Happy Mother's Day | Glimpses Week 19

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

Thank you Liam and Jack for making me a mother.

To all of you mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Liam and the beam again | Glimpses Week 16

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

With a three year old and a four month old, there can be a lot of drama leaving the house. Today was one of those days... but it was worth it.

(Remember the beam?)

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Cheeks, eyelashes, lips | Glimpses Week 15

(This photo is part of the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.)

So my "maternity leave" is over... in so much as there ever was a maternity leave. Turns out giving an online workshop for 267 participants a month after having a second baby does not really constitute maternity leave. Who knew?!

Having a toddler, a baby and a business and figuring out how to juggle all three of these things (not to mention, husband, house and life in general) has definitely been a process, and is most definitely a work in progress. Some days it feels like I'm getting somewhere, other days it's overwhelming.

I always planned on scaling back on the time I spend on my business this year, but that has been easier said than done, especially as I still want to continue to not just maintain but grow the business. You might be wondering, how is that even possible? We shall find out!

One big step for me in the direction of making this possible has been hiring a Program Coordinator for Photosanity to handle all the administrative and technical aspects of the workshop, and we've been working on handing off and also automating as much of the behind the scenes work as possible (there's more than you would think). I'm also making some changes about how I offer the workshop and starting an alumni program for past participants - stay tuned for more details.

Finally, at least for right now, I'm holding off on booking portrait sessions, at least for the next few months. It's been hard to turn down inquiries, and I get tempted each time I get one, but I need to focus on the workshop and on spending the time that I want, while I can, with my babies. (As Liam likes to say "there are TWO babies!" even though he's really not a baby any more. We indulge him.)

One thing I am determined to do is to try and get a better handle on my own photosanity as far as keeping up with editing and sharing my own personal photos goes. To that end, I've decided to participate in the Glimpses 52 project over at the Chic Critique Forum.

This project resonated with me right away as the idea here is to motivate busy photographers to document and share the details of their own lives, one photo per week at a time, on their own blog. I share a lot of my iphone photos on facebook, but it's harder to find the time to sit at my computer and sort and edit my own DSLR photos. I'm hoping that the Glimpses 52 project will inspire me not just to share one photo a week but in the process, keep more up to date with my own editing.

I took this photo of Liam earlier this week and I love how it shows off those still chubby cheeks, the long eyelashes and sweet little lips. I look forward to sharing more photos weekly!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Giving thanks...

When I think of all the things I have to be thankful for this year, I get a little teary. I blame pregnancy hormones. But the truth is, I can't think of a year when I've had more to be thankful for.

I can't claim to have had a very hard life, but it certainly feels like it's been a long journey to get here, to the point where I spend time on a daily basis with people who make me happy, doing things that I love, both personally and professionally.

People say to me all the time "I don't know how you do it" and quite honestly, I'm not sure either! My life is far from perfect, in fact, it's pretty exhausting… but I love it. And I don't take any single little part of it for granted, not my husband, my marriage, our adorable and hilarious two year old, the relatively easy pregnancy I've had with another baby on the way, the fact that Liam has close relationships on both sides of the family, that we have so much help and support from family and friends both near and far, that motherhood and business has brought so many amazing, inspiring and supportive people into my life, or that I've found a new career running a business that fits so perfectly with my personal life, my talents and my passions. And next year is looking to be even more incredible!

I couldn't be luckier, and I am thankful today and every day.

Here's wishing you and your loved ones happiness and joy. Happy thanksgiving to all!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!

Preschool - we laughed, we cried, but it's all good!

It's hard to believe that not only is Liam now in preschool (these photos were of him leaving the house for his first day) but he's on his first spring break! Not that there's been a lot of toddler partying unfortunately... Liam caught a cold and has been pretty miserable, and now I have it!

The preschool transition itself took me by surprise. It was much harder for me than I expected. Liam handled it well, probably better than I did. The morning drop-offs were definitely a little anxiety ridden for him in the beginning, but he didn't cry on the first day and has only cried a couple of times since. His teachers say that he's doing great, and I can see that he's a lot more comfortable there now.

I was a wreck the first week. I knew the first drop-offs would be hard but I honestly thought I would come home and get some work done. Wrong! We've had babysitters two or three times a week for over a year now so I didn't think the separation would be hard. However, leaving him somewhere new as opposed to having him in the house with a sitter but with me mostly around was different, as is the fact that it's school, play based though it may be. It feels like a big change.

It's all good though, and I'm proud of Liam for handling the change so well. Already he's been demonstrating his new preschool acquired skills, such as covering his mouth when he coughs (which unfortunately has been a lot), and taking his own shoes and pants off. It's so cute, he concentrates so hard to do those last two things, parroting back the instructions he's been given, and looks so proud of himself when he succeeds! He already has new friends that he talks about, new songs that he sings... I look forward to seeing him continue to blossom at school and at home.

In other news, I have now added facebook comments to the blog! I know not everyone likes facebook or is on it but I love the easy sharing and interaction it enables - already the facebook comments as well as the regular comments have been ON FIRE for the last two blog posts and the comment contest so I'm pretty excited! I'm still trying to figure out exactly how this all works but I'm hoping this will encourage more interaction on the blog - so please do leave a comment below or even just hit "like"! Thank you!

nyc baby, child and family photographer & architect alethea cheng fitzpatrick is based in brooklyn. she specializes in baby photography as interior design & interior design for babies. view her portfolio of babies, children or families or send her an e-mail here!