For Mommy

With a single click, the lamp on Noah’s bedside table is extinguished, and the darkness envelops us.

Noah and I are lying on our backs, side-by-side in his twin bed. He's under the covers, clutching his two nigh-nighs and his puppy dog. We just finished reading two stories—Lady and the Tramp and The Berenstein Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone--and now it’s time to pray.

I begin as I always do with…

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit -- making the sign of the cross as I utter these words.

Dear God,

Thank you for a wonderful day. (Noah chimes in as I say "for a wonderful day” because that's how we start every evening prayer.) 

Thank you for the chance to swim in Lake of the Pines. 

Thank you for the chance to spend time with friends and play with a boogie board and soak up the sunshine. (Noah: Boogie boards are fuuuun!)

Thank you for sunscreen and a life jacket and cold water and yummy, nutritious food to eat.

Lord, please be with those who are hungry and thirsty tonight.

Please watch over Daddy at the fire station. Keep him safe and bring him home to us the day after tomorrow.

Noah, is there anything that you want to thank God for?

Then, I give him some wait time—a technique I learned in my teacher training and find particularly helpful as an introvert.

Sometimes Noah simply says, “No,” and that's okay with me.  

Other times, he says "for my puppy" or "for my new boats” or “for the splash pad.”

But on this night, his prayer of gratitude took me by complete surprise.

"For mommy," Noah said.

This two-word utterance sent my lips smiling, my heart swelling. I could feel the warmth, the love, the gratitude. 

You see, it hadn’t been the easiest of days.

I was awakened by Mr. Rooster’s crowing at 6—freakin’—15. (Mr. Rooster and I need to have a talk.)

A few hours later, I discovered that one of our hens had flown the coop, and I had to chase her back inside the fenced enclosure with a broom.

The chickens weren’t the only animals driving me bananas. The dogs were driving me batty, too—going in and out, in and out. All I could think was: Could you please make up your minds, pups? It’s currently 100 degrees outside and 82 degrees inside. Isn’t this a no-brainer?!

It was the kind of day when I just wanted to put a bag over my head. Literally. So I didn’t have to see the acne on my face.

And our satellite internet was moving sooooooo slowly that I seriously thought I’d time traveled back to the late 1990s.

My mind had been swirling with these annoyances for hours.  

But Noah's prayerful words brought all those negative thoughts to a complete. and. utter. halt.

That sweet prayer from the mouth of my 3 1/2-year-old son was a gift.

A present with impeccable timing. So needed, so appreciated. 

Balm for my mama soul.

Around Here | July 2015

Wow, it's almost August. Say what?!

July has been a really full month for us. Nearly-every-square-filled-on-the-calendar-kind-of-month. 

It's been a month of playing and eating and camping and celebrating and watching movies and hiking and buying a few baby girl goodies and spending time with family and friends. 

We started the month off celebrating Fourth of July with old friends. It was HOT--totally to be expected in Sacramento in the summer--and Noah loved playing in the pool and eating ice cream. Later on in the evening, he waved sparklers around, and watched fireworks from his godfather Scot's lap. Brian and I had fun catching up with church friends whom we don't see much anymore now that we live in the foothills. 

Noah took swim lessons and gymnastics classes this month. He loved swimming, but wasn't quite sure about gymnastics. (He just wanted to jump in the ball pit, over and over again!)

I attended yoga three times in all--and twice by the river, which was such a treat. (Having a yoga buddy--my sister-in-law, Lori--the second time was great!)

Brian attended a Giants v. Mets game with some firefighter friends. (He was quite happy that night because the Mets won!)

Noah and I spent several mornings with friends at two local splash pads.

Brian and I took Noah to the movie theater for the first time, and he (well, we) loved it. Six thumbs up for Inside Out!

The three of us also tent camped for the first time this month, and we had a great time. Noah rode his Strider bike around the campground and campsite, and along the paved trail that wraps around the perimeter of Sugar Pine Reservoir. Brian and I both agreed that 3 1/2 years old is an absolutely perfect age to tent camp.

We tended to our growing vegetable plants, watering them each day and applying Miracle Gro once a week. Just this week, we harvested our first handful of cherry tomatoes and two yellow zucchinis, with -- fingers crossed -- lots more to come. Liquid fence for the win!

We celebrated Brian's cousin's nuptials in Old Sacramento. (A big thanks to Brian for keeping a close eye on Noah, so I could take photos during the ceremony and reception.)

