ten thoughts on a wednesday |33|

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one. 
it still feels like winter in london - so much rain under grey chilly skies this week! but! magnolia trees and other blossoms are bursting all over our neighborhood, and spring is fighting to break through! 

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two.
we are finally at a place where i feel like our flat is actually fully furnished and moved into! this past friday we got a tall lamp for our main room and that was the last thing on the pre-baby-flat-set-up list! over the past couple of weeks we have hung some darling animal heads on the wall in the nursery, filled frames with pictures, aaaaand pulled out all the baby stuff from storage. our home feels so cozy and ready now, and that makes my heart sing! i’ve really exercised my decision-making skills throughout the process of moving into a new (bigger) space. i’ve learned that I am waaaaay better off if i choose relatively quickly and then choose to love my choice full-heartedly (rather than do my default, which is to totally obsess over expensive or significant decisions). 

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three.
i love being a city dweller. i love the urban lifestyle. it is really challenging in some ways, but it is also so exciting and fun for me in so many ways.

four.
i think there is only one thing i don’t love about london — how many smokers there are! i seriously think that smoking anywhere remotely public (regardless of if its indoor or outdoor) should be illegal. especially when I am with my two babies - one in a buggy and one in my belly - and I get a huge puff of smoke in my face … ugh it drives me bonkers. why is it okay for strangers to spew really harmful chemicals towards me and my children?! 
okay, rant over :)

five.
it always makes me happy when i happen to make eye contact with another parent-of-small-children while out and about in the city — because there are always knowing smiles exchanged. i love seeing kids in prams and little tiny babies in baby carriers and mums trying to talk toddlers out of tantrums and dads holding little chubby hands. we are all in this wild adventure of parenthood together - our shared experience of something so challenging and so wonderful instantly connects us as human beings, and i think that’s really beautiful. 

six.
yesterday, moses went to his first football class! when i told ian i had signed little mo up for a few sessions of soccer, ian was so excited, haha. it’s just an awesome little rite of passage and it feels like we are starting down a road of lots of fun with sports and other activities with kids. mo’s first class was pretty crazy because the fields were so incredibly muddy after a very rainy week. homeboy was so distracted by the puddles and the squishy mud and i was legitimately afraid i would slip and fall on my pregnant butt as i chased after him trying to help him do the drills - haha! we are hoping for drier conditions next week :) … it was a memorable and fun morning. 

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seven.
this past weekend was the semi-annual general conference for the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints. many of the messages shared were incredibly inspiring to me, and very empowering as i’ve been seeking to renew/up my spirituality lately. i am really grateful for my faith and the way it guides my life and brings me peace. 

eight.
moses got the second professional haircut of his life the other day. we are really cheap and i usually just snip away at his hair while he’s in the bathtub (whenever it becomes obvious he needs a trim). my last attempt at this was particularly bad, though…so we decided to take him in to a professional and get it cleaned up a bit :) i was shocked by how amazingly well he did sitting still during the haircut. he was totally zenned out just enjoying the fish in the tank and the sensations of the comb and clippers. the girl cutting his hair said, “it’s like he’s considering it a spa treatment!” he seriously loved it, and especially the chocolate coin he was offered when it was done. 

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nine.
i randomly came across this picture of myself from almost a decade ago, and it made me smile. after my mission, i moved to san francisco on pretty much a whim and fell so hard and fast in love with that place (as evoked in this photo!). that turned out to be a pretty stellar decision. you know what they say about san francisco … yep, my heart’s there. forever! 

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ten.
is is weird to have a baby shower for a second baby? i’ve been trying to find this out since my sweet friend loira offered to host a celebration for me and baby boy with some friends. apparently some call a second baby shower a “baby sprinkle,” which i think is so funny. we decided to just call it a “girls’ night” and casually gather as friends for fun. i was so touched that loira offered to organize this for me and it was a really wonderful evening full of chatter and laughs … and cute baby clothes even though i told everyone not to bring gifts. 

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happy wednesday! life is beautiful! 

Comments

  1. Gotta say--I wouldn't mind the cold if we had all the beautiful flowers and trees right now :)
    Little Mo looks darling in his new haircut. What did you do about your boots? :)

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  2. Moses is SO adorable and smiley! Props to you and Ian for instilling so much happiness in him. The photo of him playing with the other boys made me randomly curious -- does he have a British accent?!

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    1. thanks! we have tried to instill joy for sure, but he also just came as he is in a lot of ways. he’s a happy soul!

      he’s still just saying single words (no sentences yet), so no real discernible accent :) american kids in london tend to keep their american accents until they are in school (since the vast majority of speaking they hear is from their american parents). we plan to enroll moses in nursery school part time once he is three, so we will see if an accent comes then!

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  3. You are brave to do soccer, pregnant, in that weather, with Moses still pretty young. Kuddos to you!

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    1. i didn’t think much of it when we signed up, but actually after having gone i thought “that was brave” - haha. pregnancy has been kicking my butt the past few days and all that mud with a busy toddler was pretty wild! thanks for the kuddos ;)

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  4. Soccer with little ones is hilarious. Hey, if you want I can teach you how to cut Mo's hair this summer. I wish we had those trees here. It is still so cold and looks like a wasteland.

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  5. I had a baby shower with every pregnancy (I had three total-twins, then two singletons) so I say if your friend offered, take her up on it! :)

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  6. I love your big white shelf/cabinet! It so airy and such a great way to display things!

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    1. thanks! it’s actually a built-in (so just part of the flat!)

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  7. magnolia trees remind me of my mission in Boston!

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  8. A lady at church says "every baby deserves to be celebrated." So she often hosts baby showers. It does seem awkward, but it's nice to have friends celebrate with you too.

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  9. There is no tradition of baby showers in Germany (though they are held recently). Parents just get presents after a baby is born -after each baby! So I don't think it's awkward. Like jbr said: "Every baby deserves to be celebrate!"

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  10. (though they have recently started being held)

    andererseits hat Deutschland das Kindergeld

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  11. Every baby deserves to be celebrated, but additional showers read as gift grabby. If one is offered, suggest that it turn into a 'sip and see' without presents. The baby is still celebrated, but it doesn't seem as gift centric.

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  12. You look so similar to Shawni in that last photo!

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