little bits of happiness - week seven

i haven't linked up with stephanie & done one of these posts in a few weeks, so i figured i was overdue.  i got stuff to be happy about ya know, might as well share.

we got to see little man #2 last week!  the only thing almost as good as laying there & watching him squirm around & wave is taking home the ultrasound snapshots to look back at.  litte face, little feet & little hands make me happy.

some things take parker a while to adjust to.  his new flip flops?  were one of those things.  but now, thanks to a few hot days last week, he understands flip flops = playing in water.  so now he's all about them.  so much so that the other day while it was pouring rain outside, he got them out of his shoe drawer, brought them in to me, demanded his socks off & his sandals on & then said, "ok.  go outside... play water!"  i wish p-ray, i wish.

if you follow me on instagram you may have seen a similar picture in my feed already.  but this is too good not to share again... although i'm pretty unwilling to share this stuff in real life.  i made a batch of cookies sunday night & after baking two sheets, put the rest of the dough in the fridge for later.  genius, genius move.  the sad part of this story is that it's all almost gone.  booo.

and then there's this kid.  he cracks me up daily.  he's such a goof & i could just sit & watch him all day.  good thing that's basically what i do.  it's so funny to watch him react to things & learn & interact.  and by interact i mean make animal noises & roar & meow & bark at his toys.  because that's what two year olds do.

how "mommy-hood" has changed my identity.

when i was twenty-eight weeks pregnant with parker i wrote this post about "keeping my identity" & wondering how becoming a mom might change me.  i was all up in my life as a career woman at the time & wondered if i'd get "dumbed down" by a life of diapers & spit up.  i came across that post last week & now, at twenty-eight weeks pregnant with parker's little brother, i want to write a follow-up to all the questions i asked back then... because now i know.

here's the short answer.  i know more about myself now & who i am than i ever did back then.

these last two years of being a {mostly} stay at home mom really have changed me & honestly?  the only thing i miss about that full-time career woman is the bigger paycheck.  but getting to stay home with parker & watch him grow has made up for that in amounts way more priceless than dollars.

ok, that's the cheesy short answer.  here's some other ways i've changed.

i discovered my love for photography & started a business.  i've always been an obsessive picture-taker & always insisted on taking a million pictures of every occasion.  but when parker was just a couple months old i realized i wanted to take this passion to the next level & we purchased my first dslr.  it started with millions of pictures of parker but now i'm on my second camera & have since shot countless families, seniors, kids & a handful of weddings.  if it wasn't for staying home & photography blogs & a cute little model to learn on, i'm not so sure any of this would have ever happened.  i definitely see a long life as a photographer ahead of me & hope this is just the beginning... i think it's something i am good at & something i strive to be better at.

also?  this might not be true for most moms but i feel like i've discovered a lot about my own personal style & fashion sense since becoming a mom.  when i dress up, i dress with more purpose & my home is decorated much more to my liking than it ever has been {although it's always a work in progress!}. pinterest & fashion blogs & lots of trips to target & the mall probably have something to do with this.

when i was pregnant with parker i think i thought all moms were destined to lives of yoga pants & slippers & although this really is what i wear 75% of the time {it's actually quite glorious}, i still find times to dress up & look nice.  i still clean up well.  i still get to curl my hair & wear heels {if i want} to church on sundays or for my one day in the office on thursdays.  this is plenty for me.  it turns out moms wear yoga pants & flip flops or slippers all the time because it is COMFY.  who knew?

when i was pregnant with parker i worried about losing touch with current events.  becoming a mom-in-a-bubble.  this is something i work on.  i watch the news, i read cnn.com & follow all kinds of newsfeeds on facebook.  i think i have a pretty good idea what is going on in the world around me & i enjoy talking about current events with sam every night.  it would be easy to tune all that out & worry only about the number of dirty diapers parker had that day but this is something that's important to me & i hope it always is.

and lastly?  what i didn't know about myself back then is how much i could love another little human being.  i didn't expect that i would honestly feel like i love my kid more than any one in the whole world could possibly love theirs.  i didn't know that watching sam be a dad would make me fall in love with him over & over again everyday & that being a family kicks the crap out of being a married couple.

basically, all my fears i had back in the day were unnecessary.  mommy-hood is what you make of it.  i think it's important to make time for yourself & put yourself first when it's appropriate because no one should ever feel like they've lost their identity.  of course i have my daily struggle with fitting in all the things i have to do versus what i would like to do but that happens with kids or no kids, right?  you just have to figure out your priorities.

turns out being a mom is a pretty good thing to be.  i highly recommend it.

twenty-eight weeks. bumpdate!

