Sunday, August 21, 2011

A Noodle Game

Tonight I made pasta for Baby Bella
she's a very picky eater
who most of the time doesn't eat enough
and drinks too many "baba's" aka bottles.

I placed the noodles on her tray
hoping she might dig in.
{normally pasta is a safe choice}
and not very messy.

Baby Bella started off well
eating them bite by bite.
her small hands
working their way towards her mouth.


                                        After a few minutes
her tastebuds could care less about noodles.



Baby Bella's hand gripped the pasta
        lead it towards the side of her tray
    && with the floor in sight
her little fingers let her pasta drop to its unexpected destination.
again.
     again.
         & again.



Untill her dinner,
was no longer dinner
                      ...but a noodle game instead.

My Lettuce Wrap

Baby Bella tends to fall asleep in the car
a lot.

Sometimes this keeps me from getting things done
because I feel bad for waking her up
But this time
I really needed to get groceries
&& I couldn't put it off any longer.

Being as careful as I could
&& thinking of every possible thing that could potenially
wake her up -
I went for it.

I wrapped her in my puffiest jacket,
{so she wouldn't know a temperature difference}

walked her to the store entrance
{so the cart wouldn't rattler her on the pavement}

pulled the cart inside first
{so it wouldn't bang on the doorstep}

layed her down gently
{so she didn't wake up after making it this far}

added extra paddng -aka my hood- under her head
{so she would be comfortable on the metal cart}

&& tucked in her sides.
{so she would think I was still holding her tight}

Being in a grocery store
I guess it's appropriate to call her
my little burrito
a taco
or maybe a lettuce wrap.



Yes...
a very healthy, happy and loved
wrap.


The Day we Conquered Big Mountain

Every morning I wake up
& start brainstorming
trying to decide
what I should put on the agenda for the day.


Some mornings I'll craft while Bella wakes up
other mornings I'm gearing her up for the day ahead.
Lake time, a hike, a shopping trip or a long stroller ride.
It doesn't matter she's ready for anything...
and on August 12th, 2011-- I was too.

For some reason I got this great idea
to hike to the summit of Big Mountain.
Yes, that's what it's really called.
I phoned a couple good friends of mine
and we all met at my house at 9am

I figured that should be plenty of time to get to the top
however they were unaware of my decision to go
to the summit.

{We'll see how things go on our way up}
type of thing.

After stopping at {two} different grocery stores
to purchase our coffee and kombucha,
we finally arrived at the Danny On trailhead.

Four miles up,
&& knowing the chairlift wasn't running...
four miles down.

During the first mile up we passed a wonderful tourist
who kindly asked to take a picture of
Baby Bella and I.
I accepted and I'm so thankful I did


                           {A big thanks to the Flemming couple
                                   for e-mailing this to me after our hike!}

That's the picture.
Perfect. I love it.

Then we kept hiking up...
about three miles up
Bella fell asleep & the gals
started asking how I was doing.



With my thirty pound backpack
and just a little breath left
I said, "Good... just don't stop!"

Like the great friends they are,
watching out for my best interest
they thought I'd like to turn back
because secretly
{they wanted to}

Nothing is gonna stop this Momma though.

The last leg of the hike is a straight climb to the top
and boy did that kick my butt.

After stopping four times to catch my breath
we made it to the top.



This is what life is living for.

Crisp, clean air
pushing yourself when you've had enough
making something you want - happen - despite your circumstances.



exploring your potential
taking advantage of the world you live in.
&& last but not least --
doing the things you love
and doing them often.



I may be a young, single Momma
who works full time
but who said that has to be an excuse?

Becoming a Mommy means
switching your priorities
taking on more responsibility
and learning how to manage time effectively.

It doesn't mean you cannot do the things you love still
you just do them differently.



&& with those precious thirty pounds on my back
we started our decent



was it easy? no.
did I want to stop? maybe a little.


was it worth the
eight blisters on my bleeding feet
sore shoulders
and swollen knee?



Of course.
&& it will be everytime.