10 (+ 1) Links I Shared with Friends #4

Parenting

• Hack your newborn's activity gym—yay, free printables! (cando kiddo)
• THE (365) most creative ways to remember your baby's first year (baby making machine) 
• Truthful thoughts about having a baby as a creative mom-to-be (amanda palmer via medium)

Productivity/Creativity

• Make a Yes! life happen by first saying no (better humans via medium)
• Five anytime creative-thinking activities anyone can do (the start-up magazine via medium)
• Are you a pro yet? Get on it! (higher thoughts via medium) 
• Jedi mind tricks for beating self-doubt (medium)

Miscellany

• Be the author of your story's ending (the art of telling)
• Let love win (christianity today)
• Powerful (and painful) thoughts on the female experience (midcentury modern)
• Because Portland—someday, you and I (copycat chic)

Confession: I am a Momateur

Some days, I just cannot mom up.  

I don't know what I was thinking, naming my blog "The Life Enthusiastic." It's a name hinged on an unhealthy dose of wishful thinking. "The Life, Meh" or "The Life, Well, It Has Its Moments" would have been more fitting. The life overwhelming. The life exhausted. The life exasperating. I can think of a page full of words to describe my life right now and none of those words are synonymous with enthusiastic. The Urban Dictionary describes an enthusiast this way: "A person who does something for a very long time but still sucks at it though he enjoys it very much." Zing. 

Whatever I thought I knew after baby 1 has been casually challenged by baby 2 (and all you parents of multiple kids are smiling right now, thinking, "Serves you right for being so smug."). Breastfeeding? Still a privilege, but much more of an emotional trial now that there are two mouths to feed. Sleeping through the night? Not happening anytime soon, even with the cluster feeding, co-sleeping, and side-lying nursing. Terrific twos? No one told me I'd be the terrible one. 

10 Links I Shared with Friends #3

Parenting

• The amazing thing about breastmilk that you haven't heard before (the stranger)
• Family movie night and other reasons you should all just stay in bed (unless you're that family that hikes together. Show offs.) (abundant mama) 
• Soon they'll know their ABCs with these fun hands-on activities (an everyday story)

Productivity/Creativity

• If you're not already reading these mags, you should be (contently)
• How to parent your business (medium)
• John Cleese knows creativity (youtube) 
• Inspiring career women share the books that inspire them (cup of jo)
• Good ideas on what to do with good ideas (creative something)

Miscellany

• A table for one can be fun (renegade collective)
• Creator stories are so cool (bonfire labs)

Links I Shared with Friends #2

Parenting

• The world needs peculiar kids—and it's not too late for you, either (laura grace weldon)
• Want your child to thrive? Sorry, there's no app for that. (creativity post) 
• "Try?": One mom's strategy for a stress-free intro to solid food (wanders & wonders) 

Productivity/Creativity

• A good and necessary reminder for creatives (austin kleon)
• Today is the day: Thoughts on "Someday"  (the minimalists)

Miscellany

• I was "the smart kid" and it hurt me, too. Group hug! (huffington post)
• Whether or not you breastfeed, you should support the women who do or who want to. Here's why. (daphne)
• For anyone who has ever loved a dog. Or ever loved, period. (coffeelicious @ medium)
• Is your phone in your hang right now? Read this. You laugh because you're guilty, too (new yorker)

Naptime Project: High-Contrast Buntings

"Nap when your baby naps." That's common knowledge and common sense and new moms would be wise to follow said advice. But did I mention that I've a recovering workaholic? It's hard for me to use daylight hours for sleeping.

Today's nap time project was inspired by this space: the empty space between the changing table and the gallery wall.

10 Links I Shared with Friends #1

When you're a breastfeeding mom, you spend a lot of time reading. Or at least I do. I find it much more relaxing for my kids and myself to flip through pages on an iPad than to have the TV on to watch a show. So I thought I'd include a list of things I've been reading as a regular section on this blog, both to get the shareable finds out there and to keep the little gems in one place. Good idea, yes?

Parenting

• This Seussian ode to breastfeeding is spot-on—you'll want to buy the book (huffington post)
• Learn to read your baby (parenting) 
• A sibling rivalry story with a happy ending: encouragement for new moms of two (janet lansbury)

Productivity/Creativity

• Wise words from great thought leaders (from the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit)
• Everyone can learn something from Stephen Curry (medium)
• Be the god of your day (zen habits)

Miscellany

• Porch-side observations from Jack Cheng
• Comic #6 explains a lot about my mom (and probably your mom) at the movies (new yorker)
• Did you have a secret bookstore, too? (new yorker)
• Those confusing dashes simplified (and so pleasantly scored—if Nora Ephron directed grammar tutorials?) (new yorker via lifehacker)