║today my way║

►► Nadia's creative spirit can be found literally everywhere around here - drawings attached to the fridge, stickers visibly looking down from mirrors and this yellow mobile made for her baby brother... isn't it the sweetest thing you've seen this spring morning? It's made of a star and a little boy in pants or nappy smiling encouragingly. As for her brother, completely unaware of the gifts he will be getting makes me immensely joyful. What else will she come up with next?

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I'm still moving around, happy and taken care of, a little bigger here and there, a little less predictable in last minute decorating decisions. I can see the progress in our small space, much love (and sweat) has been put into so many things I can't stop staring at in awe and relief. Loving every inch means getting closer to when I'm content wherever I'll look around. Or even sooner. With my due date approaching, some projects may be postponed until I'll learn to put socks on again. Who knows. But I'm hoping our boy is not ready just yet giving us enough time to make his home his little haven. And simplifying or slowing down is still not an option but will it ever be? (wallpapering and painting a couple of furniture this weekend is on the list of things not to be put off any longer).

It's easy for me to find inspiration in touching or looking through the drawers of excessive piles of newborn items, it's also a reminder to enjoy the moment. A little sleep deprived, struggling to balance and awaiting multiple paint and brush deliveries is actually a time I'm contently storing away in my head. I step back and let myself take the time before time will be the most sought after notion. So in between taking time and pausing contently I managed to pack my hospital bag including everything a little bear would need. Two bags actually. Mama bear is in the picture too ;)

Slightly related: For days when I want to look more pulled together I put some mascara on and swipe my cheeks with blush powder. On most days when more than dozen people will see me at the school gates... I don't really care that much. A cat eye each morning seems a task too great to handle and it will probably just melt off anyway on my flushed up face. But my hair is dyed and fringe trimmed, I need to show you my simple beauty routine soon. It's really simple, don't even take your pens and pads out, there will be nothing to note but you're free to try. Happy afternoon, friends! x

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Hey, we made it! We made it through the weekend! The paintbrushes are clean and put away, walls are drying beautifully, fifth laundry pile has been spinning in the washing machine as I type and milky coffee made it to my desk in a pretty mug so all is looking good. I even had a reasonably good night and Nadia woke up early and refreshed, ready to get the hang of adding and multiplying. Our flat still lingers in a state as if a family has just moved in, I try not to get tense about it but been trying to take note of things that still need tackling while focusing on my ridiculously blooming windowsill garden, that is what exactly matters at this time.

I come home every morning after dropping Nadia off to school, pour myself nice warm drink, browse the internet while the baby washing spins noisily in the background. I read on the sofa, tidy up the mess we made intentionally the day before, read some more. I crave still moments like these, to wind down, get a little lazy, talk to my baby boy in private. I crave lots of sour tastes too - plums, lemonade, fruit sorbets giving my body what it presently needs and plan on continuing to do so all summer long.

I bough first watermelon this year and we all devoured it wildly before and after dinner, it was that delicious. Occasionally while I run errands, I walk about slowly among aisles of baby products and imagine what would make days prettier, not necessarily being practical or essential. But we've already stocked on everything a tiny person can need and more -- blue, corn yellow and cloudy grey so he can start each day knowing he's well looked after.

And unpredictably, I have become an early riser not finding it sweet anymore to linger among sheets longer than for what my idea of heaven is. Then in quiet hushed footsteps I tend to move things around, water the plants and wait for the rest of the household to greet with wet kisses. What a beautiful season in my life.

But now - hanging the laundry to dry is a pleasant priority. Have a great week, friends! x

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I haven't answered that many 'how are you?' and 'how are you doing?' questions in my entire life as this past few months. Everyone wants to know how I/we are coping, how things get turned around from completely unplanned to definitely working. It's sweet, it's intimidating, it's just a part of life we're temporarily in. For the most part, I feel we've been in control. Generally on top of things. For some parts destiny's gentle hand was far off and barely seen from a short distance. It ranged from dealing with a whirlwind of emotions, powerful hormones and fast reactions, doubts about the future and the state of our present, finances and energy to handle it well. If done correctly, it's just a phrase in life - overwhelming and potentially never-ending but we all know that nothing lingers for long. Especially the bad as there is so much good to relish and continues to be if noticed and cherished daily. We got accustomed to harder times like bees fly around to expand their territory to forage for food in periods of climate change or loss of natural habitat. And we're busy as them too.

They say (who are they, anyway?) there's never right time to become a parent, that we're never ready to juggle more things than humanly possible. I say, we're always ready to love. I say, we're always ready to give encouragement and hope, that our hearts are never full enough not to fill them up with the best of feelings. And when are we going to be ready if not now? Today, here, at present? Yesterday faded away far too quickly, tomorrow may never come but each breath and blink makes us fully aware of the space we have to fill in great detail NOW. Once a decision is made, a certain vision is tightly affixed to it and one thinks nothing will ever be possible to see it in a different light. Even though time flies and changes perspectives, shifts moods, moves mountains, creates miracles. Or all of them at once.

