Where to start?

Yikes! Has it really been so many months since our last post?! 

Honestly, life has been hitting us full throttle. When it comes to where my time is going…..it's been enjoying rocking babies, cooking meals, teaching school lessons, single parenting while the hubby is working 50-60 hours per week, working on our little business, teaching classes on living a life of wellness and somewhere in the mix trying to keep our family centered and growing towards God. 

Lots of changes are going on around here. Some I will reveal in the coming weeks. ;) Ha! 

First, thing I need to address is our sweet new addition to our family! Our laid back, happy sweet girl, Kyndall Jade! She has been a delight to our family and so easy going. She adores her siblings and laughs the most at her silly older siblings! 

Our family has adjusted well to the newest member. We were expecting some acting out and a bit of jealousy issues from Jude. Thankfully, God had mercy on this momma, and this has been the smoothest birth to new baby addition yet! All of the kids have taken to baby Kyndall so well! They love her to pieces and are great helpers! Jude especially has a soft spot for his baby. He lays next to her and talks and plays. He is always asking to hold her or help me. Super sweetness, I tell you! Makes this momma's heart swell! 

Watch for Kyndall's home birth story! I'll be posting that soon! Also, I have some fun fall make and take projects we did last month and working on a Christmas themed one now. 

There is some exciting stuff happening in our little family right now! It's too soon to let it all out, but you'll find out soon enough! 

Blessings to you my friends! 

Name Reveal!

It has taken us a long time to finalize this sweet girl's name. We are excited to share that our new arrival will be named…..

What is in my Home Birth Kit!

I've been pretty consumed with the end of this pregnancy the last 6 weeks or so. As I have entered the 3rd trimester, I have had more discomfort and contractions. This was all anticipated and normal. But honestly it has taken all my energy to just get through the days.

I've had to scale back on what I have been able to accomplish.

I am a huge planner and like my lists. I literally started buying my birth supplies around 30 weeks! I ordered my midwife required birth kit from the medical supplier and had it at my house by 32 weeks! All along I have been feeling like she is going to come early. That sent me into prepare for baby mode! 

(35 week picture)

I am 36 weeks along right now and so glad I am ready!

Last week we had a bad storm front come through and I started having contractions. Not the Braxton Hicks tightening, they were the real deal! Started low and in my back, then wrapped up my tummy. They literally took my breath away. When I was in tears through one and it had been the 6th in an hour I texted my midwife.

We tracked the symptoms all that evening and thankfully nothing came of them. It was a scare for us as I was only 35 weeks and 2 days. By Arkansas law I have to be 36 weeks to deliver at home. 

I did my best to lay still on my left side, drink tons of water and rubbed Lavender and Geranium essential oil all over my belly. 

The next morning I was still having irregular contractions when I was up and walking. The pressure was the worst when I tried to walk or stand. Since we were only 4 days out from being allowed to have a legal home birth, we decided it was best of me to go on bed rest until the 36 week mark.

Goodness, bedrest is not for the faint of heart! I have a lot of respect for the ones that have to do it for weeks or months.

Scott was great and fixed meals after long days at work. Took the oldest to soccer practice and a game. Grocery shopped late one night after he put the kids to bed. He was a rock star! A very tired rock star, but he was amazing! 

So blessed to do life with him! 

Now that we are in the clear to have this baby she has settled down a bit. I am still having occasional contractions and have needed to slow down. Talking with my midwife, I think I have relaxed as I'm not stressed about having a hospital birth anymore. Therefore, everything has slowed down.

Well, moving along….I thought I'd share what I have gathered for our little one's home birth! Maybe this might be helpful if you are planning a home birth in the future. 

Here are the check lists I was given to collect before the birth. This was just a starting point for me. Since we have done a home birth before I knew there were a few things I wanted in addition and a few things I wanted to change up.

We aren't doing a water birth. Last time we attempted it, but Jude came too fast. Not to mention it took up most of our little space we do have. Since we are expecting a short labor, we didn't think we'd have time to set up the pool and use it. 

