Instagram: The Mini Blog

Ok you guys, I honestly can't believe this blog is still going (kind of).  Seriously 7, going on 8 years is a long time, sometimes I cannot even believe it.  It would be so hard to give something up that is so old and so near and dear to my heart.  I love to go back and re-read what I was doing at certain points in my life and to remember details that I have long sense forgotten.

However with three 4 and under it gets a little harder to get over here and do what I love (writing).  It's not even that I am strapped for time as much as it is anytime I sit down I am almost certainly going to fall asleep while doing whatever it is I am pursuing at the moment.  Whether that is blogging, reading, watching t.v., anything really, sleep WILL overcome me.  I think that just comes with the territory.  All of this to say, Instagram has become like my "mini-blog" where I can just pop in, talk about what's going on, and then not worry about it.  However I know I will need to remember this season, because that is truly what it is, a season of mothering littles and so many times I think we as moms tend to forget (maybe by God's grace? haha) what we have really gone through.  So here is what life is feeling like right now. . . this will be jumbled, crazy, and just a tiny look inside our lives at the moment.

Since it is summer there is, how should I put this, a very loose schedule.  We have a consistent wake up, nap, and bed time, but other than that it is all kind of free game.  After our Morning Jobs we usually we spend the rest of the morning with friends or out in the front yard (before it gets too hot), or in the game room.  I try to do some stuff around the house at this time too (laundry, clean the kitchen, dinner prep if there is any, etc).  Sometimes it works out that way, and sometimes you have to just go sit and read a book and play cars.  Before you know it, lunch is here, followed by one show, and then nap until Daddy gets home, then the sky is the limit as to what we will do that night.

This is the first time I can ever actually remember loving summer.  I am a fall and winter girl, if I am not a mom of 3 children.  This past fall and winter we were so sick, I couldn't wait for warmer temps to take all of that away.  The bigger our family grows the longer the illnesses are drawn out it seems, so summer is now a favorite until they learn how to throw up without my assistance.

The boys are growing so big, like seriously, it is ridiculous.  I mean I almost have a five year old! FIVE!!!! What the what?!?!  That blows my mind!  I have absolutely adored year 4 and with Reid, he has grown up into a great and mature kid.  He is learning so much, especially educationally, and to really no credit on my part, just things he has picked up on, asked me about, or wanted to know.  However, he is still a little guy, which I absolutely love, how suspended between stages he is.  He says the funniest little things that I know will one day be a distant memory.  Things like something is "soaking big" (He means "so very big" I think, but I love the way he says "So-King BIG!" that I just can't correct him), or how a hot dog weenie is a "winnie".  Basically I love this boy big, though he knows just how to push every single crazy button I have, I know and pray he will do great things for the Lord with that strong will.  He is so precious to me
 

Owen is 2.5 and oh is he ever in the throws of being two.  He is the funniest, slyest, sweetest kid I know, and he totally knows it too.  He tries (and sometimes succeeds) in using his charm to get him out of trouble by a smile or saying something funny. He is still a mama's boy through and through.  No one else can hold him after he wakes up from nap if I am around.   He is the loudest screamer, the most dramatic and the whiniest thing, all while being a cute, precious, love and cuddle bug.  His vocabulary has totally taken off and he is now speaking in full sentences and can pretty much tell us exactly what he wants.  I love the language development that happens during the 2nd year, it is so neat to watch them really learn how to communicate.  We are working on what is appropriate and what isn't at the moment (don't scream at brother, be careful with sister, don't throw your food on the floor, etc.) but he is an adorable and sweet kid!

I am going to do a whole post on where Halle Kate is right now tomorrow so for today she doesn't get a paragraph (hashtag: third kid problems).  We are loving being a family of 5.  It is the most exhausting yet most meaningful thing Mark and I have ever done.  We are so very thankful to God for all the many blessings we have that we most definitely don't deserve.  

