Heather Bush lives in Fort Worth with her husband Brian and their two children: Kendyl, 5, and Kaden, 2. She is the owner of Chunky Monkey Photography, and Brian is a paramedic for CareFlite.
6:15AM First alarm goes off. Not quite ready to get up. Pull up covers and hit snooze.
6:25AM Second alarm goes off. Roll out of bed to begin the long process of waking up 5-year-old daughter for school. Meanwhile, 2-year-old son begins to wake himself. First word for him every morning is “hungary.” He is all boy.
7:15AM Make a gluten-free lunch for daughter and hot dog lunch for son. Check backpack, and we are out the door to take daughter to school.
7:45AM Back home and already brainstorming next month’s photography mini-sessions.
9AM Finally showered and dressed; car is loaded down with son, nap mat and all my newborn props.
9:30AM Drop my son off at Mother’s Day Out. He loves going, so it’s an easy drop-off. Head off to newborn session to meet a little one and her family. Always hoping for a nice sleepy baby.
10AM Arrive at newborn session, set up, go over everything with parents and begin to work with baby. Newborn snuggles are the best.
11:30AM Take a break for a baby feeding; check Facebook and email for anything I can handle or answer right away.
1PM Newborn session (and my own personal baby fix) is complete. Was lucky and escaped with only a few baby accidents. The only downside to my job … arriving with a clean shirt, leaving with a dirty one. But it’s all worth it. Baby slept and posed like a pro.
1:30PM Pull through any fast food that sounds good to get some lunch and head off to begin pick-up of kids. Hoping not to hit too much traffic so I’m not late. Might try to make a few phone calls as I head home.
2:15PM Son picked up from MDO, and all he wants to do is watch “movie.” Does not tell me about his day all that much quite yet. If I ask him what they did, he just answers “play.” That’s good enough for me.
2:35PM Pick up daughter from kindergarten. Ride home is full of information. I love hearing about what she learned about, all the kindergarten gossip and what she got out of the treasure box that day.
3PM A quick run to the post office for Chunky Monkey mail and to drop off a few CDs for delivery. Of course, a pull-through at Sonic to get her favorite drink is in order because, “You know, Mom, it’s Happy Hour.” On the way home, it’s usually our daily call from Nana, my mom, checking in and hearing about the kids’ day.
3:30PM Homework started, as I sit down to answer personal and Chunky Monkey emails. Have become a pro at typing one-handed, as my toddler son loves to climb up and down as a fun game. Answering emails, scheduling future shoots, preparing my fun mini-sessions – it’s all just a part of what I do. I love every minute of it and thank my husband for his support.
5PM Start downloading my next photo shoot, a fun and energized 1-year-old, for editing. My office is in the kitchen, so it makes it easy to stay part of the family as I get work done. Dinner is started by my husband – he is the best. I don’t cook. If it were up to me, we would order out every night. Bad mom; I know.
6PM Family sits down for dinner. It’s tacos tonight. We always try to sit and eat together every night. We tell our “highs and lows” for the day. It’s my daughters’ favorite part of the day (mine too). My high for that day was a peaceful newborn session. My daughter answered my low for me – I got pooped on. We also get to talk about our day. It’s a nice time to have nothing to do but listen to your kiddos.
7PM Family time. We usually always have a favorite TV show but also read our fave books, play a new game or just hang out. Bath time is included in our family time. It’s definitely a workout. Bubbles everywhere. We pick out outfits for the next day, get our PJs on and relax. Oh yeah, we go over those pesky sight words for our kindergartener. She does pretty well; I’m always impressed by what they’re learning at school.
8PM Kids are finally in bed. I sit with my husband for a bit, going over our day and the schedule for the next. He works 24-hour shifts, so he will be gone for the next day. Then he will be home with the kids and me for the next two. It’s a nice schedule. Lots of flexibility. Then it’s time to sit at my computer for the next few hours. Edit, edit, edit. I love sharing my favorite images with the world, as my husband snoozes on the couch. It’s amazing to see a photo go from beginning to end. I have to admit, I’m a Facebook junkie too. I love following others and learning from them.
10:30PM Time to call it a night and do it all over again tomorrow. Lie down, close my eyes, thank the Lord for my wonderful family. Goodnight!
