You guys.

I’m going to have a baby this month!!! I’m 36 weeks today, and the official due date is July 29th. And let me just say – I have lots to do this month to get ready! I fully realize baby might not arrive until August, and that is A OK with me. But I’m planning for an early to on time arrival, since Milly was 1 day early. I’m actually hoping baby will be just a little late, so I can get everything done!

I’m viewing my July in 2 parts…

The first two weeks are officially “DO ALL THE THINGS TO PREPARE FOR MATERNITY LEAVE”
The last two weeks are “TRANSITION TO MATERNITY LEAVE”

July 2017 Goals

Weeks 1 & 2

• Finish strong with my Foundations in Film Course

• Complete content for Team Course this fall

• Draft all emails

• Draft all blogposts

• Complete content for Website Refresh

• Finalize Maternity Leave Communication with emails to vendors and clients, blogpost, social media, and team training

• Memorize 3 Bible verses for labor and delivery

• Buy gift for Milly (to give to her in the hospital)

Weeks 3 & 4

• Get house cleaned

• Have carpets cleaned

• Finish the new “kids room” with the help of Stephanie Tidwell

• Introduce Milly to her new “big girl bed!”

• Take Milly to the library and to Jubala

• Date night with Will

• Get my haircut

• Get my nails done

• Finish my 2014 and 2015 Family Yearbooks

I’ve set a “last day of work” day – July 18th – which is going to help me stick to this goal! I am really hoping to step away from all of my work, spend the last 10 days making memories with Milly, preparing my heart, and resting.

With all of that said, Baby’s gonna come when Baby’s gonna come, so I really have 1 big goal for this month: HAVE A BABY! And if nothing else gets done, we are all going to be just fine.

It’s hard to believe that June is my last full month of being pregnant with Baby #2. It’s the last month that Milly will be the only child in my arms. It’s the last month of just Milly and Mama… another little one will make my mama heart grow even more.

I know it’s going to be so sweet and wonderful, and I am just so excited to meet this little baby. But part of me certainly is sad to see this season of Milly being our only baby come to an end. She made me a mama. She’s taught me so much. I love her fiercely, and I am holding these days with her just a little tighter, a little closer to my heart.

June is a month of launching big things, wrapping up much of work, preparing for Maternity leave, date nights with my hubby of 9 WHOLE years, and lots of intentional time with my girl.

I’m not due until the end of July, but you know… babies come when they want. So I’m gonna make June count for all that it can!

June Goals

• Read What did you Expect & Mama Natural

• Host 2 Online Training Classes for Film Photography

• Launch my Film Course!!

• Celebrate 9 years of marriage (Huzzah! Love you William Ray.)

• Create 2014 & 2015 Family Yearbook Albums

• Go to a Yoga class (or two)

• Finish Baby Registry

• Decide on where the baby is gonna sleep (forreal though)

• Get all newborn stuff out! Wash and Prepare!

• Go camping with the Thomases

• Spend Father’s Day in Beaufort, NC

“Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.”
– Peter Drucker

This weekend as I was working through my Powersheets and setting my May Goals, I had a massive realization:

There is way too much to do and not enough time to do it this month.

My default reaction to that realization?

Meltdown.
Overwhelm.
Praying – a lot.

What can I say… it’s wedding season. Not to mention, I’ve added a course launch in the midst of wedding season. I’ll be traveling 3 out of 4 weekends this month, and that 4th weekend I’m home I’ll be throwing a 2nd birthday party for my little girl.

As I was reading What’s Best Next and continuing to pray through my overwhelm as a business owner and mama, God began to speak to my crazy busy schedule with some very real, practical answers.

In the book I mentioned above, Matt Perman writes,

“This pressed me to refine my approach to give a greater place to prioritizing – an approach that focused not primarily on doing more things in less time but rather on doing the right things in a flexible way.”

These are the answers I believe God gave me to not only “get through” the month of May, but execute and ENJOY every day of it. I hope they are helpful to you if you find yourself in a season of feeling overwhelmed!

1. I need to take the time to plan and strategize for the month. I often have a tendency to see all the work, then jump into it and work like a little hamster knocking out emails and things I do well, but not really stopping to prioritize and make a game plan.

2. This month is about me being effective – not just efficient. This is what I’m learning in What’s Best Next. This is about me having the tendency to jump in and get the wrong things done (hello efficiency! hello email ninja!), when there are more important things that I should be working on.

3. I need clear, strong boundaries in the studio… so I bought headphones. Let’s face it: when you work with a team as amazing as mine, distractions come easily. We share a small space together, which makes it hard when I’m trying to produce content for a webinar or write course materials. (I just want to hear about their weddings and talk to them!) I’ll be implementing a new policy: when you see me wearing headphones and have a question, write it down and ask it later. (I’ll let you know how I like them!)

4. Delegate and elevate. This is the topic I’ll be speaking on at the Creative Hub Conference, and I need to take my own advice! I need to step up my delegating game and focus on the things that only I can do.

TODAY is May 1st: a new day.
This morning I woke up at 5:30am and grabbed a big mug of coffee.
I prayed over this month, I read Scripture, and planned every day to the best of my ability.
I left the meltdowns and overwhelm in the month of April, and now I am ready to move into this new month.
New priorities. A new plan. A new perspective.

May, LET’S DO THIS.

• Read What’s Best Next (& hear the author speak at an event!)

• Design & upload all videos to course site

• Host a Webinar all about growing a team through an intern program

• Completely prep June’s Webinar on How to Transition to Film Photography

• Photograph two amazing destination weddings (that I am SO excited about

• Maternity & Lifestyle session with Elizabeth (!)

• Go on a Babymoon to Highlands (piggybacking off one of those beautiful weddings!)

• Host a sweet 2nd birthday party for Milly

• Go camping with friends

• Take a family trip to Lake Gaston