So..if you read my previous post…you will see that our family has been blessed with baby no. 3 (he’s almost 9 weeks)…so over the past 9 weeks…hubby went from 2nd shift to first shift…we are homeschooling and I’m at home (for the last year, I was working full time, while the hubby was going to school and homeschooling the kids)…

I’ve never been one to live on a schedule (I’m pretty laid back and to be honest, I’m a procrastinator)…I need to get better at that, but I’m not good at it to be totally honest…and meal planning (we won’t go there…)

Over the past 9 weeks I feel like I am barely treading water…now, kids are fed sometimes it is frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, or tuna packets (my boy LOVES the lemon pepper), the house isn’t dirty (definitely cluttered), but definitely don’t want anyone just stopping by…

I just finished reading The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines and I’ve realized that I haven’t taken time for me (I’ve gone days without a shower or I’ve been in the same pjs for days….like this week…I only seem to get ready when I HAVE to go to an appointment…this book has spoken volumes to me (like I was almost in tears)…realizing a few things:

1. my home is the best home for my family (dirt and all)
2. I am the best for the family and to give myself grace
3. learn to not just SURVIVE, but THRIVE (however that might be for me and my family)

Don’t forget to give yourself some grace (thank you to my close friend for reminding me of this tonight) and just like the picture above is of a magnolia before it blooms….you will bloom and burst open to be a beautiful fragrant flower..(reminding myself of this daily)

IMAGE: Image by <a href=”https://pixabay.com/users/HansLinde-3418194/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4100692″>Hans Linde</a> from <a href=”https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4100692″>Pixabay</a&gt;

 

So one of my goals this coming year is to devote more time to LOVING ME (easier said than done…). I think as a wife and mother, you are constantly doing for everyone else that you forgot that you are in the mix too…

I want to teach my kiddos that in order to love anyone…you MUST love yourself first. You MUST take care of yourself. In taking care and loving yourself, you will be able to love all.

5 Ways to Love Yourself MORE:

1. Spend time in the Word (whether it’s 5 minutes a day or more…)
2. Do something special for yourself (like painting your fingernails and toenails..YAY! (by the way, I did that this morning…)
3. Do something for someone else just because (if that’s your gift)
4. Take time for you (schedule it if you have too…after the kids go to bed, early in the morning (it would be before the sun got up for me…)
5. just LOVE you! Love all your flaws, imperfections…instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what you don’t like…make yourself SEE what you LOVE (that is definitely going to be the MOST challenging for me…)

IMAGE: http://freestylehippiesoul.tumblr.com/image/154847546614 and http://galadarling.com/article/10-really-easy-ways-you-can-love-yourself-more-today/

So it’s the new year…out with the old and in with the new! New Year’s Resolutions (YEAH RIGHT)…like everyone keeps those…so I’ve decided to try to make some simple changes for life, not just because its the new year but the new year does create a opportunity to begin again…

My changes (or potential changes, I guess I should say)…

1. learn to be more patient and not yell (easier said that done…I know all moms struggle with this)

2. take care of me (along with taking care of the hubby, the kiddos, the dog, the house, etc….but no seriously, taking care of you is essential)

3. working more on a cash budget for our food/fun budget.

I’ll be blogging about the good and the bad throughout my changes…hopefully they don’t fail…we will see how that goes…any advice will be GREATLY appreciated!

(Forgive me for no communication through the holidays…it’s been crazy, we’re still not fully moved in, going through boxes but other than that no new updates…moving is more than enough!…hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!)

IMAGE: http://freefaithgraphics.com/2015/01/do-something-great-today/

So much has happened since I posted last…you’ll understand shortly why I’ve been behind on posting…

WE ARE MOVING!!

(same town, just a little ways away from our current house)

Let me rewind to you will understand our process…about a year ago, we started discussing moving…our kiddos were 5 and 1 (almost 2) and our current house is 3 bedrooms/2 bath (but 1 bedroom and bath are in the basement)…so basically we have a 2 bedroom/1 bath…so right now, our kiddos share a bedroom, our living room is the playroom, and laundry is like a mountain EVERYWHERE (please tell me I’m not alone on that one)…

In February of this year (2016), we paid off our van! YAY!! DEBT FREE!!! (You can see my post about that HERE!) So once we paid off the van, the search began. We looked and looked and walked through many many house…we thought we had found one in May but it ended up falling through due to water and mold issues…so we had to pay for the inspections on the house…so we said, we’re done…we’re not going to look for a while because we don’t want to lose anymore money…In June, our sweet Leia fur baby passed away…you can read all it HERE…tears still…

So a few weeks after Leia passed, it was a Monday morning at 7AM…I get a text from our realtor that says…YOU HAVE TO CHECK THIS HOUSE, I’M SENDING YOU A LINK NOW!…so we got online and looked at it and fell in love…we went and looked at it that night and put an offer on it the next day…God totally orchestrated it out for us…the price, the location, the house (IT FITS OUR LIST) and every detail, even the family that will be renting out our current house…WOW! I said last year at Christmas that this would be our last year in this house, well, my words are not returning void…I’m just amazed that during our grief of losing our sweet fur baby, that God moved and opened this door for this new house…we should be closing Aug 5th (We’re currently waiting on the confirmation from the bank)…so be praying for us…

IMAGE: http://www.cchsrams.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/moving22.jpg