{loving your home}

Lately I've been reading this book called "Love the Home You Have". It's wonderful. I have the tendency to get caught up in having the perfect Pinterest home. Anyone else guilty of this too? I covet after these amazing spaces I see on Pinterest and Instagram and tend to forget to love what I have and be content. 

I have always loved making a house a home. But social media has turned it into a competition in my opinion. And I am so so so sooooo competitive. (My husband will attest to this.) Due to my competitive nature I often get caught up in having the perfect house. Every room and every detail needs to be Instagram worthy. Up until my second child I was a little neurotic about my home. I was always adjusting, wiping, putting away and stressing over the details. Spending hours on Pinterest trying to get more and more ideas. 

Now I'm not saying creating a Pinterest palace for yourself is a bad thing. Not at all. But when it inhibits a healthy lifestyle/relationship for you and your family then it might be a problem. 

This book, combined with adjusting to life with another child, has helped me to stop working so much on my house, and has helped me to start enjoying my home. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy. Find it on Amazon here.

Part of this book is a 31 Day Challenge that will help you fall in love with your home; either for the first time or all over again. I just started so I am on Day One. I thought I'd share my experience with this home challenge here on my blog since it is the only journal I keep. So here we go!

DAY ONE {Home Gratitude}

Walk around your home with a lens of gratitude. Don't think about the things you'd like to change or improve, but instead think about the memories that were created in these walls. Think about how blessed you are to have a place to create these memories.

What room or memory stands out as a blessing today?

Right after I read the question I started wandering around. I didn't make it far before I walked into the family room to see this. 

This is often the messiest room in the house. Somehow everything congregates here. Rarely is it ever fully clean. But seeing these two loves of mine just chilling on the couch made me smile. 

So to answer today's question I'd have to say our family room. Even as I am sitting here writing this I keep remembering more good times and memories in this room. 

Nearly every night, after we get the kids in bed, Garett and I grab a popsicle or two and plop down on the couch and watch whatever show we are into at the time. It's how we unwind at the end of what is usually a long day : )

And every morning when I get up with Camden, we come down to the couch and snuggle, eat, etc. I actually was able to capture an adorable smile a couple days ago. 

Isn't he the cutest?

Here's proof that this room was clean....once back in October (notice the little orange pumpkins on the shelves haha). And the only reason it was this clean was because I had to take pictures of the house for the property owner's website. 

 

Feel free to do the "Love Your Home" Challenge with me. I likely won't post everyday but I'll try to post a lot of the challenges if you want to follow along. Or just get the book yourself; it's a great read!

Tweet

{life with another kid and family photos}

Well hello; it's been awhile. Life has been a wee bit crazy this summer. I haven't written since the birth of our son Camden back in May....oops.

Let me just say two kids is a lot harder than I thought. I don't know what I thought it would be like...but what it feels like is me struggling to keep my head above water. I look forward to a full, consecutive 8 hours of sleep at night. At some point, my plan is to stick ear plugs in and take some Unisom and be dead to the world for as long as my body will let me. 

And don't get me started on the state of my house. I think I've given up...no I know I've given up. Laundry is piling up; clean and dirty. I mean really, who has time to fold clothes? We have a great system; the pile in front of the dryer is clean and the pile in front of the washer is dirty. Dishes are done once a week...I wish I was joking. And it looks like our 3 year old took everything he owns and spread it to every corner of the house. 

I have been trying very hard to get on top of the chaos. But even when I do, one sleepless night and energetic boy later, everything is back to utter chaos. 

Motherhood is hard and challenging by itself. Add owning/running a business (and managing another) to the mix and all I can do is hope and pray that I don't end up in a nut house (remember the feeling of drowning I mentioned earlier). 

Despite all my complaining and venting I am happy with life. We have been so blessed and we are grateful for all the blessings we have (even if one refuses to take a nap and the other wants to be held constantly). Life is good. 

Since we are blessed with two beautiful little boys I figured it was time to get some family photos. Round one didn't go so well. We were in Spokane for Garett's sister's wedding and we were doing some family photos in the back yard. The setting was nice and the lighting was decent but my children were less than cooperative. Anders cried the entire time because he wanted to play with his cousins and Camden had been crying but stopped and was super red and half asleep.

Fast forward to this past Sunday. As I was sitting in church I looked down the row at our little family. Due to a little one that will remain nameless, I was up rather early with plenty of time to get us ready for church. We all had coordinating outfits on and both boys were bathed. I felt pretty proud of myself. Then I thought we should definitely take another stab at family pictures. It was way too bright/hot outside for the little boys so I figured we could just take them in our front room. It's nice and bright and semi-put together. I shoved everything that didn't belong in that room to another room, had my friend come over to point and shoot, and I was pretty pleased with the results : )

We had to get a few of the boys too!

Like I said, we are blessed. 

Tweet