Days 22 & 23 :: 26 Weeks

26 weeks

October 16, 2013- October 22, 2013

How Far Along: 26 weeks

Size of Baby: She weighs approximately 1 2/3 of a pound and is 14 inches in length. They say that's the size of a scallion, but I think they should clarify that it's the length of a scallion. I've never seen a scallion that weighs that much.

Total Weight Gain: I've gained 4 more pounds which puts me squarely in the "I don't want to talk about it" camp. Thanks so much.

Maternity Clothes: Yes! I finally gave up on any maternity tanks with shelf bras. There isn't a shelf bra in the world that's going to help me these days. I bought a few long maternity tanks from Old Navy and so far, I've been very pleased!

Gender: Hopefully still a girl! Unless there's a complication or I go way over my due date, we won't have any more ultrasounds to confirm the fact. However, our 19 week ultrasound was pretty darn clear!

Movement: I said tonight that I'm starting to wonder if I'll give birth to a very small shark. This girl thrashes around like nobodies business! I love it so much though. One of my very favorite things ever is feeling my baby move! 

Sleep: I'm waking up for about 45 minutes to an hour in the middle of the night, which is a pain, but not terrible. I'm not uncomfortable; I just feel temporarily wide awake.

What I Miss: Donuts. I fell out of love with them this week. Sad day.

Cravings: Frozen Kit Kats... oh my word. I can't get enough! 

Symptoms: I've noticed that I'm starting to get winded much easier than before. Walking up the stairs at a fast pace really throws me for a loop. I also had a few waves of nausea this week that weren't pleasant. I'm really hoping we don't revisit morning sickness in the third trimester.

Best Moment of the Week: I've said this before, but Griffin really loves the idea of this baby. He says good morning to her each day when I get him out of bed and squeals and hugs and kisses my belly. He also found a renegade pacifier in his room this week and tried to "give it to her now" by putting it in my belly button! Haha! Something I really love about being pregnant now that he's a bit older is that I think he understands it a little more than he would've a year or so ago. I love this picture below. I took it this week and he was trying to hug the baby as best he could. Sweet thing; I love him so much. 

Another one of the greatest moments of the week was when one of my best friends Kristi found out she's having a baby girl! These two chicks will be just shy of two months apart and I can't wait to see them together. Several of my closest friends are pregnant right now and it's fun going through this life stage together!

I'm also counting this post as my Day 22 and 23 of Being Imperfectly Intentional. It's been my goal to document this pregnancy as well as I did with Griffin's and most of that has been through these weekly updates. I know they're not super fun to read, but I've loved looking back on where I was at this stage with Griffin and comparing the two. 

This covers the twenty second and twenty third days of my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 21 :: Meal Planning

If you've read my blog for any length of time, it's probably clear to you that I live to eat. Tyler doesn't really care much about food and it's tragic. I literally ache for him deep in my heart.

One of the things that I'm really intentional about on a weekly basis is meal planning and grocery shopping. It's easy for me to be that way since I enjoy cooking so much.

I thought I'd share what we're having for dinner this week. I've been only cooking about four nights a week lately, leaving room for leftovers and dinner out. However, I'm cooking most nights this week since my parents are coming for a quick visit on Wednesday!

I also typically do my grocery shopping on Mondays after I pick up Griffin from school. He loves going with me and having a cookie from the bakery. I had a doctor's appointment today though so we're going to go to Kroger in the morning. He has captured the heart of the head baker there and calls him "Griffin's buddy". It's pretty sweet!

Monday: Trader Joe's Kung Pao Chicken with rice and veggie egg rolls
I had everything for this meal at home, which was helpful since I didn't get a chance to run to Kroger today. This chicken is definitely spicy but it's delicious. I added half of a bag of frozen stir fry veggies to ours and it was perfect.

Tuesday: Crock Pot Coney Dogs with potato chips and pickles 
Megan has talked about these several times and I'm finally going to get around to making them this week. I love a good coney dog and when you can use the crockpot? Sign me up! I need to write a post someday with all of our favorite crock pot recipes. It's definitely one of the most important pieces in my kitchen.

Wednesday: Warm Steak & Asparagus Salad with TJ's Orzo & Rice Pilaf and salad
This is one of our very favorite recipes. Tyler actually loves this one and always tells me so when I make it. I made it for my family when we were in Florida this winter and it was a huge hit, so I thought I'd make it when my parents are here. I always leave out the walnuts. And that rice pilaf? If you don't live near a Trader Joe's, I will happily ship you some. It'll change your life.

Thursday: Chicken Pot Pie with warm cinnamon apples and green beans
This is comfort food at its very finest. This pot pie couldn't be easier and we love the combination of flavors when you combine the pot pie with a side of apples and green beans. The hardest part of this meal is shredding the rotisserie chicken. This is a great company meal that doesn't take a ton of effort!

