So, my blog posts are few and far between these days. Being a mama does that to me, I guess. I am still learning how to balance all this. Blogging has been such a great way of recording my thoughts, feelings and happenings over the years that I do miss it, but I am thankful for what keeps me so busy, I don't have time (or let's be honest here-energy) to put a post together as often as I would like. I'll just cherish whatever I CAN get recorded. :)
Learning how to balance. Sheesh. If I had a dollar for every time I said or thought that. I don't think I will ever master that task, it will always be in progress. Take today for example. My first Monday off from watching the little guy I keep three days a week in months and I look around our home and still see a mess. Piles. And lists. And things to pick up. Things to put away. Things to clean. Oh, there is always something to clean! And while I want to pull my hair out at times, I am learning to just go with it. To see the blessings in disguise...
Like the fingerprints on the TV. Didn't I just clean those puppies off?
But, that just means I have a sweet child who puts them there.
And this.
A basket of clean laundry ready to be folded. (this one of two, by the way).
But that just means I have a family who wears them. It also means we are fortunate enough to even have clothes to wear.
Oh, and that leaky faucet in the kitchen that just keeps dripping and dripping and dripping.
But, it just means that we have running water in our home and like everything else, with a little bit of time and elbow grease, it will get fixed. ;)
Here's the top of our DVD/puzzle case. It should be housing only our nativity right now, but of course there's DVD's that have been watched and not put back in their cases, and Thomas trains and an advent calendar, and dust (okay, ignore that part! ;)). It's all jumbled together.
But, it just means that we enjoy good shows together as a family and that we have a Savior to celebrate this season and that I have a precious 21 month old who has wonderful grandparents who love to see him enjoy what he likes most-choo choo's!
Here's that same DVD case that I vaguely remember having the DVD's all sorted neatly and alphabatized, even. Gone are those days! It's often a mess and the DVD's are usually scattered all across our floor.
But, it just means Grayson loves looking at them and "reading" them like they're books. Usually giving us a good laugh.
Or that nebulizer that just takes up the whole end table and gets Grayson all tangled up in the tubing as he reaches for a book underneath.
But, it just means we are blessed to have medical advances that help aid our little ones, like Liam when they have breathing issues from a virus and health insurance to cover the cost of renting it.
Here's our living room floor. A common scene here. Baby (dressed or sometimes, as show here undressed) after just spitting up all over himself and with a full diaper (I changed him right after I took the photo. It's what mama's do, ya know? ;)), toys everywhere. A full bottle of milk, not at all tempting to that 7 month old munchkin at that moment.
But, all of that just means, I have a healthy baby who has food to eat and things to entertain him in a home of our own.
And here. Our dining room table that is more like our make-shift office (since that became our nursery almost two years ago). With piles. Business stuff for DinkyBabyCakes, orders for Scentsy, baby food and snacks for the boys, the Sunday paper from mom and Phil, etc. I straighten this area up about 10 times a day and yet, it somehow always finds itself in a mess, almost right away again.
BUT, that just means, I am making income for my family. I am fortunate to stay at home with my children and work from home. It means that again, we have food to eat and that I have amazing parents who drop would drop whatever they're doing to help us out with whatever we need. And it means that we have children to have a nursery for.
Though these "annoying" messes and things tend to get to me at times, if I look close enough, I will see that they are such great blessings to me and mean SO MUCH MORE than what they initially seem to. They mean life. Our life. That I have a good husband who gets me and helps me. He works hard for us. I have two beautiful, healthy children who I prayed long and hard for and that God blessed me with above and beyond what I ever could have thought. These messes and stresses mean I have a roof over my head and food in my belly. That I have been given opportunities and abilities. I may not be wealthy or a super model. I may not be the most popular or talented. But, I am blessed. I am right where God has always wanted me. He provides and I am thankful. Even amongst the chaos, the exhaustion, the mundane every day.
I am finding blessings in the messes and in the stresses.
