I found this link to an ebook by Sarah Mae titled 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way. I have been wanting an encouraging, Christian book that can help me get my house in order for sooo long. I love devotional-style books that not only uplift my spirit, but also help me uplift my home life, too, so I think this will be an awesome book to help me get started in that department.
If you're interested in the ebook, I think it's about $5 (super cheap!) and you can read about it at 31daystoclean.com. I read the summary and I think it sounds great--can't wait to read this!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Easter and Enjoying Nature
We had a great Easter weekend. Saturday was a pretty lazy day (thought about planting in our garden, but decided not to), so we just went to Target and had lunch at Chick-fil-A. We used two free sandwich coupons (from the receipt surveys from previous purchases), so we spent only $7 instead of the normal $12 or more...I love Chick-fil-A, I don't think that place will ever get old for me.
At Target, I found some great deals with coupons. I bought all of this for $4.57:
The dog food was free, and everything else was less than a dollar apiece. I love going to Target...it's probably my favorite store. I love getting stuff for cheap there, because it gives me an excuse to go there...otherwise, I feel bad asking Billy if we can go just to walk around. =)
On Sunday, we hiked Sharp Top Mtn. in Bedford. We've hiked it many times before, but we haven't been since 2008, and I honestly wasn't sure I could do it after having a baby. I'm not what I used to be, and I've come to accept that. I'm not in the best shape anyway, so when Billy suggested it I was a little wary. He invited one of his friends from school to join us, so up the mountain we went. Ellie and Shelley came along, too, which was a new experience. At first, I carried Ellie on my back in the baby carrier. That lasted for about 20 minutes, then she started crying. I thought, "Oh great...guess I should turn around now," so I took her out of the carrier and held her for a minute, and she stopped crying. We figured out that she didn't like being in the back (not being able to see anything), so Billy took her and carried her in the front. I thought that would be uncomfortable for a prolonged amount of time, but she was way happier being in the front.
It took us about an hour and a half of huffing and puffing to make it to the top, but we made it! That is such an exhausting hike on the way up, and I seriously had moments where I thought I couldn't go on and that I should just quit, but like all things, if you persevere it's worth it. Once we got to the top, I fed Ellie, and we took a few pictures.
It was a beautiful day. It wasn't blazing hot or humid, and it was very pleasant and breezy at the top. Ellie was a fantastic little hiker (although she did get carried the whole way...we'll see how she does when she starts walking!). She didn't complain and seemed to have a great time looking at everything and interacting with the other hikers we met. She even took a 45 minute nap on the way down, and stayed asleep even when Billy tripped and slipped over rocks...it's definitely not the smoothest trail (which is kinda the point of hiking, I guess). I rolled my ankle and fell a tenth of a mile from the parking lot (haha!) but fortunately nothing serious. Shelley, thankfully, broke my fall! =)
There were a lot of people hiking on Easter...for believers, it was a great day to enjoy God's creation and reflect on His son's resurrection.
It's back to the daily grind around here, which means changing lots of diapers and feeding hungry babies, but after having a week off, I feel rested to power through until the end of May. And Billy and I have resolved to take Shelley hiking with us more often...she was pitiful on Monday. She hobbled around like Spot used to and had to be prodded to go use the bathroom...she was apparently very sore after our 3 hour hike. I was sore, too, so I'm sure it wasn't any easier on her. Thankfully she's back to normal.
My little one is waking up now, so that means it's time for me to go. Hope everyone had a great Easter!
At Target, I found some great deals with coupons. I bought all of this for $4.57:
On Sunday, we hiked Sharp Top Mtn. in Bedford. We've hiked it many times before, but we haven't been since 2008, and I honestly wasn't sure I could do it after having a baby. I'm not what I used to be, and I've come to accept that. I'm not in the best shape anyway, so when Billy suggested it I was a little wary. He invited one of his friends from school to join us, so up the mountain we went. Ellie and Shelley came along, too, which was a new experience. At first, I carried Ellie on my back in the baby carrier. That lasted for about 20 minutes, then she started crying. I thought, "Oh great...guess I should turn around now," so I took her out of the carrier and held her for a minute, and she stopped crying. We figured out that she didn't like being in the back (not being able to see anything), so Billy took her and carried her in the front. I thought that would be uncomfortable for a prolonged amount of time, but she was way happier being in the front.
It took us about an hour and a half of huffing and puffing to make it to the top, but we made it! That is such an exhausting hike on the way up, and I seriously had moments where I thought I couldn't go on and that I should just quit, but like all things, if you persevere it's worth it. Once we got to the top, I fed Ellie, and we took a few pictures.
