Hello to my favorite internet friends! Here’s a little weekend recap for you all!

Saturday:

It’s funny because the weekend comes around and Matthew and I go in to super crazy “let’s be productive” mode. Saturday is usually anything besides relaxing for us, but as I have mentioned before, I like productive chaos. We started off Saturday morning by running around to get little things we needed around the house. We came home to then hang around… and by “hang out” I mean I was on baby duty and Matthew worked on building a frame for our fireplace – since we are starting to baby proof everything – I’ll share the final product tomorrow! Then he took my car in around 1 pm to get the tires rotated, get a new key, etc… As I tried to get the babies down for their nap, they simply were not having it! I’m sitting on the couch, Oliver passed out on my chest and Olivia asleep on my lap. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief because the past two hours I was practically wrestling both babies to get them to nap. In the midst of the chaos, all I could think about is how straight tiring it can be. How I just want to eat something or go to the bathroom. It’s hilarious how the basic needs you need to survive appear so luxurious to you after awhile. I’d be lying to you all if I said I didn’t get annoyed or on edge because of it sometimes. I continued sitting there and it hit me. I have two small humans laying there so peacefully snuggled on me. I can physically feel their little heartbeats and their sweet sleeping breathing. I sat there and started praying to God (something I find myself doing a lot) and thanking him for physically allowing me to be able to take care of my babies. In all honesty, I expected that being a mom would be emotional and mentally challenging. I overlooked how physically draining it can be. I sat there and kept thanking God, over and over again. Thank you for making me physically strong enough to do this. Just, thank you. It’s easy to get caught up in how hard something can be. I think that’s the most important time to be thankful because regardless of any challenges, how lucky for you that you can handle it? That you can physically DO IT! It’s way too easy to take our bodies for granted. It’s funny because we can get caught up in all the physical work we do every day. “Dangit I have another load of laundry to do…” But wait… shouldn’t we be thankful we can physically walk to the laundry room to even do that load of laundry? “The last thing I want to do is workout after a long day” Hm, shouldn’t we be grateful we even have that option? I use to have these exact same thoughts when I was pregnant. Yes, it was 100% physically grueling but how lucky was I that I got to carry two precious babies in my body? Shame on me for even pitying myself. I was and am blessed that my body was able to do that for 8 and a half months.

You guys probably think I’m such a weirdo but I truly thought about all this as my babies are taking their naps on me. These are the little conversations that go on in my mind all. the. time. You know, I even told myself as I was writing this to keep it “light”. “Stop going into all these feelings you have and just keep it, LIGHT Rachel”. What can I say, friends…I have a lot of feelings hahaha. I can get caught up in thinking about all the things I need to do and how annoying it can be but then it’s as if the good angel on my shoulder scolds me and goes “How dare you for complaining, you are so lucky you are physically able to do any of it.” Sometimes, my lively friends, it truly is all about perspective. Let’s make it our goal this week that we really focus on not taking out bodies for granted- no matter how physically tired we may be. Deal? Deal.

Matthew arrived home and although it ended up being very peaceful, I just needed to get out. I had skipped my morning swim so I got Stella’s leash and took us both on a walk. It’s crazy how 20 minutes of walking can make me feel instantly kinder, softer, and more patient. I came home refreshed. We were attending a mass/baptism that evening so I packed up the diaper bag while Matthew started to get the babies ready. As we walked into the cry room, I felt instantly happy. I love going to mass with my family. There’s something simply harmonious about it. As we are leaving the church we realize just how hungry we are. I called in Chinese food and we headed to pick it up. For any parent reading this, you are 100% going to understand what I’m about to explain! Matthew drops me off to pick up our food and then proceeds to drive around in circles to keep the babies asleep. Once we are back in our driveway we dig into our feast. Baby einsteins music playlist is playing as we sit and eat quickly because we know we don’t have much time! A baby wakes up and starts screaming at us so naturally, we start eating faster. It’s hilarious because we ended recording a little piece of our “date” to share on my Instagram. We try to see the humor in everything and if you watch our video, you can see that not much phases us. As a parent unit, we are learning more and more each day to just go with the flow. I like sharing these particular moments in our lives because its REAL. This really is what our day to day looks like. It’s funny & unedited and real life!

 

Sunday:

Sunday was a little less hectic than Saturday! Matthew went to the gym earlier in the morning while the babies were napping. I worked on some projects for a bridal shower I’m going to host. Once he got home, I took Olivia with me to my moms to prep food for my little brothers birthday dinner later that day! Luke may have turned 23 years old, but he will always be my baby brother. You don’t see him a lot on my page because he is social media less and likes it that way. I have always said surround yourself with people who make you want to be a better person and Luke is that for me. I don’t know what else to say except that he is a genuinely humble exceptional person. Luke is very health conscious – even more so than me- so we found a few healthy recipe options to make for him! We prepped some vegetable soup ( Click here for the soup recipe!)  ribs and skinny angel food cake for his birthday. Once we finished, I then headed home because I was itching to swim laps. The babes went down for their second nap and I got my booty to the swim lanes. I did a timed swim for 45 minutes. I just went at my own pace and got lost in it. Afterward, I headed to the steam room and did my postpartum ab routine (which I will post on here later this week – get excited!). Came home, snuggled my squishy babies and before you know it, it’s time for some birthday fun! It was a simple sweet birthday. My parent’s, Matthew, babies, Luke, and my other brother David ate dinner and indulged in some cake (yes I ate the cake #noragrets). We then played a game that I always make a point of doing at birthday gatherings: I have everyone go around the table and share their favorite memory about whoever’s birthday it is! My brothers will try to get out of it but I nag them until they share a memory. They think it’s silly, but always give in. Little do they know, I do it to encourage fun conversation. It’s enjoyable to reminisce about good times and just laugh! After we did our favorite memory tradition – we packed up the babies and headed home to get them to bed!

 

Olivia was really hoping to get some of that cake!

 

Here I am… writing to all of you (:

As always, I want to end this post with a quote I love because I am and will always be a “quote junkie”.

And I said to my body, softly, “I want to be your friend.” It took a long breath and replied, “I have been waiting my whole life for this.”

This quote will mean something different to everyone reading. Personally, I take it as a reminder to not be too hard on myself as I continue my postpartum journey. My body has gone through a lot of changes this past year and I just want to embrace it, treat it kindly and be its friend – simple as that!

What does it mean to you? How was everyone else’s weekend? Was it productive or a nice relaxing two days with the family?

Comment below!