on being a mom

Nothing new to report.  Not a whole lot to say...except that I am just doing my thing ya know?

This mom gig is pretty time consuming. I am certainly not complaining just explaining my lack of great  stories to tell, or finished projects to show for.  There isn't really anything exciting coming from my kitchen or growing from my garden (it has been snowing!)  Just regular days with regular responsibilities, and regular stuff.

(every monday I am the recess monitor at school and jump rope is definitely in right now)

Do you ever look around you at the end of the day and say, "It looks like have I accomplished nothing today!"   Wouldn't it be great to have some tangible evidence of what you did all day long? Being a mom isn't really a task oriented job.  There isn't really any completed work to hand in at the end of the day. I find it more to be an ongoing process and sometimes that is hard for me. There are days when I would much rather see complete piles of time spent: reading books, snuggling, having heart to heart chats, helping with homework, taking walks, sharing cocoa, playing store, driving from here to there, etc.  It might make me feel as though I was making some headway to somewhere. 

I gain so much comfort and inspiration from this post.  I read it over and over again.  I especially like the last sentence.  It takes my focus off of "tasks" and redirects it to enjoying the process. Won't you enjoy it too?

A baby and a bag

Remember my friend Saci from Hungary?  Well, this morning at 6:40am she had her little baby boy.  I was so fortunate to be with her and husband for a second time as they welcomed this sweet peanut into their family.

Her labor was about 3 hours start to finish, Jared was born in two pushes! Sarah, their older daughter was not so accommodating...so I was glad this time was easier for her. "Easier" is of course a relative term.  Labors that are short tend to be fairly intense.  Saci did a beautiful job of staying calm and relaxed while her body did some major work in a short period of time!  I have been doing this doula thing long enough now that some of my moms are having baby #2 and that is so fun for me.  I was tickled to again be present at such special moment and, of course, had a few happy tears for them.

(left to right: Stephanie-birth assistant, Me-birth assistant/doula, Saci, and Dzhan-midwife)

I wasn't on call this morning but was glad to be invited.  And hey, these short little 3 hour in-and-out births are fun. I could get used to those. However long they last, it doesn't seem possible that I will ever tire of being a small part of such a miraculous event!

And, last night I finally snuck in some sewing.  I have still been carrying around this bag and the wool fabric was all wrong for spring. 

My new favorite color is yellow.  I was trying hard to find a color combination that allowed me to have some yellow without being too annoying.  I wanted the bag to be something that would go with almost anything.  I used the pattern for the Pleated Beauty Handbag from Bend the Rules Sewing.  I bought the fabric and then realized when I opened the book that it was very similar to the one in the picture.

I like the way it turned out and especially love the little button that I added for a closure at the top. (I like my bags to close...you never know what might fall out of it :)

Anyways, we are gearing up for a freezing cold weekend.  The weather was unseasonably warm last weekend and now tomorrow we may get snow.  I was planning to move my seedlings outside this weekend- but maybe I'd better wait.  No matter, there is more sewing to do!

where the rubber meets the road

It's 8:15am, girls dropped off at school (except for Laurel Baby), I have 2.5 hours of free time- what do I do next?

A.  Make a beeline to my favorite downtown coffee shop? (very tempting!)

B.  Go back home and do laundry? (not so tempting)

C.  Get real about getting in shape and exercise? (ugghhh)

D.  Kidnap my husband and fly a private jet to some lovely tropical island where we sip fruity drinks all day and sink our toes into the sand. (probably not a realistic option)

Answer: C

It wasn't all that bad.  I had a fun little friend with me.

We chatted (er- maybe it was more like I eeked out a few words between gasps of air) about the trees,

 

and made a pre-season visit to the "secret beach".

All the fruit trees are beginning to bloom and it is so, so pretty around here.

It is amazing what intricate theological discussions one can have with a two year old about The Maker of All Things when surrounded by such beauty. 

Me:  Laurel, who made that pretty tree?

Her: um, God.

Me: Laurel, who made those noisy geese?

Her: um, God.

Me: Laurel, who made the bright sunshine?

Her: um, God.

Me: Laurel, who made you?

Her:...thinks about it... "God did!" (with great enthusiasm)

Me: Why did God make you?

Her: love (spoken in a soft voice with her head tilted to one side)

Isn't that simple?  Just a one word answer summed it all up.  I was blessed.