Hello Monday: It takes a village.

Hello happy boys and Saturday mornings with people we love.

I have been working on cherishing moments with my boys more. I actually spend a lot of one on one time with them because of my husbands job which is good but can also be hard. It's hard to make dauly decisions on your own and to carry the burden of parenting by yourself a lot. I try to not let the pessimistic attitude overcome me at the end of the day (why is bedtime the hardest?!) and actively try to take in all the good. Take in the joy and the laughter. Listen to my four year old tell me stories and watch his imagination take him places. Help my toddler understand why his emotions are so crazy! We do a lot of fun things together, rarely staying home because adventures are so much easier (and fun!) then keeping little ones cooped up. I'm always trying to plan the next outing and finding people to join us in what we have going on for the day.
We got to spend the morning with friends from out of town this weekend and although it started out rough with tears of anxiety from my littlest one it ended up being a really fun morning. Full of talking, laughter and love. Full of a feeling of gratitude.

Working on stranger anxiety with L, obviously N doesn't have that problem.

It makes me realize that having people who truly love my boys, almost as much as I do, is so important. It really does take a village and we've been using our village to it's fullest extent lately. Being a mom is hard, I'm not a single parent and I couldn't even begin to imagine the difficulties of that, but I have a husband who works 60+ hours a week so we have to adjust to our own reality. We have to spend our time with him wisely and have to remember to be intentional when he is with the boys. I don't want them to miss out on anything but I do know that we are incredibly blessed to be a two parent household. Even if it's in an unconditional way.
My village is full of love. It has grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends who are family and a loving, giving Church. I am blessed. I can call on a friend and know that there will be support. I can ask a favor and know that there won't be a guilt trip attached. I know that as much as I love my village, they love me and they love my kids in return.
Cherish the village you have. No matter who is in it, no matter what it looks like. There's no wrong way to have loving, supportive people in your life and remembering to be grateful for each and every person can sometimes be the hard part. Love your village, they will be the ones to love you and your family back.