A positive week

I am really proud of the progress I have made in just a week on my goal of homemaking!  I finished up our grocery shopping on Sunday and made a meal plan for 10 days.  I also kept the house a little more clean, did a little organizing and putting things away.  I made baby food for L and even brewed up some homemade fabric softener! We used mostly cloth diapers on evenings and weekends.  I even tried a new recipe that NK loved.

In addition to working on the things in our home, I have started getting up earlier and with a better attitude. Baby girl tends to wake up close to her normal school day schedule on my days off and I have committed to getting up and enjoying our time time together. Usually, I am able to nurse her (if we haven't already) and let her play while I get in my morning cup of coffee.  I read my morning scripture, complete my devotional, and also scour my favorite blogs for inspiration on topics that interest me.  A little while later, E gets up and eases into the day.  He eats breakfast and chooses how he would like to spend the morning. My husband, a chronic night owl, is the usually last to get up. Rather than being resentful, I have chosen to accept this and work with him on a plan that suits us. For example, on Saturday I was early and hosted a play date for this kids.  He slept in late but did the dreaded trip to Costco.  He stays up late and listens for L.  When she wakes up, he attempts to soothe her first before bringing her to me for her feeding.   Win for all! After 14 years, I am finding it is much easier to accept my husband and to stop trying to change him in favor of working towards a rhythm of mutual happiness.  I am discovering my sense of peace is contagious in our home. Everyone is benefiting and I feel so much better.

So as the weekend ends and I start a new week, I plan to continue my progress and build on it.  My short term goals for the week are to get out of the house on time (no later than 6:20 AM), exercise 4 times (2x at work, 2x at home), pick out cloths for the week (E, L, and myself) and to file all those papers staring at me from my filing cabinet!

Perspective Changes Everything

The balancing act between home and work can be extremely challenging for mother and I am no exception.  The past few months since I returned to work have been all about allowing our family and myself to get adjusted.  Now that the children have settled into their routine and the parents are into their groove, I want to begin focusing on our home.  So this has emerged as another one of my goals for 2013.  My goal is certainly not to start remodeling or spending lots of money decorating but something much more basic.  I would like to develop a little better routine for cleaning, start meal planning/cooking more often, and making my home even more comfortable to the people who live here. Chaos and clutter make me anxious which then leads to a less than positive attitude towards my family.  Luckily, my husband is more than happy to chip in and help. I have a good idea of the things that he has adapted as his chores so I just need to plan the rest accordingly.  And to be completely honest, I am excited!  I have always felt a calling to keep a nice home from almost the first day we were married.  Our first home was a small trailer in North Carolina. It wasn't much to look at it but I did my best to keep it clean and looking nice each day. It brought me joy to have my bed made, floors vacuumed, and a meal ready to make (even if it was just hot dogs, baked beans, and Kool Aid).  I have tried to carry that on into each place we have lived throughout our marriage but it has been more challenging here because we moved in right before having Emory. Our primary concern was getting the house to be livable before his arrival so there was little time for well thought out organizing.  So now two babies later, I am getting to it!  As I go down this path of "homemaking" I am starting to see things a little differently. The mountain of laundry isn't quite to awful, the idea of scrubbing the bathroom doesn't make me want to run...you get the idea. As I was washing dishes last night a few thoughts came into my mind.

Washing bottles (and all their parts) isn't so bad. Think about the woman who isn't able to have children.

Cleaning the house is really a blessing. Think about the family who is homeless.

Planning meals, cooking and grocery shopping shouldn't be a dreaded task.  Think about the person who can't afford food.

So for me it is all about a little perspective.