SAHM I AM

I consider myself a stay-at-home mom........ with a job.



I quit working a couple months before our oldest (who just turned 11) was born and haven't had a job outside the home since. And let me just say I wouldn't have it any other way. I LOVE being a stay-home mom!



But a couple months ago an opportunity just dropped out of the clear blue sky when I wasn't even looking and now 3-4 days a week (3 days one week, 4 the next) I am an official 'baby photographer' at our local hospital. I take those irresistable newborn pictures no new mother can refuse! Well, most new moms anyway.



But I still consider myself a stay-home mom because HOW can you think of what I do as a JOB? I can't believe I even get PAID to do this! And for the amount of time I actually spend doing it, it's pretty decent pay. We're a small town and the hospital is only a 5-minute drive from our house. Some days there will only be one or two newborns so I'm only there about an hour. Other days there's more, some days there's none. The ONLY thing that's hard about what I do is actually putting the babies down when I'm done instead of holding and cuddling them.



Thankfully, I've gotten much faster than when I first started. One day early on I had 5 babies to photograph, along with meeting with the moms and collecting orders, and I was there for 6 hours! I knew that couldn't happen again. MY babies are more important than something that's going to take me away from them for that long. Now I can average about 2 babies per hour. That includes both visits I have to make with the moms and taking the pictures. Not too bad. I can go faster if the babies are a bit hungry because they're easy to wake up. But oh boy! Those little ones with full bellies are like trying to wake the dead. I've actually had a few that I've tried for 30 minutes or more trying to wake up and had to wind up just taking them while they were asleep.



Another 'problem' I have is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. But in this case I think it's a good thing. I know that these pictures can never be re-done and they are the most precious ones for mom and dad so I want to make sure that they are the best they can be. If one turns out with puckery lips or even the slightest frown I delete it until I get three good ones to present to mom. Time-wise this sometimes turns into a bit of a longer day for me. But, when they're good I tend to sell more so it's worth it!



Tomorrow, I'll have SEVEN babies to photograph! For around here, that's a lot. More than I've ever had before. I'm praying for moms who have their baby's outfits and are ready for me, semi-hungry babies, and beautiful pictures so all the moms just can't resist ordering lots and lots of pictures!