Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
I so enjoyed all the guest posts from all the real moms featured this Summer. I appreciated them sharing about their life, struggles and tips.
Today I’m featuring the final Simply Real Mom. My sister!!
Meet….Stephanie!!
Steph blogs at Domestic Delirium and has two adorable girls. I wish I lived closer to her (Massachusetts and Texas are a long way from each other) so we could hang out more and see each others’ girls grow up. But, alas, that is not meant to be right now. So we Facebook, Twitter and read each others’ blog! I’m happy and honored to have her guest post today.
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I have really enjoyed reading the Simply Real Moms series this summer here on my sister’s blog. Yea, you read that right: Simply Mel is my sister. I think she’s pretty cool and you can frequently find my comments on her posts. In fact, I was one of her winners in her recent giveaway and just got my book in the mail a couple of days ago. I was really excited! Can’t wait to use the book to better my writing!
Back to what I was initially saying though…I have really enjoyed reading all the different moms post things this summer about what works for them and how they make life around their home easier and more organized. My sister kindly asked me to write this post as sort of a recap of what I got from each of the posts. If you know me, you know why I’m NOT writing about being organized or what works for me here in my home because, well, I’m NOT organized and have only been staying home more with my kids since resigning as a teacher back in March when I went on maternity leave to have my second daughter.
Oh yea, I guess I should tell you a little bit about my family, shouldn’t I? Hi, I’m Stephanie. I blog (ever so sporadically as of late) over at
Domestic Delirium (very appropriately named for the state of mind I’m in trying to be domestic). I have been married for 3 years to my wonderful husband, Waylon. Yep, he was named after the country singer, Waylon Jennings. I also have an uncle named Wayland. It’s not very often that one goes through life knowing anyone by that name, let alone two of them and them both being in the family. I guess I’m just lucky like that. *grin*
As I mentioned before, I had my second daughter, Layla, back in April, one month after my sister had her 3rd daughter. Layla Paige was born on April 20th and was a very large baby, 8 lbs 11 ozs. But, lest you think SHE is big, you would need to know about my first born, Brooklyn Alivia who was born July 15th, 2009 at a whopping 9 lbs 6 ozs. We like to make our babies big and strong in this family. Just ask Melissa about her daughters’ birth weights! But I digress once again…
Here is the most recent picture of my family. This is the four of us out on the beach in Destin, Florida last week. We got to go down for a week with my parents and it was wonderful. This was our last night there and it was beautiful. Aren’t we a cute family??? I think so.
Here is a picture of me and my husband as we walk hand in hand down the beach.
Isn’t it purdy? Yea, I think so too. Keep in mind, I dress for comfort lately, not style. I realize I’m not the most stylish in these photos, but at this point, I’m really not all that concerned.
So there you have a couple of pictures of me and my family to get an idea of who “we” are.
So what did I learn this summer? Well, a LOT! I won’t be mentioning every post because it would be way too long! I’m going to recap the ones that touched on specific things going on in my life.
I was reminded by
Karen that “Motherhood is a lot like Calvinball”. The rules always change.” This is so true. Just look at the recommendations for feeding and sleeping and other child-rearing concepts and you’ll see that society and medicine can never agree for very long as to what the
best practice is for raising your child. In the end, God gives you the wisdom and intuition you need to raise your children the right way. We cannot make choices for other people’s children, only the ones God has given for us to care for here on earth. What a great analogy Karen!
I learned from
Kathy over at
House of Hills that no matter if you have one child or 19 children, you must be intentional in your parenting to them. It’s all to easy to spoil an only child (or first child) rotten. We, as parents, need to be intentional with how we raise our kids so that they learn good values and that even if it’s just you at home, you still need boundaries and you can’t have everything you want all the time. I know it would be hard for me to say no to my child if I had an only child. But God gave Kathy and her husband great wisdom in knowing how to set boundaries with their daughter all the while still nurturing and showing her how much they love and cherish her. Thank you Kathy for that wonderful testimony.
Alana made an awesome point about when we as mothers have friends who are in different stages of life than we are. I know I struggle with not wanting to “bother” my friends who don’t have small children because I’m afraid that having kids makes me less cool. Or if I’m friends with someone older, who’s kids have left the nest or are older (in high school), they my small children will be tiresome for them because they’ve finally gotten out of that phase and probably don’t want to be around little kids for a long time! It’s so important to have friends who are in different stages of life so that we can share in their perspectives and life experiences. That was a great post Alana, thank you!
If I had to pick a post that spoke the most to me, it would be the one
Jessica M. posted about being in a difficult transitional time of life. I can totally relate to her crazy schedule and having two small children. She gave simple, doable, yet very insightful advice. Some days I get so frustrated and stressed out with things that I forget to
roll with it and that it will pass and it’s just a phase, not permanent. That’s hard to do when you’re in the middle of craziness and have two small children who rely solely on you for everything. My husband also works long hours but I also work for him along with keeping the home and pretty much doing everything else that needs to be done at home and with the kids. It gets very lonely and I find myself shying away and saying “no” to a lot of things – whether they be invitations from real people or ideas of things in my head. I’ve got the
making it easier part down. I’m all about that! I don’t think I’ve ever had pie for dinner (although it sounds delicious!) but I frequently eat a bowl of cereal for dinner…and share it with my 2 year old!
