Photo Love: My Third Mother's Day

This Sunday was my third Mother's Day! I can't believe how blessed I have been since becoming a mom. Of course, the best part is my sweet Carter who just brings so much greatness to my life! There's nothing like watching your child grow. Just his smile is enough to make my day. And I love being able to see and understand the world through his eyes.







Every day of motherhood is a step of the journey and an opportunity to learn. Seriously, the way I see it is that becoming a mom has changed the way I look at life. It has helped me to be more appreciative and loving. And it made me realize that my main purpose in life is to be a mom, to have a family. Being a mom has allowed me to let love guide my life. How amazing is that?

Well, this Sunday, Carter joined me, my mom, my aunts, and my grandma on an outing at our favorite farm. The weather was fabulous and we just sat and laughed and enjoyed the scenery - while nibbling on fresh tarts and muffins. Carter had a blast rolling in the grass, gazing at all of the flowers, and visiting the little animals.
















Once Kyle was done work, it was his turn to spend some time with me (Trust me. I had a blast using the "it's my day" line). And we went out to see The Avengers. We had been dying to see it ever since it came out. Let's just say that I was not let down. Pretty awesome movie.

So, a day with my Carter and a night with my hubby... a lovely Mother's Day indeed!

Hope all you mamas had a great Mother's Day too!

In the moment

A common piece of advice from the wise is to "live in the now," to stop and be grateful for everything you have and that surrounds you. It is a hard thing to do. Sometimes I have to force myself to pay attention to the present because my mind wanders off into who-knows-where so often.

Last night, that was not the case. I came out of the washroom to see Carter up late and flipping through my journal. Instead of rushing him back to bed like I would usually do, I sat beside him and looked at his plump cheeks and still small hands. I took a moment to appreciate the little details. Then, I could not hold it in any longer and I said, "I love you, Carter." His big brown eyes looked at me and he smiled the most beautiful smile. He understood.

I cannot even begin to explain how amazing and precious of a moment that was. What I spend my every second thinking about and trying to express to Carter, he understands. He'll never remember me rocking him back and forth at the late hours of the night when he was an infant, but I did it because I love him. He won't fully understand how I sacrifice time and energy to be both a mom and a student until he's in his late teens, but I do it because I love him. And though he may not totally realize the things I do because I love him, I am over the moon to know that he feels it. That is a mom's greatest wish - for her child to be loved, to feel love, to know love.

And so, my son's eyes brought me to the present and it felt extraordinary. Being in the moment makes all of my blessings and dreams so clear. Personally, I am so thankful to be a mom and to have Carter. Yes, I am young. I do get asked how I do it or hear comments like, "Oh my goodness. I could never do that" or "That must be hard." And sometimes comments from my peers make me feel so old and I have to tell myself that they will understand later in life. But despite the fact that I haven't finished my university degree and my life has taken some turns that are not usual, I am living my dream. Completely and honestly. When I shove all of the complaints in my head aside, how can I say that this is not a dream? I am safe and loved and I have Kyle and Carter.

My blessings aren't disguised. They are right in my arms.

The nap battles

For the past week, I have been finding my way back into my yoga pants, sweatshirts, running shoes, and ponytails - and I've been liking it! Surprise! I am embracing this busy-mom-wear because I have been longing to be a stay at home mom again ever since the school year began. So, like I said in a previous post, I am off from school (except for a few exams) and I am really really really focusing my attention on Carter. Before classes were even done, I listed out all of the things I'd like to do with Carter and a few parenting goals.

Goal #1: Fix Carter's nap/sleep schedule.

Carter has gotten used to sleeping late, waking up late, and not napping at all (if we do get him to nap, it's late in the afternoon or evening). It's crazy how much energy this little guy has and his current sleeping habits are no good. So, today is the first day of the nap battles.

The nerd inside of me made a schedule/chart on the computer yesterday (colorful, cool fonts, and all) to get our lives a bit more organized. Following the chart, I tried putting Carter to sleep at noon after his lunch. I was doing everything on time, Carter's room was nice and clean, and his bed was ready to be nestled in.

The plan went downhill from there. Instead of snuggling under the covers, Carter ended up jumping on the bed. I tried to think of different ways to settle him down. We read some books, I rubbed his back, I even laid on the bed too. While I was pretending to get rest, I peeked with one eye to see my toddler free-falling on his bed. My last attempt was to let him play on his own for a bit until he fell asleep. So, I told him it was nap time, closed his bedroom door, and went to my bedroom. And, of course, as I was writing this post, my bedroom door creaked open, Carter climbed onto my bed, picked up my iPhone, sat beside me, and said, "Thank you, Mommy!"

It's not called a nap battle for nothing.

Team iPhone, we have a problem.

It's 2012. Technology is everywhere. Kids are technology-savvy at such a young age. For goodness sake, I was using PowerPoint at 3 years old. And even though I am a young mom who understands that my kid is going to love technology, I think it's so important that there is a balance between the technology sort of toys (mini laptops, things with all kinds of buttons, etc.) and the traditional sort of toys (wooden toys, blocks, chalkboards, etc.). Well, that plan of mine - to get Carter to enjoy the things that aren't touch screen - is HARD to carry out!

Every single time, Kyle or I pull out our iPhones, Carter freaks out! He starts screaming "mine! mine!" and will literally bawl his eyes out and do the whole jump-up-and-down tantrum thing. He truly thinks it is a toy. And while he does use it amazingly - Angry Birds, Temple Run, Fruit Ninja and all - I am really trying to get him off of it so that his iPhone obsession will come to a halt, so that he understands the actual purpose of a phone, and so that my phone won't be damaged.

I feel bad, but this situation needs for me to be consistent... even if it means dealing with a storm of tears every time I have to make a call. Any other parents dealing with the same problem?

Survivor

Note: this post is pretty much an update of my "sickies" post from last Sunday.

I held Carter's hand as he toddled beside me. A paper clung to the classroom door. I couldn't see what it said but its yellow highlighter marks gave me that "oh no" feeling.

ATTENTION PARENTS:

There is 1 confirmed case of stomach flu in our class.

My initial thoughts?

1. Yikes!

2. Carter is just recovering from his last illness.

3. I bet he's going to catch this bug...

4. Which means I will too.

Only a day later, I was right - Carter had the stomach flu. I won't get into the gross details because I am sure you can imagine. Well, a few days after that both sets of grandparents got it too. Oh, and then the hubster. Then the hubster's brothers and sisters. And just today, my brother is sick with the stomach flu too.

Where my assumptions went wrong: so far I have SURVIVED! Yup. Capital letters for this miracle and I am forever knocking on wood. I usually get sick so easily and it's interesting that I, the person who has been taking care of Carter the most, am flu-less. All of this has sparked a little OCD-ness slash germaphobia in my corner. Lysol and I are BFFs and I have been washing my hands like crazy.

Fierce mom mode it is this week. Got to get these bad boy germs out of my house!