Peace in the mist of chaos

Motherhood has taught me a lot of things but the one thing I am continually learning is how to slow down and enjoy the little moments. Soaking in the small things that I would other wise over look and realizing that these sweet moments of motherhood are so valuable and these days, hours and years I will never get back.

I am in a season where all my children are littles and need a lot of me and it can be physically and mentally exhausting. To any visitor that comes over ,my life and house could seem a lot like chaos, but in the mist of it all I find joy. Cherishing the little things like the laughter of my children playing together and developing friendships with each other, the sounds of little footsteps running up and down the stairs in the mornings or random hugs and kisses throughout the day. These are the things I want to always remember and never want to take for granted. These are the things that make my heart grow in love a little more and that teach me what life is really all 

about. 

Though there  are sleepless nights, many sleepless nights, I wake up in the morning knowing that I have one of the most important jobs in the world. We as mothers are doing the good work and though it is hard it is worth it and this gives me peace . 

When the living room floor is covered in toys and the kitchen sink is filled with dirty dishes I have to remember not to stress and that the life I live can be messy.

  The mess can be cleaned but this time,these moments I can't ever get back . I would rather love my family and children well and have dishes not done than to have a spotless house that has no life,no love, no fun.

So everyday I am learning to slow down enjoy life and live from a place of peace. Knowing that this journey of motherhood has its ups and downs. I don't have to try to control it I just have to let go and roll with it embrace the day and embrace this season.

 Finding peace in the mist of chaos.

My natural birth story {Levi James}

    

January 25,2016 I woke up at 8:00am with light contractions and I just knew that it was for real. There is just this overwhelming feeling that comes over me  feelings of excitement,joy and lthrill that tell me that it's the day I will meet my baby.

I made breakfast and got the kids set up with books and crafts that I had planned. While they were occupied I put the last couple things in my hospital bag and got through some contractions on my birthing ball. Now I am known to have super quick labor and delivery so I called the sitter to come over right away and made sure  to call my husband to come home from work . I told my five year l old that her baby brother was on his way and her excitement was contagious. "Just breathe mama, that's what I do when I am hurt or upset." Is what she would say ( the girl surprises me everyday).

Though the plan is to have a hospital birth laboring as long as possible at home is best for me. It's where I am most relaxed and comfortable  and when it starts getting bad we head to the hospital. 

 So for 3 hours i labored with my husband upstairs in our room while the sitter and kids were downstairs. We used the birthing ball , I got in the shower and tried moving into different positions. The contractions were 3-5 min apart when we decided it was time to go to the hospital. When I got there the contractions had slowed down and when the nurse checked me I was 5 centimeters dilated. The contractions started to pick back up and I asked for intermediate monitoring where the nurse comes in periodically to check mine and the baby's heart so I could still be up and moving around . 

I labored standing up putting all my weight on my husband in what is called the slow dance position for the next 2 1/2 hours. The staff was pretty awesome they knew we wanted a natural birth and they respected that.They left us alone , dimmed the lights and said y'all let us know what you need . I started to get the urge to push but my water hadn't broke so I asked my midwife to break my water because I knew that was all that was holding baby back .She checked me and I was fully dialated .She broke my water and immediately I pushed two big pushes one after the other and before I knew it ...Levi James came into the world! 7lbs 11oz 19 1/2 inch long straight hair and puckered lips I was holding my baby boy. So many emotions came flooding in . I am blessed!

   Giving birth truly is a labor of love

"If I can do this I can do anything" 

Character is greater

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This year before we jumped into our homeschool year I had all planned out some goals ,themes and milestones that I wanted us to focus on and accomplish. The main ones are reading, handwriting skills, and mastering basic math. 

But as I prayed and continue to pray about what God wants us to focus on he always points out character training,household chores and setting a consistant and firm discipline system up .

  Wow! Is what I think to myself I didn't think of these areas as the MAIN focus. I realized I  kind of put these areas off as side things that I thought we could touch on here and there ,but he reminds me that the heart and character is the most important part! If she can read and write well but has bad character traits and doesn't love and honor others then it's meaningless. This is what it is all about and I have had to continuely remind myself of what's really important at this age. 

Now is the time to begin to instill the qualities ,traits and values that are so important into my children. This is the training time this is when habits are being formed and personalities are being molded . "Train your child up in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it"

He always knows best and I can see on a daily basis why now this is what he says to focus on. The attitude of a five year old girl is no joke! How easily habits are being formed in the children are crazy (like tv and iPads) they love consistantcy and when something is different it throws them all off. 

