It’s funny (or maybe sad?) how many ways I wouldn’t take care of myself for my own sake, but that I am trying to make a priority now that I have a child. Especially physically. I never treated my body very well until I suddenly needed it to grown another human. As I said before, I can act or work an office job or keep pushing on in school readings on zero sleep and a diet of ramen and rice, but I it is hard to keep up with a toddler and make sure he isn’t trying to electrocute himself I don’t take some time to recharge.

This little guy changed everything… now I want to be healthy and strong for him!

This goes for emotionally taking care of myself as well. I wrote already about my pre-natal anxiety, and to be honest, I have ALWAYS dealt with needle and medical phobia so having to have blood work and dental work done when I was pregnant was just double trouble. The only way I got through it was encouraging words from family and friends, having my husbands hand to hold, and learning to breathe through some of the pain and panic.

Both of these aspects of self care are things I hope to continue to work on and improve. My sister remarked the other day how much I’ve changed since becoming a mom. I don’t let people judging me or being angry at me bother me so much anymore. I am much more focused on giving my family a firm foundation. I’m pretty sure breathing is a major key for that. I’ve been breathing through physical challenges in yoga and barre class. I’ve been breathing through emotional setbacks (especially helpful for me is breathing through a rosary. It’s the closest thing to meditation that works for me…)

Take a breath and enjoy the beauty! Something I try to do everyday… but am trying even harder to do now. Sometimes it’s easy, like when we were in Italy and everything was stunningly beautiful, but other times life feels so rushed and gets in the way!

I don’t want to give the wrong impression either, I’m not just using breathing in the hard stuff. Breathing lets us appreciate the now. It lets us literally stop and smell the roses or breathe in the way my son smells after his bubble bath, or savor a home cooked meal. Having a baby inspired me to take more advantage of this, but it is certainly not the only reason I’m continuing these life changes. I’m almost halfway through this year of Bs and I feel like it has been a significant period of time of making so many moments count. I can’t wait to see what the second half of the year brings!