a few photos from life lately…

this first photo is kind of silly, and you can’t even really tell what is going on exactly. but it was from a moment this past week where i was on the train with all three kiddos, on our way home from art class together. i had conrad in the carrier, and braved the trek downtown without the stroller for eleanor and samson. i usually am a bit nervous taking all three out on my own without a stroller to somewhat contain or herd my little group (ha! but it’s the truth, you never know when one is gonna break loose and give you a heart attack i feel). but on this day, both eleanor and samson were being such great listeners and i was just really proud of all of us, for having a successful outing.  so this silly picture means a lot to me.

and that photo of josh holding conrad? all i can say is, this child of mine loves my weird high pitched mama voice that i can’t stop using around babies even though i’m sure it annoys everyone else around me. although now that i’m thinking about it, maybe he also thinks it’s silly sounding which is why he breaks out in giggles whenever i start talking to him, i don’t know, i don’t care.  i love him all the more for supporting me and giving me a grin every time i bust it out either way. :)

the serial hair-changer-upper in me chopped and colored my hair once again this week! changing up the hair post baby always helps me feel a little bit more like myself again.  i lose a lot of hair after my babies arrive, and it always bums me out (the best balding pics of me are here if you wanna see. lol. how no one ever told me how much my hairline was receding is beyond me. thanks a lot, friends. ;)  ) but anyway, this new ‘do has been helping me feel good about my hair again!   my hairdresser took a few more inches off last weekend and then my dear friend aubrey who was in the city came over for the day and played with my color as well! i love that girl so much. we had some of the best chats about family and friendship and the amazing internet world and the horrifying internet world and when she left i felt bummed out she doesn’t live closer.  listen up people, those friends you have found in life that are generous and kind and make you feel inspired and encouraged, who don’t sit around talking smack about other people but instead talk lovingly? keep those friends forever. even if they move far away from you (which unfortunately seems to be happening more often these days in my case) and don’t ever let them go. not sure how i got off on that rant, but anyway. yay for friends! i’m so grateful for the good people in my life! i don’t deserve them.

ps. for those who have asked on my instagram, my sweater in this pic above is from HERE.

josh and i had the best morning last saturday volunteering at the meatloaf kitchen with a few of you! it always makes me so happy how quickly my inbox fills up with people rsvp-ing wanting to volunteer their saturday morning to prepare and serve a warm meal together! so many good people in the world. it always makes my day to meet readers or followers on the street in this city, but volunteering along side you is even better. and i just love the great group selfie up above that we got! thanks to everyone who came out! i’ll keep you posted on the next date we go!

this puddle wasn’t exactly in our walking path, but samson spotted it while we were out and was like, “oh, a puddle!” and BAAM! 3 seconds later he’s jumping up and down in it.  these are the moments where i’ve learned over the past couple of years of parenting to hold my tongue and just let them take a moment to enjoy splashing around. there’s no harm in it, we’ll get where we’re going eventually, and it truly made his day!

last week,  my friend stephanie and i took a contemporary dance class together down at broadway dance center.  i mentioned this in yesterday’s post, but it was my first dance class in over 5 years and it felt wonderful! i have always loved moving, but it just hasn’t been a priority for me since my juilliard days and having my little ones. there are a lot of reasons for this, but after seeing ballet 422 the other week, i could’t stop thinking about how much i wanted to take class again. it surprised me because i don’t really think about it that often. so of course it surprised me even more how good it felt to be back in class (even though i struggled the entire hour and a half and even though i was more sore than i’ve been in a long time the day after!) i made a little pact with myself to make it more of a priority this year. and i’m really excited about it.

it’s a funny thing how different these past few months with conrad have been compared to the first few months with my first baby, eleanor.  i remember being so preoccupied with things like “tummy time” as a first time mother and anxious all the time if i was doing it correctly or enough. i realized the other week i hadn’t even introduced it yet to conrad! part of me felt kind of terrible about it and so i mentioned this to my pediatrician last week at a wellness check-up and she laughed and said it’s why she doesn’t even tell most parents to do it.  it will happen, and whenever it does is fine.   it made me feel better, and it also reminded me how much easier these last few months have felt compared to my experience as a first time mama.  sure, there is a lot going on compared to when it was with just one, so it’s a little more chaotic and stressful at times, but it’s also a little more lax in many areas and that’s been really nice.

eleanor put the paint brushes aside and really went to town with her hands the other day while painting! i was both impressed and surprised, as she usually prefers to not get dirty or messy whatsoever.  she’s always full of surprises! and one of my favorite things about mister samson in that picture is how seriously he takes his drumming during music time! i can’t wait to see how music influences my children as they grow older.

and that’s just my handsome man across the table from me at spice market.  i hadn’t been since maybe 2006! it’s seriously so good though.  even though i’m a wimp when it comes to spicy food, i can’t deny it there.  and it’s always fun to sneak away from our kiddos for a few hours for some time together.  most of our conversations these days tend to be kind of intense around the topic of education and schooling and exploring all those options since eleanor will be old enough for pre-kindergarten this fall. (ahhhhhhhh!!!!!) but we held off stressing ourselves out about that on our date and just enjoyed each other’s company instead.  it was kind of amazing.

happy friday, friends!!!