Summer has been more laid back for our family this year. Our third baby arrives in a little over a week and things have been kept very easy and slow for me this summer. The weather, as I said before, has been on my side, thank the Lord. However, for the last couple of months, I have definitely felt, "Is this pregnancy going to ever ever end!?!?!?!" Keeping up with two other children while pregnant with a third has been quite interesting. Or should I say, quite exhausting. In all of it, we are so grateful for our sweet family and so very excited for our third babe to arrive. There is not a day that passes that I do not wonder, "How in the world do women have 10 children? Or even 6 or 7 for that matter?" My hat is off to them, I don't have it in me. I am not a trooper when it comes to pregnancy. My husband is a huge help and gets the "best husband of the world" award.
Luke has had minimal travel with music, which has been really nice, and today I actually found time to sit at the piano and just play. I think I mentioned before, I have been playing piano since I was 5 years old. I am a classically trained pianist. However, in these days of motherhood, I rarely get to just sit at the piano and enjoy creating. I am fully aware that that season of my life will return, however, it is just not first place right now. My kiddos are, and I am completely at peace with that. Nine out of 10 times that I sit down to attempt to play through some music, I have a little girl and a little boy on each side of me, cramming themselves as close as possible to me in order for all three of us to fit on the piano bench. I am not joking, I begin to play, and it takes them about 30 seconds to run from wherever they are in the house and join me as if I was begging them to come and duet or trio with me. But, for the moments like today, where I got to be a solo pianist, I am so grateful! Music gives me life, playing the piano gives me a breath of fresh air. So, today was pretty dreamy!
As I mentioned before, we have kept this summer very peaceful, very calm, and as restful as possible. By the end of the day, I am dying to get off my feet, so to be totally honest, I have not had a ton of master chef cooking moments. My goal has been to keep things simple, tasty, and healthy. Luke is a fabulous griller, and like most of you out there, we do a lot of grilling in the summer. So, he has prepared a lot of our main dishes which has been great and so helpful to me.
For you moms who need ideas for keeping it simple: there are days, you just can't pull off a huge dinner. Your brain is zapped, your body hurts, and you are just waiting to crawl into bed at 8pm (or whenever the last kiddo goes to bed.) It is ok to have a very simple meal. That doesn't make you a bad mom, a crummy wife, or a failure. What it does make is a easy night on you! Here is an example of a super easy, but unbelievably delicious meal we had the other night.
Fresh garden tomatoes covered in cottage cheese and basil from my herb garden. Sliced avocado with lemon pepper, salt, and drizzled with olive oil. It was so wonderful!!!! If I were not pregnant, I would have accompanied it with a fresh mojito, but that will come soon enough. Dinner took me less than 10 minutes to prepare. There were veggies and protein, and the meal was bursting with flavor.
Don't avoid going simple. We all need much more simplicity in our crazy lives. The Europeans do it all the time. Cheese and bread, a bowl of olives, meat and cheese plates, pasta with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon? If they can, then so can we!
Enjoy!
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