a day in the life

I thought it would be fun to document what a day looks like around here.  Everyone says "long days, short years," and I think it would be fun to have this post to look back on in a few years.  So here goes nothing!

6:10 AM  My alarm goes off.  I slowly get out of bed, brush my teeth, and head down stairs to make coffee and a little breakfast.  By about 6:30, I sit down to get caffeinated and do my devotions before Quinn gets up.  She usually starts to wake up around 6:30, but is content to play in her crib until I get her at 7 am. 

7:00 AM Quinn gets up for the day!  She drinks an 8 oz. bottle and is a happy camper.  I change her diaper and get her dressed.  We "chat" and give each other kisses, and then I bring her downstairs for "independent play time/squeeze in some time to finish my devotions and wake up."  Q plays with her toys in her playpen for about 20 minutes and nibbles on some cheerios.

Somewhere in between here I get dressed and put on make up and check my e-mail.

8:00 AM Breakfast.  Quinn is pretty much done with baby food.  Last week she just totally moved on to finger foods!  This girl is hungry too.  I am making full on meals for her.  A slice of buttered toast, scrambled eggs, cut up fruit...it's an event.

8:30 AM Walk.  At this point, I can't wait to get outside of the house.  So, we always try to go on a walk, even if it's only 10 minutes.

9:00 AM Nap.  Beacon snuck into Quinn's room as I was putting her down, and as I was searching for him under her crib, Quinn pulled herself up on the side of the crib and started laughing at me.  It was really cute.  During nap, I usually update our blog, respond to e-mails, work on Lemon Bee, and don't do laundry like I should.

11:00 AM Quinn gets up from nap and drinks a bottle.  Sometimes she wakes up earlier and just plays until I get her at 11.  When I walked into her room, look at who I found sleeping on the changing pad....

Since we had no pressing errands or places to be, we ate a quick lunch and went on a long walk.  We are getting some more cooler days lately in Florida...which it means it was in the mid 70s, low 80s :)

1:00 PM Nap.  After about 45 minutes of Quinn messing around in her crib (in which I was making banana chocolate chip muffins--GF), followed by her learning how to stand up in it...I relented to getting her out.

                                     

2:30 PM Quinn is totally happy with skipping her nap, and learned how to climb ALL of the stairs in our house...supervised, of course!

3:00 PM Quinn drinks a bottle and goes down for a nap.  Success!  I worked on Lemon  Bee, cleaned up around the house, and changed clothes since we had plans to go to dinner with Daddy!

5:30 PM Quinn finally woke up from her nap. I couldn't believe how long she slept!  Climbing the stairs before nap time must have helped!  We quickly got our things together and went to Chipotle to meet Matt for dinner.

7:00 PM Came home from dinner and got Quinn changed into her PJs, read her some books, and fed her a bottle.

 

All done!  Time to relax!

This was definitely a more quiet day for us.  Usually we have some sort of activity during the day.  But, hopefully I will enjoy looking back and remembering our simple days together!



adjusting

I think it's safe to say that I have made it through the first 7 months of motherhood without getting too crazy (I did cry a lot and dye my hair dark brown...but that just makes me a woman).  Thus far, my biggest life adjustments have been first year of college, graduating from college, first year of marriage, moving to FL (surprisingly wasn't as hard as I thought it would be), and becoming a mother.

 my first classroom

honeymoon in Costa Rica 

Every season of adjustment has been difficult, but challenged me to grow as person in significant ways.  I knew becoming a mother would be a BIG adjustment.  Since I had been through some life adjustments already I knew I needed to mentally prepare myself with realistic expectations and pray A LOT.  Did that remove the difficulty?  NO.  But, it did help me to stay calm and give myself grace in the midst of all the change.  You see, the actual taking care of the baby part of being a mother hasn't been the most challenging part for me.  The challenge has been in my own mind.  "Who am I in all of this?!"

 

Women are pulled in so many directions.  I knew that being a good mother and wife were at the top of my priority list, but I still felt like there was a part of me that was a little lost.  I wanted to organize, create, and have goals. 

