Finding Time

It's so funny how life works. Hindsight is truly 20/20. Before I had Emersyn, I used to think that I didn't have *enough time* to do things like workout, make dinner, get together with friends as often as I would've like to, read, etc.

What the heck was I thinking????

Now that I am the mama of a very naughty sweet toddler, I am truly feeling the pains of not having enough time in the day to accomplish what I want to.


I used to blame it on the fact that I work part time. This is not a good excuse, as I had a gloriously long maternity leave and still didn't have enough time in my mind. I remember having a newborn and thinking, "I just can't get anything done". Again, what was I thinking!?!?! Emersyn just laid there, how on earth was she preventing me from folding laundry??

These are the top items that I wrestle with timewise:

1) Working out/healthy food & snacks prep. Recently I have become aware of some health issues that run in my family. Excercise is the best preventative medicine and I want to model a healthy and active lifestyle for Emersyn and so far, this is not an area that I am excelling in. :)

2) Making time for friends. I am blessed to have a LOT of amazing people in my life, people who inspire me and make me laugh, two very crucial elements of a quality friendship with me. :) I struggle with balancing my responsibilities at home, having quality time with Emersyn and my husband, working, etc . I am good at being social via my blog, facebook, etc. But I love having people over to our home and Brett especially appreciates this, as he is NOT social via blogging, facebook, etc. :) I love playing games, cooking and entertaining. Where this ranks on the PRIORITY list though differs between myself and my husband.

3) Reading. I LOVE to read. I love working on my Bible Study that I participate in at my church on Tuesday mornings. I love a good fiction book by Jodi Picoult. I love books on parenting, marriage, etc. BUT I get horribly distracted and find it is hard to make time for such activities. I think a lot of it would help if my husband didn't like to watch TV so much. But that is a big love language of his, cuddling and watching a movie. Me, I could live without the TV. Seriously. There are a couple shows that I would watch online, but other then that....buh bye. I can be home an entire day and not turn the TV on once. When it comes to being on the laptop though, that is probably a place where I waste a lot of time.

4) Being crafty. I am a realist. I will never be a crafty person by nature. But I still long to learn such domestic skills like sewing. In fact, I signed up for a sewing class with a friend in November. I am soooooo excited. I also made some cupcakes last week. There are two steps towards progress in my crafty/domestic quest I guess.

5) Chores, like cleaning, maintenance (touching up baseboards, deep cleaning) and the worst task of all.......Laundry!!!!

6) Quiet time with the Lord. (Also falls under the reading/bible study category). I know that the Lord doesn't judge me for not spending time with him, I think it is more my loss then His, for sure. I never regret spending time with my Savior in an intentional way, more then just praying on my way to work or while doing dishes. Even taking a walk could qualify as quiet time with the Lord. And it would help with number one on this list. Lord I love me some multi-tasking. :)

Those of you more experienced ladies/mama's out there, what have been your keys to finding balance in being a wife/mama/woman? Blog about it! Speak up! :)

If there is one thing I have learned in life, it's that you never arrive, you never have it all figured out. Therefore, I am not plagued by these issues in my life, just simply want to work on them, one day at a time. After all, I have a little girl who is watching me..... :)

And I am sure that one day I will be writing a blog, saying "I can't believe I thought I didn't have enough time with ONE child, what was I thinking??!" :)

Mommy's Assistant

Hi guys, it's Emersyn! Today I wanted to tell you about my part time job as Mommy's assistant in real estate. Because Mommy has such great clients, they usually don't mind when I tag along for certain business activities.

This is me, getting ready to give keys to my Auntie Tori and Uncle Andrew for their new house!! We are soooooo happy for them!

We had to wait a little bit for them to get there. So Mommy busted out the string cheese and camera and started taking my pictures. I told her that she needs to get some business cards for me to hand out to my friends, ya know, all official like saying that I am her assistant. She doesn't think that is neccesary. Rats.

This was my face after I learned that not only do I not get business cards, I also don't get PAID for my services!!!! (Unless string cheese counts I guess)

Uncle & Auntie's big moment.....


Playing peekaboo, enjoying the lovely hardwood floors, aren't they pretty?

Baby bloggers out there, do any of you "work" for your mommies too? :)

Happy Birthday Auntie Marti!!!

Dear Auntie Marti,

Remember this?

Well, look at me now!!!