Thanks for reminding me that I’m not the only one living a hectic, crazy life and that I shouldn’t be rolling around in a pity party all the time. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Jessica B.’s post was a great reminder and inspiration to all moms. She is family to me (We are distant cousins of sorts) and I follow her blog and am always amazed at everything she is able to accomplish with 7 kids in tow. She home schools and manages her household and always seems to have a calm, steady demeanor about her. I have two kids and manage my home part-time and feel frantic most of the time. I’m in awe of her ability to do everything she does for her family and keep such a positive attitude. I see how much it takes of myself to give to my two children, I can’t imagine giving of myself to 7 and keeping my sanity and being calm and collected as she is. I admire her abilities as a mother to divide herself among so many.
Sarah had some great tips on organizing and keeping your sanity. I like how she said that some days she simply has to “do the next thing” and keep going. I’ve had many days where that was how I had to function. It was a great reminder of how we need to keep going, even when it feels like we’re to tired or there’s too much to do and not enough time to get it all done.
My cousin
Grace posted some great ideas for a morning routine and really got me evaluating how I use my time in the mornings. I have yet to get a morning routine going, however, I like how she does her workout in her room before everyone else gets up. It seems very doable for the average mom!
Debra is also a personal friend who’s story of adoption is heart warming and inspiring. Her love for all three of her kids and dedication to raising them as Godly children is such an inspiration to me in my parenting life.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the Simply Real Moms posts and hope that it becomes something regular on this blog. Maybe next time I’ll be more organized and experienced and be able to share some things that I’ve discovered to have worked in my home!
Thanks to all the moms who shared their lives on here. It was a fantastic summer read!
Stephanie
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Thanks Steph! It’s been great, ladies.
As a side note, my blog is going through some tweaking and the “Simply Real Moms” category isn’t showing up all of the guest posts since they don’t fit on one page. I’m providing the link to the two mom’s who’s post don’t show upon this page.
If you haven’t read all of the wonderful posts from this series take the time to catch up on them! They’re worth the read.
Hope you guys enjoyed this series as much as I did. Maybe next year I’ll do it again for the Summer? Be thinking about if you want to guest post! You have a year to think about it. He he.
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Ok, first things first…. is this week 2 or 3? Seems like the first week of announcing it should not have technically counted? I didn’t actually start doing anything to lose weight until the “second” week. I’ve noticed a couple of bloggers are putting different numbers in their posts. Can we get a consensus on that?
Anyway, moving on to this weight loss attempt week for me.
I somehow managed to gain two more pounds.
Seriously.
This week I didn’t get on the elliptical again, HOWEVER, I did try to make the most of any kind of physical activity I was doing.
For instance: I tightned my stomach muscles and held the laundry basket out in front of me while going up and down stairs. I was trying to work my abs and arms on that one.
Speaking of stairs… going up and down them as much as I have this week should count for something! I’m trying to sleep train my daughter and get her on a good napping schedule in her crib. There have been lots of going up and down stairs to re-bink, re-cover and calm her down.
Trying to get on the elliptical and MAKE TIME for exercising is so hard for me! During my baby’s nap time I like to get as much done around the house as I can that I can’t do when she’s awake. Since I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water right now when it comes to keeping house, I truly don’t want to use nap time as my exercise time.
I’ve noticed snacking is another downfall of mine. I’m a huge nibbler. I’ve decided that if I’m going to have a snack I need to just sit down and have one. Make me a small plate of whatever snack I plan on having (preferably a health one) and eat it. Instead of nibbling while standing up all day.
I’ve been consciously making myself not have anything before bed. That’s been hard since I’m usually very hungry at night. If I do have something, I’ve been trying to make it a fruit smoothie. Usually what I REALLY want is something like toast, a bagel or some other carb laden food. I know I don’t need those calories before bed.
Training my stomach to want less food and being ok with being hungry during the day for right now is TOUGH.
But, it’s a sacrifice I need to make. I keep telling myself my kids are going to grow up with thin, fit parents. I want to make that something “normal” in our house. I don’t want our girls to grow up with an unhealthy view of weight and alway seeing their parents struggling with weight issues. Unfortunately, overweight parents can lead to overweight kids. My husband also struggles with his weight and has been trying to lose weight for years just like I have.
My goals for this week are:
~ Lose, at least, one measly pound.
~ Get on the elliptical at least once! (I’m going for lofty goals here, people)
~ Purposeful healthy snacking.
~ Take my measurements so the scale isn’t the only marker of my weight loss progress.
How’s everyone else doing this week??
Check out Kathy at House of Hill’s Losing It ‘11 challenge for accountability and encouragement in your weight loss journey. While you’re there take a look at the other women who are blogging about their journey and offer up some encouragment!
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
We acquired a new family over the weekend.
Meet Timber.
He’s our new, 3 month old Siberian Husky. Katelyn loves him. Madelyn is afraid of him. (Although you can’t tell in this picture)
So far he’s been pretty good. He’s not shedding (yet) and his accidents have been minimal inside. Katelyn has taken on the job of taking him outside whenever he needs to go.
She’s very proud of him and is very willing to help out with him (for right now anyway!) I’m not sure how long it’s going to take Madelyn to like him or be willing to be near him. That’s been a challenge so far.
This is about as close as she’ll get to him at this point. There has to be someone in between him and her. Of course, she doesn’t understand that he’s trying to play with her and not hurt her.
Katelyn loves to lay in Timber’s bed too. I think she spends more time in it than he does!
This is going to be interesting! Or crazy. I’ll keep you all updated on how it’s going!
This post is linked to Wordful Wednesday over at Seven Clown Circus.
