It's a wonderful life... and a brand new year!

Happy New Year! We are over a week into 2015 and it seems unreal how fast time is moving. Heck, some days I feel like I'm still 22 and have my life ahead of me. And then days like today remind me that I'm not that young anymore and life is passing me by.

Satan has really been attacking us lately and it's been a rough couple of weeks. Well, it's been a rough couple of months actually.

Hubs had been working long hours. They had a couple guys get fired this summer, and then one quit just before Christmas. Then just after the new year, they bought a competitor company and absolved all of those contracts as well. So we hadn't really seen much of daddy and even when he'd be home he was answering emails or on the phone dealing with more issues. Poor guy.

I've been busy with trying to keep the house at least a little clean, keeping the fridge stocked and dinner on the table (usually last minute), and prepping for birthdays and finishing up our Christmas letter which is now super belated. Our budget is kicking my tooshie and month after month I'm over the amount that we've set for our family. So to try to help out financially, I've been doing a little photography work, some design work and also started a craft business with my mom and trying to make things to sell for that. It's actually all a little overwhelming, but I'm doing the best I can with it all.

Munchie found her voice and has been talking non-stop, even more than before. I didn't think it was possible, but wow! There are so many things to say throughout the day and she has such a grown up vocabulary. I've found her putting together sentences and putting brand new words in the right place within the sentence. If only I could get her to sit down long enough to actually learn her letters and numbers. :) She knows them...just doesn't know what they look like. I'll definitely have to be creative with this active child.

She has also hit her defiant stage. Oh boy! It's been a challenge to maintain a happy and calm situation here at home. I'm sure a big part of it is the lack of attention now that she has a younger brother to share mommy & daddy with. And sleep has become more of a challenge, both for nap time and bed time and throughout the entire night.

And talking about finding a voice... Monkey has such a high pitch piercing scream and his stubborn side is coming out with a vengeance. I remember this stage with Munch, but it seems so much harder this time around. Everything is extremely dramatic and he gets his feelings hurt way to quickly. But he also is a happy giggly little man and while one minute he may be making our hair fall out, the next he makes it impossible to not laugh along with him.

So that's a rundown of what's been going on around our little home as of late. This mama is one tired lady.

Our Little Man

Monkey turns one today!

A year ago, I was almost convinced that this baby wasn't going to ever come out. Lol. Totally kidding, although the thought was there that out of anyone that I'd be the one to defy biology.

And now we are here. With this guy. Looking back and wondering where the past year went. And planning for his birthday party - cus you know you HAVE to celebrate a big one for the first birthday! :) And putting together a cake smash - cus, well, why not?! :)

 

 

Children of the Day - a post on Beth Moore's Bible Study

My sis-in-law invited me to be a part of a Bible Study at her church this fall. I had done personal studies in the past, but never a true study with a large group of women. Especially with a large group of women that I didn't know, aside from one (my sis-in-law). :)

Thankfully they provided daycare, which if they had not, then I would have not been able to join.

As with many church events, there was always a smorgasbord of food! Each table of ladies took one weekly meeting and provided the tasty goods for the entire room - well over 50 ladies! It was funny, kinda, when it was our week and only three of us could make it and so we each ended up bringing about 4 different plates of breakfast-type foods. That made for a busy morning for me and the kids, trying to get out the door with not only our stuff, but all that food too!

The study was by Beth Moore - Children of the Day. It encompassed 1 & 2 Thessalonians and was absolutely incredible. I found that even though she requires a LOT of homework in her studies, it was something I've been needing. And there was so much great information in each day's reading. It actually gave me a little more interest in the historical background of that time and what happened throughout Paul's journey.

I sadly wasn't able to make the last video session. A winter storm blasted through and the roads, while drivable, weren't the best condition for me to get the kids out and drive 25 miles. SIL didn't make it either, so we want to get together and purchase that specific video and finish our study out together.

So a couple things from this wonderful experience -
1) My SIL and I grew closer in our relationship having that weekly interaction and common topic
2) The kids benefited from being in a stranger's care in the nursery there at the church
3) It gave me a new passion for reading and studying the Bible (although life has gotten in the way again and I'm finding it hard to breath, let alone open my Bible for any large piece of time)
4) I'm super excited to do another Beth Moore study again... and possibly one of these days lead one at my own church if the Lord so directs me

If you have the opportunity to do one of her studies, I highly recommend you do so! I've heard from several friends who have done other Beth Moore studies that they are fantastic as well.

**This post is not endorsed, encouraged, or monetized by Beth Moore or anyone or anything else. But I wouldn't say no to being given one of her other studies to review and create a post about. ;)

A 6-Month Comparison

My mom had been asking me for awhile to put together a composite picture of the two kiddos and see how they compare at the same age. So here is their 6 month picture in the chair, composited together.

Monkey looks so much older than his sister did at that age! He was heavier, but not by much. And she was almost ready to start crawling...and walking within the next month and a half.

I'll have to do this again with another month's pictures to see how that compares.

This is kinda fun. And bittersweet! They are getting soooooo big!

Coffee = Survival

 

I live in a world of coffee and chocolate coconut bites.

These two things seem to be the best part of my days as of late... and almost are a necessary part of surviving each day.

