My #100HappyDays Finale!

I couldn't close out the 100 Happy Days Project without an update, so here it is. After 100 crazy, wonderful, happy days, I am finally finished. My social media obligation is over! ...And I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about it. There were nights I had to scramble to find a picture - Shoot! My Hundred Happy Days! My cute kid is already asleep! What will I take a picture of? And a few times I had to find something small to be happy about when I didn't feel particularly happy.

Now that it's over I have the constant urge to snap a picture of a special moment, big or small. I'm sure my friends, family and colleagues appreciate not having a camera shoved in their faces every time I recognize a "moment." But even my husband - who inspired me to put down the smart phone in exchange for family time - suggested that I can always take on the challenge again, whenever I want.

I don't have to take pictures anymore - I'm just more attuned to capturing those moments, because human memory (especially Working Mommy Memory) is fleeting.

Monday

I bought these Sesame Street slippers because I thought my son would like them (and he does: he points to them and tries to say "Toes!"). Who knew they would be the most comfortable thing to wear around the house and even to bed? I love comfort!

Tuesday

It isn't every day I get to come home to this! (In our current, "We don't hit people/ourselves/random animals" phase, hugs are very appreciated.)

Wednesday

Grammy and Pops doting on Johnny even while he's asleep!

Busy day! Registered Johnny for child care, worked until 8pm, and Matt's parents flew into town for his graduation ceremony. They live in Indiana and haven't seen their newest grandson since he was two weeks old. It was quite a moment.

Thursday

Did anyone else know that one year-olds don't pose well for pictures? Here is one attempt to capture the three of us in our matching shirts from Grammy and Pops.

Friday

Graduation day! After lots of hard work and what felt like a decade (!) the whole family watched Matt's graduation ceremony.

Saturday

Our families got together to celebrate the milestone. We could never have done it without their support!

Sunday

Pops bought Johnny a new kite after ours got stuck in a tree.

Last day. After a whirlwind visit filled with activities and fun, the 100 happy days ended like this. A kite in the sky on a windy day. I feel calm, grateful, and yes - happy. #100happydays


It's never too late to join the challenge! Sign up here. Just remember...

Source

P.S. - Learn how I overcame my smart phone addiction.

Weekend Roundup: This Week's Happy Days

Here's my latest 100 Happy Days in review!

Sunday
We finally bought our little guy his OWN toothbrush - so he can stop pretending to use mine (and, occasionally, carefully placing my husband's on the dirtiest section of the bathroom floor).

Johnny clearly doesn't think I'm using enough toothpaste.

Monday
This is what happens when my husband is in charge of filling out childcare paperwork.

 

Other gems include:

Q: What would you most like your child to get out of this experience?

A: Care.
Q: What would you like us to know about your child?
A: He's a cool little dude.

Tuesday
Said husband had his last official day of school, ending with a 4.0 GPA and a job he already started!

Wednesday
What does no more night school for him mean for me? Among other things, delicious grilled dinners together again after a long nine months!

Thursday
What does it mean for our family? All three of us TOGETHER after work! No more evenings spent missing Dad!

Friday
I've only ever received performance awards at my job, but this one meant more to me than all of them combined.

Saturday
Whenever our dog comes around, Johnny imitates his panting ("huh, huh, huh"). Now, when he turns to the animals page in his flap-book, he pants at the dog picture. It's amazing to watch him put things together in his growing little mind!

Bonus: He spent the day with his dad at the pool - hence the chlorine-enhanced hairstyle and shirtless attire.

Sunday
Finally got some cleaning and organizing done around the house. It's amazing how difficult this becomes when your 1 year-old would love to help by taking everything out and leaving it scattered around the floor for you to trip over.

Want to feel happier? It's never too late to join the challenge! If you don't believe it, check out my #100happydays and prove that if this busy working mom with a dog, a cat, a husband and a 1 year-old can do it, you can too!*


*Seriously, though, why did we get a puppy when I was 8 months pregnant? Feel free to question my logic there...

Weekend Roundup: This Week's Happy Days

If you haven't already joined the 100 Happy Days Challenge, come get in on the fun! Here's my happy week in review.