{compare boy two belly to parker belly here.}

lots to report this week.

first off, we had our twenty-eight week check-up this week along with an ultrasound.  they wanted to see how baby boy is growing since he was a little on the small side {19th %-tile} when we had the gender scan at eighteen weeks.  good news:  he's in the 50th %-tile now!  he was moving around & kicking & also good news?  still a boy.  we never had an ultrasound this late in the game with parker so it was interesting to see how much bigger he is now & how cramped it is in there for him.  he's just gonna get more & more smooshed as the weeks go on though!

secondly, i described all my pelvic/back pain issues to the doctor & told her i'd self-diagnosed myself with symphysis pubis dysfunction.  she agreed!  i has it.  unfortunately, the only good this does is give all the pain i feel a name.  the only thing you can really do is wear a maternity pelvic support belt & wait for your baby to be born... so that sucks.

basically what happens is your ligaments relax too much & your pelvis separates way too much causing lots of instability in your hips, back & pelvis.  this causes horrible pain when rolling in bed, getting up from sitting down, trying to stand on one leg & getting dressed.  all things i experience.  and apparently 1 in 4 pregnant girls get it too.  do you have it?  misery loves company!

the good news is that with parker it went away pretty much as soon as he was born when my body quit producing relaxin & the ligaments tightened back up.  so that means only t minus twelve weeks of living with SPD!

lastly, the other night i stumbled upon a post i wrote when i was twenty-eight weeks pregnant with parker.  it was all about how afraid i was to change & lose my identity once i became a mom.  i was worried about the change from career-woman to mommy-woman & if i would hate who i'd become.  this week i will be writing a follow up to this post as an answer to myself about how i've changed... but basically?  i would change NOTHING about how i've changed.

our week by iPhone - week 79

remember all that talk about slowing down & enjoying moments?  i really honestly tried to do that this week.  there was lots of time in the sun & time with friends & good moments to enjoy... but you know what that leads to?  catching up on everything else later on!

yeah, turns out when you spend your day playing in the sun, nobody does your laundry, dishes or grocery shopping for you.  so much for slowing down!  i still feel like this whole week was catch up.

here's what it looked like in iPics.

monday hit 80 degrees & meant stroller strides out in the warm sun.  we came home & had friends over for sprinklers & popsicles... pretty much perfect.

tuesday.  another sunny day, another workout in short sleeves.  parker was into the big slides & sidewalk chalk afterwards but even more into our dinner picnic on the back porch that night.

wednesday was my day in the office this week so i drove a cute little boy to his sitter's & slapped on another shirt + cardi combo.  it's my maternity go-to.  a post-work pedicure made the day a little better but picking up this happy little boy from "the cider mill" with his sitter made the day awesome.


parker was equally happy to see sam back at home & equally adorable as a sprawled out sleepy little boy. 

thursday.  drove home a cute giggly little boy from some time at his friend's & watched him scribble on his toy-box-blackboard back at home with sam.  yup, that definitely says "parker {hearts} mommy."  and then my heart melted into a big fat puddle.

speaking of big fat things, i topped off the night with some of my homemade cream cheese frosting slopped over one of sam's homemade cinnamon rolls.  so that was cool.

friday.  parker had a lunch date with lots & lots of giggling & plate biting.  it's their thing... i don't ask questions.  also?  dinner at costco.  because we're classssy.  where else can you feed your whole family on four dollars with drinks & dessert included?

saturday we made up for our awesomely healthy friday-night dinner at costco by going for a five mile walkabout at a local wildlife refuge.  parker loved the birds & the bugs & the endless boardwalk that made for a pretty awesome place to run.  and then we undid all the good of walking with dinner at red robin.  ah well.

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***photos edited via instagram.  do you instagram?  find me @amy_agoodlife & let's picture bond!***
that was our week!  how was yours?  i wanna see, so link up!