Friday: Cheesy White Chicken Chili with cornbread
We always have soup or chili on Fridays in the fall and winter, so we're trying this chili this week. I can't vouch for it yet, since I've never made it, but I found it through a Google search. There's a restaurant in Michigan called Olga's Kitchen and they have the BEST white chicken chili. I've been craving it, so I'm desperately hoping that this tastes like a replica. No one makes white chicken chili (or bread) like Olga!

Saturday: Date Night with friends!

Meal planning really works for us. Like I said above, I rarely cook this much any more, but this is a special week. If we plan to have leftovers one night, I write that on my meal plan so I know what to expect. Even if we're just having macaroni and cheese from a box, I write that down. It helps me so much to just have a specific plan in place.

I also don't commit to making a specific meal on a specific night unless we're having company. It gives me a little breathing room to be able to switch meals if something comes up one night or during the day. Again, it just helps me immeasurably to know what ingredients I have in the house and what to cook with said ingredients.

What about you? Do you meal plan? I love to hear what different people do!

In the meantime, I'll be dreaming about those coneys tomorrow. You think I'm kidding, but sadly, you'd be wrong.

This is my twenty first post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Days 17-20 :: New Rooms

Well. Hello.

I've kind of dropped the ball on blogging for the last few days.

Tyler was gone for three days and I'm a little tired. I took a good portion of each of those days and started cleaning out our guest room/ office that's going to be Griffin's new room. I also started clearing out things in the nursery to make room for the baby's things.

Working on the rooms, plus single handedly taking care of an energetic toddler while pregnant left little room (or desire) to sit down and blog. He doesn't look so energetic here, does he? He's good at pretending!

It's now Sunday night and I have a quiet house. I've purged some things and am going to work on purging a lot more stuff this week. Griffin's big boy beds are coming on Wednesday and we need to sell the existing furniture in that room.

So even though I didn't blog about it, I have been doing lots of intentional preparations for the baby and for Griffin's big boy room.

I have lots of summer clothes to put away that are no longer useful. I have lots of tiny pink and white sleepers and gowns to wash. I just have a lot to do.

This sweet boy has been so good while I've been working away at cleaning and organizing. He can be a handful, but then again, so can I. 

I never wanted these 31 days to feel restrictive or binding in any way. I wanted to be intentional as much as I could and be intentional about blogging. I've done that this weekend and I have eleven more days in October to continue.

I'm off to bed, but I'm looking forward to a more substantial post tomorrow! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

This covers the seventeenth through the twentieth days of my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 16 :: Starting to Purge and Organize

Yesterday I wrote about my frustration with all of the clutter that we have.

Today, I finally started doing something about it.

This is how it looked when Griffin went to bed tonight. He walked into his room to go to bed and said, "Wow. So messy!" I told Tyler that it's an organized mess, which is true. Sometimes you have to make a bigger mess to get organized. Am I right?

I started small today. I went through Griffin's pajamas, his pants, and a bunch of baskets he has in his room. I set things aside to sell, to store, and to wash for the new baby. 

I typically find that once I start a project like this, I get excited about finishing and keep on going strong. I won't have a ton of time to work on his room tomorrow, but I've started. That's always the hardest part for me. 

I feel like once I conquer his room and his closet, I'll be able to start transferring things over to his big boy room. And once he moves into his big boy room, we'll say goodbye to the crib. Lord, have mercy. 

Hopefully this is just the start of clearing out our home for more space and less frustration. I've been intending to start this for probably three months and I'm excited about the prospect!

This is the sixteenth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 15 :: Too Much Stuff

I had four baskets of laundry to put away this afternoon. That's a lot of laundry.

I loaded it into baskets from my dining room table (just keeping it real) and made what felt like a million trips up the stairs to unload it into bedrooms.

As I started to put things in drawers and into closets, I grew increasingly frustrated. I didn't have room in my closet and I didn't have room in my drawers. I didn't have room in Griffin's drawers.

This is partially because I haven't switched from summer to winter wardrobes yet. It's partially because Griffin's outgrown a size and I need to pack those things away in bins.

But it's primarily because we just have too much stuff.

Our closets are overflowing, our basement is packed, our attic is stuffed to the brim. We are welcoming another family member in about 14 short weeks and we have to switch Griffin's bedroom and change a few things in the nursery.

We have so much stuff and we don't need much of it.

I'm frustrated and I feel overwhelmed by the incredible amount of excess that we have. I need to start being more intentional about purging and keeping the emotion out of it. I'm an emotional hoarder and can find a reason to save almost anything. If Griffin wore something once and I can remember it, I want to keep it. Heck, I even saved the bandaids from his first shots. RIDICULOUS, WOMAN. You can say it. Also, gross.

