Alison of Mama Wants This the amazing gift of looking for and sharing answers to motherhood questions we all want to know. She is the mom of a cute little boy and a will be a mom for the second time in the late Spring. I love to read the lessons she is learning and the joys she has in being a mom.
I stretched as I remembered, Sunday, it is Sunday. It was a strange sensation, feeling the warming sun on my legs. I haven’t woken up after the sun rose in nearly two years.
I got up slowly and padded to the bathroom.
As the hot water streamed down my back, pounding lightly on my tired shoulders, I felt myself relax for the first time in weeks.
I allowed myself a few extra minutes in the shower and looked at my growing belly for what seemed like the first time.
“Sorry, baby, Mama hasn’t paid you to mind for a few weeks, ” I whispered to my growing second child.
I finally drag myself out of the comforting lull of the hot water, dried myself and pulled on my clothes.
I walked through the quiet of our new home, unused to the lack of the toddler running around, counting 1 to 10, and hanging onto my legs.
I said a quiet thank you to my wonderful in-laws for braving their first overnighter with their grandson, granting me this unusual leisurely Sunday morning.
I turned on the coffee machine, letting it warm up in readiness for my husband’s must-start-day-with-coffee first cuppa.
I got myself a glass of juice and settled down in front of my laptop.
Without guilt, I checked my email, chatted on Twitter with friends I missed, busied myself on Facebook and did a little writing.
As I went about my online life, my husband finally got up and I hear the sizzle of the pan, as butter heats up.
“French toast?” I called out.
“The BEST French toast,” he replied.
We ate slowly. We talked. We wondered how the toddler and his grandparents were and resisted calling to check on them. We washed up.
I retreated back to the living room and curled up in my corner of the sofa.
I soaked in the moment – the only sound in the room, the quiet whirring of the ceiling fan.
I reflected back on the past month, when life was a whirlwind of activity, as we finally received the keys to our new house. Things had to be purchased, the house had to be painted, lights and fixtures had to be sorted, packing had to be done, cleaning of both houses had to happen – and life went mad.
Life with a toddler is hectic.
Life with a toddler, and being pregnant, even more hectic.
Life with a toddler, pregnant AND moving house, just insane.
And so, curled up on that sofa, I closed my eyes to savor a few more minutes of just doing nothing, but listen to my breath and give in to my thoughts.
I opened my eyes, pushed myself off my little comfortable spot and went out the door to pick my son up.
And life resumed.
Sometimes in the whirlwind of life pausing for a moment can help you be ready to take on the flurry of commitments, activities and special people in our lives. Alison beautifully illustrates that in this post.
Please stop by Mama Wants This and let Alison know how much you enjoyed her post.
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So true. Nothing makes you appriciate the happy, busy hectic life as those moments when it is not. Lovely post!
Thank you for having me here and allowing me to share my moment, Deirdre!
Beautiful post Alison. It really does feel like a wonderful, relaxing moment you had there.
Beautiful post. Enjoy these moments, Alison. I enjoyed so much being pregnant with a toddler. While exhausting at times, it was one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. And I think all of the joy that it brought me prepared me for being a mom to a toddler and newborn.
Beatiful, Alison, beautiful. You just gave me the important insight in case we strike our goal (2nd baby).
You are blessed to have a relaxing and easy Sunday there 🙂
Beautifully written as always, Alison! You are one busy mama for sure and I just love how you balance things out 🙂
What a beautiful and relaxing moment. 8am??? Awesome.
Ahh my little one just had his first overnight at the in-laws and it was so weird not waking up to the sounds of the monitor! So glad you had a break b/c yes your life is about to crazier with the second addition. Beautiful writing Alison!
Love the feeling of this … we so seldom have time to just be … to soak in our day and stop to appreciate. You really captured it here Alison.
Ans Deirdre,
What a beautiful old post you linked up to Time Travel Tuesday … Thanksgiving is new to us since we did not grow up in America but with my husbands love for cooking is already his favorite holiday.
The memory you described is lovely – I see where you get your creativity for raising your own from.
You have an incredible blog over here, a true gift for everyone who visits – thank you!
That does sound like a lovely break 🙂
Alison — That was beautiful. Sometimes it takes silence to fully recharge. So much is going on in your life and all of it is amazing. I hope you have a few more moments like this to just be and just enjoy all of the beautiful changes to come. <3
Loved this post! And now I’m aching for a lazy Sunday…maybe one day.
So sweet! I miss my baby boy when we’re not together, which is a rare occasion. It’s a good thing when we get to recharge our batteries!
What a lovely Sunday morning you had. You totally deserve more of these mornings! Especially before #2 arrives…
So true Alison. Some times we do have to breath and take in the moment.
Enjoy this last bit of time with only one child!!!
So glad you got a little break on Sunday morning to sleep in and relax. I hope the sleepover with the grandparents went well.
I packed and moved us into a new house when my kids were ages 2 and 4. No movers – we did it all ourselves with kids underfoot. It was so exhausting. Can’t believe you did it when you were pregnant!
Hope you’re feeling good Alison!
pausing and remembering what this life is all about – what all our busy-ness is for is the only way to live. great post!
Nothing like chaos to get us to really cherish and appreciate the quiet moments we can snatch in between all the things we’re doing. Wow – toddler, pregnant AND moving house – that is a LOT. Your man owes you some foot rubs!
Welcome to the mommy club.
When we feel we just don’t give them enough.
STop, right? they just want our time.
So glad you had a nice, relaxing Sunday morning. Very necessary – especially when pregnant.
A beautiful moment to pause life on. I hope you have some more of these days.
You deserve more of those!
Really enjoyed pausing for a moment with her! That sounded pretty darn good (and tasty with the french toast).
Beautiful post, Alison..one of my favorites of yours.
Hope your life calms down a bit now that you’re all moved in to your new home 🙂
That sounds like such a sweet moment! 🙂
That was lovely. I almost felt like *I* was the one having the break. And, by the way, the French Toast smelled amazing. So hungry now….
I loved this Alison. It’s so nice to get a break from the kids every now and then. Yay for your in-laws for taking the little man off your hands so you can have your quiet pause.
French Toast – love it! Your hubby rocks 🙂
That was a wonderful, wonderful post.
Like Cookie’s mom said, I too almost felt like I was the one having a break. Thank you for sharing your peaceful moment.
Congratulations Alison! You’re not sick? You can drink juice and eat French toast? Wow. I just threw up acid and had trouble breathing afterwards because it burned my lungs. I’m a sorry mess. 🙂
Yes, this. These quiet moments are so important and rejuvenating. I love that you embraced it with open arms, sans guilt.
Beautiful moment and so very beautifully written. It is so nice to have these moments and I do hope you get more of them. They are medicine to our soul.
Oh, I remember that — being pregnant with a toddler. Mine was 18 months old when my second child was born. I didn’t luxuriate in that second pregnancy as I did the first. It was indeed a struggle! Hang in there!
Revisiting from Mom Loop and saw this. LOVE this post!