We attended the Fast Fridays Speedway races in Auburn twice, and Noah loved it. As a kid, Brian attended the races on Friday nights with his family, and so it was really special for him to take Noah out there. (Just keeping it real: Speedway races are not my cup of tea, but it sure makes my boys happy.)

In our front yard last week, I spied a mama deer and her two babies. It's rare that we see twin fawns--and of course, with their white spots and wobbly legs--they are just the cutest!

We attended Brian's mom's family reunion last weekend in the San Joaquin Valley. There, we ate and swam and chatted and posed for photos and played a little basketball. Noah and his cousin, Sammy, loved eating at their very own kids' table! 

And as much as I enjoyed myself this month, there was a part of me, especially this past weekend, that longed for a slower pace...with more down time at home. Some time to just be in and around our home, puttering around in the yard or reading a book in the hammock or drawing hopscotch boxes on the driveway.  

Luckily, a new month starts soon, and August doesn't look to be nearly as busy as July has been. Phew!

Your turn: What are some of your memorable July moments?

Around Here | June 2015

Around here...

• Noah is officially addressing Brian and me as dad and mom. No more daddy and mommy.

• I'm overcooking pork again. Don't you hate it when you buy a huge chunk of meat from Costco and then cook it just a wee bit too long? Ugh. Wouldn't you know that during that same meal, I fried our instant read thermometer, too. I seriously think our kitchen gadgets get very, very scared when they see me enter the kitchen. I imagine they're thinking -- that is, if they weren't inanimate objects -- Oh no, she's back! Which one of us is she going to break this time? Ha!  

• Noah still loves to help with the dishes. 

• I'm seriously loving that Brian is cooking desserts like this amazing Pizookie in his dutch oven.

• Noah wants to know if there's a surprise for him every time a package is delivered to our home. Oftentimes, the answer is no, but last week, Noah got SO excited when a new ukuele arrived just for him. 

•  I'm experimenting with some new artists and music like: Chris Stapleton (traditional country), Passenger (love the tune, "Let Her Go"), Sam Smith (adore the song, "Stay With Me"), Rachel Platten (a big fan of her "Fight Song")

• Noah and I are listening to a Spanish CD in the car, and learning lots of new Spanish vocabulary as we cruise around town. (And I love that it's from the library!)

• Noah completed four private swim lessons (and loved everything about it -- especially teacher Natalie), and then proceeded to get his very first ear infection. Connection?  I think so.

• Brian completed the chicken's fenced yard, giving them 700+ square feet to run around and eat bugs and fly up into trees. (By the way, we discovered that we have 11 hens and one rooster. A rooster who loves to cock-a-doodle-doo at 6 o'clock every morning. Anyone want a free rooster?!)

• Noah is saying all kinds of cute and funny and silly things lately, so I've been busily jotting them down in his green quote journal. He's also asking, Why? A LOT, and Where does ______ come from? Insert: babies or cereal or paper or dogs or ...

• I'm so very, very excited that my youngest sister is going to be a mom at the end of November. (Congrats, Kate + Preston!)

• Brian and Noah fished at a kids derby and have been out on Brian's fishing boat twice now. (No fish yet, but lots of fun memories!)

• Noah is enjoying driving his John Deere motorized tractor around our front yard -- especially now that he's in the faster 2nd gear!

• Noah is dressing up as Jake and Santa and Buzz Lightyear and a monkey and a pilot. Our dog, Rudy, is not so sure about dress up. Ha!

• We're planting veggies in our side yard, and dreaming of ripe zucchini, tomatoes, and bell peppers fresh from our garden later this summer. (We're trying out liquid fence this year to keep the deer away; I'll let you know how it goes.) 

• We're reading stories and poems in High Five magazine over and over again. It's a seriously great magazine for toddlers. We keep a bucket of issues on the dining room table, so they are easily accessible before and after mealtimes. 

• Brian and I are preparing to sell our rental home. Roof repairs are happening this week and we hope to list it this weekend.

• Reading All the Light We Cannot See (thanks for the recommendation, Gina!), and loving that I've already come across two BIG words that I had to look up in a dictionary. I'm such a logophile!

 

*This post contains affiliate links. What does that mean? If you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission, which helps to keep my blog humming along.  Thanks, in advance, for your support!