I have learned from some mistakes in the past, and realized that I needed to surrender everything to the Lord first, and let him put the pieces together for me.  The definition of surrender is to "yield to the power, control, or possession of another."  I was hesitant to pray the prayer, and say to the Lord that I wanted to surrender everything to Him.  I didn't want to act out of pride or fear.  I wanted to follow the Lord completely.  I was scared that I wouldn't like what I ended up with.  But, I was reminded of the verse, "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)  I do believe that my desires and gifts are from the Lord.  And, He loves me.  Therefore, I can trust Him and give Him all of my hobbies/desires/dreams/gifts.  He often has a vision for us that is way better than we could ever imagine for ourselves.  And/or, sometimes he does want us to ditch some of those things, but we can trust that He will give us peace in our hearts if that is the case. 

 

After some prayer and searching, I have found that my etsy shop has brought a lot of balance to my life right now, as well as some new fall activities to put on the schedule.  I would not say that any of that fulfills me...nothing really does, unless it's Christ.  Motherhood doesn't even fulfill me!  It's a gift and keeps me busy, but doesn't necessarily fulfill my deepest needs, like Christ can.

 

Every season of life brings it's joys and trials.  I can finally say that I am beginning to feel a little more at ease with this season of life.  I am beginning to appreciate the opportunity to stay at home with the baby, remembering that this season is so short.  God will have plenty of other things in store for me when this season is over.  I am reminded to EMBRACE this time.  Most of our lives are spent outside of the nest.  So, I am going to soak this up as much as possible.

how being a mom has changed me

*This was one of our first outings with a newborn...can you see the relief on my face?

I thought it would be interesting to make a list of how being a mom has changed my hair day-to-day life.  So, here it goes...

1.  going to the grocery store

::before baby::
I would take my time and peruse the aisles, and compare prices and nutrition labels.  I would also most likely find myself distracted by any clothing or beauty products, and possibly spend 30 more minutes than planned at the store.

::after baby:: 
I plan the meals for the week ahead and make a detailed shopping list.  I make sure I am ready to go before the baby wakes up from nap, so all I have to do is feed her before we leave.  I stick to my list and buy the generic brand of everything hoping that it will taste good and be cheaper.  I glance at the clothes and beauty products, and then remind myself that I know better.

2.  eating (in general)

::before baby::
I would debate about what I wanted while staring into the refrigerator for about five minutes.  Finally, after I decided, I would make a nice meal to eat off of one of our ceramic plates.

::after baby:: 
I realize I am starving at random points in the day and grab whatever is most convenient.  Although, I am working on getting better at this (referring to my post earlier this week on my favorite snacks).  Handfuls of trail mix usually do the trick.

3.  checking e-mails

::before baby::
I would leisurely sip on coffee and check e-mails as I woke up for the day.

::after baby:: 
I set my alarm before the baby wakes up so I can check e-mails like I used to ("sipping on coffee, yadda yadda...)  But, usually I get ambushed and end up holding the baby with a bottle in one arm and scrolling through e-mails with the other.

4.  my identity

::before baby::
I knew my identity was in Christ, but I didn't feel the need to cling to it because I had others things to define me like being a teacher, and I was proud of it...maybe too proud.

::after baby::
It's hard to feel accomplished by changing dirty diapers and going to the grocery store.  If I allow those things to define me, I end up feeling pretty low about myself.  Motherhood is HUMBLING.  Christ has always been my identity, but now I am actually clinging to that.  He gives me my worth.  I only have Christ, and it should always be that way! 

*I almost didn't post the middle picture (the night before I had Quinn), but it would have seemed a little odd to leave out in this picture sequence. ;)

building up community isn't easy

We have been learning a lot about the idea of community in our couples bible study this summer.  It sounds amazing but it is difficult to put into practice.  I would love to be part of a group of people who is willing to give up anything and everything for the sake of helping those around me.  This comes a little more naturally when you are with people who you know will do the same for you too.  But, it is a whole lot harder with people who you know may or may not give the same back...those types of relationships can become draining.

source

For the past week I have been praying about opportunities to build community.  My prayers have sounded like this, "Lord, please help me to be more aware of opportunities today where I can be an influence and build up community."  I went for a walk later in the morning with Quinn and ran into a woman and her daughter that Matt and I randomly met at his half marathon seven months ago.  When we first met them, I was very pregnant and we made the connection that we actually lived in the same neighborhood.  We had intentions of meeting up but things got crazy and life went on.  It was exciting to meet up with another mom in the neighborhood (and, her other friend from the neighborhood too).  That small amount of convenient adult interaction during the day can make a big difference!

