Dress: c/o Sign Here, Bennett’s Shirt, Bennett’s pants, Bennett’s shoes: c/o Freshly Picked, Necklace: c/o Purple Peridot

We have been so busy with life over the past year and half, that we haven’t had the chance to get any family photos taken. Obviously I have plenty of pictures of me from my blog posts and even pictures of Bennett and I, but I don’t have any with the three of us in it. Two weeks before I had Bennett, I was hired (via FaceTime) to be a middle school  Health teacher in Georgia. We were living in New England at the time and every spring I would apply for jobs back home in Georgia and nothing would come of it. I was starting to wonder if I would actually ever get back down here.   Besides wanting to raise my family in Georgia, it was really important to be near my family after being in New England for 10 years. My father was also diagnosed with cancer about the time this job offer came about, so I couldn’t imagine not being with him while he went through all of that either. This new job was truly a blessing from God. When I was offered this new job, it was perfect since I was about to have Bennett, but also poor timing since..I WAS ABOUT TO HAVE BENNETT! This meant having a baby, selling our house, packing, finding a new job for Tom and the start of new job for me (which also meant I was losing a month of maternity leave). When Bennett was two months old, we drove 17 long hours down to Georgia. Tom didn’t have a job yet here in Georgia, so he drove down with us (in a separate car with our 11 yr. old yellow lab) and then flew right back up to Boston to work for another month. Bennett and I stayed with my parents in Georgia while I had to start my new job.

When Tom returned to Georgia, he applied for a Fire Fighter position in a town nearby. During his physical test, the medical examiner told him his blood sugar was 385. We discovered that Tom, at the age of 36 had Type 1 Diabetes. This meant that he had to inject himself four times a day with insulin for the rest of his life. This definitely threw us a curve ball. We finally sold our house in New England four months later and moved into our new house that we found while living with my parents.  My new job was really tough for me. Besides having to start over in a new school, I hated leaving Bennett every day. Middle school down here also goes to 4:15 every day, so it was a long time to be away from him (and I felt like it defeated the purpose of having “teacher hours”) On top of the long day, I was determined to breastfeed Bennett for a year, so I was pumping 4-5 times a day (in the car on the way to work, at work, on my way home and again before bed) Between my constant pumping and teary episodes at school, I’m pretty sure my new co-workers thought I was a crazy person.  I finally made it through my first year at my new job and decided that I wanted to stay home with Bennett. My husband and I don’t make a lot of money between the two of us, but I was determined to figure out a way to stay home with him.

I didn’t renew my contract at school which actually felt really great, but scary at the same time.  I knew that blogging and sales from my Etsy shop would help with our financial situation, but I was still worried if it was going to be enough. I randomly got a call in July from an online school that I had applied to back in the spring and was offered a job teaching High School Health online. This has been really stressful since its hard learning a new job without having someone physically next to you to show you things or answer your questions,  but has been a complete blessing to our family. So this is where we are now. The point of this blog post wasn’t to complain, but I just wanted to share with you all what I have been up to in the past year. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to blog, even though in the past two years it has been hard to even find the time to do so.  Running a handmade clutch business, teaching online, blogging and taking care of a toddler has definitely been a challenge, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. On the days that I feel stressed out, I have to remind myself that I get to stay home with my sweet little boy and not everyone gets that option. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post today. I really appreciate every single one of you.

*Photos taken by Jordyn Michelle Photography