What I Do All Day- My Housework Schedule

I am the type of person that works best with a schedule, so when I began thinking about how to best utilize my time as a stay-at-home-mom/homemaker, I knew that creating a weekly schedule would be the best approach. This schedule is really a way to hold myself accountable and to make sure that everything that needs to get done each week will. This schedule is very flexible- in fact, when my husband reads this I am sure he will laugh because some (okay, most) weeks not all of this gets done (i.e. making the bed...yeah, that never happens). I feel like this gives me a high yet obtainable goal, though, so I am satisfied with it.  Feel free to use this schedule or tweak it to make it fit your life! Happy cleaning!

I'm a Different Type of Mother Than I Thought I Would Be

I've always been a big proponent of tough love. As I read back over those words, I realize how ridiculous they sound, but they are still true nonetheless. I love tough love. I remember my mother-in-law telling a story of when we were both volunteering in the nursery, far before her son and I even thought about dating. Apparently, one child was doing something I thought they shouldn't be and I was able to make him stop just by giving him "the look". She told me this to assure me that she knew I was going to be a good mother, though maybe just a touch harsh. I took it as a compliment at the time.

I've worked with children for the majority of my life and have always had a no-monkey-business philosophy. I wanted all of them to enjoy themselves in the freedom of my guidelines, no doubt, but if any of them were to step out of bounds I have never been afraid to get a little mean to get my point across.

When I became pregnant and began focusing on how I was going to parent my child, I fell back on this tough love philosophy. Co-sleeping? Never. Cry it out method? Probably. Eating on demand? No, I will need a schedule. I was fully convinced that I would have this baby trained in only a few weeks (insert laugh track here).

I'll give you the perfect example. Throughout my pregnancy, it seemed like people were obsessed  concerned with where my baby would sleep once she was born. My grandma sweetly persisted that I take the cradle she had in her basement. My mother asked if I wanted a rock-and-play sleeper to put the baby in. Several people offered me Moses baskets. To each person, I politely declined.
"No thanks," I would say, "I am just going to put her in her crib from the start. Her room is only a few steps from ours, and that way she won't get attached sleeping anywhere else." I knew it would be harder on the baby, but I thought it would be easier for me and everyone else in the long run.

Then, on June 16th, 2015 the nurse handed me my 8 pound 1 ounce baby girl and the Lord changed every parenting notion I ever had.

The day we were set to come home from the hospital, I called my mom nearly in tears.
"Mom, I have just been thinking about when we come home, and her room is so far away and it is so hot up there. Do you think you could pick up one of the rock-n-play sleeper things?"

Sarah Parker slept right beside me in her sleeper until she outgrew it. Then, I asked Wes to move her crib right next to our bed so she could sleep there. Now that she is bigger, most nights she ends up in the bed with us. So much for tough love.

My parenting ideal changes have not stopped at just sleeping arrangements. Google "attachment parenting", and you will probably find a picture of me and my child glued to my hip or in her Tula carrier. I frankly am astonished at how God has used Spark to change my heart. Even my mother says "you are a lot sweeter than I thought you would be." Now THAT is something I take as a compliment now!

Don't get me wrong, I know that tough love is needed because it is a form of love. I am sure that as we transition into the toddler years, I will have to get a little mean at times for the sake of disciplining and molding my child into a godly woman. I also know that I won't always get the balance of tough and sweet love, or judgment and grace, if you will, right every time. But, when I do inevitably fail, I hope that more times than not I err on the side of grace.

Long Time No See + Sarah Parker is ONE!

Long time no see! It has been about 12 months since my last blog post. This has not been because I haven't had anything to say but, man, is motherhood busy! I am so happy and blessed to report that I am OFFICIALLY a STAY-at-home mom! With that said, I will have so much free time now to put my feet up and write posts for this blog (I hope you read those words with as much sarcasm as I intended them to have). But seriously, now that Sarah Parker is a TODDLER, and has an ounce more independence, I intend to put all the words I have been keeping inside for the first year of her life out into the universe. 

I thought I would ease back into the blogging world gently with a short post about Spark's first birthday party. 

When Sarah Parker was about six-months-old, it all started. People began asking me what the theme of her birthday party would be. I am sure the first time I must have blinked blankly as the questioner looked on like they just asked the simplest question in the world. I am sure I should have known the answer before I even gave birth to her, but the fact was I had no clue what her party was going to be like. Frankly, I could have cared less. 

"I'm not sure," I said, "I guess I will have to look on Pinterest for some ideas." And look I did. I even pinned a few pictures. But let me tell you, some of those Pinterest-folk are insane. The limits they will go to in order to have a picture perfect party far outweigh how much their children actually enjoy their parties. Their ONE-YEAR-OLD children, at that. The more I looked, the more I could feel myself being sucked in to the stress and the mess. Then I began to remember the wise words of a godly woman I highly value (I am looking at you, Courtney Atkins). She said she didn't want her little ones to feel entitled to the best, biggest birthday bashes. She didn't want them to feel entitled to a party at all. Luckily, I left my filtered-photo-induced fog and began following that wise train of thought. No theme, I decided. Just family and the closest friends. No stress, just a happy day to celebrate (but not worship) my daughter. 

Below is a huge picture dump of how that new dream of a party turned out (feel free to skip this part if it doesn't interest you). The photos below were taken by the one and only Autumn Vernon.

Also, the ever-talented Jacob McGarry created the video below. He also took a ton of great pictures of the party tagged to my Facebook page! If you haven't seen those, please go check them out! It is good to know gifted people :)

Happy Birthday, little one!