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let's just enjoy this moment, shall we?

oh you guys... i'm treading water.  i'm balancing a million things, none of which are bad.  mom duties, photographer duties, church duties, wife duties, part-time worker duties, self-duties, housekeeper duties... you get the idea.  probably because most of you are doing the same thing.  we take on a lot because we know we can & then we feel like {as a good friend of mine put it} you're just one step away from not getting up out of bed in the morning.  it's not depression, it's exhaustion.  and it's a situation i've chosen to be in because there is so. much. i. want. to. do.  sure, a couple extra hours in the day might help... but would it?  because i'm pretty sure i'd find a way to fill that too.

i guess what i'm saying is that i am feeling the need to slow down.  i'm getting tired, i'm feeling pregnant & i'm starting to freak out a little at what's ahead.  two kids.  but then i look at everything i'm juggling & there isn't a single thing i'd choose to take off the table.  so then whattyado?

i've definitely cut back on the blogging... maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't.  i feel like lately it's pregnancy update, week in iPhotos, token post of another subject, rinse, repeat.  and it'll probably continue to be like that as i'm insistent on continuing to document this pregnancy & our lives in the meantime.

but right now?  right at this moment?  i just want to slow down & take a breath.  i want to enjoy some of the good things in my life, some of the quiet moments & some of the things that make life worth living.  this is what it's all about.  this is how my little family spent my third mother's day as a mom.  it was just me & my two guys + the one in my belly, at the park.  it was a gorgeous day, parker was happy & the lighting was perfect for picture taking.  so i took lots.

i love my crazy, exhausting, sometimes-overwhelming life.  i am blessed with so much & am so grateful for all the opportunities that come my way, even if sometimes i think it's gonna kill me.  i'm so grateful for sam & parker & for this little boy we get to meet in less than three months.

and sometimes i just need to step back from it all, look at the big picture, take a deep breath... and remember that.

{ps:  wanna see what our mother's day looked like last year?  click here.  spoiler alert:  i had a much flatter stomach & better hair.  just sayin.}

twenty-seven weeks. bumpdate!

{compare boy two belly to parker belly here.}

ummm, heck yes another week has gone by.  and?  this is officially the start of our THIRD trimester!!  how this is possible?  no one knows.  but it means we're on the last & final stretch of this baby growin' process.

i really only have one complaint:  my whole body feels like it's falling apart.  that's it.  no seriously, i know i've complained about having a bad back/pelvis/hips/whatever before, but seriously, pregnancy does a number on those bad boys.  it takes me like five minutes to get up from the floor or out of bed & i'm starting to waddle already because when i push off my left leg a pain shoots up my back.  you guys, being pregnant makes me 80 years old.

how lame is that?

the good news is that once i am up & moving i feel pretty good.  i'm still making it to stroller strides & walking quite a bit & doing strength training & stretching & such as.  i'm gonna look into some spinning classes here pretty soon because that's what i did with parker up to 36 weeks & it was pretty much my favorite thing EVER.  after 36 weeks i swam until the day i delivered... i may be in an old lady's body but i'll be danged if i let it get away from me.

in other good news?  baby boy is moving in there lots & lots & i loooove it.  i can see my belly poke out from his little jabs now & then & every once in a while i swear he's doing flips because it feels like my whole belly just rolled over.

and in even more good news?  we get to see the little man this week in an ultrasound.  since we did his "big" ultrasound so early {about 18 weeks} he was measuring a little on the small side & they just wanna do a follow up to make sure they like the way things are progressing.  my doctor assures me there's no cause for concern {my belly is measuring right on} & this is totally being over-cautious but what do i care?  i'm just excited to see him again.  and sam gets to take a half day & come with me so that's pretty sweet too.

anywho, i hope everyone had an awesome mother's day weekend.  sam & p-ray went out of their way to make me feel loved & appreciated & it gave me serious heart flutters.  we're talkin' flowers & a handmade card {with traced toddler handprints... LOVE.} & my favorite meals & snacks & activities all weekend.  but sam informed me that starting tomorrow there will be no more special treatment.  at least he's honest.

so happy {belated} mother's day to all you amazing ladies out there & to all the moms that have influenced me in one way or another... there are lots of you & i'm grateful for that.