See? Even Griffin is tired of all our junk.

My friend Erin has been writing a great 31 Days series on this called Creating White Space. I know that it has inspired me to start intentionally going through rooms of our house and creating more space for us to breathe. You should go and read her posts; she's done a fantastic job of talking about clearing out our lives both physically and mentally.

My plan tomorrow is to start making a room by room list of what needs to be accomplished before the baby is born. I'm also planning to schedule just 15 minutes to start going through our basement.

It's time to start putting off what I'm dreading and work on giving us more white space. I think it will be a refreshing change for all of us!

This is the fifteenth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 14 :: Everyday Tasks

It's been harder than I thought to be truly intentional about something specific each day. That is, something that's new and intentional.

Today I was intentional. I did a lot of things on purpose.

I met with my mentor. I grocery shopped. I did a ton of laundry and folded it (don't ask if it's all put away). I took a nap. I played with Griffy. I made dinner. We took a family walk after dinner.

Lots of normal, on purpose things that are just everyday tasks.

Does it make them less intentional even though they aren't revolutionary? Of course not. Especially to my poor husband who, when I was in the throes of the first trimester, was wondering if our house would ever be clean again or if he'd ever have clean socks again. Whoops. I'll tell you, he's glad I'm cooking and cleaning and doing laundry again. I think we all are!

All that to say, I do have a list of things I want to get started on in the month of October that will help us prepare for our baby and to hopefully put our house on the market in the next year. But today was not the day to work on that list.

Today was a day to just do small but necessary things. Food had to be purchased, laundry had to be done, a nap really needed to be had. And I'm going to bed tonight feeling accomplished and ready to start a new day tomorrow.

Sometimes the small things really are just as important as the big things.

This is the fourteenth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Days 11, 12, & 13 :: Friendships

I took the past few days off of blogging about my 31 intentional days, but I want to share what I spent some of my time doing.

I need to back up a little bit.

We've now lived in Cincinnati for a little over six years. When we moved here, I was a little bit resistant... to put it lightly. It's taken me the better part of those six years to become unresistant. Is that a word? Go with me here.

I got it in my head that our time here was temporary, even though Tyler had never led me to believe that. Sometimes I live in a bit of a fantasy world. Yikes.

As I'm sure you can imagine, this led to a whole host of issues. One of the main ones was that I really kept myself from deepening friendships that I made here. I figured that if we were moving eventually, what was the point? I also had great friends elsewhere from high school and college, so why did I need to make new friends?

What a delusional, ridiculous, awful person I was.

Just like it took me most of six years to sincerely be content with living here, it's taken me nearly that long to truly begin to invest in the amazing friendships I've made here.

I've realized that it doesn't mean I have to let my old friendships slide or go. It's just like that old song goes...

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the others gold."

This weekend, I got to spend a lot of time with some amazing friends both new and old.

I got to go support one at an adoption fundraiser for when they bring their new daughter home from China.

One of my best friends from college came up from Louisville for a few hours to go to the zoo with me and Griffy. 

I got to catch up with one who recently moved to California and is home for a visit. I was able to celebrate her baby boy (due exactly 3 weeks before our girl) at a shower. 

I went to dinner with another friend who moved away two years ago and a friend who I don't see nearly enough. We ate a leisurely kid-free dinner, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company.

I attended a play with an old coworker and we watched her son steal the show with a phenomenal performance.

I have MOPS to look forward to on Tuesday with a friend who is in a similar season of life with a toddler boy herself. 

Small group is on Thursday with a group that feels much more like family than friends. 

I have a breakfast date later this week with my California friend and more of my dear girlfriends who live locally.

I don't write all of this to validate anything within myself as a friend because if we're being honest, I'm not all that great at being a good friend. I'm working on it, but it's definitely something that doesn't come easily to me.

I'm saying that because I truly believe that the reason for my loneliness all those years was me. It was my unwillingness to open myself up and be a friend back to these girls.

I now count myself so blessed because I have dear friends here and dear friends who are literally spread across the country from California all the way to Boston. I'm so thankful that God opened my eyes and showed me the incredible girls He's placed in my life here.

I had the opportunity to be intentional with many of these friendships this weekend. My heart is so full and grateful for these relationships!

"I thank my God every time I remember you."

Philippians 1:3

This is the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 10 :: #onebigtruth

 I'm taking a break from my 31 Days today and I'm linking up with Courtney for One Big Truth.

I only found out about this link up this morning. This was not in my plans for today. However, after seeing so many different girls sharing their #onebigtruth, I couldn't help but share mine. 

I didn't have to think about it for long. It's one of the biggest ways God has ever worked in my life and I've been slowly growing and changing in this area over the last year.

