Along with the return of perfect spring weather, I have felt my happiness and optimism bubble back lately. I haven't felt unhappy these past many months but I often did not feel like my best self. And it's no wonder! There was the general anxiety of living in a pandemic plus interrupted sleep, little time to myself, and parenting through being at home and online school. I'm happy to say that significant progress has been made on all fronts! I'm hopeful that we are emerging from the pandemic, Maeve is sleeping so much better, I've been energized to make time to work on my audioblog project, and we're into an in-person school routine with the boys. Good things after a hard year.

The beginning of April brings a lot of celebrations for our family: our wedding anniversary, Maeve's birthday, and Dash's birthday. With Easter thrown right in the middle this year. There's a lot to celebrate and a lot of orchestrating for the parents to do. I'm excited that we'll be having a big all-in-one celebration with Chris's side of the family. Everyone, including teenagers!, will have had at least their first vaccine.

Also in April I'll be taking care of lots of pandemic-delayed appointments. I'm going to the dentist. The boys are going to the dentist. I'll have my annual physical. Dash and Maeve will have their annual well-checks. On my list to schedule are an eye exam and annual dermatology appointment. It feels good to check things off that have been lingering on my to-do list for months.

This month we're also starting to explore bringing back some pre-pandemic activities. Chris is going to work out at the gym a few times to see how that feels. We're planning some summer travel. I'm going to consider returning to Orange Theory towards the end of the month (!!!). I'll share more about how we're going about these things in a future post.

It's going to be a full but good month.

Big things happening this month:

+ Our wedding anniversary – eleven years! We have plans for a walking coffee date and a post-bedtime game night to play a new game, Machi Koro – have you played it? For Valentine's Day Chris gifted us a subscription to UnboxBoardom which sends us a new board game every month. Isn't that a great gift?

+ Receiving my second COVID-19 vaccine. I have to drive across the valley to the Sate Farm Stadium but I actually don't mind. I have a 5 a.m. appointment tomorrow and I plan to make the journey as enjoyable as possible. I'll stop for coffee and an Impossible breakfast sandwich. I'll enjoy an audiobook or catch up on podcasts. And I'll marvel at being able to be vaccinated against COVID-19 barely a year after first learning about it.

+ Easter. I'm excited to use the adorable new Easter totes bags that I ordered from at Etsy shop.

+ Maeve's first birthday. Oh my heart! I can hardly believe it. To celebrate our girl I plan to make a single layer version of this vanilla cake with yogurt frosting. Dash has told me that Maeve's first birthday will be the best day of his life (awww!).

+ Dashiell's eighth birthday. Eight is so big! But still little. Dash is sweet, thoughtful, funny, and nurturing. It is an honor and a pleasure to be his mama. I've written about it before but this year, with Maeve being born so close to Dash's birthday, I have had the lovely experience of being vividly reminded of Dash's first year. Watching Maeve turn one is reminding me of Dash at one and how that feels long ago and recent all at once.

April goals:

+ Publish content to my blog and new RISING*SHINING audioblog. Two bigger posts I'm working on finishing are Maeve's birth story and writing about my transition from being a full-time working mom to being at home/pursuing writing and podcasting. I will feel really good about finishing and sharing those.

+ Finish our 2020 family photo book. I have a good start on this and have found Maeve's naps to be a great time for this kind of project. Last month I created a photo book of Cedric's art work through preschool, just like I did for Dash. It felt good to check that off!

+ Start a photo book for Maeve's first year.

Recurring monthly goals:

+ A one-on-one date with each of the boys.

+ Three at-home dates with Chris.

+ Exercise 4x/week.

Happy April, friends!

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