tot tupperware town.

i am always looking for activities that will 

encourage independent & imaginative play.

not only does it give mommy a few minutes to herself.

but it also is so beneficial in stimulating creativity 

& setting the stage for make believe play.

one of patrick's {and mommys} favorite activities is our

tot tupperware town.

i simply bought an extra large tupperware & lid.

and then filled it with sand. rocks. pebbles. sticks.

that is the foundation for this activity.

every week or so i rotate out little towns for patrick to play with.

sometimes it is construction town. sometimes its dinosaur town.

sometimes its jungle town. and so on.

i had all of our towns out today to take pictures.

and somehow {haha} they ended up all in the bin together.

so for today. we have a construction town that is being invaded by dinosaurs. 

so totally awesome.

i love sitting to the side & observing patrick play.

it is so neat to watch his imagination soar.

bulldozers push through the sand.

monster dump trucks get filled with rocks.

mama giraffes walk the sand dunes 

with their baby giraffes close behind.

broccoli-sauraus {brachiosaurus} eat the sticks.

while t rex jumps over big boulders.

& sometimes patrick really gets into it.

literally. 

it is his own personal sandbox safari.

what is really great about this activity is the portability.

we keep this tupperware in our garage. it is easy to pull out whenever we want.

& because of the lid. it is easy to pack in the trunk to take on-the-go.

to grandmas. to a friends house. to the park. 

we really love it. & we truly use it several times a week.

the possibilities are endless. & so are the hours of fun to be had. 

so mamas. grandmas. aunts . . .

go snag a tupperware & create some fun for your little tots.

oh. and i also like the idea of getting several small tupperware boxes to create mini towns.

that way instead of switching out the towns every week

you could just leave them in their own personal bin. 

just another reason to love tupperware. 

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purposeful time.

one of my biggest adjustments in becoming a mom

has been learning time management.

i have never been super stellar at time management.

& honestly. its mostly because i never really had to be. 

when you are single or a newlywed. time management can be flexible. 

aside from your job. you are pretty much footloose & fancy free. 

you can eat when you want. work out when you want. 

socialize when you want. nap when you want. 

cook when you want. swim when you want. 

watch the oprah show when you want. shop when you want. 

do absolutely nothing when you want. 

you are basically living on your own preferred time table.

all of that changes when you become a mom. 

suddenly. your time is now revolved around these precious little babies.

your sleeping. your eating. your cleaning. your exercising. 

even your daily shower time can be dictated by your babies. 

the first two months of having two babies

i often felt as if i had no free minutes for just myself.

i felt as if i was constantly being pulled in three different directions. 

and i most certainly was. 

i was trying to clean while i played with patrick. i was trying to cook while i fed pierce. 

i was trying to play on pinterest while i had conversation with my lovie.

everything i did was multitasked. 

resulting in divided attention & diminished success. 

my quiet times with the lord took a backseat to catching up on sleep.

my playtime with patrick was lacking in quality and attention.

evening time with my lovie was taken over with wanting of few moments for myself. 

thats when i realized the value of time management. 

purposeful time management. 

i realized that i would gain so much more fulfillment in my life

if i were giving 100% to each of my roles. my chores. my jobs. my luxuries. 

at this point in my life. my faith & my family are my top priorities. 

while my social life may sometimes suffer. 

& my community involvement may take a backseat. 

i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the lord has called me to be

his child. lovie's wife. patrick & pierce's mama. 

& that is where my time. energy. love. sacrifices need to be poured into first.

to have great success in this assignment my time management needed to change. 

purposeful time management looks different to everyone. 

this is what it now looks like to me. 

it means sacrificing extra sleep to wake up at 6 every morning. 

this gives me two hours of a quiet. sleepy. peaceful house. 

two hours before the boys wake & run ahead full speed.

two hours to have purposeful me time. 

to fill my tank. to have some fun. & feed my soul. 

to have prayer time. to play on pinterest. to write. 

to put on makeup for the day.

if you know me well. you know i love to sleep. i am not a morning person.

shockingly. this has been one of my favorite changes.

i look forward to getting up early every morning. 

i love my purposeful. quiet. alone time. 

purposeful time management means putting everything aside

during playtime with patrick & pierce. 

dedicating time to just being present in the moment with my boys. 

not playing puzzles while i am playing facebook. 

not speed racing cars while i speed race through pinterest.

not filling a sand bucket while i am filling an online shopping cart. 

not turning the pages to a children's book while i am turning the pages of my magazine.

not building my to-do list while i am building a big block tower. 

completely devoted. uninterrupted. undivided. focus on my boys. 

this makes for such meaningful time spent together. 

purposeful time management means

using nap time to get my household chores done instead of resting.

this way my time with lovie is not compromised in the evenings. 

i try to make sure that almost everything is done & tidied before lovie gets home from work. 

he works long hours. he gets home after dinner time. & boy does he work hard. 

we are both tired at the end of the day. 

we are both ready to just relax at the end of the day.

ensuring that most of my chores are done before lovie gets home 

allows us to have a few minutes alone together after bed time routines.

uninterrupted. just to talk. just to be together. even if we are just laying beside each other. 

being purposeful in the time throughout my day has made such a huge difference. 

it has strengthened relationships. it has allowed me to accomplish more. 

it is amazing to see the difference of exclusive dedication to each task at hand. 

the quality of each assignment is exponentially greater. 

how do you establish purposeful time management in your home?

i would love some tips from other mamas. 

