Joy in the Journey

House projects, house projects, house projects. Ever since we've moved in we been working on the house. Putting a shelf in the bathroom so I have a place for my stuff, expanding the pantry, painting, and moving things around to find just the right spot. My current project is our bedroom. We started off with this: And we currently are at this: But it's not done yet. I realized the greatest challenge with my bedroom styling and color is it's really small. It's enough space for us but it has extra challenges based on it's size.  As I was trying to find solutions for the small feeling in our room that hit hard as soon as I painted it a darker color.  I decided a solution was to put mirrored closet doors in. We ran to the hardware store, picked them up, and installed them that night... Now, I have two LARGE mirrors in my bedroom. Every time I walk across my room I see myself. To be honest, I used to be a huge fan of mirrors. I was thin, fashionable, and looked pretty am...

Sunday morning, I really wanted to make it to church. It'd been over a month with moving and everything going on... And I had a meltdown the Sunday before because I was struggling to adjust to the move. My son, instead of hopping out of bed after cuddles like normal just lounged on me and I could tell he wasn't feeling well. I had a headache so I assumed he might too since he didn't feel feverish at all. I got up and carried him downstairs to check on everyone else. Still he wanted to just lay down. He kept asking for food but also for "bed" with Mommy.  After I had helped my daughters, I headed back up the stairs to get him some breakfast, but he didn't want anything at all. So I decided I'd bring him back to bed with me and I would watch church online and stay home with him. As I carried him into my room, he began to gag... OH NO! I knew what was coming next...  Confession: I don't do good with vomit. My poor baby was sick and cried and reaching for ...

 They are worth it, mamas.  In a recent post, I talked about how I have struggled with a lack of postpartum weight loss while nursing my little guy. (Read more about that here ) I'm mentioning it again because I feel like its something that a lot of women struggle with. They are told that breastfeeding will help them shed the baby weight, but sometimes it just doesn't. Sometimes an excess of prolactin caused by breastfeeding is actually what hinders their weight loss.  But mamas, those babies are  so  worth it. My son currently has a cold. He is wanting to nurse nonstop. It's a little frustrating (he was just starting to nurse a little less and use his sippy cup more!), but it also makes me stop and marvel at God's design. Do you know that your baby's saliva actually sends a message to your body that your baby is sick and your body customizes each feed to help that baby fight the sickness? It's so cool! And its no wonder that he naturally wants to nurse more oft...

  It's been nearly three weeks since we moved houses... My conclusion: I never want to do this again. Moving sucks! There's a lot of grief that can be involved in moving. My family and I do not handle stress gracefully so I was fully expecting more stress fights and meltdowns than normal leading up to moving (and I was correct) but after moving I expected things to mellow out and "go back to normal" at least a little. And they have... Sort of. But, it's different. Everything is different. Even moving just fifteen minutes away we've changed towns, parks, neighbors, local stores, and even a little bit of a different feel to things. The kids after the first week of craziness and unpacking seemed to settle in as we started back with normal daily tasks like homeschool and dad going back to work. I, however, haven't handle things as well. I've had meltdowns. A few of them. They seem to hit at the most inopportune time, when I'm trying to get somewhere, ...

Moving was a WHIRLWIND of activity and crazy. Of tears and goodbyes that were way  harder than I anticipated (I literally wanted to sell our new house back to the previous owners and run home again). Of last minute rescues (thank you Lord and thank you Father-in-law for helping us get into our house 2 1/2 HOURS before we had to be out of our previous one). It was NUTS! It was hard! It was exhausting! The picture I took while we drove across to town to our new house, me bawling my eyes out most of the way. However, I absolutely loved  getting to see so many people come around to help us through the process. My brother-in-laws coming the weekend before to help load the U-Haul. My husband's friend from work which I never had hung out with before joined in too. My cousin's husband and friend and my brother came to unload on moving day. My friend showed up and brought coffee and hung out while the guys did a stellar job of unpacking. It was sweet and rich and wonderful! So much lov...

image from thelakecountrymom.com The other day we were driving down the road and my six year old (who loves to ask questions) said to me:  "Mom, I don't understand. How can my cold sore be a virus and the coronavirus be a virus too? They aren't the same."  After thinking for a moment, I responded. "John, is Lucy a dog?" "Yes." "Is Maria a dog?"  "Yes."  "Are they the same?"  "No! Lucy is a dachshund and Maria is a..."  "A black lab. But they are both dogs, right? They are just different types of dogs."  He was satisfied with my answer. Our conversation got me thinking about another conversation I recently had with a friend of mine. She told me that when we first met she was intimidated by me, and listed off some of the reasons why. I couldn't believe that she would find me intimidating! And for the reasons that she mentioned! Especially when my own insecurities are what had kept me from p...