How I am? How I am doing? I can see a little more clearly everyday what's ahead of us in getting through to the other side. The side of an established routine, enough money coming in each month, relived stress, energy restored miraculously and shared in abundance. The side where sense of having it under a total control is regained. But... how unrealistic does it sound? How optimistic yet surreal? As if having control was ever possible. As if getting it back in order was ever achievable. I say, let's enjoy this moment in time. The good, the bad and the ugly. Not always joyful, more times through tears and speechless gasps, it's a way too.

I'm fine, I'm good, we're getting through. I appreciate your well wishes and concerned looks, I'm grateful for your offerings and feel no need for stopping accepting it. You know who you are - giving me a lift, supporting our budget, picking up Nadia from school, I plan our whole existence around your kindness. Thank you.

And although Damian may be adding his unwanted five pence to the whirlwind of the last 35 weeks making me consider committing a crime at least once daily, he's also been the biggest support with his mind totally fixed on wellbeing of our small tribe. I am a demanding tenant and him trying to cope with everything these days is beyond my comprehension. Taking time to breathe through it he's rarely allowed, there are endless tasks rapidly expanding if not handled on time. He's who I was exactly looking for, I hope I'm still the one he wants to keep discovering. In good and bad, sickness and health, till death do us part... and our bank account regains its strength.

We're getting through.

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Dreaming of adventures and journeys far beyond our seaside

Standing there with every intention of satisfying each hungry belly

It's easy to be my friend - just hand me a smoothie, not even a straw required

Will we always have our walls sprinkled with hand made, home made wonders? As long as there are stories to tell, I'm not buying professional art.

Without needing a reason I plop down on the sofa with her any time we feel like it. And we do feel like it a lot.

Personally I'd add more plants to the current collection, for sentimental reasons (I don't want to watch them die) I'll stick to what's already thriving.

Games time is categorized here as a guilty pleasure but occasionally everyone has to show their loyalty to technology

Always staying on the curious, mischievous path.

I did not grow up loving plants but I came to love them since acquiring a decent sized windowsill and enough sunshine to live for

Too much red shouldn't really work yet somehow it always does on her. Did I tell you Nadia's anything but ordinary?

A view that requires only a handful of crumbs and a calm heart to soak it in. A steaming cup of coffee would be great too!

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Weeks flow by as I'm feeling him moving and keeping me awake at night whenever he needs to stretch or roll. No day is completely smooth yet I await each morning in anticipation of him accompanying my every move and decision. I really came to love our lonesome days of chores, guilty pleasures and secrets only the two of us share.

Yesterday I was browsing through parenting websites and magazines I stock for quieter moments and came across an article featuring something called Third Trimester Feel Good Calendar. I believe each trimester could benefit from a lot of feel-good, self-love activities yet the last weeks of carrying extra sweet weight is an adventure this calendar could inevitably help out with. I think so anyway. I have customized it to suit my lifestyle and energy levels not forgetting little treats during days of things taking it longer than I would want them to. So, here's my life in the next five weeks or so, more participants welcome wholeheartedly.

►► Catching up on TV - been meaning to catch up on those old, loved films and series for ages - I'm thinking old Robin Hood, Friends, Labyrinth as well as late night Celebrity Juice with a dash of Babette's Feast for those overwhelming cravings. My reset button after a long eventful day.

►► Buying a nursing bra - how this could fit seamlessly a feel-good, self-love activity only expectant mother can understand. Totally fit for the purpose, soft and stretchy while still looking pretty. Sounds miraculous, no?

►► Making life simpler - this I could apply to my daily routine being pregnant or not, overall a genius idea. Stockpiling beauty products and toiletries I may not have on my mind for weeks to come will minimize extra shopping trips after the birth and with the summer round the corner there will be activities making more sense than rummaging through drug stores and make-up aisles.

►► Keeping (fairly) busy - like organizing closet, sorting out all the baby things, drafting birth announcements (and addressing the envelopes now since it is not yet considered a chore), cooking homemade dinners that can be frozen (my favourite green soup or chickpea patties, pancakes will do too). Little things that will matter much. I'm definitely drawn to lining pantry shelves with healthy (and less so) convenience food that could potentially save my life - soups, nuts to nib, dried fruit, whole grain crackers, canned essentials, fruit and veg, pasta and sauces, packets of crisps (they'll still work for a post feed snooze).

►► Making a home movie - recording silly moments and serious conversations leading up to a big day? I think I'll treasure it in years to come.

►► Being lazy - well, I've started a long time ago...

►► Having hair done - I'm looking at you fringe in need of trimming and roots raising my blood pressure with the lightest shade of gray. Diving deeper into this project is a must.

►► Getting a manicure - and a pedicure to have those flying in the air feet a delight to look at! My steady-handed and a perfectionist in nail art friend has already agreed to kneel down and treat my cuticles with vibrant colours.

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