Redeeming the Time

I I read a blog post recently by Patty over at babynumber10,  entitled "The Little Moments" that just hasn't let me go. Patty is a stay at home mom to 11 kids(!) and baby number 10 has down syndrome.  She chronicles some of their daily life on instagram as well as her blog.  This particular post is nothing earth shattering, she just reminds us there are little moments in our day we can redeem and use to be productive.   It is just practical, and maybe even for some blatantly obvious, but for ADD people (like me), it challenged me to think.  To think about how I spend my time going throughout my morning and to rewire my natural tendency. 

For those who don't understand what it is like to live in an ADD brain let me fill you in somewhat.  We spend a lot of our time feeling overwhelmed.  Overwhelmed by what all there is to do, and feeling like there is no clear direction in which to do it.  This in turn leads to avoiding issues, like getting the mail because you don't want to have to deal with sorting and paying out all the bills from your daughter's birth (by the way don't do this, it leads to a VERY full mail box and a grumpy mail man).  I do little things like this every day, avoiding them because when I think of everything that needs to get done all together and the time it is going to take me to do all of those things I freak out a little in my head.

Now I know all of you rational, sane, organized people are sitting there thinking "if she would just do it when she first thinks about it, she could avoid this problem" to which I would tell you you're absolutely right.  I know this, deep down I really do, and I desire to change which is why I think this post struck a cord with me and hasn't left.  Here is an excerpt from her post.

Keepers of the home have a lot on their collective plates - and if we were to enter that noble profession, Mrs. Smith forewarned us, we should continually be looking for opportunities to seize the "little minutes" of our day.

What are "little minutes", you say ??

Glad you asked.

Little minutes are the moments in between the big minutes ... that make up our days.

If big minutes are the chunks of time we spend each day devoted to the big tasks : washing the dishes, folding the laundry, cooking dinner, mopping floors .... then little minutes are the moments we have in-between these things : straightening a bookshelf as we return a book to its place, grabbing all the pencils in the junk drawer and securing them with a rubber band as we answer a phone call, wiping the spots off the mirror with a paper towel as we brush our teeth - so many little ways to redeem the time.

Mrs. Smith taught us that there were untold little minutes in every day - and if we paid attention and made room for them, they would be one of our greatest keys to success in the art of homemaking.

So now for the past few weeks I will randomly hear my own version of a mantra as I tell myself to "redeem the time" and try to do those little things when I actually see they need doing.  Redeeming the time comes in the tasks of hanging up clothes when I am putting away all other laundry, wiping window seals in the dining room at least once a week while I am wiping the table down, taking items back to the appropriate rooms, etc.  

So often as a homemaker I feel like I am running in place and falling further and further behind.  This job has made me realize I can't do everything, my house may not ever look "pinterest worthy" or the way I would choose for it to, I mean come on, we live here.  However, in the middle of the love, and chaos, the big moments, and skinned knees, there are ways to attempt to stay on top of stuff and make our home an enjoyable place to be for everyone.  

Snow Day 2015

Ok one thing should be noted is that I am from north east Texas, and being in the southern part of the United States, we don't see much "real" snow.  In fact there is no guarantee that it will snow even one time a year.  I've actually gone quite a few years without seeing snow in my hometown.  It is just a fact of life, something we southerners are used to I guess. 

As such, when it does snow, everything shuts down and everyone goes outside to play, partly because it is so rare, and partly because no one knows how to drive in the conditions.  A couple of inches is heaven for us, but this particular day no one really saw coming.  We got a whopping 5-6 inches!  I have never seen that much snow where I live in my entire life.  To say it was an epic day would be an understatement.  

We knew there would be some snow accumulation so we decided to stay the night at my parent's house where there is a huge hill that is perfect for sledding, acres to pull sleds behind four wheelers, and family across the pasture to enjoy it all with! This turned out to be a great decision considering the snowfall we got that day.  

We all woke up disappointed that morning though because no snow was on the ground yet, and they had predicted it should start falling around 4 AM.  Of course being in Texas we are used to crazy weather that can change quickly, so I think we all expected it to just not happen at all.  Thankfully at about 7:55 AM it began to fall and just didn't stop!  I am talking HUGE, massive flakes that began to cover the ground in a hurry.  Everyone kept saying how crazy it was that it snowed so hard for so long.  It didn't let up until around 3 that afternoon.  

