O N E

With my last two pregnancies, my feet grew about half a size. After I came home from the hospital after having Melanie, my sneakers didn’t even close to fit anymore. I’ve been wearing them for a month and my toes are absolutely killing me. I was planning on waiting until Christmas and asking for a new pair then but since my feet actually hurt, I don’t think waiting two months for new shoes is probably the best idea. So when I got an email from Honey during the Amazon Prime sale that my sneakers were 50% off I snagged them in a size up. I hadn’t realized how worn out my old shoes were until I put the new ones on. It’s like walking on clouds.

T W O

This fall weather has just been amazing. It got colder a lot faster than I was hoping for this year but it’s warmed up just a little bit and we’ve been able to get outside a little bit and have been thoroughly enjoying the crisp air and those picturesque views. 😍

T H R E E

I’ve been really enjoying reading a bit more the past week or so. This book has been really good so far even though it might not be the right season for it. I’m not even really into the meat of the story yet. I can already tell that once the story really picks up I’m not going to be able to put it down. I also read this book last week and I think it only took me 48 hours to finish. So so good.

F O U R

We are slowly getting into a rhythm of homeschooling. Today we did this painting projects from the Target dollar spot for a little art project. I’m taking things very slowly since Shane is only four and we did just add a baby to our family. I’m trying to keep the pressure low but also trying to be disciplined as well. Homeschooling is a bit overwhelming at first but I’m looking forward to settling into more of a groove as time goes on. I’m really looking forward to so many things about it.

F I V E

Speaking of taking advantage of the weather, we have gone fishing a couple times the past two weeks. I’m hoping to continue to make it a regular thing until the weather doesn’t allow it anymore because we all have been really enjoying it. So thankful to live right down the road from this little lake.

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Linking up with Andrea and Erika. This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

Where to even begin? It’s been over a year since I’ve posted on here. I haven’t been completely MIA on the internet world all year. If you’ve been following me on Youtube or on Instagram then you already know that we just had our third baby a little over a month ago. I shared many pregnancy updates over the past ten months over on Youtube, which I used to share on here.

Our sweet Melanie girl was born on September 7th, two days after her due date and I still can’t get over how perfect she is. The boys have just completely fallen head over heels with her and we are just so thankful God has chosen her to join our family.

As many of you probably know, there is a lot of reflecting that is done after a baby joins your family. The dynamics of just about everything changes, which can be challenging for a while. Obviously there is less time and less energy to be devoted to things that were once important.

So I’ve been doing just that. Reflecting on life now that we are a family of five. Reflecting on what it means to be a mom of three. I’m always trying to make sure that my priorities are in order and that God comes first and my family comes second. A lot of the time keeping family before anything else (besides God) is easy in this season of small children because small children demand their needs to be met. I’m unable to choose other things over them because they make sure that you are attentive to them and for that I am thankful even when it is hard.

But if I’m being honest, my heart isn’t always in the right place when it comes to meeting their needs. A lot of the time my heart is wanting to put other things first. I desire to have a life apart from just being a mom to small children. Sometimes I want that life a little more than I should, I think.

I desire to “have it all” just like I believe so many others. I want to follow God first, love my family well, be able to keep my house in order always, and have a thriving online business that pays the bills as well. I have believed the lie that most of the people I follow online are doing all of these things. I’ve learned slowly over the years that it’s just not true. Not everyone has or does it all. And more importantly, if I’m keeping God first, that just might not be (and probably isn’t) the life that God has planned for me.

So that leads me to where I am now. A new mom to three. Trying to figure out what I should spend my energy on these days. And it’s really hard. But I’ve learned to slow down and try to hear God’s voice above it all. And the funny thing is he’s really there. He really will guide you if you seek him first.

So in an effort to fight against the temptation to put anything above my family in this season, I’ve decided to let myself have a little fun with blogging and making videos. I’ve decided to resist the urge to try to grow any platform to make money off of it. If I feel like sharing in a blog post something we’ve been doing or something I’ve been learning then I will. But I will no longer be putting pressure on myself to show up on any online space because I feel it does the opposite anyway and burns me out.

I’m hoping this will cause me to want to share more and show up more but who knows? Life with three kids is busy. Here’s to hoping! I’ve got lots to share about what God’s been teaching me, if I can just find the time. And energy. 😉

I’m hoping to share on Youtube similar things that I want to write about here, just in a different form. I’m remembering that I like to be able to explain in longer form (aka writing) things that I’ve been processing. I’ve missed it. I would like to share Melanie’s birth story on the blog even though I will also be doing a video as well. Here’s to having fun and showing up.

If anyone is still around reading this, please let me know if there is anything specific that you like to hear about from me. It would be really helpful!

I thought it was about time I dedicate a post to our Riley! I used to do monthly updates with Shane and now I’m regretting just a little bit not doing those with Riley because I still go back and read Shane’s. So today I thought I would share all about Riley!

Introducing Riley to our Family:

There was of course an adjustment period where we all had to get used to the new dynamics of our family, but he fit right in so well! There was a few weeks in the beginning where Shane and I had a little bit of a hard time but we soon fell into our new normal. It helped a lot that we all were just so in love with our new addition to the family.

My physical healing this time went really smoothly and we were able to get out early on and go for walks and just be outside (since it was July!) and that was so nice. It definitely helped with the sleeplessness and monotony of caring for a newborn. We had Shane in January so there really wasn’t any of this and it was tough.

Breastfeeding So Far:

So if you’ve followed my story from before we had Shane then you’ll know one of the hardest parts of caring for Shane was that breastfeeding didn’t go the way that I thought it was going to go. I really wanted to exclusively breastfeed Shane but that just wasn’t in the cards for us. (You can read more about that here if you’re interested.) I was able to breastfeed him until he was two, just never exclusively.