(I had no one to take my picture holding my sign and I haven't showered in two days. You're welcome.)

I have believed for years that worry and insecurity and fear are just normal parts of being a woman. That if you're a woman, a wife, a mother... you'll more than likely have a life-long struggle with at least one of those. It's a given. 

No. It's a lie. 

If you're in Christ and if He's in you, then there is love. He loves us beyond what we can even begin to comprehend. There is no fear in love! 

We don't have to fear God. He's not out to get us. Yes, He gives and He takes away, but it's because He loves us and knows what is best for us, even if it causes pain. I have learned this personally. It's not a fun lesson to learn, but as a Christian, I believe it's necessary truth for us to hold close. 

As humans and as women, we know pain. We know what it's like to wait for something that may never come and wonder, "Where is God? When is He going to show up?" He's there. He will. It may not be how we think and it may not be in the tidy package we want, but He will. 

Charles Spurgeon said, "Such strange creatures are we that we probably smart more under blows which never fall upon us than we do under those which do actually come." 

Whew. I know that's true in my own life. How many times have I been paralyzed over things that never actually happen? It's detrimental to the growth of my faith.

I still struggle with fear and anxiety in my daily life. But what I've learned is that I don't have to. 

I've been memorizing scripture and putting in hard work with God's help to put off the fear and the anxiety that can threaten to overwhelm me every day. I'm working to put on truth and that truth is this: that fear, anxiety, and insecurity do not have to define me and be a part of me because that's not who I am as a woman of God. 

Perfect love truly does cast out all fear. When you rest in His love and plan for you, you have nothing to fear. 

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him... There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:16 & 18

This is the tenth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 9 :: Scary Mommy

Today was the day that put the imperfect in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional.

First of all, I didn't get up early and do my quiet time. I didn't even crack open my Bible today.

I went to sleep early last night, but a series of events caused me to get a terrible night of sleep, so I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

I was doing well until Griffin refused to nap. We took his pacifier away over a month ago and since then he's had the worst time falling asleep for naps and bedtime... something that he rarely had issues with before.

He literally demands different things every time then screams and cries if you don't comply. It's exhausting. Today, it took me almost two hours to get him down for a nap. Just as I was about to give up, he gave in.

But this was not before I went all scary mommy on him.

I'm so glad that we were the only two home because I would be mortified if anyone could ever see how I acted towards my two year old baby. It was awful. I was not kind to him. I was the opposite of kind and I know I hurt his feelings. All because I had my own agenda, was tired, and just wanted a break.

There's no excuse for how I acted towards my own little boy. As I think about it now, I have tears streaming down my face yet again.

These years are short. I had nothing of importance to do today. I was purely selfish.

Griffin doesn't do change well. He's so much like me. We've had a lot of change the last two months and obviously, taking away the pacifier he's had since day one is a big change, too. I think he's only been able to express his unrest by trying to control what happens at nap and bed time.

I need to work with him more. I need to have more patience. I need to have more grace. I need to remember that he's a 2.5 year old that can't verbally express how he's struggling with the changes in our family life (disclaimer: nothing bad! Just change).  I love that child with every fiber of my being, whether he ever sleeps another moment or not.

After he woke up, I immediately ran up to his room and scooped him up. I could tell he was still sad from our earlier interaction. I rocked him for a long time and cried and told him many times how sorry I was. I asked for his forgiveness and bless him, he laid on me and stroked my hair while I cried into his.

I hate that we had that awful battle over something as stupid as a nap. I hate it. But I determined that I would intentionally make the rest of the day better and we did.

We baked banana bread together, had his current favorite snack (peanuts and almonds), read book after book, ate popcorn and watched Tangled. I gave him a bath and we took our time through his bedtime routine. As you can see below, I think he forgave his mama for her poor attitude earlier in the day.

And yes, he pulled some shenanigans at bedtime, but I was patient, loving, and I didn't rush through it. It made all the difference.

Tomorrow will be better. I fell on my face before the Lord today after he fell asleep, wept, and asked for forgiveness. My prayer is that God reminds me over and over tomorrow of His unending patience for me even when I kick and scream and demand my way.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a parent every day... not just on the easy days. I'm going to work on being intentionally patient with my sweet boy tomorrow. He deserves it.

This is the ninth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 8 :: Sleep

One of my very favorite education professors in college once told my class this: 

"One of the most spiritual things you can do for yourself is sleep." 

I've thought about that so much in the last eight years. 

I know she wasn't saying that to promote laziness or slothfulness, but to emphasize that we need to care for ourselves well (both mentally and physically) and one of the best ways to do that is to get enough sleep.

Today, I'm exhausted. I got up early to do my quiet time, but I didn't go to bed early enough last night. 