(Don't get me wrong... the actual best part of my day comes when my kids are laughing and chasing each other around the kitchen, building blocks with Daddy and snuggling while we read a book. But back to the necessity of coffee and yummy bites:)

You see, my kids have decided they don't want to sleep.

No sleep during the day. No (or very little) sleep during the night. Just no sleep. Or at least nothing more than a 10 minute power nap.

How can they have so much energy on so little sleep? And how am I still standing after living off of 2-4 hours of broken sleep a night and 3 hours of screaming fits during the day trying to get them to nap? (them screaming...not me. Even though I'd love to join them at times. Ha!) Well, I've been asking myself that every day. And this has been going on for 3 weeks now. :(

I'm lost on what to try next. I've tried sleeping in their room with them. I've even crawled in the crib a few times. We've pulled Munchie into our room and made a bed on the floor. We've added a fan, lavender oils, darkened curtains, left the curtains open, added a night light, kept the main light on during naptime, and many other tips and tricks that haven't helped worth a darn.

Oh yeah, and I've been praying a LOT lately! Every time I'm awake at night. Every time that I sit in their room waiting to hear their breathing change. Every time I'm up feeding Bubba. It's been a bit of a reminder that we really can't go to Him enough.

So while the Lord continues to work on my attitude and their restlessness... I'll continue to enjoy my cup o joe and these delicious bitties each day as I try to function. :)

It's a busy life... being a mom.

I wouldn't even know where to begin on catching up with life. We have been so busy lately and part of that is on account of my design/photography business booming. And I'm not even trying! The Lord has blessed me by bringing people to me to request a photo shoot or a project designed and I am eternally grateful for the extra money He has provided. Just in time too because I really do need to invest in a new computer. I think this one is about 6 years old. Hm...

But let's see. What have we been up to? We have:

Had a birth day...

Celebrated a birthday... :)

 

 

 

 

 

Played in the snow...

Had some nap-time-troubles...

Found a favorite TV show...

Gone through LOTS of diapers!...

Celebrated a few holidays...

Built forts...

Hung out with family...

 Road trip!!...

 

 Graduations...

 

Wedding planning...

And gone to the zoo - many many many times!

It's been a busy year so far!

2014 - A New Year

Happy New Year! It's something that's said all the time, but "I cannot believe it's already January!!!!"

This baby is being stubborn and is still content hanging out in mommy's tummy. It is now a week 'overdue' and I am getting very anxious to meet the little one! But I guess it wants to add another January birthday to the family calendar, which I guess isn't terrible. That'll give me some more time to plan parties and such after the craziness of the holidays. And who doesn't love the great after Christmas sales to shop do presents?! :) (trying to think positively while in reality I'm dying for this kiddo to hurry up and be in my arms!) Lol!

Moving on...

I'm not a huge fan of resolutions. It's just a list of mostly unattainable items that we forget about or stress ourselves out over and give up on within a few months time. And who wants to be disappointed so early in the year? Ha! I'm kidding...mostly. However, I do believe in creating a list of desires, of things that you'd like to see happen...okay, so you could call them resolutions if you had to...that you write down and then forget about. Hide the list somewhere where you won't 'find' it until the end of the year - like a devotional book, the December pages of your day planner, your blog (wink wink), etc. Then near the end of the year, take a look at the list and see if your priorities, interests or desires have changed, or if you've accomplished some of the items you wrote down or wished for, or if God has led you a completely different direction than what you thought at the beginning of the year.

The goal of this is not to criticize yourself or be disappointed in what did or didn't happen, but to reflect on your life, the past year, and to keep an open mind of what The Lord may have for your life and the next year.

Some of mine?
- to stress less on the messes of my house and enjoy the craziness of my kiddos. They grow up way too fast and I want to enjoy getting on the floor and playing with them, taking in the milestones and little quirks, and teaching them about life and the importance of having a relationship with our Savior!
- spend more time on me and my projects and needs. As moms we give up so much of ourselves for our families and forget to take 'me time'. I want to be healthy, get back in shape after this pregnancy, have a few moments of rejuvenation after a long day or week with the kiddos and get my craftiness on. :)
- get a handle on our budget. It's been a challenge to budget properly under one income and I've gotta work harder on decreasing our costs and increasing our savings from my side of things. Hubs does an amazing job with his 'portion', but I need to do my part and add to our savings from my budget allotment as well
- I need to work harder on keeping up my design and photography skills. I've had the blessing of gaining some design contracts in 2013 and the hope is that at least one of them is continuing into this year. It'll be fun to see what The Lord brings for my business in 2014
- potty train Munchie! Get that kiddo out of diapers! Lol. I actually think we would be trained by now if we had been taking it seriously, but I didn't want to go through all that and then have her revert once the new baby arrives. I've heard that's harder to retrain than to just wait a bit longer.
- here's one that I'm hoping to accomplish, but I am not going to let myself get too disappointed if I don't accomplish it - spend time in God's Word and read My Utmost for His Highest (which was a gift from our Sunday School teacher)

Well, there are more, but I'll stop there. Happy New Year! May this year be the best one yet!

Oh, and baby...please come soon! :)