Mommy talks about you all the time Auntie. Whenever she does my hair and gets my rubber bands out of my "Coach" clutch, she tells me that my Auntie Marti loves me soooooo much that she sent me such a special little gift for no reason at all! She shows me pictures of you and I from our visit to Sacramento in February. Mommy also says that you are one of her biggest encouragers in life and that you make her want to be an encouragement to other people too.

I wish you lived closer. But, I guess I will just be happy that we are able to communicate via the internet. I can't wait to see you again sometime this Winter!!

I wish you the happiest of all birthdays!!!!!!!

Love, Emersyn

(Brett and Patti too!)

NaBloPoMo

November is National Blog Posting Month! The challenge is to post something every day for the month of November. I saw this on someone elses blog so I decided to play along. I may seem like I post every day but that isn't the case always. For the month of November, I am going to challenge myself to blog each day and get to the posts that I have been MEANING to write about my Esther Bible study, my Crazy Love book club, etc.

So happy NaBloPoMo...the silly official term for this challenge. I didn't make it up....

Last night I decided to scan a couple pictures that I found of me when I was around Emersyn's age.......there are a couple of Brett too. Who do you think Ems is looking like these days? :)

I do see a lot of myself in her, however we have SUCH different coloring, it is hard to compare us. Her daddy was a sweet baby, don't you think? :)

This is me and my mama around age 3 I think.....so fun. I can't wait for a photo booth pic with my own little munchkin.

Happy Wednesday!!

Just like her mama.

She goes into the kitchen cupboard, gets out my travel coffee cup, and walks around the house, so pleased with herself for *drinking* coffee....just like her mama.

She finds a gift bag and goes *shopping* throughout the house, putting various items in her bag. I asked her what she was shopping for and she brought me her bag. In it was a toothbrush, a plastic cow that I have literally never seen before, and one of my socks. She loves *shopping*...just like her mama.

Today in the car I cranked up some upbeat worship music and some movement catches my eye in the rearview mirror. I see my adorable daughter bobbing her head to the music and clapping her little heart out......just like her mama.

I give her a wooden spoon and a bowl and ask her if she will *cook* me something and she gets a silly grin and starts stirring her imaginary food in the bowl....wanting to cook just like her mama.

Whether I realize it or not, Emersyn is watching me and learning. She may be little but I am so challenged to live my life better, make it one that is worthy of mimicking. Being a parent is such a big responsibility. And it is a responsibility that I am SO grateful for. I am not striving for perfection, I know that isn't attainable. Just striving to be MY best.....

Visit to Albany!

On Friday we took Emersyn down to Albany (about an hour and a half south of Portland) to visit some of her Great Grandparents! Last year we took our little two month old lady bug and she was a hit amongst the elderly. I think that this might become a Halloween tradition!

Emersyn loved the organ at Grandma Stanton's retirement home. It was off but she really liked pretending. :)

Her signature "Shrek" face. :)

"Yeeeeeehaw!"

Emersyn and Great Grandpa Jensen (wearing Emersyn's hat). Note the "E" on her hat...I cut it out of craft foam. Thought it was a cute addition to her foam hat. I was glad we didn't spend too much money on a hat for her, she wouldn't keep it on!

Great Grandma Jensen was all dressed up for the "Trick or Treat" event at her nursing home!

Emersyn and Great Grandma Stanton.

It was a fun visit and despite Emersyn missing her nap time, she was a great sport!

I won!!!

I love Jessica Turner's Blog "The Mom Creative". She is especially inspirational to me because she is a working mama and there just don't seem to be THAT many of us out there! :)

Anyways, last week she hosted "Giveaway Week" and I won on Monday!

What did I win?

Well, the Lord has a sense of humor.....

I won a book called, "Growing Up Organized: A Mom to Mom Guide".

I can hear both my mother and my husband's hysterical laughter even though they are no where near me. In fact, my mom is several thousand miles away.

I struggle with organization. I love the idea of it. Truly I do. And I can somewhat keep organized things organized. It's the actual act of organizing that I can't quite grasp. I get overwhelmed at clutter and thus, draw a blank as to how to fix it. My husband is great at the actual organization process, although I think he is WAY messier then I am. In fact, look what he did to our food cupboard while I was at a movie with my friend one night....

Coming home to this was far better than any bouquet of flowers!

AND he used the label maker. This is my love language. Seriously.

I can totally handle keeping this organized. For awhile anyways.

I am hoping that this book that I have won will solve ALL my organizational problems!

We'll see. :)

Now that I have won a giveaway, I am thinking about paying it forward with a giveaway of my own. We'll see what kind of fun I can think of!

Happy Sunday!