I finally got around to doing another Christmas song for my hometown. It’s been a long time coming. I made the video “The 12 Days of Christmas, The Laurel Edition” 5 years ago, as hard as that is for even me to believe. So much has happened in those 5 years! For one, I was not a WayOutMama at that point, so it was nothing for me to take my time, collaborate with friends, record it whenever I wanted… this time around was a little more difficult.

I got the inspiration to write the words one night- that was the easy part. They just flowed out like words usually do for me. I think it was written in about 7 minutes, though I did add the tag at the end after the fact, after my mom said it needed a wrap up. So add on about 1 minute. They really do just come out that fast sometimes.

Now the implementation actually recording the song and getting footage around town was not an easy feat with a 2.5 year old and an 8 week old. I just strapped my GoPro on my head and filmed the city while I was running errands, looking much like a coal miner. I’m sure I looked pretty silly, but WayOutMama doesn’t care! The really hard part was finding time to get a recording done, so luckily Auntie Sheryl took Patrick out for a few hours so I could figure out the set up, and then after everyone was asleep, I just went for it. I did 2 full takes, but was so scared I’d wake someone up, I just went with the better of the two. Sometimes in recording, you will find that after a bunch of takes, you end up going with one of the earlier ones. Well, if you are already tired, especially. And I was! I recorded it on my iPad as troubleshooting the GoPro can be pretty time consuming. Then I spent a few hours on the editing, feeding the baby on my lap while doing so. It was a late night, and an early morning, but well worth it.

While things are a little harder to accomplish with kids, nothing is impossible. Just takes some creative time planning and a few helpful hands.

I give you, “Oh, Little Town of Laurel”.