There were a lot of people hiking on Easter...for believers, it was a great day to enjoy God's creation and reflect on His son's resurrection.
It's back to the daily grind around here, which means changing lots of diapers and feeding hungry babies, but after having a week off, I feel rested to power through until the end of May. And Billy and I have resolved to take Shelley hiking with us more often...she was pitiful on Monday. She hobbled around like Spot used to and had to be prodded to go use the bathroom...she was apparently very sore after our 3 hour hike. I was sore, too, so I'm sure it wasn't any easier on her. Thankfully she's back to normal.
My little one is waking up now, so that means it's time for me to go. Hope everyone had a great Easter!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Spring Break!
This week is my spring break. I love how I'm not even a student anymore and I still get spring break! It's so weird not having an extra baby during the day. I've gotten very used to our weekly routine, so it's been strange not following it. Another interesting point: Ellie has been napping a lot longer without Emma here. She took a 3 and a half hour nap yesterday...normally, I probably would've woken her up to keep us on the schedule, but since I didn't have anything going on I just let her sleep. I got work done and watched 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy!
I finished my first batch of envelopes from Mail America this week. I took 500 envelopes and addressed them...my hand still feels a little cramped! It wasn't bad, though....I would just do 40 at a time, then take a break, and then do some more. My only worry is about how picky they will be when it comes time to check my envelopes. They have a lot of handwriting rules, so I followed them as best as I could, but I don't have the best handwriting. I'm always jealous of those people who naturally have great handwriting that is always even and neat. My handwriting is very inconsistent, and I have a horrible tendency to angle my writing upward if I don't have lines. Oh well...I figure if I don't get paid very much from this batch, I won't do it again. I'm telling myself over and over that I don't have to be perfect, nor do I have to do this job....
In other news, Ellie is now 8 months old! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. I'm so proud of my little munchkin for overcoming so many obstacles and still being on track with everything.
On Sunday I did my drug store shopping. I try to do all of my shopping on Sunday since I don't have a lot of time during the week, but I didn't make it to Kroger, so I'll have to work that in either tonight or tomorrow. I went to CVS because there were several things I wanted to get and some pretty good sales. This is what I got at CVS this week:
I got 2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing, 3 bottles of toothpaste, shaving gel, John Frieda shampoo and conditioner, 4 bottles of Aveeno body wash, a shower loofa, and a green bag tag. Without coupons I would have spent $49.35....I spent $12.52. It was definitely a pretty good day for me. I did two separate transactions:
1st Transaction:
2nd Transaction:
It was fun to go do another big purchase...it's been a while since I've done one, and I definitely wanted to stock up on body wash and shampoo for myself since I never buy the nice brands! I almost always use Dove body wash, which is a more expensive brand, but I always ask for it for Christmas so that I'll have a little stockpile without having to buy any. I've never used Aveeno body wash, but I love their baby lotion and I figured Aveeno is supposed to be good for dry skin (which I have and it's awful) so I splurged on it. As far as shampoo goes, I can never find any that I really like, other than Tresemme. I bought the giant bottles of Dove shampoo and conditioner from Sam's, which I'm still trying to use up. It's not bad, but I think my hair just gets all yucky after using the same shampoo and condition for over a month. I figured I would try out John Frieda and see how it goes.
At Walgreen's, I bought 4 cans of soup and 2 toothbrushes...not too exciting, but I only spent $2.
After my shopping, I came home and started putting everything away. We have a linen closet outside our bathroom, which is where I keep all of our toiletries and my stockpile. After going through everything and reorganizing my tote box full of stuff, I realized that we have enough toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash, hand soap, shampoo (for Billy), and shaving cream to get us through at least the rest of this year, and some items we're good on until next summer. I knew I had a large stockpile, but I didn't realize how much I actually had. I'm glad I won't have to buy toiletries for a long time, so I'm definitely putting a limit on my toiletry purchases. I think the only thing I'm still "allowed" to buy is shampoo and conditioner for myself, since all I have in the closet is the John Frieda I bought on Sunday.
Sounds like Ellie is waking up...I can hear her scratching on her bouncy seat =).
I finished my first batch of envelopes from Mail America this week. I took 500 envelopes and addressed them...my hand still feels a little cramped! It wasn't bad, though....I would just do 40 at a time, then take a break, and then do some more. My only worry is about how picky they will be when it comes time to check my envelopes. They have a lot of handwriting rules, so I followed them as best as I could, but I don't have the best handwriting. I'm always jealous of those people who naturally have great handwriting that is always even and neat. My handwriting is very inconsistent, and I have a horrible tendency to angle my writing upward if I don't have lines. Oh well...I figure if I don't get paid very much from this batch, I won't do it again. I'm telling myself over and over that I don't have to be perfect, nor do I have to do this job....