I added a few items to the medical kit order. A baby shirt that says "Born at Home", raspberry tea, and Arnica 200cc.

The day my box arrived I posted this on Instagram!  It's exciting to start to get the baby necessities.

Moving Forward Update 2

It's been a several weeks since my first update on how it's going with my new year goals. I thought I'd share a little how it's been, what is working and what I still am working on. 

First, I've had to keep reminding myself that these goals are in addition to my normal goals and responsibilities in life. Being a homeschool, stay-at-home mom with 3 little ones and pregnant with our 4th, I am busy. I know I am just preaching to the choir, but it is challenging just to do all the normal homeschooling, house work, cooking, taxi driving, and child raising. 

Oh yeah! And I am kinda growing a small human. 

This small human doesn't let mommy sleep much and has an ever growing list of symptoms that are letting me know she is getting bigger! Of course, I love pregnancy, but you have to admit there are a handful of not so pleasant factors. ;) 

Challenging as it is, I am still working towards my goals!

If you remember the quote from my Moving Forward new year goals post….

"If you can't fly, then run.
If you can't run, then walk.
If you can't walk, then crawl.
But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."
~Martin Luther King Jr.

I feel like some days I am flying and then there are days I am barely crawling by. Some days can start out really awesome! I'm running along and then, WAM, something happens and I get nothing else done. 

I am learning that is okay. My controlling type A personality, is learning to let it go and just keep pressing forward at whatever speed I need to.

With all that said….I feel like God is revealing to me, my ever desperate need, to draw my strength from him. I simply cannot do it all. What I can do, I still need him to keep me focused and my heart in the right place.

So on to my goals for this year and how it is going!

Get Moving!

I think this is the one area I haven't done as well on. I am doing more then I was in December, so I still think that is progress. :) I have managed to get 1-3 days of yoga in each week. I'd like that number to be 5-7. However, some days we are very physically active! Like the day we went to the zoo, or when we run a million errands in one day! haha

I have had to slow down some here and there. Baby girl has grown quite a bit this month and I'm starting to feel it when I am on my feet too much. Thankfully, I have Young Living's Lavender and Gentle Baby essential oils to rub all over my tight tummy during those days. (If you'd like more info on what oils I use go here. Get your own oils here.)

 Braxton Hicks are not fun. They say they aren't painful….yet when I have them, I am left on the heating pad.

Easy DIY Valentine's Day Wreath!

This was a fun and super easy diy wreath I made in about 15 minutes! 

Keep reading to see just how simple and adorable this is.

I started out with the grey yarn wrapped foam wreath from this Easter wreath project. 

If you are starting by scratch, you'll need a foam wreath wrapped in grey yarn.

I had picked up a few goodies from the Target $1 bins last week and thought they would work nicely for this project. The circle punched paper is left over from a decor project we did for my sister's wedding. I literally have a hundred or so of these to use up. Of course, I will eventually use them! :) 

Send Ants Marching with Cinnamon EO!

As usual in Arkansas, this winter has been wet and muddy. Just when the yard starts to dry up, we get more rain. An unfortunate side effect is a line of marching ants along our window sills, walls, doors, floors and even kitchen cabinets!! 

Yuck! 

These little guys can multiply fast! Give them a teeny tiny crumb and suddenly a hundred of their buddies have joined the party! With the three little mess makers we have living here, there is no lack of crumbs! 

This is my go to concoction I use to rid the house of these little marching lines!

Cinnamon Bark essential oil (you can buy them here), water and a used Thieves Spray bottle.

Simply fill the Thieves Spray bottle with water and add 10 drops of Young Living Cinnamon Bark EO.

Shake and spray on location. It usually takes a few times to complete the job. 

You can literally see the ants start to die as you spray them. Not only does it take care of the current residents, but keeps more from joining the party.

How awesome is that!?!

