Saturday, November 23, 2013

Thursday, September 26, 2013

It's true- girl #3!

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Or just click here to see my blog, I've done about 6 new posts and still trying to catch up on our family scrapbook.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

9 months!

If only 9 months of pregnancy could go as fast as the first 9 months of your babies life. Where has the time gone?! Click here

Monday, May 13, 2013

My recipe for a happier me

I am a list person.  Every week I make a dozen lists. Shopping lists, to-do lists, to-don’t lists, to- someday get to lists, to work on lists….
Today I was thinking about the things I need to work on to reach my maximum amount of joy. So naturally- I started making a list. The list is clearly for me, not everybody’s recipe for happiness will be the same. But I encourage you to make a list of your own.  It was refreshing and motivating.

Here is  mine.

 1. Scripture study. Personal Prayer. End of story. Are they a cure all? Not always. But when I find myself feeling down-  I almost always realize that those two things are not the priority they need to be.
 2.   Be comfortable in my own skin. Some times when I run errands, the girls and I look like we just rolled out of bed. Messy hair, old t-shirts, and yesterday’s makeup. And? Who cares.  Not me! (or at least I don’t when I’m striving for a happier me)
 3. “What Susie says about Sally, says more about Susie then it does Sally.” Being the Susie is exhausting.  I can’t waist time gossiping and noticing others flaws. It brings others down, and it brings myself down. Gossiping says more about myself then anything else. And if I'm the Sally- refer to bullet 2. Who cares?! Be comfortable in my own skin. 
 4. Focus on the good. Every day can become the “worst day ever” if I let it.  Example from my own life… Example A: “Today I went to the store and my girls whined and cried the entire time. I hate shopping, I can't stand onry children, and I hate today!”  Example B: “Today I went the the store and my girls were crying, so the nice man behind me in the check out line helped me unload my cart .  Then a nice lady we passed said she wanted to give me a hug because she knew how those days were. People are so nice! ”  Same day. Same shopping trip. Example A was a good sob story to add to my worst day ever, and example B  was a great moment that turned my day around!
 5. Lighten up! Put on a smile.  Laugh. Laugh it off when my daughter poops in the bath tub! Eww! That is gross! But….funny! Right?!  My girls need to see my smiling and laughing. They need to learn to enjoy life- and they need to be learning that from me.

This list is obviously just a few simple things, but in my many years of list making, I have learned that a list that is too long is over-whelming and gets thrown in the trash.  This is short- to the point- and should be very effective when I need a mood makeover.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The ability to forget


I always have the most uplifting conversations with one of my greatest friends. One days she was telling me that she wanted to be a better mother for her 5 beautiful children, so she was praying every night "to forget."  The words rang true to my ears when I heard them, but I never knew how powerful the ability "to forget" could be until I prayed for it myself.

After a few long weeks of sickness in the home (whinny kids, little sleep, cabin fever)  I found myself being a kind of mother that I didn't want to be. Why was I so quick to be upset? I knew my kids just wanted my attention. Why was giving them the attention they needed so hard? I felt like I was failing. My kids didn't deserve a distracted and angry mother that was so quick to yell, and too busy to play.

So after much praying (or pleading) with the Lord, it came. The ability to forget.

I would wake up in the morning and instead of a million "to-do" lists formulating in my head, all I could think about was my beautiful girls. When I sat to play puzzles with Adaliah, I didn't remember there was a long list of people I needed to call back, or that there was a load in the dryer that needed to be folded. When Adaliah said she wanted to go to the park, I couldn't think of a reason in the world why it wasn't a good idea. I forgot that I hadn't scrubbed the toilet that week or mopped the floor.  When Elizabeth fell asleep in my arms, I forgot where my phone was so instead of checking e-mails and surfing the web I just sat and watched her sleep and thought about the day she was born and how much she's grown in the last 9 months.  When we got in the car to run errands- Adaliah asked if we could go to the Dinosaur Museum instead.  I forgot why it was important I  go to the bank that day- it could wait for tomorrow right?

Obviously we cant always live in this state. As mothers we must carry on with our duties or everything falls apart. There will be no clean clothes, no food in the fridge, no dinner on the table, bills are not payed, there is no toilet paper on the roll when you need it, kids are stinky, the house is messy, important meetings and appointments are missed, lessons are not planned....

But being blessed with just a few days of forgetting... my soul fills renewed. I'm not failing as a mother. I just need to forget more often- even if its for just one or two hours a day. I need to forget about everything in the world but how much I love my girls, and how much I love being their mother.