Life with the Liggetts: 10 Things Mom is Grateful For

The following picture has been floating around on Facebook quite a bit this week. It's called "10 Things Mom is Grateful For", and although I'm fairly certain that no mother really thinks like this, it is a good way to look at things -- especially during the weeks that seem especially tough.

And if I were to come up with a for this past week in particular, mine would look a little something like this:

My very last week of maternity leave
= Being home with my baby for 12 whole weeks
A blown truck turbo
= Warranty coverage and a chance to trade it in
A fussy baby and a tantrum-throwing toddler
= Two boys to love and cherish
One of my worst runs ever
= The opportunity to push myself and boost my endorphins
Leaving Hobby Lobby with a crying baby and abandoning my cart
= A healthy baby that enjoys eating
A ragweed allergy and a runny nose
= The beautiful Texas Hill Country
Flu shots/nasal mist
= Access to modern medicine
A diaper blow out while out to dinner
= A fun night out with my 3 boys at Hat Creek
A spilled bowl of Cheerios on a freshly mopped floor
= A breakfast date with my favorite big boy
Mosquito bites and ant bites
= A fun Friday front yard dinner with the neighbors

Other than that, things have been pretty uneventful this week, but because this week was my last week of maternity leave, I did my best to make the most of it -- in terms of errands, getting things done around the house, and soaking up this sweetness.

He's stingy with the smiles but very generous when it comes to the "you're crazy" looks.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and when your baby is fussy, this is a perfectly acceptable location for a nap.

So.much.chub.

I took Dean up to my office for the first time. Obviously, he was not impressed.

Why sleep in the co-sleeper when you can sleep in the middle of a king size bed instead?

In other news, we finally got around to ordering the double BOB, and it came in the mail this week. Jackson was super excited about helping Ben put it together and then trying it out with Dean.

Just the sight of this exhausts me. Time to get in shape!

Jackson had another great week at school this week, and while he was there and creating all sorts of beautiful masterpieces, I went on my very first postpartum run.

I decided to go down to the trail, and although it was a beautiful day for a run, it was a little warm, and I was struggling. I chose the shortest loop -- 3 miles, and while I did complete it, I was only able to run for about 5 minutes at a time before I'd have to slow it down to a walk to keep from hyperventilating or from having my heart beat out of my chest. Just as I was thinking that maybe I should have brought headphones to keep my mind off the pain, I heard "way to go, momma!" from the guy playing his harmonica that was always there to encourage me when Jackson was a baby, and then not long after that, as I was approaching two girls with baby buggies walking in the opposite direction, I heard one of them say to the other, "wow, she looks gooood." Confidence booster, for sure.

The best part of the run though was bumping into my friend Megan and her baby Liesl on the pedestrian bridge towards the end of my run. They were watering their adopted rose garden, and as soon as I stopped, Dean decided he was hungry. I wasn't planning to feed him until we got back to the house, but at that point, I could barely breathe, so I welcomed the break with open arms. Megan decided to join me, so while we fed our babies and took in the beautiful view, we also did our best to catch up on the past few months.

That afternoon, I picked Jackson up with a surprise {cookies!}, and after spending some time with him, we all went down for naps. My body was exhausted from the run, and my head was pounding from the ragweed allergy, so I couldn't wait to lie down for a little bit, too.

Obviously this picture was taken post-diaper-blowout, and although it's not the best one, I love that all three of them have the exact same expression on their face.

This morning, I took the boys to the Central Market playground and then stuck around for {a far-from-relaxing} lunch. My mom met us there, and we had a great time taking turns hold Dean and running around with Jackson.