Baby is sleepin'...just waiting for her to wake up for the next feeding so I thought I'd post a few photos of what we've been up to lately.
My little one is very outdoorsy, like her mama. We both prefer fresh air and open space to the indoors. And with summer on it's way out, I worry about how we're going to get our sunshine fix each day!
Every day from about 2pm until sometimes as late as 7pm, we hang out in the front yard on a large picnic blanket. She'll nap and play and eat and fuss and in between the napping and playing and eating and fussing, I've been doing quite a bit of art in my journals.
I keep a large canvas bag stuffed with the "essentials" and drag it out on the lawn every chance I get. My neighbors must think I'm a loon, out there with my baby and paint and paper and pens all sprawled out before me. Sometimes she'll be fussing and I'm just finishing something up before I'll pick her up and tend to her (all mama's know the difference between their babies' cries and when it's just fussing or when it's urgent) and I wonder if I look like the world's worst mother. I imagine my neighbors thinking, "why isn't she picking up that baby? is she hungry/cold/tired/etc?" But mostly I just think to myself how lucky I am to be out in the sunshine with my beautiful baby and my big bag of art supplies. And how this time around, I know I don't have to jump every time my baby makes a little fuss. I can let her try to work out her frustration for a few minutes while I get some art done. Good therapy for me! A happy mom is a good mom. And happy moms raise happy babies!
My neighbor came by the other day to drop Maya off after a playdate with her daughter. She held Sureya while I packed up everything to take inside. We chatted a bit and she looked at some of the art I was making and she said something that has stuck in my mind since. She said, "You have a nice life, Nicole. A nice life."
So true.
And I am very thankful.