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an unwanted promotion.

in the weeks before pierce was born.

i had visions of my two boys hugging & loving one another

from the very first minute they met in that hospital room.

i thought. surely. the second patrick saw his very own baby brother.

he would adore him & be proud to be a big brother. 

i was so wrong. 

oh let me tell you. 

these past three months have been tough. 

patrick most certainly did not want to be a big brother. 

he did not want to meet him. he did not want to hug him. he did not want look at him.

& he most definitely did not want to share his cars with him. 

patrick was gifted an unwanted promotion.

the weeks that followed pierce's homecoming

were overflowing with tears times three.

baby tears. big brother tears. & mama tears.

there were tantrums.

exponentially worse than the normal two year old. 

these were terrible-two-meets-only-child-wannabe- tantrums. 

if i was holding pierce. patrick stated put him away! put him down, mama!

if i said oh, look at the funny face pierce is making . . .

patrick would deliberately look the other direction. 

at first it made me a bit sad.

why didn't he love his baby? why didn't he even care to look at him?

to tickle his toesies. or to giggle at his little noises?

and why was my facebook newsfeed flooded with other brand new big siblings

that were holding. hugging. smiling. kissing. their new babies. 

i kid you not. patrick would literally not lay eyes on baby pierce for the first 6 weeks.

forget about hoping for a hug or a kiss. 

was i doing something wrong?!

should i have read more books to him about

becoming a big brother or bringing baby home?

should i have gotten him a toy doll to pretend like he had a baby?

should i have spent more time talking about what was in my big tummy? 

had i simply just spoiled this only child rotten to the core?

to the point of no return? where he thinks the world revolves around him?

and i was going to have a snotty crabby tyrant for the rest of my life?

dramatic. i know.

but us moms sure know how to blame ourselves & question our mothering.

& then i realized.

he is just like me. just like you. 

he is just like everybody in this world. 

and change is hard. 

change is hard for all of us.

especially for a two year old. 

his itty bitty world had been rocked. 

& he is {still} learning how to deal with it.

i tried several different tricks to foster the brotherly relationship. 

i'll give you a lollipop if you give pierce a hug.

come pinch pierce's nose. it will be funny. 

will you show pierce your favorite dinosaur?

oh look. pierce is waving at you. 

& then after several weeks i finally gave in.

i realized that it would only happen in patrick's timing. 

i stopped trying to force his love on baby pierce. 

we all know forced love is not love at all.

i stopped trying to get his approval of having a baby brother. 

i know that one day it will make him so very proud.

i stopped trying to bribe. to beg. to entice. to trick.

none of that worked. 

i simply loved on patrick. 

loved on his broken little heart.

loved on his selfish little soul.

i made sure to have one-on-one time with him.

just to play. just like the old days. 

{the good old days if you asked him}

& i let him work through this little bump that turned his world upside down. 

while i rested in the peace of knowing that this will pass. 

pierce is three months old tomorrow. 

we still have a long way to go. but we are slowly making progress. 

at this point patrick is used to. and quite comfortable. with pierce being around.

if pierce is in the other room patrick will sweetly ask 

where's baby pierce?!

i know that in some way. having pierce around is patrick's new normal. 

& while that is the extent of their friendship at this point. 

i am ok with that. 

i know that one day my sweet patrick boy will be so grateful 

for his unwanted promotion to big brother. 

he just doesn't know it yet. 

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devotional diapers.

there are a lot of unknowns when you become a mommy.

will my baby be a good sleeper? will i be up all night long for months?

will i have success nursing? will i even like nursing? will i feed my baby formula?

will my baby be content & easy? will my baby be fussy & colicky? 

becoming a mommy . . . 

whether it be a first time. second time. or third time mommy . . .

is like sailing into uncharted territory in a lot of ways. 

however.

one thing i am certain every new mommy will have.

{and have several times a day}

is the joy of changing a dirty diaper. 

this goes without any question or doubt.

yes. every mommy. will in fact. be changing diapers.

all. day. long. 

that being said. 

all of the uncertainities of being a new mommy.

all the learning. & the experimenting.

can very well leave you exhausted.

{even if you have a wonderful sleeper}

so exhausted. in fact. that daily time with the Lord can easily slip away.

morning quiet times are likely filled with baby cries.

& goodnight prayers are probably cut short due to dozing off.

so what better way to send a sprinkle of encouragement to new moms 

& allow them to easily have a few minutes spent in the Word

than with the darling diaper devotionals. 

after all. 

every mommy will be reaching for several diapers throughout those first days.

so why not have each little diaper deliver some promises & truths 

for that weary mama to stand on?!

i adore these honest company anchor diapers. 

they are too stinkin cute for a brand new baby boy bottom. 

personalizing the scriptures really makes this gift special. 

some scriptures can be encouraging for the mommy.

some can be promises for that sweet new baby.

either way.

the Words are from the Lord.

& they bring great comfort.

loved making this treasure of a gift for my new mommy friends. 

hope it brings them strength in those first few weeks of motherhood. 

i could certainly use some for my first few months of terrible twos. 

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real life.

this is real life.

everyday love & lessons. 

real life is real wonderful. 

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