The Little List | June 17, 2021
These days, I have been finding a lot of my own joy through Mabel’s. She is fully immersed in the celebration of summer - whether it be making “soup” in an old bucket outside or helping to tend and water the gardens, her creativity and independence is flourishing. She wants to spend nearly every waking moment outside and I can’t blame her. But I do have an unpopular confession to make: the summer is kind of my least favourite time of the year. I like routine. I like being productive. And I hate being too hot. Like really hate it.
A few times now I have caught myself feeling hot and cranky or restless and unsettled as I watch Mabel putter around in the dirt, but it has been the perfect opportunity for me to take a breath and remember that her uninhibited curiosity and oblivion to any concept of time is beautiful and a blessing. I have a lot to learn from her! It has been a wonderful reminder to let go of my nagging to-do list and drive to bury my value in productivity to instead embrace the joy that comes from slowing down and being fully present with my joy-filled daughter. These truly are the glory days and I don’t want to one day regret failing to soak in every single ounce of them. We are going to make this summer great.
Here are a few other things that have been bringing me joy, making me think, or helping me grow over the past couple of weeks:
We have a new nephew! The biggest thing to bring me joy this week is this exciting news. We probably won’t be able to meet him for quite some time, as he lives in a completely different country and the travel restrictions within Canada are still pretty intense. But for now, I am grateful for his safe arrival and can’t wait to eventually soak in all the little newborn snuggles that I can manage. Eeeee!
We celebrated my birthday last week and it was a simple (but special) day for me. Curt came home early from work and we ordered dinner from one of our favourite local restaurants. I was gifted a Nintendo Switch and it is safe to say we have been playing Mario Kart nearly every evening since. It has been so nostalgic! I have been struggling to find television shows, movies, and/or books to read in the evening that don’t make me feel edgy or anxious before bed, so this has been the perfect way to unwind in the evenings while still spending some quality time with Curt.
On the note of television, one show I have been enjoying is Younger on Amazon Prime. I always said that in another life I would work in publishing so this show has been really fun to dive into. Long story short, the main character pretends to be much younger than she is in order to get her big break in a dream career, but she finds that keeping up with her lie takes a lot more work than she initially thought. It’s the perfect easy, flirty, and fun summer show to dive into.
Our pool is finally open! Mabel had lots of fun swimming with Curt this past weekend and hearing her sweet giggles while he splashed around with her made my heart skip a beat. Although it is a blessing to have a pool for those humid summer days, I am also very nervous about having a little one by the water. We bought her a set of these adorable splashers and are doing our best to enforce some strong rules around the pool. In the spirit of pool weather, I shared a fun pool essentials round up on my LIKEtoKNOW.it account so I’ll post it down below too.
I’m not one to shy away from openly admitting that motherhood is really hard. I have been finding so much encouragement and support from the Risen Motherhood podcast. They have currently restructured their podcast to offer multi-episode mini-series’ around a particular topic, but their archives of single-topic episodes are gold for gospel-centered encouragement around motherhood topics. A couple of my favourite episodes include this one and this one.
Now that the summer humidity seems to be here to stay, I have been on the hunt for the perfect summer pyjamas. I can’t stand being too hot while I’m sleeping, so I’m thinking of ordering either these sleep shorts or these ones. I have also been on the hunt for some cool (literally and figuratively) jammies for Mabel, so I ordered her this pair and these too (she is really into dinos right now). I’m definitely open to any recommendations for favourite pairs if you have them!
I wrote a little bit about my efforts to set up a peaceful front porch space and shared about my desire for peace in every area of my life right now. I have struggled with anxiety for a long time now, but in particular, this past year has really worn on me. I know that the only peace I will ever truly find comes from my hope in Jesus, so I have been working on memorizing scripture for the past few months to call on in particularly difficult moments. I have never been great at memorization, but I can truly say that putting intention into this has completely changed my mindset. I have been able to find rest in moments that would have otherwise derailed me. In case you are after a little peace these days, too, some of my favourite verses to memorize and reflect on are found in Psalms 91:2, Matthew 11:28-29, and Romans 15:13.
How do you feel about this new summer season among us? Do you like the disruption to routine and warmer days? Here’s to celebrating these glorious days and being present with the ones we love the most.
Wine Tumblers // Beach Towel // Swan Pool Floaty // Beach Bag // Chip Bowl
