the line between lazy and mercy

today was one of those days...when "tired mommy" won out over "joyful, patient, fun mommy." after a scary, traumatic fall down the stairs on sunday (and really injuring/bruising my back), i have fallen behind in work and also household tasks, and today i felt overwhelmed by the amount of both that demanded my time. people always comment how nice it must be to work from home. don't get me wrong, i am so THANKFUL to be able to stay home with my Emmy, but its definitely not as easy as it sounds.

if we're being honest...i crave leaving the house to go to an office sometimes. 

because at home, it's not just working from home, and hanging out the rest of the time. i don't get to go to work and avoid housework and errands all day. and honestly, that sounds pretty nice sometimes. my day....it starts with dishes, snuggles, and breakfast, and melds into a blur of diapers and laundry and emails and work and client phone calls and dinner and grocery shopping and errands and bath time. it's hard. really hard. way harder than i ever imagined it would be. i'm full time mama, full time wife, full time manager, full time publicist, and still studying for my NCLEX re-take.

i'm tired. 

but, i also know that sitting around will only make me feel worse and fall more behind. i owe it to my clients and myself to get it together. there's a fine line between giving yourself grace and becoming lazy. for example, we ate leftovers the day i injured my back. that's giving myself grace...but eating out all week and not cooking at all...thats being plain lazy, especially when our fridge is stocked and i've meal planned.

i've recently taken part in a program that a mommy blogger set up, all about organizing your home and life, that you might become better stewards of your money AND your time. it's been amazing. with the help of the guidelines, here's the standards we've set for our family during the week

1) i get dressed and put a little makeup on every day, even when i don't leave the house now. no leaving in yoga pants or workout gear. (this is hard when we don't leave the house, but i know it really does make me accomplish more when i'm not in pajamas.)


2) meal plan every week. this is the absolute biggest struggle, but i've saved over 150-200 dollars off our grocery bill each month, so i push on. i force myself to sit down on sundays and meal plan each week. we eat out only once a week on date night, and i only shop once a week...those little trips to the store absolutely destroy any kind of budget...


3) get up before emmy and read my bible/devotions. my mom got me a great little devotional called "jesus calling" and it has a little reading and a few verses to accompany. it's short and beautiful and allows me to get going with the Lord even when i only have a few minutes before she wakes at 9. 


4) work out or exercise once a day. i walk with Emmy every day...it's hard to fit it in, but she LOVES it, and its nice to get fresh air! even if we only walk to dutch brothers :)


5) get the baby on a great schedule for learning. drew and i are big proponents of beginning to teach Emmy early on. i devote much of my day to teaching her, even though she is only five months old. we really want to homeschool later, but its never too early to begin teaching, in my opinion. i do thirty minutes of reading with her each day, i show her all the fruits and vegetables in the store when we shop, and i have stopped using my iPhone when she's awake at all. We also listen to ALOT of music in our home...emmy loves music and so do i! 


Anyways, all those new things have left me exhausted. i'm "tired mommy." so this week, i'm accepting that it just can't all happen. and that's okay. i'm not being lazy...but i am exhausted.


the Lord grants us enough strength to rest in His mercy. so rest i will. thank you Lord for a new day. He is enough. He is enough. He is enough. 

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Cor. 12:9

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If you're a work from home or working mommy...how do you get it all done? When do you draw the line between lazy and mercy? 

june...already?

it's June! we have a five month old little girl! life is going by much too fast. our little sweetie pie is growing like a weed, fitting in all her 6 mos clothes, and almost growing out of some! Emmy is talking, saying "mama", "bye" and "hi". her little voice is absolutely the greatest thing i have ever heard. the other day, we were driving, and she said "hi mama!" from the backseat. She is also rolling over, both ways, and giggling about everything.

Emmy is now sleeping 11-12 hours a night! it's absolutely glorious to not wake up in the middle of the night or even the early evening. i thank the Lord daily for a baby who loves to sleep. i'm so thankful we did the "baby whisperer" program...it's not for everyone, but it's worked fabulously for us. Emmy is a blessing, and i learn more every day as her mama.

Drew received a promotion at work recently...i am so proud of him. he also celebrated his 25th birthday with friends and family, and a special surprise visit from his dad, John. Drew is very much like his father; who is a sweet and Godly man...i am very thankful for him. Emmersyn loved her grandaddy, and had lots of fun playing with him when he was here. Drew's dad said he has never seen Drew "more happy than now", and thanked me for taking care of his son and granddaughter...so sweet, it moved me to tears.

As a family, we have kept very busy, we drove to crater lake last week, housesat, had a birthday party, and have many more events coming up this summer! Emmy is great, portable, and sweet, so we have kept up all our regular activities since she was born (to everyone who thinks your life is "over" when you have a child, it's not...it's incredibly fun and joyful!), including full night's sleep! :) I signed a brand new artist, burning Cypress, who I'm excited to introduce to everyone very soon.

God is so good, we are ever thankful!