I'm giving myself a pass tonight and I'm going to intentionally get to bed early so that I can get up tomorrow, feel refreshed, and enjoy my day without feeling like I'm in a haze. I have a very specific task that I want to work on and I want to be at my best.

Griffin knows what I'm talking about when I say I'm exhausted. He almost went back to sleep on his changing table after his nap today.

So I'm going to bed, friends. I hope you have a full and restful night of sleep!

This is the eighth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 7 :: My Quiet Time & My Boys

When things are going haywire in my life and when I'm feeling anxious and impatient, I can usually trace it back to one thing: my lack of time in the Word. 

One thing that was positive about the first part of 2013 was the fact that I was spending a lot of time in prayer and in God's word every day. I had literally hit rock bottom and I had nowhere else to go. Although a big part of our lives were being turned upside down, I had a very steady peace that passed my own understanding.

I know this was a direct result of my consistent quiet times. I would get up early before both Tyler and Griffin and spend time reading, praying, and journaling. I was walking closely with God and although it was a painful time, it was a very sweet time as well.

Since getting pregnant and having to camp out in the bathroom with my head over the toilet for the better part of 18 weeks, I really let my quiet time slide. As a result, I have been pretty wretched over the last few months. 

This morning, I set my alarm and got up while it was still dark. I made a pot of coffee and settled in to do my quiet time. I am definitely one of those people who needs quality over quantity when it comes to my devotions. I'm currently focusing on one chapter of the New Testament each day and picking a verse for the day. I write it on an index card and keep it with me all day to meditate on it when I have a chance.

I also do my Jesus Calling for the day and am reading through the Old Testament in a year, so I do my assigned reading for that. Sometimes I read other things as well or journal, but today, I focused on reading. 

It really did set the tone for the rest of my day. Sure, I'm a little more tired than usual, but it was so worth it for me to have that quiet, still time to spend with the Lord. I didn't necessarily have an easier day than normal... in fact, Griffin had some major behavior issues today, but I did notice that I was slower to anger with him than I have been lately. I believe that's a direct result of taking some quiet time with the Lord before I started my busy day.

It's my goal this week to get up every morning and have my quiet time. I'll be sure to report back at the end of the week. 

The other intentional part of my day was taking a long walk with my guys before dinner tonight. The weather was perfect, so we popped Griffin in the stroller and just walked and walked. We put our phones away (save for a few pictures) and took the time to talk and catch up. We even saw a bulldozer and I have to say... the fit that came when we had to say goodbye was EPIC. Griffin Haney is his mother's strong-willed child. 

There truly are few things I enjoy more than a good walk with Tyler and Griffin. We don't do it enough because there are usually all sorts of excuses (usually from me) but we made time to do it today. I'm so grateful for my sweet family and these moments we have together. 

My relationships with the Lord, Tyler, and Griffin are truly what I desire to be the most intentional about. I'm thankful for a day where I got to enjoy and develop each one.

This is the seventh post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 6 :: Church Family

I've come to enjoy Sundays a lot more than I used to. As a Christian, that probably sounds bad, so hear me out.

When we first attended our church, we knew no one. We loved the teaching, but it's a huge church and it's hard to meet people in a congregation that size. We started attending in the early summer of 2008 and joined a small group that fall.

Through our first small group, we met several couples, so it was comforting to see an occasional friendly face on Sunday mornings. Through our small group growing over the next few years and after joining another small group when that one disbanded, we slowly got to know more and more people better.

We started establishing more relationships and getting to know people on a deeper level. We stopped sitting alone and essentially became part of our church family.

But for about five years, Sundays were very lonely days for me. They were the days I missed my family the most and the days where I longed to have my family close enough for Sunday dinner or lunch or just to watch football... and that's saying a lot because I am anything but a football fan. Just ask my husband.

For the last year and a little longer, I've come to love Sundays. Our small group family really is a family. Two of the very best friends I've ever had attend church and we typically go to lunch with our families after church every Sunday. We do life together... when it's tidy and when it's messy. And we sit under some of the best teaching I have ever heard week after week.

Sundays have become a day of intentionally building those relationships. I love these people and they've truly become our family away from home. It's wonderful and I no longer feel lonely on Sundays. Our lives are full of the best people and I'm so, so grateful.

If you're in a church and you're lonely and feel like you aren't connecting with people, just keep trying. Give it time, join a small group, serve in different ministries, and pray about it. Be intentional about trying. I truly understand that it's hard and it's my prayer that you feel connected soon. God is good!

This is the sixth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 5 :: Quality Time

Saturdays are my favorite days. I look forward to having a day with Tyler and Griffin and not having to worry about getting a million things done.

Tyler had some yard work to get done so he suggested I take Griffin to do something. Otherwise, he'd just be crying at the door to go be with Daddy. 

