Enough...

ENOUGH. 

I knew almost immediately this was the word for me, that this is the lesson my soul needs to learn this year. We participate with our church in picking a word each year to help you focus on one thing instead of blowing the 10 other resolutions that never make it past January. 

God can give you all you need. He will give you more than enough. You will have everything you need for yourselves. And you will have enough left over to give when there is a need. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLV)

I have found this scripture to help me focus on the one thing I want God to do in 

me; help me see that I am enough and that He is enough for me! 

I am a stay at home mom to 3 boys under 3 years old and haven't quite figured out how to clone myself.  I just don't ever feel like I'm enough for them, my husband or anyone else.  Have you ever felt like that? I have a feeling a lot of other moms feel this way too! Here is the problem, we forget to check in with God and receive that fuel. And we give and we give and then we run out!! It's seems so simple but why do I continually feel like I can't get it together! I want to be able to battle all those insecure thoughts that pop in my head.  Even the silly ones like, "I was home all day yet my house looks like a tornado came through.. I can never clean up enough".  

It's going to take work and it's going to take me working on time management. Because I know I need to fill myself with God in the morning, or else I will not feel like I'm enough for my family.  So the goal is to be up at 6 and spend 45 minutes praying, journaling, reading and prepping breakfast. If my husband can wake up at 4:30am to do these things, I think I can make it out of bed at 6. And it has to be the morning because I'm way too tired to do it at night! 

 So here's to a new year and me focusing on ENOUGH.

 God,Thank you that your grace is more than enough for me and I believe you can give me everything I need. Amen.

Need daily encouragement? Check out Matt's blog!

Sorry I have been on a 2 month blog hiatus- just taking care of 3 littles and building a house! We are almost there- hopefully moving within 30 days! So blessed.
I'm sure most of you are aware that Matt has started a blog and writing a book! If you aren't, please check it out.  http://mattham.com

He has made more post in 2 months than I have in 3 years. Haha- but really I hope you would stop on by his site and be encouraged because it's awesome.  God is so good when we open our ears to hear him and eyes to see where he is leading us. We're thrilled to see where he takes us from here!

No promises, but I will try to keep up my blog about life, faith and kid crazies!

Two most common things said to me!

1. "Bless your heart"   2. "How do you do it?" 

Yes, my heart is blessed I reply and I am able to do it, because I have God. It's not easy, but my answer is simple.  God refuels me constantly to make it through the day and my precious 8-9 hours of sleep refuel my body!  My skinny little worn out tale would be pretty awful if I didn't have strength coming from something outside of myself. These active little monkeys take almost EVERY ounce of my energy. Come spend an hour here and your life will forever be changed- haha! You would leave thinking how does she do it? With a big powerful God is how I do it! 

Microphones being screamed into, drums being beaten, heads being bumped, arms being broken, Barney singing, dishwasher running, washing machine going, dryer buzzing, dog barking.. ok you get the point:) The chaos and noise at our house seems to get louder and louder everyday! Somedays I wonder if I am cut out to be the mom to these boys but God doesn't make mistakes and I truly am thankful he chose me!

What we are up to these days...

Well... we are WIDE open and running folks! Let's see..Matt has been out of town this entire week for a work trip out in Lake Tahoe. I feel like we just got back from our cruise, then it was Mark's bachelor party a few weekends ago. Not sure why Farm Bureau packs all the agent trips into spring and early summer! Talk about worn out mama...  I've been kicking it here with the wild boys and had tons of help from family and our amazing nanny Megan. Although, we have cut Megan back to 2 days a week;( Trying to save a little bit of money and it really is getting a touch more manageable, so I thought! My sister is about to pop out her 2nd baby(Bailey) any minute, she's 3cm dilated! Mark is getting married in July and  did I mention that we are in the middle of custom building a house? This will be an entire another post of the craziness but I'm picking out cabinets, granite, tile, appliances and hardwood floors in the next month! I just wish there weren't so many options. I do well with like 2 or 3- choose your favorite.  Not exactly how all of this is working. But we are super pumped about the house and the doors and windows just went up.

Kid updates!  

Matthew weighing in at 34.5 lbs- hasn't gained a lb. in an entire year. Just grown taller! 

He just got bit by a mosquito under his eye and is totally allergic to them, so swollen he can hardly see.

Still obsessed with music and has probably about a 20 song playlist that he knows several verses too- he likes to mix it up.  Currently jamming to, Mumford and Sons, Journey, Phillip Phillips and Johnny Cash! You should him sing Folsom Prison blues- probably not appropriate for a 2 year old- leave that one with daddy. He got to hang out in Mommy's bed a lot this week! 

