G is for Grateful.

It's 5 am and I've been up for an hour with Levi. I don't know if it just got too hot or he was hungry, or what. But he seems to be pretty awake still. While I was trying to nurse him back to sleep, I googled "how to be a better mom." (Google is my go-to for all things in question.) The third or fourth result down, I found an article with an excerpt from a book for mothers. The title of the article was, "Stop trying to be a better a mom and try being a happier one." it struck a chord with me and I was already hooked. After further reading I discovered it's probably true that we all want to be better moms, but never feel like we are making progress. So instead of focusing on trying to do everything perfectly, we should really just try to enjoy the little things that make us smile and let ourselves be happy with the way things are. This life was not made for attaining perfection. It's a learning and growing experience. I think we would be a lot happier if we remembered that each day. There are some things we do need to get in order though. Things that will make being happy more attainable. In her book, the author says, "We need solitude, not another diet. We need to figure out our spiritual lives more than we need another activity to run our kids to. We need hope instead of more stuff to do, which will only make us more anxious. We need to spend less so that we can loosen the grip that money has on us. There is much more we can get out of life." Ah!!! How glorious are those relieving words! Stop worrying! Stop comparing yourself to the super mom you think everybody else is! Stop trying to fill your life with things that don't matter and just let yourself be happy and grateful.

Hi. My name is Nicole. I'm a chocaholic.

Today, F is for Five-minutes. 5 minutes to get type this up and get the baby to bed. So, while he cries because he is tired, I will simply bullet-point my latest thoughts.

• F is for FAIL. I totally failed on the dailly blog-writing. Apologies are in order.
• F is for Family. On a good note, I've been spending quality time with my incredible family. Levi makes every day so wonderful with his smiles and giggles and just the way he looks at me. I am totally in love with him.
• F is for Fruits and Vegetables. Jason and I have started exercising together and eating healthier. The only problem is that I'm addicted to chocolate. I seriously am salivating as I'm typing the word chocolate. It's bad. I try to justify it by saying that dark chocolate is good for your heart or something, but I know deep down, it's just an excuse to make my way to the Ghirardelli section of the grocery store.  

Alright, bedtime. See you tomorrow! Maybe :)