On Being Christlike

I believe in Christ. I believe that he once physically lived on this earth, and that he came here to atone for our sins and conquer death. I believe that he will come again, and I believe in the kind of person he is.

In a world that is seeing more hatred, judgement, cruelty, and pain, let us not forget to be Christlike.

Even if you don't believe in Christ.

Even if you don't believe in immortal Eternal beings.

Even if, to you, Christ was just another mortal man, or didn't even exist at all. Even if, to you, he is a made up character in a non-fiction book.

To me this is what it means to be "Christlike;"

•It means to love everyone. Not necessarily agree with everything they do, but love them.
•It means to have compassion.
•It means to serve.
•It means to be kind.
•It means to be forgiving
•It means to see the good in others.
•It means to have to sometimes give tough love, but to do it with just that, love.
•It means to be the one to bring someone up who everyone else is bringing them down.
•It means to stand up for what you believe in, but not to condemn others for believing in something different.
•It means to teach others what you believe in. To explain why you believe in it and to be willing to teach even if you will be judged for it.
•It means to sacrifice for the benefit of others.
•It means to be humble.
•It means to give your life to your good cause. A cause that does not put at risk someone else's life, or well being, or eternal joy.
•It means to be a hard worker.
•It, quite simply and yet not so simply at all, means to do what you know, deep down, is the right thing to do.

You see, you don't have to be a Christian to be Christlike. Being Christlike is to be a good person. We can all strive for that, right?

I Had a Baby...And I Still Love my Husband!

I had a baby four months ago. He is my pride and joy, my little sidekick, my sweet sweet angel and I love him more than words could ever express. I also still love my husband.

You're probably thinking, "I would surely hope so!" But allow me to explain.

"You'll never love someone as much as you'll love that little boy"

"You have no idea what love is until you have a child"

What?? Did I just hear those words? These were word for word some phrases that were said to me while I was pregnant and these things were added to my "I don't like that at all" list. What about the man that I am madly in love with, who is the reason we are having this little boy? How could I possibly love someone else more than I love the one I promised to spend eternity with, the one who I gave my whole heart to and who I share my whole life with? The answer is simple; I cannot. It is not possible.

I love my husband as much as my child, and I love that little baby as much as I love my husband. Of course, they are two different types of love, one is the unwavering love of a mother and one is a committed and romantic love, but to say that one is stronger than the other just hurts my heart to even consider. These two boys mean more to me than the world, and I know that I'll feel the same way about our future children. I love my family with all my heart and as it grows, my love multiplies, it does not divide.

**For me, no love compares to that of a mother to her child, nor to that of a wife to her husband**

So please, next time you want to try to express to someone how much they are going to love their child (which is impossible to put into words, I totally understand), just do it in a way that does not put the significant other on the back burner because if it weren't for mine, we would not be a beautiful family of three.

3 Ways to Keep Your House Looking Great When You're Too Busy to Keep Your House Looking Great!

As a new mother of one, I realize that people with 2 or more children will probably laugh in my face when I say that having a child makes it hard to get anything done. This said, I also believe that everyone adapts, and when I have my second, and my third, I will probably look back and laugh at myself too. Until then, I don't think it's unfair to say that I am a busy mom! I stay at home with the baby almost full time, with the exception of about 15 hours a week when I'm teaching violin lessons.

Which brings us to the subject of housework.

When I was pregnant people told me over and over again, "housework is not important, just enjoy your baby!" And while I mostly agree with that, I also have a hard time enjoying my baby when I am surrounded by a gigantic mess. It makes me anxious and I can't relax and just play with him when it's a complete disaster and there's so much to do. A little mess here and there is one thing, that I can handle; but a house caked in dust with piles everywhere that hasn't been vacuumed in weeks just gives me the heebie jeebies.

****Disclaimer: I always put my baby first, always. Just throwing that out there before I share the rest of this post****

Like I said above, I wholeheartedly agree that baby comes first. Luckily though, I have found a system that works that keeps my house looking pretty good most days, and I don't feel like I have neglected my baby or missed  out on anything at all. I would also like to point out that right now my living situation is just me, my husband, and the baby.  Everyone's situation is different, so these might not work for everybody.

So here they are, 3 ways to keep your house looking great when you're too busy to keep your house looking great!

1. Naptime Rounds
I know what you're thinking, "you're supposed to sleep when the baby sleeps!" Believe me I do my fair share of that, but I generally just take the first five minutes of his nap to do a quick sweep of the house. This usually includes toys and shoes put away, burp cloths in the hamper, snacks cleaned up, etc. etc. By doing this, the house is not a total stye by the end of the night, and even though I still do a nightly round, it's not nearly as time consuming as it could be.