So when I was pregnant with Riley I prayed a lot and asked God to help me have open hands when it came to breastfeeding. I still had the desire to breastfeed and to get to experience exclusive breastfeeding but more than anything I didn’t want to hold so tightly to it that I would be completely devastated if it didn’t happen (like with Shane).

So I prayed a lot and was hopeful that things would work out but was going to be okay no matter what happened. And they did work out! I have been able to exclusively breastfeed Riley since he was born! I honestly never thought I would be able to exclusively breastfeed so I’ve been cherishing every minute of our breastfeeding journey.

So as of now he only breastfeeds 4-5 times a day and eats solids twice a day.

Eating Solids:

Speaking of eating solids, Riley loooves to eat! He’s still a peanut like Shane was (and still is) but he does love him some food. With Shane I was struggling so much that I didn’t have the ambition to make him his own food, which was honestly fine. But this time around I’m really enjoying being able to make purees for Riley.

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So far he’s eaten bananas, zucchini, apples, broccoli, oatmeal, sweet potato, carrots, spinach, ground turkey, eggs, peanut butter, strawberries, and blueberries.

I’ve recently been trying to introduce small pieces of finger food but he just doesn’t really like it lol. He gags a lot, which I know is normal but also spits out most of the small pieces of food I give him. I’ll just keep introducing it and I know he’ll get it eventually.

Sleeping:

Riley is what we call our little angel baby because he also sleeps really well! I never had to sleep train him. I just started putting him down “drowsy but awake” like they tell you to do when they’re little and it totally worked. Most of the time I rock him for just a few minutes and put him down with his pacifier and he puts himself to sleep.

He of course like any other baby has had some hard nights but for the most part has been a really good sleeper since he was born. Right now I put him down for the night around 7 and then nurse him before I go to sleep around 9:30-10 pm. He’s still sleeping in our room in a pack ‘n play. The plan is for him to move into Shane’s room once he’s completely sleeping through the night. I could probably put him in there now but really like them having their own space to sleep for now anyway.

Milestones:

I swear Riley started repeating dada and mama around six months old. He still does repeat them which is really sweet. I don’t really think he knows what he’s saying though but I’m really not sure.

He’s also really close to crawling. He can move backwards but has yet to figure out how to go forward. He can certainly get around though. He’s army crawling as of now, which is how Shane started crawling too right around the same age Riley is so that’s pretty funny.

He also just popped his first tooth the day he turned 9 months old! It was actually a really weird day because he usually takes a two hour morning nap and woke up an hour early from his nap and then wouldn’t go to sleep at all for his second nap. He really wasn’t very fussy though so I wasn’t suspecting that he was teething and then that night he put my finger in his mouth and I felt that the tooth had popped through! That explained it haha!

The funny part was that on this same day he started rolling onto his belly and trying to sleep on his belly and then crying when he was uncomfortable so I also had to keep going in and flipping him back over and giving him his pacifier so I really wasn’t expecting the tooth because I partly thought this was why he wasn’t sleeping.

Our Schedule at 9 Months:

This is just a rough schedule but is mostly accurate. Sometimes the times are a bit off and his bedtime is the most unpredictable part because it usually takes him a long time to go to sleep. Most of the time he’s in bed and trying to sleep on his own though. Sometimes I have to go in one or two times and comfort him for a minute or two but it’s usually pretty simple. On the day that he turned nine months old he started rolling onto his belly and trying to sleep on his belly. I now find him on his belly sleeping when I wake up in the morning and it’s so cute!

7:30am: Wake up + nurse
9:30am: Naptime
11:30am: Wake up + nurse
1:30pm: 3 oz of solids
2:00pm: Naptime
4:00pm: Wake up + nurse
6:00pm: 3 oz of solids
7:00pm: Sometimes Nurse + Bedtime
9:30pm: Dreamfeed

So he really falls asleep probably around 7:30-8ish but is usually very tired by 7 and we at least put him in bed by 7ish. He also has been sometimes rejecting nursing before he goes to sleep. I’m not sure if that will stick or is just a phase. I try not to let him go longer than 4-5 hours in between nursings though.

So that’s a peek into our life + a little update on our Riley Samuel! He has the most fun personality and is so silly and we just love him so!

As I’ve been reflecting back on 2020 one thing that I’ve realized is that I haven’t read as much as I was hoping that I would. I also realized that a lot of the reason I’m not reading is because of lack of planning.

So I decided to create myself a reading list and at least read the two books that I’ve listed here for each month. I think this will help me read more because I can plan and get the books in advance (whether that be buying used, borrowing from the library, or just purchasing it on my Kindle).

Once I have the books, I’m more likely to choose to read over picking up my phone or watching TV. So here are the 24 books I’m going to try to focus on this year. Have you read any? Are there any books that I’m missing that I should read this year? I’d love to hear from you!

January

• The Tattooist of Auschwitz
• 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You

February

• Dear Edward
• The Fringe Hours

March

• The Mother In Law
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

April

• American Dirt
• How to Raise a Wild Child

May

• The Flatshare
• The Pumpkin Plan

June

• Sunset Beach
• All Joy and No Fun

July

• Summer of 69
• The Gospel Comes With a House Key

August

• The Southern Side of Paradise
• The Celebration of Discipline

September

• The Things We Cannot Say
• Grace Based Parenting

October

• The Great Alone
• The Seasons of God

November

• Seven Days of Us
• The Tech-Wise Family

December

• One Day In December
• In His Image

I’m super excited to read more this year! Tomorrow I’m going to be sharing my goals for the year, this is just one little part of it. 🙂