Wyatt- almost 18 months old, 25 lbs and getting such a fun personality! He is independent here at the house, sits and plays with toys, like to put blocks into a bucket and then dump them out. The only thing that gets Wyatt in trouble is he is SUCH a climber! How did I get dealt 3 climbers?! At least 10 times today I have to pull him off of the train table. Looks at those lips! We had just left the beach so his hair was crazy. Goes by Wyatt, Wy Wy or Wyrone(dad's nickname), brother or dude!

And last but not least, Greyson! Almost 18 months old, 25 lbs and so sweet! He really laughs alot, when he isn't teething. Him and Matthew seem to get into little sharing bouts and fits way more than Wyatt does. He loves to play hide and seek. He loves to hit a ball, Goes by GG, G-bo, Grey Grey

Enough for today- gotta go get them up from naps!

Vacation recap...

I knew it before I went and should have listened to my gut.. but I knew time with my sweet husband and time to refresh was a MUST. Everyone asked, how was your trip, I reply... "good but TOO LONG" 8 days is a long time to leave 3 kids, especially when they are this young. We just didn't have an option to shorten it and when we hit day 5.. it was like.. GET US OFF THE BOAT! We did have a nice trip, compliments to Farm Bureau, but I don't think you will see us on a cruise ship again.  Poor Matthew is having terrible anxiety since we returned, which of course is making me feel so guilty. I know I shouldn't but the sweet boy will not go to bed by himself anymore, much less walk into a room by himself without saying I'm scared.  So for the last 7 days, I have had to lay down with him every single nap and nighttime. We have tried every trick and 'special treat' offer but nothing has worked to keep him in his room to go to sleep with this lights off. Ugh.  Praying it will get better. And lesson learned for us... 3 or 4 days vacation might be ok but 8 was too long:( On a happy note, here are a few pics from our favorite part of the trip- our stop at Half Moon Cay, Bahamas!

Challenges of a stay at home mom

I'm just going to share a few thoughts about how hard it is to stay at home with the kids. Not to compare it to working mom's.. but for the mere fact of how it has changed me and how I go about my day to day job as a mom of 3 wild boys!
   I always dreamed of staying at home with my kids, just like my mom did.  I guess when you are raised like that, it just seems the thing to do! So with Matthew, I started on what I thought would be a easy journey- ha! Boy, did God have something in store for me, life changing, and character building perhaps. Matthew was colicky for the first 6 months. Easy, umm, not so much. My poor body decided to fall apart on me after having a baby. Between strep throat, mastitis and mono- I had to stop breast feeding which at the time seemed devastating!  Oh and then I got pregnant with TWINS! People remind me all the time, God never gives you more than you can handle. He doesn't but it sure is HARD! The sweet moments with the boys are what keep me going and I really do feel so blessed that we have survived this sick winter season.
    I really could write for hours about how the last 2 years have completely rocked our world but I really just wanted to write about how God is using these INCREDIBLY hard times to mold me into a better person. Each day is different and really each phase has had it's ups and downs. Something that I have learned that has truly gotten me through the tough times is to except help when anyone offers, ask for help if I need it and reach out to other moms going through the same thing. Because I will admit, it gets so lonely when you deal with babies day in and day out and all you hear is wah wah wah!   You start to wonder if it all matters and if you are doing a good job, but a dear friend reminds me weekly that God has chosen me for this specific purpose and that I am so strong!

 

 
We are currently in a climbing stage and 'let's fall so hard that it scares mom to death" stage so if you will pray that God protects my boys and my stress levels, it's appreciated.  How did I get dealt 3 climbers and wild ones, seriously? I had to remove like 10 things from our house today because they are climbing everything! If you see me, please remind me that the Lord has a grand plan- and I'm going to survive!

Founded on the Rock

Luke 6:48 "He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock." Before they begin building our house tomorrow, I wanted to go to the lot with the entire family and bury a cross beneath where the house will stand. (And uncle Mark who was in town and helped us dig:) We pray that as we move into this new house, that we will be reminded by this cross that we are to lead our boys to God. Our actions, our words and our day to day living should be founded on the "rock".  We buried it where we thought the front door would be and my hope is that each time someone enters our house, they will be encouraged in the walk with God. Matt and I are so blessed to be coming up on 8 years of marriage. We have shared so many good times and tough times over the last decade. We know the Lord is the only answer and we pray that we continue to live that way. Today would have been my dad's 60th birthday too. Can't believe it's been almost 17 years since I have seen him.. and I pray today that he is singing and celebrating with Jesus. He would have been one proud granddaddy... to four little boys and one little girl on the way(not me, my sister)!  We miss you dad and know you are watching from above:) Here's to the new house and all the memories to be made... thank you Lord for the opportunity!