Yesterday I had big plans of getting caught up on some sewing orders while Margot and Ruby napped. But Margot didn't nap. And when things like this happen as an at-home mama, things don't go according to my plan (would you believe this happens quite frequently?), I have found there are two ways to respond: fight it, become a cranky bitch and don't get anything done OR ditch the preconceived agenda, enjoy the hell out of my kids and don't get anything done.
I prefer the latter. And so do my kids.
And while I try to avoid putting pressure on myself to live exceptionally and with purpose, as if today is my last in this life (because really that's a bit heavy), I find that it's an ok mantra to focus on when shit hits the fan...when I take a deep breath and choose to twist my cranky toddler with an unreal need to drink juice out of a green cup that is nowhere to be found into a lovely afternoon of cuddling with her, holding her like she's my only baby, brushing her hair out of her eyes and telling her, I love you so much.
I know this won't last forever.
Some day I'll be productive without distraction again.
And I know I'll miss the distraction.
So, best to just enjoy every moment.
Even when
Especially when
It wasn't my plan.
ALSO
:: Urban Baby Bonnets is a dig sponsor this month! You all have seen photos of Margot in her bonnet for over a year now...it is a staple in her wardrobe. It stays on, protects her delicate Irish skin from the sun and is the sinkin' cutest thing ever.
A postmodern twist on an heirloom classic, Colette's bonnets are handmade using thick, beautiful fabrics and they are reversible. And, she makes boy bonnets too! Ruby's arrived in the mail this week. Ginger Hot. Seriously. LOVE.
***Urban Baby Bonnets is offering dig readers a few opportunities***
- Go to her website, pick out your favorite bonnet, leave a comment here with a link to your fave and you'll have a chance to win $15 off the purchase of that very bonnet! Winner randomly selected on Monday, May 24.
- Also, buy a bonnet and get free shipping! Enter 'FREEDIGME' upon checkout. Offer ends 6/19/10.
50 comments:
That's it for pictures? These kids are too cute for so few pictures. I love them all. Ruby's new hat is too dang cute. Margot drinking out of the hose....Everything. Rowing with the flow, sometimes aggravating always neccessary, not always achieved. Keep up the good work.
It's was VERY difficult to pick just one but I think my fave is the UB2 Carnivale: http://www.etsy.com/listing/46711308/ub2-carnivale-celebrate-summer-fun-with
Great post! You're so right about throwing the "plan" out the window -- to-dos will certainly remain for the next nap!
Well said, Nici. This is exactly what I needed to read today, when I'm feeling overwhelmed by my to-do list and nothing is quite going my way. Too often, I allow myself to get cranky instead of surrendering to living in the moment.
That is exactly what we did yesterday! I LOVE the Organic Meadows baby bonnet... gosh I hope I win because I want it BAD. I guess if I don't win, then I could just buy it with free shipping, but I would LOVE a $15 discount!
this blog is one of my new favorites! ive spent the last...uuummm too many minutes reading thru your blog! just wanted to say "hi" from a new follower! :)
GREAT to see Andy. Love that particular smile of his. Are you coming down over Memorial Day, I hope?
xoxo
great post, nici ... so very true! i try hard not to be that cranky bitch when i really want to get something done and it's so not going as planned! i'd rather lather up and get out to blow bubbles (or whatever it is that they're itching to do) any day!!!
happy day to you and your cuties ...
