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...