My Littlest Love

I cannot believe how quickly he has grown; just like that - in the blink of an eye. Becoming his mama has been such an incredible journey. He continually teaches me patience and acceptance. And the older he gets the more I realize that sometimes I need him more than he needs me. Most days I am caught off guard by how much he is grown and then I think back to the beginning of his life. All those sweet moments when he'd sleep on my chest for hours, his warm body on mine, and I'm still in awe by how it feels like it happened just yesterday, but also forever ago. So much has happened since the day we brought him home - countless exciting things - his first laugh, his first word (mama), his first steps. All of it so tenderly etched into my brain. All those precious moments that I will never forget. I love you, little one. I'm glad that I get to call you my son.

Gratitude Journaling

Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been mildly keeping a gratitude journal. I say mildly because sometimes I go three weeks without writing in it. Womp womp. Even with those gaps in writing, I've found it to be rather helpful. I love creating a habit that encourages me to be mindful because it can be quite a challenge with a little one. Over the past few months, I've found a few tricks when it comes to writing my gratitudes down. This one especially: it's best to write a sentence about one thing you are grateful for and list five reasons why you are grateful for them. I wish I could say that I came up with this idea, but I didn't. Unfortunately, I can't recall where I discovered it either. 

Another gratitude journaling trick I came across is from Delilah of Loeppkylife. She suggests to, at the end of the day, write down your negative comments and spin each one of them into a positive statement. For example, My husband always leaves his dishes in the sink . . . a positive spin on that could be My husband doesn't leave his dishes all over the house. It's really just another way of being thankful for what you have. I love it because it is such a great reminder to treasure what you have in your life. 

I'm also trying to take her suggestion one step further and not say anything negative or complain. Instead, I'll write them down in my journal, do the positive spin, and if I'm still bothered by the end of the week I'll say something.

I've also taken to writing inspiring quotes that I come across on random pages in my journal to find later on. Like this one by Ram Das, "When somebody provokes your anger, the only reason you get angry is because you're holding on to how you think something is supposed to be. You're denying how it is. Then you see it's the expectations of your own mind that are creating your own hell. When you get frustrated because something isn't the way you thought it would be, examine the way you thought, not just the thing that frustrates you. You'll see that a lot of your emotional suffering is created by your models of how you think the universe should be and your inability to allow it to be as it is."

In the spirit of sharing, I figured it would be fun to show you one of my journal entries:

I'm grateful for my husband because . . .

1. He is such a great father.
2. He always cooks us a delicious dinner.
3. He's funny and weird.
4. He always gives me head-pets and backrubs.
5. He is caring and loving.

I'm grateful for my son because . . .

1. He helps me slow down in life.
2. He is helping me be patient.
3. His smile makes me so happy.
4. I love how his laugh is contagious.
5. He feels like home.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post - it has been AWHILE since I last posted something substantial and it feels good to be back at it. Even if I don't know how long it'll be until I post again.

Waiting for autumn like . . .