Mark and I are so blessed to have such wonderful family, that all get along so well.  This particular day we were able to celebrate our snow day with my parents, brother Adam and his wife Abby, my cousin Kyndall, her husband Rory, her daughter Haylyn, my aunt and uncle, Meredith, a friend from small group, and the Bordens.  We had a great time just doing things we don't normally get to do like make snow angels, or legitimate snow men, sledding, and having a snowball fight.  By the way, snow is TIRING, we were all out of breath after walking back up hills and fighting each other.  We had a boys against the girls snowball fight (which we sadly lost), and then spent time just talking to each other outside.  

After a while, the littles couldn't handle to cold and wet anymore so we would take shifts with sitting inside while they warmed up.  I was able to catch up with Kyndall while our kids watched "Frozen" by the fire.  It was such a relaxed, fun day that it quickly went up on everyone's list as one of the best days they had in a long time.  There is just something magical about snow (well snow that is here a couple of days then is gone) and when you have as much as we did, it just adds to the wonder of it all.  

The Beauty Of Simplicity

Today was a fun day, an unexpected day that turned out to be exactly what we needed.  When I woke up this morning it was raining pretty hard outside, and then all the sudden I hear "whooom" and the air conditioner whined down leaving the house quite quiet.  Yep, it happened, the electricity had been knocked off for the first time in the 9 months we have been in our house.

One would think I would have been concerned about what we would do all day, and maybe I should have, but in the 10 minutes I had before I went to release the boys from their room I processed the situation and got oddly excited about a day without power.  I began to think about all the different things we would be able to do because we didn't have access to our "lazy" vices that we so often have used as a crutch this winter.  No television, no internet, no clothes dryer, no lights, nothing.  And strangley (or maybe sadly) it was so liberating.  I felt like  I had the world at my fingers again, my choices were limitless, as if I had been granted so much of my time back.  I became excited to think I may actually sit down and read a book, or even write out a blog post on paper and have it ready to transfer over; I could have taken a candle lit bath, there were endless possibilities.  The sheer excitement at being powerless made me begin to think about what a beauty there is in simplicity and just how much that desire is pulling at my heart.  It is like a dull ache that you don't know is there until someone hits it just the right way.  I desire to live simply, with more management and less distraction.  Granted I am the one who chooses how to spend my time, I know that.  But to be pushed to realize the fact you don't care as much about certain thing was such a good experience.  

It was so good an experience that event though by 10:30 that morning the when the power had come back on,  I never told the boys.  Instead I chose to keep all the lights off and continue on our "no power" day.  And wouldn't you know, we had the best day!  They took a bath by kerosene latern light, we then read about 5 books in a row (We are doing good to read a book every other day.  The teacher in me beats myself up about it constantly), played in the game room , made a little charm bracelet, fought each other with pretend swords, colored, sang, and read some more.  I could tell they were enjoying it to, a day out of the ordinary, so much so they didn't complain once.  This day taught me so much, gave me so many ideas, and stirred something deep inside that I am still trying to process.

I learned that sometimes a messy house means a loving house.  It wasn't my first choice to have the boys color at the dining table, but since the room is basically made of windows, it had the most light.  They were entertained at least 30 minutes while I made their lunch, coloring to their hearts' content and using as much paper as they wanted.  It all still sits there now where we will use it tomorrow.  Owen still has toys in the living room he brought out and never put away.  Laundry is everywhere on the couch, folded, but everywhere.  And despite the appearance of chaos, I know there is love here.  I am trying to lower my expectations of how my house should look or how I wished I had somebody else's view of clean (hello OCD people).  We had fun today and it showed.  

