april in quick takes

1. Right after I wrote about potty training, Evangeline started regressing (eye roll emoji) and it just got worse and worse until suddenly there was a slow upward trend and fingers crossed we are back to normal again. (And I still don’t know why. The move, I guess?) But the worst two weeks of it corresponded with the last two weeks of freezing weather and I just about lost my mind completely. It’s just soul crushing to handle that much poop when you have taught this little human how to take care of her own business. I was so frustrated and grumpy, and the weather compounded it so much that I just kept thinking, when (if) spring ever finally comes, it will literally solve all my problems. And, it kinda has.

2. On one of those really bad poop days, I impulse bought new spring clothes. And I half expected them to not fit and not be cute because of how guiltily I indulged in purchasing them, but guess what, CUTE AND COMFY. Even the culottes. We have a wedding coming up in June and I’m eyeing some maxi dresses … or maybe a jumpsuit?? Except how to nurse and go to the bathroom … but Grace seems to be able to pull them off and she has six kids.

3. I’ve been obsessing over our backyard garden because I want to get it perfect (have things actually grow) but feel like I have no idea what I’m doing and I have this lurking fear that nothing will grow and I’ll be so disappointed. But, seeds are planted! So it’s a very boring looking plot of dirt right now, but brimming with potential. I texted my friend Sarah many times because she’s all about this – her garden is awesome and she’s got lots of helpful tips. She told me to check if our city has free compost, and lo and behold, it does. Then I still overestimated the size of our garden bed and bought way too many seeds. But oh well! Next year! Or plant more mid summer? I’m winging it!

4. But as I was planting the seeds, I was thinking about how tiny and vulnerable they were and how I was hoping so much for them to grow and thrive, and it felt sacred, almost. And then I remembered and yelled, Chris, get the Book of Blessings! 

Chris asked for this book for his birthday. It has blessings for almost everything home and family related, including, wait for it, The Blessing of Seeds at Planting Time. So while the girls played together over in a corner of the yard, Chris and I blessed the seeds. It was so wonderful. (So those blessed seeds better grow!) Here’s the prayer if you want to use it for your seeds or plants.

5. The Book of Blessings also has a Blessing of a Mother Before Childbirth and I had the privilege of hosting a blessingway for my friend in our new home. I got the idea from Geena’s blog, and followed her how-to and it’s just a simple, special time to love on a mom-to- be. If you have any pregnant friends in your life, I highly recommend!

6. Speaking of childbirth, a recent episode of a podcast I like focused on birth and I was like, oh yeah, birth is so amazing! It made me think about writing up my birth stories. So, watch out. Also finished listening to this mini-series on social self-care and my take aways were: read Laudato Si, read Harry Potter, persevere with my garden, try to throw away less scraps of toddler food remains, be on social media less and be more intentional with friendships I want to invest in. Book-wise, I finished this and this and am still v slowing working my way through this. Listening to Harry Potter #1 in the car (because summer is coming and HP is my good friend) and fitting in a little nonfiction with this when I clean up the kitchen in the evening.

 

7. The Village threw one big final hurrah and it was freezing cold, very fun, and also sad. I’m so glad we decided to live there. It was an amazing, international community and it made my transition to South Bend waaaay better than I expected. It really was like a freshman dorm, but families. Instant friends. It’s so weird and sad that it will be gone by the end of the summer. But, cool that there do seem to actually be plans now to build a new Village, though it will be different, in 2019. Aaaaand it was a stretch to make it to 7, that’s all! So happy we’ve made it to May.

 

Linking up with Kelly.