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.

23 Weeks

23 weeks

September 25, 2013- October 1, 2013

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Size of Baby: She's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. She's the approximate size of a mango! 

Total Weight Gain: Not sure, but I will hop on the scale during my appointment on Thursday! 

Maternity Clothes: Absolutely. And may I say, good maternity leggings are a revelation. During my pregnancy with Griffin, I had a few pairs that were so ill-fitting. I remedied that a few weeks ago and bought some that actually fit well. However, I still will never endorse leggings as pants in public. Cover those tushies, ladies! 

Gender: Sweet baby girl!

Movement: I'm not feeling her move, but gosh, she has strange patterns! One day she'll be crazy active all day and then the next day, she's much more low key. I guess she gets tired from all those kicks and punches!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping fairly well. I can only pray that this continues through my third trimester!

What I Miss: We went out for Mexican with friends this weekend and I would've loved a real margarita! Soon enough, soon enough.

Cravings: Still bean burritos all. the. time. I could seriously eat one every single day. I've also been craving spaghetti and really, any kind of pasta.

Symptoms: I'm having the craziest dreams! I remember having wacky dreams when I was pregnant with Griffin, but these take the cake. They're so bizarre, make little sense, and often include people I haven't thought of in years. What in the world?? My acne is improving with my antibiotic creams, plus I've been using Egyptian Magic at night as a moisturizer. Erin recommended it to me and I've been very happy with the results! 

Best Moment of the Week: My parents both got to feel the baby kick which was so special! We also stocked up little sister with some darling clothes at consignment sales. My mom is just a little bit excited to spoil another baby and it's been so fun shopping for a baby girl! Here's just a little sampling of what sister has hanging in her closet waiting for her...

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.