In other news, Ellie is now 8 months old! I can't believe how quickly she is growing up. I'm so proud of my little munchkin for overcoming so many obstacles and still being on track with everything.
On Sunday I did my drug store shopping. I try to do all of my shopping on Sunday since I don't have a lot of time during the week, but I didn't make it to Kroger, so I'll have to work that in either tonight or tomorrow. I went to CVS because there were several things I wanted to get and some pretty good sales. This is what I got at CVS this week:
I got 2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing, 3 bottles of toothpaste, shaving gel, John Frieda shampoo and conditioner, 4 bottles of Aveeno body wash, a shower loofa, and a green bag tag. Without coupons I would have spent $49.35....I spent $12.52. It was definitely a pretty good day for me. I did two separate transactions:
1st Transaction:
- John Frieda shampoo and conditioner (on sale for $5 each, used $4 in coupons) = $6
- Shave gel (on sale for $3.29, used 55 cent coupon) = $2.74
- CVS green bag tag = 99 cents
2nd Transaction:
- 2 Stove Top stuffing (on sale for 88 cents, used 2 50 cent off coupons) = 76 cents
- 3 Colgate toothpastes (on sale for $1, used 2 $1 off coupons and one 75 cents off) = 25 cents
- 4 bottles of Aveeno body wash (on sale $6.49, got one free with coupon, then used another $5 in coupons) = $14.47
- Loofa = $2.99 (needed something around $2 to get my total close to even with the ECBs)
- Used $17.77 in ECBs from previous purchases
It was fun to go do another big purchase...it's been a while since I've done one, and I definitely wanted to stock up on body wash and shampoo for myself since I never buy the nice brands! I almost always use Dove body wash, which is a more expensive brand, but I always ask for it for Christmas so that I'll have a little stockpile without having to buy any. I've never used Aveeno body wash, but I love their baby lotion and I figured Aveeno is supposed to be good for dry skin (which I have and it's awful) so I splurged on it. As far as shampoo goes, I can never find any that I really like, other than Tresemme. I bought the giant bottles of Dove shampoo and conditioner from Sam's, which I'm still trying to use up. It's not bad, but I think my hair just gets all yucky after using the same shampoo and condition for over a month. I figured I would try out John Frieda and see how it goes.
At Walgreen's, I bought 4 cans of soup and 2 toothbrushes...not too exciting, but I only spent $2.
After my shopping, I came home and started putting everything away. We have a linen closet outside our bathroom, which is where I keep all of our toiletries and my stockpile. After going through everything and reorganizing my tote box full of stuff, I realized that we have enough toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, body wash, hand soap, shampoo (for Billy), and shaving cream to get us through at least the rest of this year, and some items we're good on until next summer. I knew I had a large stockpile, but I didn't realize how much I actually had. I'm glad I won't have to buy toiletries for a long time, so I'm definitely putting a limit on my toiletry purchases. I think the only thing I'm still "allowed" to buy is shampoo and conditioner for myself, since all I have in the closet is the John Frieda I bought on Sunday.
Sounds like Ellie is waking up...I can hear her scratching on her bouncy seat =).
Monday, April 4, 2011
Learning humility (among other things) from my daughter
Since becoming a mom, I've learned many lessons the hard way (don't give a baby a cold bottle, be careful when wielding a baby spoon full of cereal--it might end up somewhere other than her mouth!). The lesson of humility hasn't been an exception.
For the past few weeks, Ellie has been a "crab apple." She's fussy, cries when she goes down for a nap, cries when she wakes up from a nap, wakes up after going down for the night, won't go down for the night...you get the point. She's also been difficult when I try to feed her solids...she cries when I put her in her high chair, and cries while I try to feed her. Sometimes she'll get over it and it's not a big deal, but other times I just have to throw away the cereal I mixed for her and give up on trying to feed her at that time.
The other day, it was this same scenario. I put her in her high chair: she cried. I started feeding her, and she still fussed a little but she ate a few bites of cereal. Then she just had a meltdown. Huge tears, red face, and lots of screaming. I'm really not used to that at all...she's normally a pretty content baby. Granted, she has her drama queen moments, but for the most part it's smooth sailing with her. After she started screaming, I just lost my patience. I got up and walked away for a few minutes just so I could calm down.
After walking away, I examined my heart...and I found anger. It sounds terrible, and normally I don't think I would admit that, but I want to be authentic and not spare the details because of my own pride. I thought about it and realized that I was angry at Ellie. I was mad that she was crying so much, mad that she wouldn't eat when I knew she was hungry, and I was mad that I couldn't control her.