We got dressed and headed to a park that's a little bit further from our house but a whole lot more fun than our neighborhood one. I kept my car keys and my phone with me, but I really focused on spending the whole time just playing with Griffin which is something I don't do a whole lot.

Since I've been pregnant, I've mostly sat and watched him play, but today I really got up and ran around with him. We had the best time! 

We even tried a big swing for the first time and Griffin did so well! I think his mother was more frightened of him falling off than he was. He loved it and laughed and laughed. We both sat on our own swing for a long time and it was just a really sweet time. He sang and laughed and talked to me. My baby really is growing up! 

After our park date, we headed to Target for a few things. We didn't spend a ton of time there, but we did decide that it would be best to share a popcorn. I didn't get as much as a certain young man who was sitting in the buggy, but that's just fine with me. 

When we got home, we ate lunch and then we baked cookies for an event at church tonight. I know I've mentioned it before, but Griffin loves to help me bake and cook. I can't do either when he's awake unless I can give him something to do. He especially loves my KitchenAid mixer.

Today, we made these cookies and they are delicious! It's a good thing we have to take them to church tonight. Otherwise, they might already be gone. Griffin wasn't so interested in the mixing part today; he was much more enthralled by the cookie mix-ins.

You're probably wondering how any of this was intentional. I'll be perfectly honest with you. In the last 9ish months, I've been a very distracted woman and a very distracted mama. Today, I tried my best to be as undistracted as possible. I put down my phone and focused 100% on Griffin and we had the most wonderful time together. 

We had a fun day without the interruptions of school, chores, my phone, or many commitments. I've been noticing the last few months how Griffin just comes alive when we focus completely on him without distractions. I think so many people are like that; we just like to be loved and paid attention by the ones we love. 

It was a great morning of intentional one-on-one time with my best little man. I hope you're all having a wonderful Saturday!

This is the fifth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 4 :: Being Thankful

Today, I was fairly intentional about being thankful for being a mom. 

It's something I haven't been very good at lately. 

Griffin is 2.5 years old and he's going through a tough stage. He is testing me a lot and most days, it feels as though I'm disciplining him all day long. He's not sleeping as well as he used to and he's just been struggling. 

Maybe he's sensing that a huge change is coming or maybe, like a friend told me the other day, he's just a two year old. 

All that to say, I haven't been very thankful to be a mom lately. I haven't wished it away at all, but I've just had a lot of pity parties. 

God gently reminded me today of the months leading up to this pregnancy and how I didn't have much grace for mothers who complained. How I promised Him hundreds of times a day that I would never complain about anything again in regards to motherhood if He would just give us another baby.

How quickly I forget. How quickly I complain and whine and feel sorry for myself. 

Today, He reminded me of just how thankful I truly am for this season of life and the fact that I'm able to be a stay-at-home-mom, which is what I've always dreamed of being. 

My job includes changing diapers, snuggling a big toddler boy, giving baths, wiping runny noses, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, and so much more... and I love it. I love it deeply. Soon, it's going to include a lot more chaos, more diapers, middle of the night feedings, and so many more snuggles. I'm so excited to experience the joy of two children! This is what I want to do. People ask me sometimes if I would ever want to go back to teaching and I really don't. This is my calling right now and I pray it's what I get to do as I carry out my days on earth. 

God also reminded me today that these years go so fast. I know that the years will go so fast and before I know it, I'll be glancing wistfully at a young mom in Kroger wishing I had just one more day of my kids being little. 

I don't think it's reasonable to think that you should enjoy every single moment. Some moments are not enjoyable. Like stain treating. I hate stain treating. But I do want to work on being more intentionally thankful for every day I have with Griffy and his future siblings. There will be hard days, easy days, and in-between days. But all the days with my babies are good days and I can still be thankful for the days where everything seems to go to pot. 

Today was a good day and I'm thankful. And if tomorrow is a rougher day, I will still (do my best to) be completely and utterly thankful. One step at a time, right? 

Look at that face. Never a dull moment with him! He kept poking his head out and saying, "I'm wight here!" Now excuse me while I go fish him out of his crib to kiss his sweet cheeks. Babies don't keep!

This is the fourth post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 3 :: Taking Time for Myself

My post today is going to be short and sweet because I have a busy day ahead of me.

Today, I decided to be a little bit selfish. Griffin has school this morning and I knew I would have to put him in after care because I have a doctor's appointment that will run a little later. I also knew I wouldn't have much time to run home between dropping him at school and my appointment.

I decided to come to Starbucks at the mall, do a little work and blog, and then grab a new candle and some soap from Bath and Body Works.

In short, I decided to intentionally take sometime for me which isn't something I typically do.