Sunday
Johnny can't stop hugging and we are LOVING it!*

Hugging Daddy

Monday
I got an unexpected gift from my two favorite boys! My husband painted the mug and Johnny put his handprints on it.

It sits on my desk, and this makes me smile every day.

Tuesday
One of my coworkers showed me this cartoon and it now hangs in my cube. It's nice when people know and accept your extroversion - even to a fault.

Wednesday
My son was in the car almost all day, so seeing him run around and giggle afterward made me happy.

Thursday
Had a great, productive day at work. It motivated me and I felt inspired to change futures and lives!

Friday

With 7 school days of school left, my husband already has his first commercial electrical job starting Monday. (Hooray! and phew!)

Saturday
St. Patty's Day Celebration! Our family is very big and very Irish. My Aunt Petrea does corned beef and cabbage like nobody's business. Here is Johnny soaking up the love (and attention) with his cousin Kathleen!

Seriously, the 100 Happy Days Challenge makes you FEEL better. Get on board, and track my progress here!


*He wraps his arms around your neck and says "Ahwudgu," which (roughly translated) means I love you. How much happier can you get?!

Thankful Thursday: Our Happy Jar

Everyone knows, or has read, or has heard it preached to them, that counting your blessings makes you feel happier. ("White Christmas," anyone?) And we all say Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I should count my blessings… whatever. Go away.

Well, thanks to Pinterest (of course) I found a fun and easy way to count our blessings. Get a decent-looking glass jar (my mom found this one for us at Garden Ridge in Phoenix*), then every time something makes you happy write it down on a little piece of paper and drop it in the jar, all year long.

My vision is that my husband, son and I spend Christmas Eve by the fire unfolding every piece of paper and smiling at each other, feeling blessed. A more realistic vision is probably one or both of us chasing Johnny around trying to keep him from doing a Kamikaze dive off a table or picking up Cheerios off the floor and eating them while the other attempts to read the notes aloud.

At first my husband made fun of it (of course – he has to poo-poo my nonstop attempts at positivity), so he wrote “Beer” on a piece of paper and dropped it in the jar. Later I caught him writing something he wouldn’t show me, and that’s really the whole point.

I don’t want to know what he writes, and I don’t want him to know what I write. But just like my Hundred Happy Days, this makes us conscious of the little things that make us feel good during the day-to-day grind. Life is hard. Work is hard; commuting is hard; parenting is hard; finding time to appreciate your significant other is hard. The list goes on and on. Finding idle moments to write on a piece of paper and put it in my silly jar is hard! But if we can do it every once in a while, hopefully our jar is filled to the brim by Christmas.

Like all my other attempts to bring positivity into our lives, this will take a little bit of work. But when I think about it, really, how hard is it for me to jot something down while Johnny munches food in his highchair? Sure, he yells at me for not paying attention to him, but when I (theoretically) put all these lovely memories into a scrapbook, he just might be glad that I did.**

If you have any tips for focusing on the positive things in life, please share them with me!

*See, again, how my mom makes my pipe dreams come to fruition and basically helps me function in life.

*Or perhaps my vision of teenage Johnny sitting on the sofa beside me looking through scrapbooks is also a little off. He will probably be calling me lame and making me call him John by then. He might laugh at his dad's "Beer" entry.

100 Happy Days

I am always looking for ways to stay positive and feel better, so when I saw this project I decided I had to try it. (Don't get me wrong: I spent a whole Sunday debating about it because honestly, it's kind of a big commitment when your free time usually = brushing your teeth before bed.)*

http://100happydays.com/

I'm enjoying this project for several reasons. One: I know I will be able to look back on a bunch of happy memories because I committed to posting them on Facebook. Two: I notice things in a different way when I have to document them. (Ordinarily I might not pay much attention when my husband does some small, nice thing, but if I stop, take a picture, and post it, I will.) Three: I am constantly looking for reasons to be happy, because I know I have to produce a picture by the day's end! And looking for reasons to be happy kind of makes me feel happier in general!

Click on the picture to see Day 22:

Check out my ongoing efforts here: #100happydays


*When I make comments about being busy or having very little free time, I am rarely complaining. Everyone is busy. Talking about my busy schedule is just context, unless I admit I am complaining... which I promise I will always do.