So, big "yay!" for building community, right?!  Yes, well, back to the hard part.  Sometimes I get frustrated with the "breaking through" part in my friendships.  I personally don't do well with much fluff.  Now, obviously there is a time and place for everything, and it's important to be polite.  But, sometimes I have a hard to time connecting with others because I feel like they are not being "real" with me.  Let me give you an example... "Yes, being a mom is amazing.  But, oh my gosh, it is SO HARD sometimes."  You see, some people cut that sentence off after, "Yes, being a mom is amazing."  I am not that person.

Whenever I have interactions like that I start to feel bad about myself and sour about the friendship.  But, isn't that what the devil wants?  To break up the potential for community?!  I realized that I have been looking at relationships from a purely selfish point of view.  What can I get out of this?  How does this person make me feel?  My sister pointed out that maybe those other women don't feel comfortable digging in that quickly.  Hmmm...maybe, I should try praying for the friendship or good conversation that might initiate some honest conversation.

I wish I would have come to that revelation sooner!  I am working on looking at relationships as a way to serve others rather than serve myself.

Mark 10:45 "For even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve..."

"Greatness is not measured by achievement but by service for Christ's kingdom"
Excerpt from Our Daily Bread (July 2013)

The most important thing we can do is serve others!  Now, that's a different way of looking at things, isn't it?!

Let me know if you found this post encouraging or helpful.  I still have a lot more to say on this topic, and would love to share if you are interested!

making my husband's lunch

I have felt really convicted of my sin this past week.

It all started when I woke up bright and early to make myself coffee and do my devotions before Quinn woke up.  Especially since she has been sleeping better at night, I have been really looking forward to this quiet time in the morning.  Matt had been up for a while already since he usually does his work out routine before work (he is not used to me being up when he is up in the morning). 
I was making myself coffee, when he looked at me and said (jokingly), "So, are you going to start making my lunch now?"  I was so annoyed.  Really?!  I didn't exactly set my alarm to get up and make you lunch.  The bickering (half jokingly/half serious) began.  We are pretty good at the "who can come up with the wittiest comment" game.  Anyhow, the seemingly harmless conversation struck a cord. 

It wasn't about the lunch.  It was about me feeling convicted of my selfishness.  I have been so focused on everything I have had to sacrifice with having a baby.  I have demanded appreciation, respect, and encouragement, while offering very few of those things in return. 

I prayed for God to change my heart that morning.  I knew it was just in the wrong place and I couldn't fix it on my own.  Then, I went to playgroup.  I needed some perspective and so I took a poll among my fellow mothers...

"Okay, ladies...I am little curious and would like to take a poll."  (They laugh at my teacher voice :)  "Who here makes their husband lunch on a regular basis?"  They all rose their hand about half way..."Well, sometimes...It depends..."  The question sparked a conversation about how to serve your husband in a way that speaks to them.  Then, the conversation kept going and I wish I had a recording of it, but here are some things I walked away with that morning...

What is my goal as a mother?  The world says I should not let go of myself even though I am a mother, and that I should still be a little selfish because I deserve it.  The bible says to get rid of your old self and put on your new self to become more like Christ (Colossians 3).  I am not saying that you need to give up your hobbies and interests, but I am saying we need God to change our hearts to become more selfless.  I have been trying to hang onto my selfish ways and have found myself very frustrated.

Becoming a mother has caused a little bit of an identity crisis.  And, my flesh tells me to hang on to everything I was before I was a mother.  But, honestly, I am a work in progress and I don't really want to be the person I was even a few months ago.  I want to be the person Christ is calling me to be.  It's a process, but motherhood is stripping me of the ugly parts of myself and sanctifying me so that I can be put on garments of my new self.

"So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.

^3-4 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

^5-8 And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk."

Colossians 3:1-8 (The Message)

What has motherhood taught your recently?  I would love to read your comments!