Unprepared, Prepared

Yesterday Jeff and I FINALLY got our engagement pictures done. I say FINALLY because initially we were supposed to get them done January 20. We had decided on the Tuesday of that week, that Sunday we would do our pictures. I was in pure panic. I called Jeff's mom & sister begging them to come over and help us pick clothes. I felt in no way ready to get our pictures done, I had no idea what we would where. Did I need to get my hair colored, my nails done, my eyebrows waxed? Did I have time to do some last minute shopping?! Let's just say I didn't think that 5 days was enough time to prepare for pictures that we'd be looking back on for the rest of our lives. So even though his mom and sister both felt pretty crummy, they came over and searched through our closets; Jeff's side an array of color, and my side a nice display of grays (not saying that proudly). We managed to scrounge 3 outfits out of my lack of style, and had no problem finding complimentary clothes for Jeff. Thursday night of that week Jeff's health started to decline and by Sunday morning he was a coughing, sneezing, congested mess. We would have to cancel. And with that knowledge came a huge sigh of relief. While Jeff was feeling horrible, I was feeling ecstatic that we would have more time to prepare for them. We rescheduled our pictures for the 3rd of February.  I was feeling much more at peace with this idea. I would actually have time to shop for some colorful additions to my wardrobe. I could get my hair done so it was nice and fresh and my eyebrows could get tamed. It was the Friday before our pictures that we realized we had planned them for Superbowl Sunday. Ugh.  That just wouldn't work for Jeff. So even though I had got my hairs did, we would have to cancel our pictures AGAIN! That time I was a little disappointed because I was actually mentally & physically prepared to get them taken. However, on the shopping front, I was happy, because well...who doesn't like more time to shop? So, we rescheduled our pictures for the 10th (yesterday) giving ourselves ONE more week to really get ready. Now in all this time we had gotten to get ready for our pictures, I only found one shirt.  A flannel shirt that I didn't even take out of the bag until yesterday. I did squeeze in an eyebrow wax, but I never did get my nails done. I had told Jeff that Saturday I wanted to get our clothes all laid out, and get his shirts ironed so that Sunday, we would be all ready to go. Saturday night at around ten o'clock the clothes were still hanging in our closet and there was not a chance that I was going to get the ironing board out. 'no worries' I thought. 'I'll just do it in the morning'. For someone who ended up having weeks to get everything ready for engagement pictures, Sunday morning I woke up feeling frantic. Saturday night it started snowing, which meant Jeff had to go out at 3 in the morning to do snow removal meaning he would be dog tired the next morning. That meant that not only would I have to get Brody ready and taken care of by myself, but I would have to get our clothes out and ironed, and get myself together, AND make sure to wake Jeff up so he'd have enough time to get himself ready. Our original plan was to go Red Lodge to get our pictures done, but with the fresh snow fall, we decided at about eight in the morning to stay in town and avoid the icy roads. I felt a little relieved with this because again, it would mean I would have a little more time to get everything done. So instead of waking up and getting straight to work, I relaxed. I fed Brody, played with him, watched a documentary on Netflix, then I got around to actually looking outside. Jeff and I wanted a wintery wonderland setting for our pictures. And the scene outside was more like a skiff of snow, already starting to melt. Not Cool. I go and wake Jeff up at about 9:50 and tell him I think we should still go to Red Lodge. He said he would call our photographer when he got up and see what she thinks. He also informed me he'd really be happy if he could sleep until eleven. So I agreed that he needed a little more sleep, pulled our clothes out of the closet and went back to playing with Brody. At eleven I was back in the room forcing him out of bed, ready to get the day going. He ambled out into the living room, sits on the couch and I hand Brody to him and scramble into the bathroom. After my shower, he announces we are back on for Red Lodge. I check the clock, 11:35, and a new wave of panic sets in. I'm doing some calculating, realizing that means I have about an hour to get myself ready, the clothes ironed, Brody his second feeding, and Jeff motivated to shower. AAAAHHHH! Now, anyone who has a child knows that getting out of the door on time is really just a fantasy (it's not just Jeff and I....right?) so I'm running down the stairs, ironing a shirt, running up stairs, putting makeup on, going back downstairs, ironing another shirt, running back upstairs to fix my hair, ect. By the time I am almost done ironing I look down and realize I am ironing our 5 month old sons flannel shirt and it hits me 'What in the hell am I doing ironing Brody's shirt?!?! I've lost it!' During my frantic rush, Jeff had showered, gotten Brody dressed, the diaper bag loaded, the car loaded and is filling our coffee thermoses. I finally emerge from the room in leggings and a tank top, my hair half done and announce I am going to feed Brody. By that point it's ten to one and we are no doubt running late. Jeff called our photographer and told her how behind we were, which she said was no problem, and for 20 minutes I got to relax a little while Brody ate away. We finally got out the door by one, and aside from hitting some icy roads on the way, we made it. We had an amazing engagement session. It was full of laughter and smiles and lots of snow. We fell through some ice, had some coco and did some sledding. After snapping our last picture of the day, our photographer said 'It's a wrap' and we loaded up to head home, or in our case, my parents house to pick up Brody.
On our way to get Brody, glancing over at Jeff, I realized that it wasn't about the clothes we had picked out, or that my hair was done and eyebrows waxed, it was about Jeff and I celebrating our love for each other. As panicked and stressed as I was about being prepared for our engagement pictures, none of it mattered. Jeff and I were what mattered. What is clear is that we are crazy about each other and we have fun together. We had a blast capturing our love and it makes me even more excited for our wedding day. I know without a doubt that I am marrying a great guy, my best friend and an amazing father. I am one lucky girl to have found a guy that puts up with my crazy!