Learning to bend with it

Monday, January 14th

I think it's funny that he's wearing monkey jammies, eating a banana, in a semi-primate position here. Cute little monkey boy.

This seems to always happen to my babies once they start crawling and wiggling all over.

A is for Activity Time

In the afternoon, the girls and I made some minty pea pops, which is one of those recipes that sneaks in a vegetable without them knowing it. They're made up of frozen peas, cream cheese, little bit of sugar, mini choc chips, and mint extract. I didn't have mint extract so I used peppermint oil. And I used the same measurement that it called for with the mint extract (oops). Turns out peppermint oil is way stronger than mint extract! Those things could singe your nose hairs.

I found this little bear blanket that I found on sale after Christmas in January last year when I was still pregnant with Edison. I had put it in my sewing pile to remove the Santa hat but just found it recently and pulled it out for him to play with. And let's just say that it never leaves his sight. I even tried to pull it away when it was time to eat and his little hand held on tight. Never letting go of that bear.

So now that it is the third week of January, I feel like it might be time for me to step it up and embrace our daily routine again. I've been having a difficult time since we came home after the holidays... Sometimes I think I need a change of scenery (bigger house would be nice) or maybe life starts to feel monotonous or I'm simply vitamin D deficient (don't they have lamps for that?). I've noticed how much my own attitude affects my husband and my children. It's time for me to step it up and create happiness. It doesn't just happen to you.

I'm accepting that life is hard.

I'm hoping that once I accept that reality, it won't be shocking or hurtful, it will just be what it is and I can embrace it and move forward, relishing the good stuff that always comes along.

Here's a quote I found in our article this month for my Power of Moms Learning Circle:

“Life is difficult. This is the great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult—once we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” --M. Scott Peck in The Road Less Traveled

So this week I've started my new goal of not complaining. I chose to be a full time mom and I've never regretted it. But it is hard. So hard. And hard things make us better. I must stick to the advice from dear Dr. Laura:

BE LOVEABLE, NOT PERFECT.

Another quote from that same POM's article by Allyson Reynolds:
 “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” --Anna Quindlen

It helps me to seek out the little "moments" throughout that day that make me smile.

Like this bare foot sticking out of a blanket.

Or a sleeping baby boy in my lap.

It helps me to remember that I have a husband who backs me up and will let me make a quick escape for a cupcake when I desperately need it.

(Yep, went by myself to Ye Olde Cupcake and ate this "Better than Sunshine" cupcake by myself before David took off for his welfare meeting.)

And I have prayer. Sometimes I pray for angels to surround me when I'm in charge of bedtime alone and everyone needs me. The other night I was wrestling with Edison, trying to put on his pajamas while the girls played in their room, waiting for a bedtime story and Eloise was running around naked, waiting to be diapered. Suddenly Ellie stopped, squatted down and POOPED on her rug, right in front of me. I started to laugh. The whole situation was so funny to me and looking back, I see my reaction as an answer to prayer. I hope to learn to laugh more easily at hard times, so that when my daughters are mothers, they will know that when life is overwhelming, it's better to laugh than to lose it entirely. (And they've seen both).