2. Daily Chore Chart
Now that I am taking care of a baby, I don't have the luxury of spending my Saturday, my once "day off" cleaning the house in one big chunk. With my husband in school, these are his catching up on homework days, which makes Saturdays just like any other day for me to take care of the baby. I decided to make a daily chore chart for myself that covers my basic cleaning needs. It has been extremely helpful, as it is much easier to find 10-15 minutes to do a chore than 2 hours to do the whole house at once. Mine looks something like this:
    Monday: Bathroom
    Tuesday: Living room/nursery *Don't be fooled, it's the same room right now. Small house :)
    Wednesday: Kitchen
    Thursday: Kitchen/Bathroom floors
    Friday: Dust
    Saturday: Vacuum
My wonderful husband takes care of the vacuuming and garbages, so I usually use Saturday to do the chore or two that I might have missed that week.  Between this and straightening up during naptime and the end of the day, the house stays pretty clean.

3. Nightly Dish Washing
We don't have a dishwasher, and things can pile up fast. I have made it a habit to do the dishes every single night. It doesn't matter if we only dirtied just two things, I do them. This way I keep up on them and it is never an overwhelming amount to do. This also helps me during the day when I don't have time to do them after we have eaten, I just rinse them off and put them in the sink, knowing I will do them that night. After the baby goes to bed I do all the dishes for that day, lay them out to dry overnight, and first thing in the morning put them away. For those of you who do have a dishwasher, this could be simply loading and unloading instead of washing and drying.

To My Baby

If Only I Had Known...

...that it meant waking up multiple times in the middle of the night-every night
...that you would have grenade-like poops that stained your clothes
...or that you'd go right after I'd finish changing your diaper
...that I'd use my bare hand to block your pee so it didn't spray my face while changing your diaper
...that I'd wipe your boogers on my shirt
...that you'd poop in the bathtub
...that you'd spit up after every feeding and at least 3 times in between
...and as a result we'd both go through 3 outfits a day
...that most days I wouldn't have time to shower, do my makeup, or even pull up my hair
...that my new scent would be pink baby lotion
...that my house would always have a mess to clean up
...and that there wouldn't be time to clean it
...that I'd spend half my earnings on diapers
...that you'd projectile vomit all over yourself 2 minutes after your bath
...that my social life would go out the window
...that you'd accidentally bonk your head or scratch yourself
...that my heart would break every time you'd cry
...that my heart would burst every time you'd smile

If only I had known that this is what motherhood meant....oh my sweet angel baby I would have wished for you sooner!

Because the bodily fluids mean your body is functioning properly and you are growing big and strong
Because being up in the middle of the night means sweet tender moments and lots of snuggles
Because I have learned to love myself without fancy hair and makeup
Because smelling like you when we're apart helps when I'm missing you
Because I would much rather sit and hold you than do dishes anyway
Because being with my family is the most important form of a social life
Because when you are sad or hurting, it is me you want comforting you and that is an irreplaceable feeling
Because I am learning to be more gentle and loving
Because if I didn't know the hardships of motherhood, I would not know the joys.


My only child (for now) is just two months old, and I know there are many additional challenges and hardships awaiting me, but being the mother and wife in the family unit has been the most rewarding experience of my life. I truly believe that all of the seemingly negative aspects of parenthood are blessings, even if they sometimes feel deeply disguised (how is poop a blessing??). Mommas, if you are having one of "those" days, just take a step back and remember how lucky you are to experience the beautiful calling that is motherhood.

What I wish I knew beforehand about having a baby

There were hundreds of stories and multiple pieces of advice given to me when I was pregnant. I read dozens of blogs and articles about childbirth and post-pregnancy. To say I didn't have an abundance of information on what to expect when I was expecting would be a false statement; and yet, there were still things that caught me off guard. After 6 weeks of taking care of my newborn, here are the most prominent unexpected surprises I have encountered:

The hospital bag

I packed pretty conservatively, and still I hardly used anything I brought. Next time I have a baby, I will be taking the following:

• Phone/charger
• An outfit for baby
• Toothbrush/toothpaste
• A few snacks for husband
• Carseat
  

If I ever do professional pictures there, I probably will pack some cute PJ's, a hairbrush and mascara.

Something I didn't bring that I wish I had and that I definitely will be taking next time around is a gift for the nurses. The nurses were absolutely amazing. I love nurses.

That's really it though. I mean, I spent 99.9% of the time in bed.  I had no desire to even shower until I got home anyway, and the nurses were checking up on me and Oliver was nursing so often that it would have been pointless for me to wear anything other than the hospital gown. I heard arguments that people want to look nice for their visitors, but really, if my family and the few close friends that did visit me did care about my appearance, I would have told them to go have a baby and then look like a million bucks 2 hours later. For real guys, they'll understand.

