Day 964: Is It Weird So Many Of My Posts Have "Yoga" In The Title?

I love how relaxed babies look when they sleep like this.

This morning, I did not feel relaxed.  I felt grumpy.  And was seriously considering HH's offer of the night before to just hop on a plane with Darling A and get out of here.  Traveling with kids is stressful.  Traveling with a tiny (albeit chubby) newborn, is awful.

And the hormones don't help.

But, I slept in and then did almost an hour of some fairly rigorous yoga.  And felt a billion times better after.  That was definitely the Joyful Moment of the day.

Other than that, I pretty much avoided people and kept my baby close most of the rest of the day.  We'd both had enough of her being passed around constantly.  Reconnecting with her was another Joyful Moment.

We took the kids to HH's younger brother's grave site.  Not sure if I'd call that a Joyful Moment, but since they never knew this uncle, I was glad to finally show them something tangible.  And they seemed to appreciate it.  At least, Sweet P and Little M.

And tonight, another of HH's younger brothers came by the house and we all played games together.  He's a lot of fun, so that was full of Joyful Moments.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments and blissful relaxation!

Day 963: SMILE

Darling A is pretty stingy with her smiles.

They are beautiful and sweet, but few and far between.

Today, Darling A doubled the amount of times she's smiled at me.  Making it a total of six.  She smiled at me three whole times today!  It was so sweet.  There's something about a baby smiling at you that just makes you feel super special.

Especially if it's your own.  Joyful Moments, really.

All of the girl cousins on HH's side.  I love Darling A's face here!

A good day hanging out with more family.  And another Joyful Moment in a nice run this morning.

But, I am super tired and found myself pretty down by the end of the day.  I guess those things will happen...

Wishing you all Joyful Moments and baby smiles to compensate for yucky parts of days!

962: To Grandma's House We Go

Okay, so technically, we're already at Grandma's house before today, but two great-grandmas came over for dinner, too.  Joyful Moments in introducing Darling A to yet more family who all love and adore her.

It was a fun day seeing HH's siblings as well.

Darling A with one of her great-grandmas.  Love the matching outfits!

But, to be honest, the far and away most monumental Joyful Moment was when my parents came by HH's parents' home with a special delivery--Sweet P and Little M!  The reunion was slightly dampened by Little M.  He'd just woken up from a spontaneous nap and (as he always does after a late afternoon nap) could not stop crying.

Not the reunion I'd envisioned.

But, crying or no, I was so so so happy to have all my kiddos back with me again.

And another Joyful Moment when Little M was finally able to change his attitude after a lengthy pep talk from me.  But, I know it was difficult for him, so I was so proud.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments and a change of attitude for the better!

Day 961: And Through The Woods

After another nice morning with my aunt and her husband, we stopped by to visit my grandparents who live near them.

I have never seen my grandma look happier, or more at peace, than when she is holding one of her new grand babies.  She tends to be a bit on the austere side, so I love seeing the way her whole face lights up as she holds one of my babies.  She didn't say so, but I think it's safe to say that was a Joyful Moment for both of us.

And visiting with her and my sweet grandpa was another wonderful Joyful Moment.  I really don't get to see them enough, so I fully enjoy the times I do.

Then we headed back down the road and had another relatively good, but very long drive.  Just a little bit sad because Baby B occasionally cried out from pain in his ears as we changed air pressure.  Poor little guy.  He's a trooper though, and we made it.

Our next stop was at HH's parents' home.  Joyful Moments in finally making it to their house and getting out of the car and of course, in seeing them.  It was fun watching Darling A's grandpa get to hold her for the first time.

And a funny story from Baby B:  He told me this morning, "I have a booger in my no."  "In your what?"  "In my no."

If you think about it, one "no" plus another "no" would be two "noes" which, phonetically, sounds exactly like "nose".

I love toddler logic.

Wishing you all logical Joyful Moments!

Day 960: Over The River

Today we embarked on a bit of a road trip.  Surprisingly, there were a few Joyful Moments along the way.  Singing songs with HH and snuggling up with Baby B.  And, of course, staring into the sweet face of my Darling A.

We arrived at my aunt's house tonight after a long, but relatively good drive.  She immediately took Darling A from me and sharing my darling Darling A with family I love was an instant Joyful Moment.

We had a great evening visiting with her and her husband.  And a yummy salad dinner--perfect after a day of snacking in the car.

A great start to our trip!

Wishing you all Joyful Moments capped off by a perfect salad!

959: Fit

HH read Baby B his bedtime story tonight.  This happens all the time, but tonight was especially cute.  It was one of Baby B's current faves, The Very Busy Spider, by Eric Carle and involves a lot of farm animals and their noises.  HH is amazing at farm animal noises.  Baby B loves to copy them.  And to repeat most of the lines of the book.  And it was a delightful Joyful Moment watching the two of them together.  One those memories I hope to hold onto forever.

After the kids were asleep, I headed out with my friend who also just had a baby for a much needed shopping trip.  In spite of my prior post about having lost most of my preggems belly, my body is not back to its normal size and shape yet.  Of course, it won't be completely until Darling A is weaned and I hope that is a long way off yet.

But very few of my clothes really fit right.  I try on a minimum of 5 shirts every time before I go anywhere.  So frustrating.  And I'm tired of just wearing the same three shirts.

So, a fun girls' night out without any kids in tow was Joyful Moment enough, but add to that a fun time with my friend and some really pretty new clothes!

Thank you, HH for staying home so I could go out and spend your money. (c:

Wishing you all Joyful Moments and finding the right shirt on the first try!

Day 958: The Proof Is In The Shoes

I went for another beautiful run this morning.  I was bothered a bit by the blisters I'd developed on my run with HH, but I still made it 4 1/2 miles.  It was a Joyful Moment, but my exuberance was tempered a bit when I sat down to stretch and discovered that my left shoe was covered in blood.

Turns out I should have paid a bit more attention to those blisters.

So, we made an emergency trip to Target on the way home and picked up some special bandaids for blisters and I've been hobbling around all day.  Which has frustrated Baby B to no end.

So, it's been a bit of a rough day.

But I had a bright spot and a Joyful Moment in the middle with a nice long conversation with my mama.  And then HH arrived home and took over and made dinner and was my shining star as always.

I love my HH.

Wishing you all Joyful Moments that involve clean shoes!