I love that this is a non-toxic alternative to use in my home! I also love that I can successfully avoid nasty chemicals that have negative side effects on my family and pets! 

Not to mention, my house now has the delicious aroma of cinnamon throughout! Yummy!

To learn more about Young Living essential oils you can go here or here.

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you! 

Easy DIY Accent Picture Frame

My sweet momma's birthday is on December 28th. Since we were visiting her the weekend after I brought her a little something special!

My mom's colors are greens and cream colors. I wanted to find her a frame that would match either her colors or go well in her office at work. Of course, the frame would be the home to a fun photo of the grandkids!

Here is what I picked up at Hobby Lobby. A green and cream stripped frame and some burlap flowers. The flowers were actually in the hair accessory area! Hey, whatever works right! 

Moving Forward- Update 1

So we are 9 days into the new year… and thought I'd give a quick update on how I've started working on my goals for this year.

If you missed it, here is the post with my goals and plans for 2016. 

Of course, I know it will take a bit to get into a routine. We started back to school, homeschool co-op and therapy this week. We had multiple showings (or almost showings) on our house sprinkled among these activities.

Somehow, I managed to keep up with my YL business, follow the daily bible reading, and make some plans for some projects I'll share here.

I am giving myself some grace as I work up to incorporating all my goals into my daily and weekly routines. Honestly, it has been challenging!
I feel like my life is being consumed with cleaning and making sure the house is perfect. I want to be ready the second someone wants to see the house. Having three small children is like having 3 tornadoes in the house! They have done surprisingly well with helping for their ages.
Eli and Brooklyn understand that a clean house equals a better chance of selling the house. They both are looking forward to moving so that helps.
Toddlers are a different story! Haha! It takes Jude one second to draw all over the bathroom sink and counter!
I have to remind myself daily, "He is only two, he is only two"!
Here he was sitting on his poor kitty! Oh boy…

We did get to the Zoo yesterday with some friends! It's nice to take advantage of the 50 and 60 degree January Days!




I have been really excited to get more into the scripture! I love using the YouVersion Bible app on my phone. It has The One Year Bible plan. All I have to do is select the day and start reading through the passages for that day. If you get behind…cough...like me…it is easy to catch up. Since Scott and I are both doing the plan, we are enjoying bouncing thoughts off each other. Scott has a bible degree and has more knowledge on the context and history of each book. It's nice to have him around to ask historical and cultural related questions! ;)





Looking forward to next week, I want to add my yoga workouts, do more YL class planning and work on my vision board.


How has this first full week of the new year treated you? Are you working on some new personal goals?

A Joyful Heart

One of my favorite words is  joy. I even gave my first daughter the middle name Joy.

My Brooklyn Joy!

Studying what it looks like to have joy, I have discovered there is much more to this little word then we first give it credit for.

What is Joy really and what does it look like?

According to merriam-webster.com, the definition of joy is:

-a feeling of great happiness.

-a source or cause of great happiness: something or someone that gives joy to someone.

-success in doing, finding, or getting something

All these definitions are great and even believable. I agree joy can be a feeling of happiness and I sure feel happy when things are going well! I use the word when I am feeling happy, elated and joyful. But is that all? Is there more to this little three letter word?

Everyone loves to have joy in their life. But how do we get joy in our lives? 

Do we find it, earn it, buy it or are given it? 
The world would like you to think this is how you get joy. 

Small House Hacks- Playroom Equals Sanity

I have posted how we live in a small house and have wanted to sell for a couple years now. Our house is currently on the market and we are waiting for it to sell! Woohoo!

Our very first home! 

As we wait, we are raising our 3 children (with one on the way) and have figured out a few hacks to make our small home function better.

I am sure we are not the only family out there with several kiddos in 1000 square feet! Maybe this posts will get your creative juices flowing for your home.

The first 'hack' was our Playroom. 

Every parent can understand how toys multiply! Somehow you start out with a small basket in the corner, you blink, and the whole house is over run with them!