The emotional roller coaster

This is something I knew was coming but oh. My. Goodness. It was so much more intense than I imagined. I felt like the worst mother in the world because leading up to having Oliver everyone was saying how the second you have the baby it all feels worth it, the sickness, the being fat, the heartburn. The second you see your little bundle of joy all the negativity disappears. You can imagine my disappointment when I got home and for a week was so sad and depressed. Wasn't I supposed to be overjoyed? Glowing? Feeling so blessed to have this amazing miracle in my life? Don't get me wrong, I loved him from the second I laid eyes on him but that first week was, well, hellish. It was hard emotionally and physically, which leads me to surprise #3.

The "life changer"

They say having a baby will change your life, and it did, but not in the way I expected it to. They say parenting is a full time job, but that is baloney. Parenting is 3 full time day jobs, plus the graveyard shift. Everyone goes on and on about how the lack of sleep is the worst part. Quite frankly for me, I can handle the lack of sleep. In the weeks before delivery I had to get up to use the bathroom like 5 times a night, and before that had 5 years of living in student housing with roommates; staying up and watching movies, you know how it is. I have been sleep deprived since high school. No, the biggest shocker for me was the time commitment. Of course I wasn't expecting to be able to get tons done, like clean my whole house in one day, but when I didn't even have 5 minutes to do things like my hair or put on mascara in the morning, that was a game changer. Just be prepared to not get anything done for the first few weeks except nurture and love your little baby.

The bodily fluids

It is amazing to me how much I don't get grossed out when my baby barfs on me, or when he has a particularly nasty diaper, or when he pees on me as I am changing his diaper. I mean having to change my shirt twice a day isn't super fun, but man it just doesn't bother me. Maybe it's because I made him so somehow it came from me? I don't know. But I'm grateful for it because otherwise I'd be disgusted with my own baby, well, all of the time. He spits up a lot. 

The showing off

I love to show off my baby. When people call or text and ask if they can come see him but don't want to be a bother it makes me so happy, I tell them I'd love that! Maybe I'm biased, but man he is a cutie and I love when people ooh and aah over him :)

The love

The last thing that I wasn't expecting is how much love I have for this beautiful guy. I knew I would love him of course, but I didn't think it possible to love another human as much as I love my husband. This baby sure proved me wrong. I love them in different ways, but equally, and I am so happy to have my little family. 

Last minute greeting cards

I love my Silhouette and all my other fancy crafting gadgets, but sometimes I just don't have the time to sit down and create a spectacular card. I have on more than one occasion found myself ready to go to a shower or birthday party only to realize I don't have a card, and I really don't like going store bought. Ever found yourself in this situation? No fear! Below is a simple tutorial on how to make an extremely easy 4"x5.5" card in just a few short minutes!

Supplies:

Some sort of adhesive
Scissors
Scraps of paper
Blank card (or a piece of cardstock, 5.5"x8" folded in half)
A pen to write with (I love me my sharpie pen)

Step 1: Pick your paper. You will need a patterned piece for your background and then one or two coordinating solid pieces for the embellishment, as well as a small piece of light colored paper for your sentiment.

Step 2: Cut out the patterned piece of cardstock to fit the front of the card. I like to leave a small border showing the body of the card. Glue or double stick tape into place.

Step 3: Glue a strip of plain colored cardstock and cut to fit. You can do either hamburger or hot dog style :)

Don't be afraid to experiment with where you place the embellishment

Step 4: Cut a small rectangle of light colored paper and write your sentiment on it, or sometimes I make a bunch at once and keep them blank until I know what I am going to use them for. I like to do a light pencil outline and then trace it with my trusty Sharpie pen! Just don't forget to erase the pencil lines after the pen has dried ;)

*I also mounted my sentiment paper on a bit of cardstock that is a slightly lighter orange than the dark orange stripe, just to add another dimension to the card.

Step 5: Mount sentiment paper onto card and write your message inside.













There you have it! Just 5 quick steps to a one of a kind greeting card that looks like you put in way more effort than you actually did ;)

Some Greeting Cards

I thought I'd share some recent card projects I've been working on. I always like to make them in coordinating sets and hopefully someday I'll remember to start taking step-by-step pictures. :)

Set of 5 baby boy congratulations cards

Set of 3 sentimental greeting cards "Thinking of You" and "Love"

   

Fun with buttons! Set of 4 any occasion cards with shimmer accents 

All the cutouts were done on my Silhouette Portrait, and the cursive script is done with a black sharpie pen, both are must-haves for me when it comes to card making!