishly to figure out how to hack into his grandma's laptop. He likes to do it while wearing her "sunglasses". 

 

I have an announcement...

NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I know you're thinking it. :)

Actually I already had a new baby. My new baby is named Rachael Wooten Photography ::blush::. I have thought about writing this post many times and I'm still nervous now as I type. I haven't told many people so I feel like I've been hiding or lying or something. When I say "not many" I mean Carl, my parents and my grandparents were pretty much the only ones for a long long time. 

The journey to get to this point has been long and I'm happy to say that I actually know what I'm trying to do now. In the last year (all happening within my little internal bubble) I have gone from wanting to only create paper products to wanting a paper business that I could incorporate photos with invitations to being strictly a photographer. This also included three, yes 3!, official business names. To say that I am indecisive with my own stuff is an understatement. If you tell me what you are looking for I can whip it up and go on my way. If I sit down to design something for myself it can take me two years. Literally. In two years I have done so much changing while finding my real style and passion that I now can blog in front of you and scream it out loud. One of my weaknesses is that if I don't feel like something is 100%, I will share 0% of it. If I'm going to do something I want it to be right and a finished product before I put it all out there. Originally I started with something a little more cutesy and knew in my heart that it just wasn't me. There had to be a reason that my sub-conscience wasn't letting me gab about it all. I fought it for a while, but woke up one morning with clarity. In a world of businesses galore I want you to want me! Thus, Rachael Wooten Photography was born. I am the business so my name should be right there with no doubt. I only want to do what I love and hope that the people who like me will call and the people who don't won't. That works out for everyone in the end.

I am and always have been 85% book-y, number-y and literally...-y. But there has always been that 15% hanging out there that I've fulfilled with many types of creative outlets. I am so fortunate to have a set up in my career that allows flexibility and a lot of downtime; I'll have the best of both worlds. Granted, almost all of my new stuff is happening at night or on weekends, but it would be much harder if I were in an office all day. Whether he knows it or not, one of the best things I ever got from my dad was the principles of how to run an honest and profitable business. Most of you know that the car business isn't always, you know, truthful. I saw how my dad treated the people he encountered and heard those dinnertime conversations about what is right and wrong. I also saw people want to do business with him. Luckily I learned the ins and outs of business logistics in my work experience and in college, but now I realize how invaluable my observations of him were. 

I've always known I would have a business, but never really knew what the "product" would be. You know, the indecisiveness. Whenever I think about what I want out of a company I represent, all I can think is "under promise, over deliver". In the last four or so months it all clicked with me and I've had so much fun figuring out the logistics. In the land of puppies and rainbows I would want to be shooting everyday, but there is so much more to it than that. I've designed a website, built my blog from scratch, created all my branding materials, developed my pricing scheme and made some great friends along the way. Oh yeah, I've taken a few photos too. ;)  

I know I'm rambling and spilling my guts, but I've been keeping it in for a little too long! I also know I don't have to explain myself. Again, I'm just really passionate about this new venture and hope that my amazing friends and family will support what I'm trying to do. 

As for the actual business goals, my focus is lifestyle and family custom photography. Kids aren't the easiest thing ever, but it kind of comes with the territory. I absolutely love shooting couples, single-person portraits and newborns. I shoot only natural light so mostly outdoors. The problem with that is winter in good old CO, but I can work indoors too. I know I still have a ton of growing to do which means I expect things to change even more. Hopefully that will all be positive as I get more definition in myself and what I am able to produce. Since I'm still building my portfolio I am running a pretty good deal through the end of the year. I would love to have my galleries full of the people that I love! What I'm saying is if you are curious about anything, just ask. :)

The main site is rachaelwooten.com and the blog is blog.rachaelwooten.com. I think if you read this blog and take a look through that you'll get a pretty good idea of my style and whether or not we'd make a good fit! I'm still going to keep doing all the family stuff here and some of it may cross over to the business blog. I feel like this is my own journal where I show the good, the bad and the ugly. I'll be able to be a tad more choosy over there. :)  I'm doing new stuff constantly so there will be new stuff all the time to see. Anyone can email me anytime at rachael@rachaelwooten.com. Feel free to share until your heart's content.
 
So.........thanks for listening if you got this far. I'm getting the Facebook page put together too so I will take all the "likes" I can get when it's up! (They make you have a certain number before you can assign the name...)

♥ rachael