Live Moore Fully

Maybe I should re-introduce myself to any readers that I might possibly have since it has now been a year since I blogged last! Our big ‘Moore Parks Please’ trip ended, we said some hard goodbyes and we hit the road headed for our new home. The kids got the stomach bug the day we moved. That was messy. But, thankfully, it was not a foreshadowing of how the move would treat us. This past year has absolutely flown by but it really has been a great year. I felt the need to update my blog simply for my sake. I enjoy going back to read about and reminisce the days that have passed. I truly LOVE the days of the season I am in now and I want to be able to read and reminisce these days years from now.

So, what are these days like? Busy. Full of laughter. Tears from little bo-bos that Momma can heal with a kiss. Frustration. Repetition. Exhaustion. Joy. Thanksgiving. Training. Consistency in training. Potty training. Sleep training. Behavior training. Countdowns to nap time and bed time and a sliver of “momma time”. Spills and messes. Silly games and hide-and-go-seek. The smell of outside. Bath time laughter and bed time songs. What do I want to remember about these days? EVERYTHING.

Honestly, every day is different but also kind of the same. I know at first glance that makes no sense. The structure of our days is often the same: wake up, (Jackson’s morning greeting, “Please have milk and snack and show.”), eat, morning block, lunch with Daddy, rest time, afternoon block, supper time, play, pajamas, songs, story, bed. The morning block and afternoon block have variations each day. Some mornings I teach with VIPKid before our kids wake up. I have been trying to get my 30 minutes of exercise in immediately after my classes are over. My hubby is super awesome and gets breakfast together most days for me. If I can squeeze my shower in after all of that and before he leaves for work then that’s a win! Mornings might consist of any of the following: grocery pick up, park play date, 20-ish minutes of “school” at home, free play, outside play any possible chance, and some tv time while I get lunch together. Of course there are days when I have to rely on the tablets or the tv a little more than I would like, but they are a great help when I need to call the insurance company, or do some embroidery work, pay some bills, etc. All the wonderful adult things that we love so much.

We look forward to having Daddy home for lunch almost everyday, and I know what a blessing it is for this to even be possible. Immediately after lunch comes rest time. 1.5 hours (and usually not a minute more) of calm in this house. It is a nice breather that is good for everyone in the house. After rest we usually have a couple of hours or so until Daddy gets back home. This is a relaxing part of our day and we usually spend a good portion of it in the front yard playing until he drives up. The rest of the day is dinner prep, dinner, jammies, more play time and bed time routines. We end the day with a few Bible songs, memory verses, sometimes a Bible story, and prayers. Daddy has been reading chapter books to Jackson at night (one chapter a night) and Jackson is on top of the world. I love how special it is to him. Emmalyn isn’t old enough for that yet so she get a song in bed and goes right to sleep.

And that’s our average day, minus the exact details. If we have to run errands or go to the store, I just about always do that first thing in the morning, pre-lunch, pre-nap, pre-grumpy 🙂

If I make it happen, I have the choice of two times a day for a sliver of “me time”. The “me-time” I am talking about is my personal Bible time and prayer time. Though I love a good bubble bath, pedicure, and solo trip to the store- these are not the daily me-time vitamins that give me a recharge and strengthen my faith. Even if it means less sleep or putting off my house hold chores, my days are so much better when I take this time to strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father. So with a 2 year old and 3 year old with me all day everyday, where do I fit it in?! If there is a lot going on during the day, I can choose to wake up early and have 30 minutes to an hour by myself. I honestly really enjoy this time. I have even started to like coffee more! It’s quiet, there are no distractions of the day yet, I can focus on my reading, prayer time, and study. My other option is during nap time. Though I find that to be a more difficult time for me personally, it has been the time that I have used the last couple of weeks. By the time nap time hits, I have a running list of all the house hold things I need to get done- switch the laundry, iron, unload the dishwasher, clean the floors before company comes, pay bills, answer emails and on and on. Sometimes- a lot of the time- it’s hard to shut all of that off and fully focus on spiritual things. This is why I prefer mornings, yet here I am at 3:00 in the afternoon and just finished up my Bible study for the day. Morning or afternoon- I just try to get it in everyday. Evenings may be a good option for you night owls! My husband jokes that I am asleep 15 minutes after the kids go down. I’ve heard it said that there is a little bit of truth in most jokes….there is a lot of truth in that one!

As for an update on the kids- they are great. Really, truly great. I might be biased. They are the best of friends. They play great together most of the time. Of course, we have sibling fights and a lot of “that’s mine!” going on, but overall they are sweet and so much fun! Emmy is 2 but wearing 3T clothes. She is doing great with potty training, for the most part. I often get asked if they are twins. Jackson has a very tender heart and just melts me to pieces. He wants to be just like Daddy and that’s fine with me! He will make a young lady a very happy wife someday if he turns out just like his Daddy.

I’ve been letting go a little as far as keeping the house spotless. I was spending a lot of time each day putting every toy back in its assigned ‘home’. I think letting go started to happen unintentionally when things got busy busy before the holidays. I really couldn’t stand everything not being in place when we went to bed, but I also was so tired that I didn’t do anything about it. Now, a month later, I have come to realize that we will survive if the house isn’t spotless when we go to bed. I still try and we still all clean up each night but I am putting some responsibility on the kids and if the toys aren’t back where I want them to be, but they made an effort at ages 2 and 3 to clean up…I can live with that. 🙂