day three: be happy

man. what a day to have #behappy as the goal. hah. one of those nightmarish days where you're like...wait...is it halloween yet??!! haha. whatever.

so, for my 30 minutes of something great...to be honest...today I showered. and it probably wasn't a full 30 minutes, but it was silent. and it was baby free. and it was warm. and it was clean. this is definitely not something that I do every day, but I definitely (thanks to a husband who makes it a priority in my life) try to do SOMETHING each day that is just for me.  Sometimes my run for the day is the only me-time i get, or other times it's my shower (like today), but just to have at least 30 minutes alone, to think, reflect, and remember what it's like to be me as a person and not me as a mom, is sooo good for the soul.  on a good day, it will be reading a book, or painting, or crafting, or going out with a friend, but it's (almost) always refreshing.  It's been really important for my happiness to not loose myself in my mommyhood.  Which feels ironic, as my goal for this challenge is to discover the key to finding happiness and success in my mommyhood.  but both are important, i think.  both help me find a balance in the new me, with the old me.  not that the old me has to stay old--i'm totally open to finding new hobbies and things i enjoy (like running 5 miles now, which my old self would never have even dreamed).  i just mean the old me, as in me as a person with interests and hobbies and friends outside of my mommy-ness.

for my joyful mommy moment: (which also was not as easy to find today due to an overtired, busy, and *shh* constipated baby)

one of my favorite, weird mommy pleasures is rubbing my lips on Ivy's forehead.  people always talk about babies having really soft bums...right? like the phrase "soft as a baby's bottom"?  but seriously. let's talk about how soft and fuzzy Ivy's forehead is. yum. haha. anyway, today I remembered to rub my lips on her forehead while she drank her bottles (sometimes I forget how much I love it!).  I love how she smells (yes, even her little formula milky breaths haha), and when she's in my arms it's the perfect time to take a sniff of her baby shampooed hairs.  I won't let her grow up, so I still cradle her in my arms when she drinks her milk.  it's my favorite time to reconnect with my baby and to remember how much i love her despite whatever she was doing before (AND whatever she will do after) this precious moment. i think of when she was a baby and i could cradle her all the time. and i think of how i never want her to get any bigger--when she doesn't fit in my arms i will just die.  for a minute all is peaceful and she is my little tiny angel again.  so i rub my lips, and smell her hair...and then back to our day :)