Summer List 2015

Over the past few weeks, I've seen a number of summer manifestos online and in magazines. I liked this creative one by blogger Elise Blaha Cripe and this simple one from Ali Edwards. I always enjoy seeing other people's lists as well as creating my own summer list.

In fact, it's becoming a tradition of sorts; this is my fourth year making a list and posting it here on my blog. Here's a look at my previous summer lists: 2012, 2013, 2014.

Just like last year, I've written activities on our list that I think I'd like, Noah would like, and perhaps, Brian would like.

However, there's nothing that says all of us have to do every. single. activity. together.

And even though Noah is nearly a 3-1/2-year-old, (what?) there are a few "firsts" on the list -- like seeing a movie in the theater and taking private swim lessons.

This was the first year that Noah had a suggestion for our summer list. Here's the back story: A few weeks ago, he and I watched as a group of kids tossed water balloons back and forth at the park. He turned to me and said he really wanted to try it. I promised him we'd do it this summer, and as you'll see below, I added it to our summer list.  

In the past, I often felt like if I placed an item on the list, I HAD to check it off by Labor Day. That's not the case anymore. I just brainstorm a bunch of ideas, narrow the list down to 15 or less, and then go with it. If we don't get to one or two of the activities this summer, we can always do it in the fall, winter or even next summer.

Here's a look at our 2015 summer list:

Visit our local splash pad ✅ 

Take private swim lessons ✅

See a movie in the theater

Attend storytime at the library ✅ 

Participate in the library's summer reading program

Work on potty training

Attend Brian's cousin's wedding

Spend time with Noah's cousins

Go tent camping for the first time as a family

Play catch with water balloons

Attend a 4-week gymnastics class

Sell our rental home
Attend our county fair
Listen to some live music 
Finish decorating the nursery 

Your turn: What's on your summer list?

Day in the Life | May 2015

I always enjoy participating in Ali Edwards' Day in the Life. It's a great excuse to pull out my big camera, snap photos with my iPhone, and jot down details of our day in a notebook.

Here's what Tuesday, May 12, 2015 looked like for us. 

8:00 | Noah (and I) slept in until 8:00 am. I awoke to my 3-year-old bellowing for me, "Mommy!" I'm so grateful for days when he sleeps in since I'm such a night owl!

From there, we put the dogs outside and I made breakfast for Noah and me. Life cereal, 1/2 of a bagel with cream cheese and some blueberries for him; yogurt and Grape-nuts and 1/2 of a bagel for me. (Brian left for work around 6:30 am.) 

Conversation at breakfast:

N: "You are growing down, Mommy." 

Me: "I am?"

N: "Yes, I’m growing up and you’re growing down and Daddy’s growing down.”

After breakfast, I took my vitamins and allergy meds and gave Noah his allergy medicine. (Just hayfever, luckily.)

Our dog, Lucy, barked to come in, so we opened the front door for her, but our other dog, Rudy, is nowhere in sight. Probably wondering the property like he usually does.

8:30 | The alarm on my iPhone goes off, letting me know that it's time to feed our dogs. I call Rudy in to the house and feed them. Lucy burps and Noah happens to be standing right next to her, so he turns to her and says, "Excuse you, Lucy!" Ha! I give Lucy her insulin shot, and Noah says, "Did it hurt, Lucy? Just a little bit. Oh, good. You're a good girl, Lucy." (It's so cute when he "talks" for Lucy.)

9:00 | Rinse breakfast dishes with Noah's help. There is water everywhere, but he's having fun and the dishes are super duper clean. Lucy is barking--at what I have no idea, which is not unusual--and Noah is covering his ears.

We head back to the master bedroom and I turn on Jake and the Neverland Pirates for Noah. He's holding his milk, his sword, and a random Mother's Day card he grabbed off the entertainment center in the family room. I clip his fingernails while he's distracted.

9:15 | I start the shower, check my email, and enter the Chris Young sweepstakes on my phone while waiting for the water to warm up.

9:30 | After a quick shower, I get dressed, blow dry my hair, and apply my makeup. I can tell I'm a little too in my head this morning and worrying about things that are totally out of my control. So, I turn on an affirmation track from this Belleruth Naparstek CD, which in the past has helped bring calm to my mind. It works, thankfully.

9:45 | Get Noah dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans because it's cloudy and windy outside. 

