instavember

a little snapshot of what we were up to in november... at least according to instagram...

^^ this november was one of the most glorious months we've had in the last ten years. seriously. the weather was dreamy-- never too hot and it got just cold enough that we could pretend it was fall. it even rained! (clearly we aren't too experienced with rain-- my neighborhood grocery store was kind enough to remind us that rain = wet). almost every night my instagram feed was filled with sunset shots. it would have been cliche, but the sunsets were just that amazing. (i actually just realized that we might have fantastic weather every november but last november i don't think i ever got out of bed because #thekatemiddletons)

^^ these cuties are becoming more and more like siblings. london loves to watch cruz and the littlest things he does her crack up. he's learning that he likes to make her laugh, and he's been sweet about bringing her a toy or keeping an eye on her if i step out of the room. i keep telling them, "you two are best friends!" and i hope it will start rubbing in. (what? you don't brainwash your kids?)

^^ age three is... a mixed bag. to borrow a phrase, when it's good, it's very very good (and when it's bad it's very very bad). the good is watching cruz's creative spirit develop. we're creating and building and pretending all day long. his capacity for abstract thought and reasoning continues to astound and challenge me.

^^ we had some growing pains with our little lolo. being a work-from-home mama is so good and equally, so hard. sometimes you end up with that face while you're on the phone with a client. it can be empowering to know that i'm helping to support my family while being their primary caregiver. on those days, i'm all about #leanin. and then sometimes the mama guilt and the awesome-lady-business guilt battle each other hard and on those days i text my fellow work-from-home friend anna angsty texts that usually end with #LeantheFIn. i'm not proud of it, but there it is. london also came down with a nasty cold and cough that ended up being pretty scary one night. we thought we might need to take her into urgent care because she couldn't really breathe, but a couple of sessions in a hot steamy bathroom cleared her lungs nicely. we took that second picture soon after she started breathing again, and she was immediately back to her sparkly self.

^^ you know i'm an open book about areas in which i struggle as a mom/wife/lady, so let me just take a minute to share an area in which i think i excel. i know my kids. i am such a good mom to them. this month has been a gentle reminder that one of my primary jobs as their mom is to delight in them. i've taken that to heart and with everything that is in me, i delight in my kiddos. with all of it's challenges, november turned out to be a pretty sweet month.