After I came to that realization, my anger dissolved. I was ashamed at myself. Here I was, sitting on the floor feeding Ellie cereal, and reprimanding her for throwing a fit, when I was throwing a fit inside my heart. Before, I kept thinking, "God why can't she just be patient?" After realizing my own faults, I heard God say, "Kristen, why can't you be patient?" I was humbled after that. I can't expect my daughter to show the fruits of the Spirit if I'm not modeling them for her. And realistically, she's not even 8 months old...and she's not a Christian yet, so she can't exemplify the fruits of the Spirit if the Spirit isn't in her. My expectations were embarrassingly high.
Motherhood isn't an exact science...it's a constant learning process. I'm slowly realizing that in the end, it doesn't matter if you're baby is breastfed or bottle-fed, if she sleeps through the night or not, or if she's a baby genius and does everything early or if she's right on time (or even a little behind). What DOES matter is that I've given Ellie my best, meaning that I've been an example to her of what I expect in the first place.
My daughter humbles me every day (sometimes in wonderful ways, and sometimes in not-so-pleasant ways). Her sweet smile and giggle remind me how blessed I am to have her in my life, and her crying fits and refusal to go to sleep remind me that I don't know everything, and sometimes the best thing I can do is just hold her.
In the mean time, I'm praying (a little selfishly) that Ellie is teething, and someday soon she will go back to being her normal, happy self. But even if that isn't the case, I'm now living with a constant reminder that God, my heavenly Father, expects me to be patient, just as I (foolishly) expect a hungry baby to be patient. It's not my job to have all the answers, but rather to just give Ellie my love, and continue to rely on God that everything will be okay.
For the past few weeks, Ellie has been a "crab apple." She's fussy, cries when she goes down for a nap, cries when she wakes up from a nap, wakes up after going down for the night, won't go down for the night...you get the point. She's also been difficult when I try to feed her solids...she cries when I put her in her high chair, and cries while I try to feed her. Sometimes she'll get over it and it's not a big deal, but other times I just have to throw away the cereal I mixed for her and give up on trying to feed her at that time.
The other day, it was this same scenario. I put her in her high chair: she cried. I started feeding her, and she still fussed a little but she ate a few bites of cereal. Then she just had a meltdown. Huge tears, red face, and lots of screaming. I'm really not used to that at all...she's normally a pretty content baby. Granted, she has her drama queen moments, but for the most part it's smooth sailing with her. After she started screaming, I just lost my patience. I got up and walked away for a few minutes just so I could calm down.
After walking away, I examined my heart...and I found anger. It sounds terrible, and normally I don't think I would admit that, but I want to be authentic and not spare the details because of my own pride. I thought about it and realized that I was angry at Ellie. I was mad that she was crying so much, mad that she wouldn't eat when I knew she was hungry, and I was mad that I couldn't control her.
After I came to that realization, my anger dissolved. I was ashamed at myself. Here I was, sitting on the floor feeding Ellie cereal, and reprimanding her for throwing a fit, when I was throwing a fit inside my heart. Before, I kept thinking, "God why can't she just be patient?" After realizing my own faults, I heard God say, "Kristen, why can't you be patient?" I was humbled after that. I can't expect my daughter to show the fruits of the Spirit if I'm not modeling them for her. And realistically, she's not even 8 months old...and she's not a Christian yet, so she can't exemplify the fruits of the Spirit if the Spirit isn't in her. My expectations were embarrassingly high.
Motherhood isn't an exact science...it's a constant learning process. I'm slowly realizing that in the end, it doesn't matter if you're baby is breastfed or bottle-fed, if she sleeps through the night or not, or if she's a baby genius and does everything early or if she's right on time (or even a little behind). What DOES matter is that I've given Ellie my best, meaning that I've been an example to her of what I expect in the first place.
My daughter humbles me every day (sometimes in wonderful ways, and sometimes in not-so-pleasant ways). Her sweet smile and giggle remind me how blessed I am to have her in my life, and her crying fits and refusal to go to sleep remind me that I don't know everything, and sometimes the best thing I can do is just hold her.
In the mean time, I'm praying (a little selfishly) that Ellie is teething, and someday soon she will go back to being her normal, happy self. But even if that isn't the case, I'm now living with a constant reminder that God, my heavenly Father, expects me to be patient, just as I (foolishly) expect a hungry baby to be patient. It's not my job to have all the answers, but rather to just give Ellie my love, and continue to rely on God that everything will be okay.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26
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