Monday Thoughts :: Mom Stuff

Last week a friend of mine through Ben's work gave Eowyn the loot of adorable clothes. I got to grab coffee with Meg while spending time watching our girls play and was blessed with the wisdom that comes from hanging out with a woman who has three littles. It's not her first rodeo and it was encouraging to spend time with her. Eowyn is pretty much set for summer (even those clothes above are from the bounty.) I never cease to be amazed at how moms can bless one another.

At the last conference (called AGM) Ben had with his work, I was talking with a woman who had been with the company since its beginning. She commented that despite moves and the struggles that employees face when working with this company, to take care to not underestimate the awesomeness of the 'Fast Family.' I got a little taste of that this past week and am encouraged as we wait for our future move.

In other news, Eowyn takes a bath every other day; mostly because we run out of other things to do while being stuck in side. Unfortunately the same attitude regarding showering when it comes to mama bear tends to not work so well. Waiting till I run out of things to do is just poor planning. I joke with Ben often at bedtime that I'm a "grown woman" and get to choose my own sleep schedule. And yet, self-care is something I'm discovering I pay too little attention to. One part curly hair, two parts winter and you get rat nests in a matter of like two days. I'm learning how to schedule time in to avoid the dreads that form on the back of my head. (I write this fully clean sans mini-dreadlets .) I'm ready for summer when swimming totally counts as a bath (right? Right?!)

I've been reading a book about training our little one (I bought it on google play in a half crazed attempt to figure out what the heck this toddler business is) and it's been incredible. A large part of the author's writing hints about teaching our children things they can do on their own to encourage them and decrease their frustrations. There's a mantra  that keeps being repeated that goes along the lines of: "Don't do for them what they can do for themselves." Giving Eowyn control at the things she's good at is super empowering for her and I can see her little self get more and more confident (and my patience growing-not without pain-as she learns) this past week. She'll go find her belongings when I ask, grab her boots for me, take of her shirt when changing into pajamas and more.

This past week I taught her how to trigger the remote on my camera. The above pictures all come from the few moments while the mac and cheese was cooking. I love what they capture: Her little tongue sticking out, the way she always minimizes space between us, my day-three-sans-shower hair (okay, I don't love that it captured that.) It's a pretty accurate series of photographs for where life is at right now. I continually am amazed at the capabilities of my girl. I'm learning the balance of overestimating vs. underestimating and am proud at the little capable spraguelet she's becoming. Grace is getting a whole new meaning in our home.

Well folks, March is finally here! This is the month that the calendar ushers in spring! Lets see if Minnesota gets the memo.

Happy Monday!