We have been doing morning ,afternoon and evening chores at the same time everyday .Everybody has a part and at such a young age they all think it's fun :)  I am instilling in them practical life skills that they will need to succeed in life and also a love to help and serve others. 

Same with discipline .We have established a good system and everybody knows what is expected of them and the consequences that will take place if they cross the boundaries. The training I believe is the hardest part it takes consistantcy, repetition and strength not to give up or in ,but it will be so worth it I just think of the peace that will come with it all. "The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days." -Charlotte mason- 

So if this year all that my children walk away from our first official year of homeschooling with is knowing how to do chores, good habits ,attitudes and character traits then we have done well. 

I

Starting our Homeschooling Journey

July 5, 2015  my frist born will be 5 years old i still cant believe how fast time really has passed us by!  People  would always say " enjoy them while their babies it goes fast" and now i can attest babies really don't keep.

This fall we will be starting kindergarten at home and we are so excited ,she will tell you herself how excited she is to officially start homeschooling. We did preschool at home learning shapes,colors,letters and all of those fun things with the exception of 4 months in a preschool program outside of the home.

We been doing lots of interest lead, Montessori activities at home and i have seen her continuously flourish. We have learned about the us map, talked about the state that we live in and  states that close relatives and friends live in, we have learned about the us flag , read the chapter book Chartlotts web and watch the movie with activities that went along with it  we are also learning about addition, and starting the reading process!

I have so many plans for us going into kindergarden and cant wait to enbark this journey please follow us along on our homeschooling journey!

Birth story {Alayna Nicole}

I woke up around 9:00 am on November 3, 2013 with some mild contractions , i had been having contractions on and off for the last couple of days, but on this morning i knew it was time. The contractions just felt different. So i got in the shower packed the few things that i had left out of my hospital bag and continued on with my morning routine of taking care of the other kiddos. When a contraction would come, like while i was in the middle of making breakfast, i would just stop and breathe through them. I also got on my birthing ball in different positions that helped elevate some of the pain. I labored at home for 3 hours until it was time to go to the hospital, the contractions where about 5 min apart but didn't last long, when we got to the hospital the nurse checked me and i was 7 cm dilated! The nurse couldn't believe i was so far dilated she said because i was so "controlled" the nurses were pretty good they left us alone for the most part and i was able to walk around get on my birthing ball and in different positions as much as i wanted. I asked for intermediate monitoring so i didn't have to be strapped to a machine the whole time they just came in every now and then to check mine and the baby's heart.

There where times when I felt i couldn't do it anymore, it hurt too bad and in my weakness My husband was amazing  i am not even exaggerating on how awesome  he is during birth. He reminded me that every contraction was one step closer to having our little girl, he told me how strong i was, and that this was a normal process my body was doing exactly what it was supposed to do , "don't fight the pain he would say just work with it." I had him massaging my lower back and moving with me during the contractions. We worked awesome as a team and i really couldn't do it without him.

Still at 7 cm i started to have the urge to push my water still had not broken so the midwife asked if i wanted to let her brake it. I agreed and like 30-45 min after that i was fully dilated and ready to push! I pushed in a half sitting position ,pushed 3 times and out she came!

November 3, 2013 at 4:00pm 6hrs of natural labor weighing 5lb 15oz 18.5in long.
Big brown eyes, head full of hair and so teeny tiny!! we welcomed Alayna Nicole. Our third and precious child. My heart and my home feels so full i am truly blessed among women   <3

Letter Of the Week

This Week the letter Of the Week was the letter "c" and the theme was fall leaves because She is so amazed At how the leaves are orange, yellow and red.

she glued the paper cookies i made on to the letter C and then we made chocolate chip cookies!

We went on a nature walk and she found a bunch of leaves that had changed colors and fallen. We talked about fall and how the leaves turn colors and fall off the trees to make room for the new leave that will grow in the spring, then she glued the leaves on a piece of paper and I added the tree trunk. 

I drew an uppercase letter C and a lowercase letter c and then let her glue cotton balls on. We talked about how cotton stats with the letter c and the sound that it makes.

Her  in action with the glue, which right now is her favorite thing to do

This is a pintrest idea that i found, I let her trace the letters and pictures with water and a paint brush. She also had to tell me the letter and the sounds that they make.

Free Play-doh mats

Check out these fun play- doh mats! I found these  for Free on  earthschooling.Blogspot.com and there are so many Other printable learning activities on this Blog love it and thought I would share !