10:00 | Noah and I drive 20 minutes to Music Together. Along the way, we listen to Pirate Pete's Giant Adventure for the 6,392nd time! Noah and I strike a deal: He gets to listen to his book once through, then I get to listen to 2 country songs on the radio, and then he can listen to his book again.

10:30 | Music Together class starts. It's full participation for all, including moms and dads. I rack up a lot of steps in this 45-minute session (woohoo!), and I think I have just as much fun as Noah. I'm definitely in my happy place when I'm singing.

11:15 | Noah and his friend, Alex, play with sticks (ie. swords) and rocks after class while I talk to Alex's mom about adoption stuff. (She and her husband adopted Alex at birth, and she has several friends who are hoping and praying and waiting to adopt.) We chat about how hard it is to wait, especially the first time around, and how discouraging it can be to not be picked by birth mothers.We talk about how important it is to share your feelings with other families who have been there, too. And how you simply must remain hopeful.

11:45 | Off to Target we go for a few items. Noah wants to ride in the super long cart with the two kiddie seats, which means we'll probably hit an end cap or two while I try to successfully maneuver it through the aisles. Watch out, people! Ha!

12:00 | We can't find an eye patch for Noah at Target (he's been asking for one for days), but he seems content with a pirate hat, a lollipop, and a sticker. (Thanks to the two sweet Target employees for showering him with goodies!)

12:30 | On the way home in the car, Noah wears his new pirate hat and sings, "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me" over and over again. Can't wait to take him back to Disneyland, so he can experience Pirates of the Caribbean.

1:00 | Put away the Target stuff. Make lunch for Noah and me. Leftover sausage and rice for me; pb+j and fruit for him.

1:30 | I make an eye patch for Noah using construction paper and pipe cleaners. Arrr!

2:00 | Bought Chris Young’s new song, I'm Comin' Over, on iTunes.  

2:15 | Randomly felt inspired to write a country song. This is a first for me. I stood at the kitchen counter and jotted down lyrics in my notebook. It's really only the outline of a song, and let's be honest, it kind of stinks, but I had fun and I hope to flesh it out later.

  

2:30 | Play trains with Noah and listen to kids' music on Pandora. 

2:45 | Brian sent us a few photos from his day. Noah loves seeing photos of Brian's ladder truck, and having seen them, he now wants to go and visit. (Isn't that a cool shot of the moon below?) 

3:00 | Throw a load of sheets into the washer. Pull clean laundry out of the dryer and fold.

3:15 | Head outside. Brush both dogs--they are shedding like crazy right now. Water the grass. Check the step count on my FitBit. I'm only at 5,167 steps, so I make a mental note to walk around as much as I can outside. 

 3:30 | Sail in Noah's pirate ship. Peer through the spyglass. Turn the wheel. Fire the cannon.  Say "Oh, coconuts!" and "Ahoy, matey!" and "Pirate Island straight ahead!" in my best pirate accent. 

4:00 | Check out Brian's fishing boat. After I take a picture of Noah near the boat, he asks if he can take a picture with my camera and I oblige. I keep the camera around my neck and Noah slips in front of me. I show him how to press the shutter release button. He shoots away. Like rapid gunfire. I show him how to gently touch it, so he only takes 1-2 pictures at a time instead of say, 54. 

We view the pictures together, and I tell him they are fuzzy because there is one more step to taking a picture with my camera. I push the * button on the back of my camera (which enables back button focus), and then he presses the shutter release button. He views his photos and he's really excited.

He says, "Mommy, let's take a picture of the trees Daddy cut down!" And off we go on a photo walk of sorts. 

He's clearly hooked. 

And I'm loving it.

4:15 | Noah takes a photo of this fawn walking down to the creek. (I helped him zoom in.) From there, he shoots the canal, the picnic bench, the creek and some dandelions--which he simply calls "lions." Then, he asks to wade into the creek and I say okay, provided we push his pants down into his boots. (To be honest, that didn't really help; he was covered in mud, pretty much from his waist down by the time he was done playing. That happens when you sit down in the creek, silly boy.) While Noah was traipsing through the creek, I shot photos of the flowers and the plants, in and around the water.

Noah joined me near these flowers for a minute, picking one and bringing it over to me. (That's the shot at the very top of this post.) 

I loved the way the light illuminated some of these reeds, creating beautiful texture and depth.