So yes, I was reminded today of how simple isn't bad, simple is actually good.  I was pushed to maybe rethink the way we schedule our days, what we have, and why, and perhaps now I am pushed to change it.  I desire to change it, to take away and trash the things that don't matter.  To overcome my hoarder-ish tendencies, and evaluate why we have each item in our house.  I was challenged today, and it was good, so very very good.  

Christmas Festivities 2014:Cookie Party

 I don't know if I have written about the cookie party on the blog before or not.  I feel like I have but it has been a while, so for those who don't know here's the back story. . . My mom's friend, Lisa, loves to cook, it's like her favorite thing in the whole world to do.  My mom on the other hand really just doesn't like it at all.  Well back when my brother and I were little kids somehow it came up that mom didn't do the whole bake and decorate Christmas cookie thing with us.  Lisa couldn't believe it, and since she had no kids of her own yet quickly volunteered to do cookies with Adam and me.  So every year close to Christmas we would go to Mrs. Lisa's to make Christmas cookies.  It gradually grew to include a group of friends and their kids and now a second generation of cookie party kids in with my children and Haylyn.  It is loud, crazy, and fun to just get together and hang out.  

Adam and Abby made Olaf

My mom and Reid.  How I love her love for my boys.

Owen loves music and spent a lot of time on her piano.

Christmas Festivities 2014: Painting Ornaments

Christmas is always one of my favorite times of the year simply because it means getting together with people you love and care about and doing projects that will hopefully translate into memories.  Even though this Christmas kind of felt like I was in a fog due to adjusting to life with a newborn, I still wanted to attempt just a few different things with our boys to ensure they had a good holiday season.  

One thing we did was made cornstarch ornaments.  These are better than salt dough and so easy to make using baking soda, water, and cornstarch.  The boys loved cooking the dough, rolling it, cutting it with cookie cutters, and then painting them the next day.  I am hoping this will be one thing always do each year.  It was so fun to watch their little personalities as they painted.  Reid our ever meticulous first born working hard on his creations, while Owen, our free spirit did whatever and got paint EVERYWHERE, including his face.  Needless to say he went right to a bath!

Detoxing (Written 3 Weeks Ago)

This post probably won't make sense and likely will never make a public appearance on the blog but I had to try to get it out anyway.  I feel as if I am detoxing in a way from being pregnant/giving birth.  With each pregnancy this has been a stronger feeling.  It is something I can't really explain at all except that I can't quit thinking about it/ want to remember, need to remember what happened.  To be honest I love labor and delivery, it the day I look forward to the most and love/hate the fact it is only a day.

With this pregnancy I never really thought about the fact this could be our last baby.  It wasn't something that crossed my mind really, especially at the end because I was just so uncomfortable.  It took about 2 weeks after she was born for me to realize and say to Mark "She could be our last one couldn't she?"  Why the thought had not crossed my mind until then I am not really sure, but it did.  I just want to freeze time right now, freeze her right where she is, freeze the hospital stay, freeze everything so I don't forget, so I don't take for granted.

I am so thankful we got to spend 2 days instead of 1 in the hospital.  It really gave me the time to rest (besides the vitals checking every 4 hours, that is NOT fun at 4 AM) and cuddle and just be with her. I was able to get a shower, doze on and off some, and relax which was wonderful since I had been having contractions for a couple of weeks.  I loved all the nurses I had and want to just go back and thank them for being a part of such a special time in my life.  I really just want to remember it all vividly because we could not have the opportunity to do it again.

I need to remember her newborness, how tiny she was and is, that she loves to be swaddled and cuddled, hates diaper and clothes changes, poops every diaper, grunts with the best trucker out there, and can already produce burps to rival those of her big brothers. She likes her paci only sometimes, eats every 3 hours like clockwork, looks exactly like me with my baby pictures, and is just the most precious little light in our lives.  Her brothers adore her and make sure I take care of her ("Mom, Halle Kate is crying, calm her down please.")

***

I wrote this about 3 weeks ago or so when Halle Kate was still oh so tiny.  There are still so many emotions (and hormones I am sure) that go with having a baby and there is still just this strong desire to not forget her birthday, what and how it all happened.