Life is Hard. Do Tough Stuff. Be strong. Suck it up and Deal with it. The struggle makes you stronger. Have you ever heard any of these statements before? Do you think they are true? I grew up in a family of adventurers, so doing hard things and being strong was greatly encouraged. I remember as a preteen going out in the woods with my brothers and huddling under a piece of carpet in the rain to see how long we could stay warm. I remember rolling all the windows down on the chilly coast while wearing a tank top for the very same reason. I remember ignoring scrapes and counting bruises as "war wounds". Being tough and strong wasn't just encouraged, it was part of who we were. Photo Credit: parentmap.com Fast forward to adulthood and a lot of that hasn't changed. I still absolutely delight in physical challenges, being tough and conquering something. I LOVE hiking more than anything because it reminds me so much of those fun, "tough" times as a kid and handlin...

You ever have those days where you don't even make it out of your pjs? I had one of those days. I slept terribly and had very little sleep by the time I crawled out of bed. I was drained and exhausted! I realized all the things on the list for the day, normal things like school, laundry, and going out, were simply not happening. I wasn't going to do ANYTHING! I ended up staying in my pjs, because I just didn't want to get ready, and hanging out with the kids and doing random little projects around the house.  At noon instead of grabbing something to eat for myself, I ended up cooking up some ground beef and having tacos with the kids. I eventually, around four, I think, got into the shower. As, I was thinking about this "Nothing Day" I realized that sometimes those nothing days are much more important than Productive Days. Sure, I didn't shower till 4pm, sure I didn't do school with my oldest, sure, I didn't do a lot of things I normally do but I did...

Privileged. This is a hot word right now. Lately I have been really thinking about how privileged I am. But not the noun version of the word so much. I've been thinking of the adjective definition.  I've been thinking of how privileged ( lucky, fortunate, special, I would add * blessed* ) I am to be doing the work of motherhood.  Changing dirty diapers is a privilege. Teaching young ones how to navigate and properly express their feelings (aka breaking up fights) is a privilege. Spending hours cooking and cleaning for my family is a privilege. Being the only one who can calm my baby, that is a privilege.  There are many women who would kill to have the job that I have. Their arms ache for children. They would love to be able to complain about being up all night with their little one. Or having so much laundry to fold. To have the trouble of figuring out what to cook for their children would be a blessing for them, because currently their tables are empty. Being able to ...

By the time you read this we have already moved into our new place but I wanted to share with you a chance meeting in the middle of the move that was super special. Our new house has a smaller living/dining area and I've been hard at work thinking of solutions for the areas in the new house. Folding chairs, built in bench seat, sectional couch, etc. For downstairs and guests my ideas of a hide-a-bed couch or a murphy bed so I could easily host people overnight with little to no prep. As I scanned Marketplace I ended up finding a pinstriped hide-a-bed and  beautiful wooden fold up chairs from the same lady.  The very next day we drove the twenty-five minutes out to a charming country home to buy the furniture. The lady who met us remember us from church (I didn't recall her but that made little difference) and I felt instantly welcome by her honest and open personality and sharing.  They also were in the process of moving closer to town and had two weeks to be out of their...

Confession: I hate Sunday mornings. Ok, hate is a pretty strong word. Let's just say that Sunday mornings are really, really challenging for me. I just have a hard time getting my family out the door in time for church. Out the door in time and all five of the children fed, dressed, wearing matching shoes, and with clean faces. I fail at the "in time" part about every week.   This morning I was thinking about how much I hate Sunday mornings and wondering if all this rush and work was even worth it. I was tired (pretty sure I got out of bed like 6 times last night). I was jealous of my husband (who actually gets to take a bath Sunday mornings). I was dealing with a slow-to-obey four-year-old and a whiney baby, spilled smoothies and clothes with holes in them. Honestly, I was being a whiney baby myself.  Why do I even try? We are always late anyway. I spend the whole time during worship parenting my children. It's not like I really get to focus on worship. Last week I s...

When I was pregnant with my youngest, our long waited for son, I would pray over him and who he'd become. I prayed that he would love God more than life and live a life full of love and light. I pray this for all my children, but there was a special prayer that I prayed especially for him... even before he was. Before he was every created, ever conceive, I prayed this baby would bring joy .  Then, he was. He was conceived and growing inside me, heart forming and beating, ears forming and hearing, fingers, toes, hands, and legs moving, ever part of him carefully crafted in secret (Psalm 139:15). He was and immediately he brought joy to us. Joy that he was alive and growing inside me. Joy over the anticipation of meeting him. Joy that the long night of  infertility grief was being lifted. Joy! Then he was born and it was clear that my prayer that he'd bring joy was more than fulfilled. Not only was he such a gift just have here, but he also loved people and smiling a...