4:45 | Time to take a break from shooting and go inside, so I can start dinner. I strip off all of Noah’s clothes in the garage, and then make a quick trip to the laundry room where I spray his clothes with Oxiclean and throw them in the washing machine.

5:00| Noah watches one more episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates on the DVR while I make dinner.

5:30| We say grace and then eat chicken, rice and broccoli for dinner. Surprisingly, Noah is a big fan of broccoli, especially when we roast it in the oven.

6:00 | I rinse the dishes, load the dishwasher and clean off the counters.  I'm listening to I'm Comin' Over on repeat. Noah is back playing trains at the train table.

6:15 | I pull the sheets out of the dryer and make my bed.

6:30 | Bathtime. Early, I know, but when Noah doesn't take a nap, he's usually ready for bed by 7:00 pm. While Noah was playing with his ship in the bath, I snapped the shot below.

This photo requires some explanation. I took it because it documents growth--both literally and figuratively. It's embarrasing to admit it, but I've been a nail biter for years. I know, I know: Nail biting is a disgusting habit; I've tried to stop several times, but have never been able to go more than a few days without starting up again.

In late April, I decided I really wanted to kick the habit for good. I bought a bottle of Bite It and painted it on my nails. (I've included the Amazon link, but it's super expensive there, so you'd be better off buying it from your local drugstore instead. I bought it at CVS for $6.) Later that day, I made the mistake of accidentally biting one of my nails and I was thoroughly disgusted by the taste. Which is, of course, exactly what it's designed to do. 

When I snapped this photo on May 12, I had gone 14 days without biting my nails. That's a record, folks!

 

7:00 | We read two stories (Pirate Pete, followed by The Itty Bitty Kitty Rescue), and then we said a quick prayer and turn out the lights. Noah is asleep in just a few minutes and I tiptoe out of his room.

7:15 | I change into workout clothes, but because I feel like I'm coming down with a cold, I opt to walk on the treadmill instead of run. I watch the Top 20 Countdown from last Friday while I walk.  My FitBit vibrates halfway through letting me know that I've hit my daily goal of 10,000 steps. Smile.

7:45 | I head into my office, check my email, Facebook and Instagram, and then start writing a Father's Day gift guide for Improve Photography. I've found that when I write on my desktop computer, I MUST close up my email, so it doesn't distract me each time a new message comes in. Same with my iPhone.

8:30 | The alarm goes off on my iPhone, reminding me to feed the dogs and give Lucy her insulin. I send a few text messages while I'm waiting for Lucy to eat her food.  

9:00 | Talk to Brian on the phone. He went on a fire this morning and had a drill this afternoon. He sounds tired. 

9:15 | Back to my desk to continue writing my article.

10:00 | Upload photos from my big camera. Edit photos on my iPhone. Send the photos from my phone to my email account. 

10:30 | Head upstairs earlier than normal because I'm not feeling great. Best to get some extra rest. Take the dogs out one last time and gaze up at the stars. That's one thing I love about living in the country: there are so many stars visible in the night sky. It's pretty magical.

10:45 | Read for 15 minutes and then it's lights out.

All square photos were taken with my iPhone 5S and edited using PicTapGo.

All rectangular photos were taken with my Canon 5D Mark III and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

 

*This post contains affiliate links. What does that mean? If you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission, which helps to keep my blog humming along.  Thanks, in advance, for your support!

Motherly Love

I've been looking through old photos lately as I attempt (yet again) to better organize the images on my computer.

I stumbled across this precious photo of my grandmother, my mother, and me. Taken in 1978, my mom had given birth to me just 10 days earlier. It's interesting to think about the fact that my mom was my grandmother's first child, and that I was my mom's first child and also my grandmother's first grandchild.


Notice the sleeper that 10-day-old Noah has on in the photo above?  It's the same one I was wearing in the first photo. I love that my mom saved it, so my son could wear it. 

And one last photo.  This one was taken about three months after the second image, in April of 2012. It's a four-generation photo, which makes it extra special.

Through these images and thousands of others I have in print, in albums, and in my mind, I celebrate motherhood.

I celebrate all women who have carried babies (including Noah's birth mother) and raised babies. 

I celebrate the motherly love, the joy, the sacrifice, the strength, the hugs, the confidence, the kindness, the lessons taught and the lessons learned.

I celebrate all the little things moms do, oftentimes behind-the-scenes, which go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Happy Mother's Day to my mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law.  And if you're a mom, happy day to you, too.