Dear Bunnee,

I don’t know how you do it Bunnee.  We haven’t even “met” yet and you’ve already been giving me so much inner peace.  I don’t think I’ve ever felt as present and at peace with myself and my surroundings as I do now.  I think it’s good team work because it allows me to be even more in tune and present with you.  And the more I am feeling aware and protective of you, the more you seem to tell me that “everything’s okay.”

xoxo Mama
 
On Monday I turned 33!  I celebrated my 30th birthday when I was pregnant with Ellie.

When I talk about Ellie, people always tell me “Gosh, don’t you feel like time went by SO FAST?!” And honestly, my answer is always “No.”  And it’s the truth.  I’ve never been more conscientious and aware of time moving since Ellie’s birth.  She is the most “in the moment” person I know, and watching her forces me to be in the moment and just be too.  I’ve never been a planner, and right now, it’s working in my favor.  You’d think that with being a parent I should be forcing myself to think and plan ahead, but nope.  I’m taking full advantage of being able to allow myself to be in the moment right now. Between watching Ellie just grow and change, and having my body literally grow and change with this pregnancy, it really keeps me present.
And I love that.

People assume that if it’s not your 16, 18, or 21st birthday, that somehow it’s just “downhill from there.” “It’s your 25th birthday, right?!”(wink, wink) I never felt that way about “aging.” Every year, I’m excited for my birthday. It never gets old. And the older I get, the more shamelessly I celebrate. I’ll take an embarrassing display of balloons and a giant cake full of candles any day. I’m still a kid at heart. Just look at my Barbie pink closet and the amount of Hello Kitty stuff I own and you’ll see.

Birthdays are kind of like New Years; a new year, a new beginning. I always have this fantasy of doing something grand, but end up never acting on it. Whitney wrote about her list here. So when Matt jokingly suggested that I make a list of “33 things to do while I’m 33,” I thought it was a cute idea, but thought that’s a lot of things to come up with! But once I started writing them, it ended up being easier than I thought. Who knows? Maybe this will become an annual personal birthday trend! I don’t know what I’ll come up with on my 89th birthday, but we’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

Now, these things are not meant to change the world. Most of them are just silly things. But hey, big changes start with small changes right? And I thought to myself if I post it here, I can hold myself accountable. These are little things that I always think “Hey, it’d be cool if I could ___.” Or “I’ve always wanted to do ___” but never commit to making the time to. So you can nod, or laugh at some of them. These are little things meant to make me happy. Because each year, I’m realizing more and more that it’s truly the small things that make me happy. 33 happies should equal one giant smile. The idea is to create more intentional moments, but I wanted to write out actual activities that can be accomplished and crossed out.

So here goes(not in any particular order);

  1. Leave for work a half hour early to catch the sunrise down by the river.
  2. Finish craft room.(It is what used to be the previous owner’s fruit cellar. Currently it is what I like to refer to as the storage dungeon)
  3. Make 2 pairs of glitter shoes; one for me, one for a friend.(God knows how many DIY pages I’ve bookmarked already)
  4. Make a gratitude board to hang in the kitchen. With a red frame, and chalk board paint.
  5. Watch A Christmas Story.(Yes, yes, I’ve never seen it through. Every year Matt tries though.)
  6. Watch Steel Magnolia.(Yes, I’ve never watched this either.  I’m a disqualified “chick.” I’ve been waiting for one of those “I-gotta-cry-hard” days)
  7. Watch Audrey Hepburn’s My Fair Lady, Funny Face,and Sabrina.(Roman Holiday and Breakfast At Tiffany’s are some of my favorites)
  8. Send out birthday cards to family and friends on time.(I used to be on the ball with these things…I want to make it a priority again, because I know how much I love it when I receive cards in the mail)
  9. Organize all the letters and cards I’ve been hoarding storing since 3rd grade.(Yep…how do you think I’ve stayed in touch with some of my friends since 1st grade while I moved back to Japan?)
  10. Paint pottery with Ellie.
  11. Build a fort with Matt and Ellie.
  12. Make heart shaped elbow patches on an old sweater.(Again, I already have the DIY pages bookmarked)
  13. Frame a giant Instagram collage.(I’m addicted to Instagram and have too many cute shots to keep on my phone)
  14. Go through my hoarding organized piles of magazines.(you never know when you need to be inspired again by that 2001 fashion trend)
  15. Create a giant inspiration cork board in my craft room.(Where I can pin up pages from #14)
  16. Find a pair of unicorn earrings.(the more Lisa Frank they are, the better)
  17. Baby wear Bunnee.
  18. Co-sleep with Bunnee
  19. String a necklace with red beads.
  20. Have a backyard picnic.
  21. Garden.(Matt’s always great at getting it started and maintaining it. I want to be a more active participant.)
  22. Try colon hydrotherapy.(Yep, I just put that on The Internet)
  23. Write thank you cards after my soiree.(I have a stash of cards that I’ve started from my previous years…I am a serial writer who literally writes a novel in a card, which makes it difficult for me to commit the time to finish 15+ cards.)
  24. Make a dessert with real vanilla beans.
  25. Buy a yellow dress.
  26. Buy a red dress.
  27. Call my mom more during the week.(Because of the 14 hour time difference, conversation between my parents tend to be limited to the weekend mornings with Ellie via Skype)
  28. Get at least 6 hours of sleep every night.(granted, this would be pre-Bunnee)
  29. For the remaining 11 weeks of this pregnancy, do at least 15 minutes of prenatal yoga at least 5 days a week.(I know this’ll help me complain less about my back pain. Not to mention my peace of mind)
  30. Successfully poach an egg.(Ever since I watched Julia & Julia, I’ve wanted to try)
  31. Spray paint the craft room dresser gold and embellish the heck out of it.
  32. Pay for someone behind me at the drive through.(Preferably a mini-van mom under stress)
  33. Every day on #4, write down 3 things that I was grateful for that day.

Published by Matt

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