LOVE these bonnets! Especially http://www.etsy.com/listing/46373276/ub2-jewel-a-lavish-sun-hat-in-rich
And YAY for going with the flow! :)
The candy apple and vintage swirl are my favs! I can't pick just one..it's a tie! :P
Nici: You are soooo inspiring! Reading your posts makes me so excited to have a child someday, and I want to share your wisdom with everyone I know. Thanks! I am blessed to know you! :)
Oh, and here is my favorite: "UB2 totally ORGANIC urban baby bonnet in EYE OF THE SWIRL" http://www.etsy.com/listing/47343683/ub2-totally-organic-urban-baby-bonnet-in
..precious.. it came to me when reading your heartfelt notes that you referred to your daughter not taking a nap as 'distraction,' ... years ago, i may have also felt that way... but i've come to think that 'distraction' is sometimes the very thing we should be doing, in the moment... you know. You are accomplishing great things by being 'in the moment' with your little ones. NOTHING can compare to time spent with them.. and for your daughter, YOU are her greatest role model...she is soaking up all you are, from your tiniest nuance to your greatest character trait. And, those moments can NEVER be recaptured - you are investing in her... so.. go with the distraction. There is plenty of time for schedules, paychecks, tasks... or is there? you are talented, gifted & best of all...her mommie. Blessings on you ... love your creations... but God sure gave you the best creation of all ... His... enjoy.
Love the bonnets! They look adorable on your girls!
Can't wait for Colette to make an organic boy bonnet... until then our favorite is http://www.etsy.com/listing/46368662/ub2-sunshine-safari-a-wild-and-fauna
Maybe we'll be lucky on monday :)
Thanks for all the leads on great stuff. and most of all for making wednesday mornings filled with yummy nuggets. It helps me think about appreciation for my own past week.
thanks!
So many beautiful fabrics! As a previous Missoula mama I love your writing and beautiful pics.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47478746/ub2-henrys-birds-a-perfect-soft-sweet
Yep, this is one of my new favorite blogs! Just wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed "meeting" your family, thanks for sharing!
So cute!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45662438/ub2-tutti-frutti-a-deliciously-sweet-sun?ref=v1_other_1
Love the colors.
Burb, After a sweaty, hot day of work in a green house I can't tell you how wonderful it is to sit & relax & read your blog! I have to say....I truly believe I have two of the most beautiful granddaughters in the world.
xoxo, Mom/Gram
Lovely post.
Oh, that picture of Ruby made me excited for Nella to get a little bigger and chubby and just...ugh. I love it. Love these pics...really love these pics today. Beautiful. I can always tell right about this time every year in your pics...summer just creeps into them and I can smell a that Montana summer through the screen. Love Bug's dress in that first photo.
xoxo
My babe is on her second bonnet and desperately needs a new one. They are my favorite hats ever made- Duck Duck Goose would be her pick, I know!
Thanks for the great giveaway, and for reminding me to revel in the distractions too. They won't last long.
Nici, thanks for your faithful reminders to seize the moment. With a four-year old and a seven-month old, I have more than my share of bitchy days, at the end of which I realize it could and should have gone differently. Thanks to reading your post earlier today, I enjoyed the heck out of my kids in the afternoon. Thank you.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47186125/ub2-secret-garden-by-the-urban-baby
Ellie
Its very nice
Love. love the UB2 CARNIVALE!!! The are all so beautiful!
My new blue-eyed daughter would dazzle in the UB2 ORGANIC MEADOWS! Would love to have it for our upcoming trip to Germany... Ich hoffe, wir gewinnen!
yay! It's thursday (in Australia, that is) and that means a new blog post full of your wonderful insights and gorgeous pics of your gorgeous girls!! Nice to see spring coming to your part of the world as we prepare to button down the hatches for the winter (altho no snow like yours!).
Thanks again for making my Thurday...hope that doesn't sound too stalkerish !!!
Ellie, it is just as much a reminder for me! When I am cranky, I grab my camera and think about what I'd want to write about...that I yelled and pouted or that I rallied and had a great time?
Great time, please.
Taking photos helps keep me focused too...I am not a big camera poser photographer so just looking through the lens and framing a shot really brings the beauty into focus (even when there are PILES of laundry outside the frame).
I would love to win.... but if not, I will have to purchase. Here is my choice:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/46368734/ub2-dallas-a-swingin-sweet-sun-hat-with
Your pics today are so so sweet. I love the one of rubes on your lap holding her toes, what a love.