Sure, I spend a lot of time sitting on the couch and playing with my phone when I should be folding laundry, washing bathrooms, etc. I take a lot of wasted time for myself, but not a lot of intentional time.

I'm not breaking the bank with this. I got a coffee and a piece of banana bread and I'm soon to go grab a few new fall happies. But it's nothing extravagant and I already feel recharged and ready for the day ahead of me.

I know I need to enjoy these times while I have them because come January, I'll have a little constant sidekick again. Please hear me say that I wouldn't have it any other way. This baby girl is so longed for, waited for, prayed for, and I can't wait to have her as a part of our family. But it's okay for me to enjoy this quiet time, too.

The highlight of my Starbucks trip? Seeing these three ladies sitting and talking while playing Skip-Bo. I hope I'm doing the same thing in fifty years with my girlfriends.

And just because I can't resist, here's my handsome boy ready for Picture Day at school. Can you even handle it? He's just the sweetest, most ornery little thing. I love him to bits.

I'm off to find a Cider Donut candle! Wish me luck!

This is the third post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series. 

Day 2 :: Coupons & Cooking

Today was just a day of small intentional things.

Usually, we go to story time at the library on Wednesday morning. However, after just getting home last night from being out of town for four days, I felt like it would benefit both of us to just take it easy and have a slower start today.

That's not normal for me. Griffin loves story time and I love story time. We like being on-the-go. But today, we just needed Cheerios and coffee on the couch with a side of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I also knew I needed to grocery shop and I knew it would push both of us too far if we were to try story time and a full grocery trip.

So, as I said before, we started slow and I made my grocery list. I meal planned and wrote my list (which isn't abnormal for me), but I did a few things that I've been intending to do and haven't been.

First of all, I only planned for four meals for a full week. I truly enjoy meal planning and usually plan for 6 meals, but that typically ends with a high grocery bill, too many leftovers for 2 adults and a toddler, and a lot of wasted food. Seems like an easy solution, right? Cook a few meals and plan the leftovers for others.

The only problem? I don't like doing that. Leftovers aren't my game. But Tyler made the very reasonable suggestion above and I tried it last week... and he was right. So, even though I had a few other meals I would've loved to ideally make this week, I only planned for four. I know we'll have more than enough food.

Also, I used coupons. CRAZY. I have a stack of coupons that Kroger sends and some that I cut from magazines. Mama doesn't have time to have a coupon binder; I just save what happens to come my way. But I typically don't go through that stack before I grocery shop. I usually end up throwing away a stack of coupons at the end of the month that I certainly could've used, but didn't because I was too lazy to take 30 seconds to go through the stack before I go to Kroger each week.

So, I took those 30 seconds this week, and you know what? It saved me $11 for things I already had on my list. I know that's not much, but it made me feel like I'm at least being a good steward of the coupons I had on hand. Again... baby steps to being more intentional.

And I realize what you can see on this list makes it look like we eat a lot of junk and dairy. I promise my produce list is hidden!

Going along with the meal planning track, I had planned a meal with a few different sides tonight because we were going to have a dinner guest. That changed this afternoon and what I should've done was switch a meal for later in the week, but I decided to just go with what I'd planned.

Big mistake.

I'm just not in a season right now where it's reasonable for me to make a main dish and then a few different sides (that take considerable effort) to go with it. It's not reasonable with a toddler underfoot and it's certainly not going to be reasonable come January with said toddler and a newborn. It was a delicious meal and one that is very "company appropriate", but it's not very "Rachel's life with a crazy two year old appropriate" right now. And that's okay.

I can still be intentional about making good, healthy meals for my family. I can still enjoy cooking... and I do! It's okay if the side to our meal is a simple dinner salad with bottled dressing or something thrown on the grill with frozen sweet potato fries. It's even okay (and delicious) to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for supper. I need to be more intentional about setting myself free from this self-imposed expectation that every night needs to be a meal that takes effort and time. Tonight just about convinced me!

In case you're interested, we had Pioneer Woman's rigatoni with chicken, salad with creamy Italian dressing, and garlic cheese bread. Again, it was delicious, but phew! I felt like I'd run a marathon at the end. I'm no Ree Drummond. And I'm glad!

And with that, I'm off to bed. I have a big day tomorrow which includes hearing my sweet baby girl's heartbeat at my doctor's appointment!

 This is the second post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series.

Day 1 :: Packing & Unpacking

Well, here I am. Day one is finished. How was I intentional today?

Believe it or not, I had dreams about posting every day in October last night. Dreams! Plural! I started thinking too much about how this was supposed to look for me and I think it worried my subconscious.

But that's why I titled it imperfectly intentional. So relax, Rachel. No more bad dreams about blogging.

Today we traveled home from four days away in Michigan. A lot of my intentionality today was based on packing and unpacking. Strange, right?

