30 Days of Thanksgiving {Day 8}

Thank You, God, for my job.

This is the life.

'Night 'night time.

 First of all, I highly recommend Biblically based parenting classes/seminars/etc. Of course you need to think through everything you're taught, but there are people out there that actually know stuff. I've learned a lot from godly moms and dads over the last 4 years. One tip I very recently learned just proved accurate tonight!

Of course you know we've recently become a family of 5. This along with having a cold and a couple run-ins with mastitis have caused my poor big kids to feel neglected. When kids feel neglected, they tend to act out. The tip was to spend quality time with the kids before bed time. We usually do the reading, singing, praying thing before bed. But it wasn't cutting it. So the past few nights we tried to be more focused. We read to them together, sing several songs, and have each of them "thank Jesus." Lots of lovin's and kisses later and sweet silence! It's not a ton more than what we were doing, but they can tell that we are focused on them, not just going through routine, and they love it.

I feel like I'm constantly learning this, but it's so important to remember... when the kiddos start acting out, especially in unusual ways, dropping everything to focus on them even just for a few minutes, makes all the difference!

The babies are so much more important than the dishes.

Or "me time."

Note to self.

My Highest Calling

I have no doubt that God has called me to be a wife to Derek and a mom to Marie, Jack, and the future kids He blesses us with. But sometimes figuring out what that looks like day to day is complicated.

When do I leave the mess and spend time with my babies?

When do I leave the babies to play by themselves and tackle the mess?

How long should Marie have to wait for Derek and me to catch up on our day?

The past couple weeks have been rough as mentioned in the last post. Rough days/weeks always translate into a messy house. Always. I keep putting off the cleaning, justifying it with the need to spend time with my kids and my husband. I kept wrestling with whether or not it's really all that important to spend time cleaning. God would rather me invest in the lives of my kids, spend time in His Word, provide for my family.

Then I came across this 3x5 card Derek had tucked away in his Bible that had three reasons why he appreciated me. I only remember the 1st - that I keep the house clean and together for him.

So I finally caught up with the dishes.

Keeping up with the house chores is an important part of my calling.

Another important part is obviously my Baby Girl. I love that kid. so. much.

She's having a little more patience with crafting so I've been trying to be all over that. I love the look on her face when I ask her if she wants to make something with mommy. I wish I could capture a picture of it. She loves hanging out with mommy.

I. Love. That. Kid. So. Much.

We made this for her Sunday evening Sunday School teacher. She's Marie's favorite teacher.

 
She's colored several more that are hanging in the kitchen. These and the snowflakes Derek cut out of paper and hung from the livingroom celiing are our only Christmas decor this year. Makes me sad. But my Mother-in-law always has beautiful decor so I should get my fill while we're there!

I've also got chocolate covered pretzels in Marie and my before-Christmas agenda. I love being a mom.

I love being a wife.

I love my calling.

My Babies

I have the best job in the world.

Superwoman

It's only natural. When you become pregnant, you are becoming a superwoman. Or more specifically, supermom. Just giving birth is incredible enough! (Praying for that opportunity someday...) Then you have a child and simply raising that child causes you to pull tricks that only a superwoman could possibly do. I think I'd go so far to say that the only way to be a superwoman is to be a mom. But I would not go so far to say that every mom is a superwoman. There is definitely ways around that.

But it does seem common, if you want to be a good mom, that being a supermom is not only something you have to be, but something you strive to be. When Derek tells me that he's impressed with something I handled related to the kids (ie spending all day with a screaming JackJack and a sick Meesters and still having a smile on my face when he gets home), I feel like my supermom status rose a little. And I like that.

So I'm striving to become more of a supermom. Of course every supermom gets ideas and tips from other supermoms and in this day in age, blogs are the easiest way to go about getting those. The problem is, I come across so many amazing blogs by supermoms that makes me feel suddenly like an almost-mediocre mom.

These women have multiple children, homeschool all of them, keep their own gardens, feed their huge families on $50 or less a week, make elaborate completely from scratch dinners every night, and still have time to blog daily and take fantastic pictures. And that's all just from a quick browse of their blogs. By that point, my supermom goal is almost completely out of sight.

The silly thing is, I'm always trying to find that blog by that woman who is like me... hates to cook, doesn't know what's for dinner til 6pm, doesn't wash all the dishes until the next day, kills everything edible that is supposed to grow, feels overwhelmed and stresses out about printing out all the coupons and finding all the deals, always needs at least 10 minutes to stash things away before someone comes to the house, and has no idea how long her hair is because it's been that long since she wore it down!

So, the other day, as I washed the dishes just before making dinner, it suddenly occurred to me why I haven't found that blog by that woman like me... duh! Women like me are unorganized and not good at managing time. So we're not going to blog every day! And even if we did, what on earth would we blog about?? The Little Ceasar's pizza we ordered for dinner, and how the buttery garlic sauce adds just the right touch to the cheesy breadsticks? Everyone knows that already!

I know you are out there - supermom's in your own right, but not quite the Pioneer Woman. Know that you are not alone. I'm here, not cooking up fancy recipes or writing out the 5 best ways to stay organized. I'm here as a fellow supermom who has to work just a little harder than some to impress outsiders, but am the greatest mom in the world  to two sweet babies who know no better :)

All that being said, maybe I'll throw in a bit here and there about things I've learned about becoming more of a supermom... you know, when I think to do it and have the patience to type it out :)

Here's a picture because most supermom blogs have pictures! 

I love being a mom!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Yesterday my father-in-law thanked me for being a part of the family and raising his grandkid(s). Honestly I couldn't help but think how ridiculous it seemed that he was thanking me! I am the one who is grateful to be a part of the Jacobs family and be able to raise my beautiful, wonderful, amazing gifts from God. I am so incredibly undeserving and blessed. Thank You, Father, for blessing me with the opportunity, responsibility, gift of being a wife and a mom!

Since I've already gone on and on about how much I love my child and how wonderful it is to be a parent in past posts, I'll just leave you with this Mother's Day picture...

PS - Stay tuned for some serious and important updates on our life...