We are like you... feeling totally overwhelmed with the "to do"list, but still enjoying the hell out of each minute. I can tell you at 4 years, it is a bit easier to get more done, but then whenever I get a chance to grab annica and tickle her or hug her, I realize how quickly these days are passing. Oh how amazing it is to be a mama. xox
Love the ginger hot as well! After seeing your blog last summer I ordered one for my girl but she has now outgrown it. I did try to copy the pattern to make a bigger one for this summer but it just isn't right so I would love to get one at a discount.
Another great post reminding me to love every minute of every day. I'm just getting used to having 2 girls and I've had a few moments that I wish I could take back (when I got frustrated or irritated). Thanks once again!
Here's my favorite bonnet for the contest. :)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47550546/ub2-tropicana-a-yummy-sunny-fruity
size small.
amen, mama!!!
the only plan a works-at-home-with-wee-little-ones mama can have is to have NO plan. roll with the punches, love 'em up good.
what type of sling is ruby in? love it.
Oh...the distraction can *be* the bliss, instead of something to grump about!?!
Can you tattoo this on my eyelid, wrist and brain?
And yes, of course we will miss the distractions when they grow up and move on, even if they're so, well *distracting* right now.
Yay for you being such a wise Mama.
Nici, lovely pictures and insight (as always...you never cease to inspire this mama!)That balance is such a challenge, (old song, I know!), but it is so nice to surrender and just be with them and enjoy their pace, their plan, don't you think? Can't wait to hear about (and see pics of) your new garden space. I'm cutting way back this year so I'm a little garden-starved!
-Ellie
Great post I totally agree on surrendering to the joy of kids when things don't go as planned. The bonnets are adorable these are my favs: raspberry sugar and vines and goldenrod. So cute
This! This is the bonnet for my AbbyGirl!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/46149633/often-imitated-but-never-duplicated-ub2
Love your blog!
Elle
dash317 @ yahoo
my favorite is the sunset chic. So cute!
Nici, I know exactly what you mean. Art creates life, as much as it reflects it, and having a camera to frame the moment in one kind of light rather than another makes a lot of sense. I am a novice at photography, but have the same experience with words: once you write something down in a particular way, you begin to see it that way, even if it was ambiguous before that. We all need to make sense of life. Might as enjoy it while we are doing so.
ellie
Oh gosh! So rough to choose one!
I loved so many of them. Just awesome and whimsical.
But if I had to narrow it down, this one won:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/45682851/ub2-gardenia-a-sweetly-unfurling-springy
Love your blog.
So many beautiful bonnets to choose from! I really love misty morning the most though. My 6 month old girly would look so cute in it!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47668558/ub2-misty-morning-another-chic-sweet-and
Love your blog by the way!
ps. You are my new favorite blog. Thanks so much for the beauty you share.
If I win
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47741967/ub2-organic-meadows-a-totally-organic
on Monday, I need a 0-12 for my little E's tiny head. If I don't win, I will buy one and still tell all my friends about you!
Secret garden bonnet is our favorite
We are in the midst of moving in to a new house with a seven-month-old. My husband read this post before I did and said to me, hun, you need to read dig this chick, it will help.
Oddly, I discovered these bonnets 2 days before your post and have been wanting one for my babe! Guess it was meant to be. Here is my pick:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47854247/ub2-park-bistro-a-super-hip-sun-hat
Love the UB2 Peacock! Also, recently found your blog and enjoy your pics and stories!
This is the sweetest little boy bonnet! My favorite for sure! :)
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47737077/ub2-vroomy-vroom-vroom-a-magnificent-and
Love the thought of my island bitty girl in this mermaid one http://www.etsy.com/listing/47728738/ub2-seaside-sun-by-the-urban-baby-bonnet.
xoxo
Tutti Frutti is adorable. They all are adorable. Love your new header!
Here is my fav:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/47741967/ub2-organic-meadows-a-totally-organic
The sling is a Sprout Pouch, made locally. We love it! Sprout Pouch is a dig sponsor and there is a link to her website in the sidebar of my blog.
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