Since we live far from both sets of our parents, a lot of our time the last six years has revolved around packing and unpacking. Let me be clear: I hate packing and unpacking. It stresses me out like nothing else. It usually starts a fight between me and Tyler and not because of him. I know; I'm basically admitting that I'm the reason we fight sometimes. I know you're shocked.

Anyway, today I decided to suck it up. I decided to stop complaining and pack my stuff. And not only did I pack my stuff, I loaded our car while Tyler was working. I can tell you with 100% certainty that I have never packed the car for a trip unless it's just been me and Griffin going and Tyler is out of town.

When we got home, Tyler unloaded the car and I stretched my legs for a bit. After that, I decided to suck it up again and unpack us immediately. This is a huge deal for me and let me tell you why. It usually takes me days, nay, WEEKS to unpack us. Typically, our bags sit on the floor of our bedroom and we live out of them until I'm having trouble sleeping because our house is such a mess.

So basically, by being intentional and thinking briefly about how it would help all of us to get these things done today, it made for a much, much smoother travel day. By packing the car, we were able to leave earlier which blessed my husband. By unpacking our luggage, I was able to bless myself and my family by not immediately trashing our house that I'd left clean on Friday.

It felt good. It felt good to get those things done and not be a lazy bum like all the one million trips before. It felt good to be intentional about something, no matter how small it seemed.

And I'd like to think God gave me a little bonus today because the child that never, ever sleeps in the car was out like a light within 10 minutes of leaving my parents house today. Good boy, Griffin!

And there we have it... day one, finished. We'll see what kind of crazy dreams I have tonight. But hey! I can blame it on pregnancy, right? 

This is the first post in my 31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional series.

31 Days of Being Imperfectly Intentional

I've alluded to 2013 being a hard year for our family on my blog a few times over the past 9 months. I haven't provided a whole lot of details. It hasn't been in the spirit of being vague, which is something that makes me a little crazy.

No, it's been in the spirit of a very sensitive and tender heart and in a spirit of wondering just how God is going to use the first six months of 2013 to further His name and His cause. Not if, but how, because I know that He will. Recently, I finally felt Him say to me that it's okay if I never tell this story in it's entirety. There's a lot of freedom in that and a lot of freedom in waiting on His timing for everything. It's nerve wracking, but it's also freeing.

Because of the way our year has gone, there have been lots of things that have been cast aside in every single area of life: my relationship with the Lord, my husband, my son, my home, my friendships, etc. The list is long and there's no excuse for it. I got so wrapped up in my own problems and my own difficulties that I lost sight of the things that matter most in this life.

Mid-September, I saw that Nester was going to do her 31 Days series again. I hadn't even thought of doing it again and didn't even consider doing it once I read her post. However, I realized a few days later that I couldn't get the idea of doing something out of my head. I thought and I thought and I even prayed about it.

This is what I came up with.

I have felt so lazy and unmotivated in all the areas of life I listed above, plus more. I need something to kick my rear back into gear and I thought, "What better way than to blog about it?" This is truly a blog series for me and it's my hope that blogging daily about the intentional, on purpose ways that I'm using to work on my own personal improvement will serve as the boost I've been needing. I've added the word "imperfect" because I know it's going to be just that. There's no right or wrong way to be intentional about life, but I know I don't want it to make me feel limited. I simply want to be intentional about something or someone daily for the next 31 days and hope that it serves as a good motivator.

I don't know exactly what this is going to look like. Some days will be focused on bigger intentional tasks and many days will be smaller, seemingly mundane ones. Some days will be focused on my walk with God, as unfaithful as I am. Some days will be focused on people and relationships, primarily my husband and my son. Some days, I'll even focus on doing something intentional for me.

Like I said above, my goal to do something "on purpose" every day... something that I've been intending to do or even that I haven't been intending to do. I'm not here to tell you how to live a more intentional life because I think that looks different for everyone. Plus, I obviously have no expertise on the subject, which is why I'm blogging about my journey through it and what it looks like for me. I can't wait to see where this leads me and what life looks like on October 31.

Here's to a good 31 days!

Day 1 :: Packing & Unpacking

Day 2 :: Coupons & Cooking

Day 3 :: Taking Time for Myself 

Day 4 :: Being Thankful

Day 5 :: Quality Time

Day 6 :: Church Family 

Day 7 :: My Quiet Time & My Boys 

Day 8 :: Sleep

Day 9 :: Scary Mommy

Day 10 :: #onebigtruth

Days 11, 12, & 13 :: Friendships

Day 14 :: Everyday Tasks

Day 15 :: Too Much Stuff

Day 16 :: Starting to Purge and Organize

Days 17-20 :: New Rooms

Day 21 :: Meal Planning

Days 22 & 23 :: 26 Weeks