Vacation

Vacations are such a wonderful thing! A break from the same old routine is so needed from time to time. Petey had 10 days off this past week. We spent 5 of them in Tennessee visiting my in laws. There beautiful home and cabin rental business is a perfect place to relax and enjoy Gods beautiful creation. We purposely wanted to get away so that we could relax and literally do nothing. Besides some walks around the property, playing in the creek and one or two outings we did not do much. They have a huge back deck that is covered so we spent a lot of time on there just relaxing. We have the 11 hour drive down to a science now, as long as we drive through the night it is all good. The girls watched a few movies, had some snacks and slept the rest of the time which makes the road trip quite enjoyable. The last 2 hours is always the worst because Peter is exhausted and I can barely keep my eyes open but try to in order to keep him company. The best part about the trip is that the girls get time with their Nee-Nee and Pops!!




They have 7 cabins and not long after they bought the place they decided to name each cabin after one of their grandkids which I love, so every time we go we have to take a pic of the girls at their cabins!!



It was so nice! The rest of the 5 days were spent at home working on our reconstruction. Peter is working on closing in our garage and making it our bedroom. So we will have a 3 bedroom house instead of 2! Yay, can't wait! Now its back to the daily grind!

Click HERE to check out Mountain Stream Lodging-Right in the middle of away from it all.

1 month old!

Opal is growing and changing everyday. It is so fun having a newborn around again. The girls can not get enough of her!

~Mamahood~

It seems like a lot of bloggers are reflecting on motherhood this week since mothers day is this weekend. So I guess I will too. I don't have any words of wisdom to share or anything profound. Motherhood is the most challenging thing I have ever done. I love it and hate it all at the same time. Not hate enough to not want to do it, I just need a break sometimes or else I would not be a good mama. (hates a strong word so how about dislike instead) Sometimes these mama bloggers that I follow make this mama thing look so beautiful, blissful, and wonderful and it certainly is at times but it can be ugly, tiring, and Hard too.

I really think I have been adjusting well to 3 babes (so far, I'm still adjusting) but I would not be able to do it without the support of my awesome hubby and my ultimate source of strength and peace, God! I would not be able to do this mama thing without Him!
I have been really working on embracing my role as a mama. I sometimes struggle to feel purposeful when it seems like all I do is change diapers and feed kids and stop arguments etc. I know that staying home and raising my kids is the most important thing I could be doing but in the mundane tasks of life I forget how important it is. I get tired, I get frustrated, then I loose my temper and then I feel like the worse mama ever, and then I have to just keep on going because this job is 24/7.
But with prayer and encouragement from different places I always come back to this point of peace and satisfaction! I am not a perfect mama but I am the only mama that Nonah, Evey, and Opal will ever know and although that can be a scary thing to think about it also is an amazing thing and makes me want to be the best mama I can possibly be! I love being a mama!!

I find lots of support on line from reading articles on parenting and other mamas blogs. These are two posts that really spoke to me this week.
The first one is about seeing things from their little perspective before you react. SO what I needed to hear this week.
Check it out. Dealing with impulsive Anger

The second one is about the call of motherhood and accepting it! Sally Clarkson is an amazing woman and has many books that have been such an encouragement to me along this journey. I really connect with the things she has to say and this article was very good and is exactly what I long for.

"My prayer for you, this mother’s day, is that you will embrace your eternally significant role, and that you will know just how much your children are hoping you will be faithful to God. Your faithfulness insures that they may be trained in spiritual strength, moral excellence and the influence of righteousness. I pray that every day, you will have vision for understanding how very much each day of your faithful serving as a mom matters to God and to His wonderful plan to create us for this role." -S.C.

Check it out. The amazing design and call of Motherhood.

Introducing Opal Rayne!!

Shes here! Finally! My Opal Rayne came into the world on April 21st at 12:34 a.m. She was born at home into her daddys hands! She was 9lbs 1oz and 21 inches and she is perfect! .........................................................


Birth story to come soon!