Snow Day 2018

These days don't happen often here in East Texas. You better believe we all get pretty excited to see the white stuff. Snow in the South also means the entire city pretty much shuts down. All the schools are closed, even Brian has a snow day today! So we had to take Liv out to see snow for the first time and take some obligatory "Snow Day" pictures. Granted, she has no clue what was going on and probably just wanted back inside where it was warm but she's cute none the less and we have the moment documented.

And yes, we are all wearing our pajamas in these pictures. ;) Snow day = lazy day around our house! Isn't Liv just the cutest little snow angel in the world?!? (I'm not partial at all. Ha!) 

Happy Snow Day! 

How Motherhood Made Me Stronger

I'm sure you've all heard the quote "She believed she could, so she did" at some point in time. I always found this quote motivating. It's an empowering message that you can tailor to any season of life. But before becoming a mother, I personally always attributed this quote to being successful career-wise. A motivating quote to conquer the business world. But now that I'm a mother, I see it as much more. I see it as a call to action.

I have battled mental health for years now. More times than not it has dictated my life. Both personally and professionally. But that all changed when I became a mother. I suddenly had this purpose and drive to love and care for this tiny human to the very best of my abilities. My job was to become as selfless as possible. Before Liv, I was quickly crippled by panic attacks and depressed moods. I would wallow in these moments and would allow them to consume me. But with Liv, I can't. She needs me. And suddenly I believed I could, and so I did. 

I realize you're asking, "you believed you can do what now exactly?"

Now that I'm a mother I have a new found strength to beat the anxious thoughts and panicked heart. Because I want Liv to have a happy, healthy mother to take care of her.

This isn't to say I have conquered my mental health struggles and no longer have panic attacks or depressed moods. It's all still a work in progress. But I am constantly amazed how motherhood has changed me. I've never had anything that motivated me so deeply like being Liv's mother. For me, she's preventative treatment. I know with her, I have to be able to give my all. I can't let my health get in the way. So I am able to get ahead of what normally would have spun me into a deep dark hole. I'm now able to work through panic attacks and depressed moods in a healthier manner because I have this beautiful little girl that motivates me to be better. So all of the sudden:

She believed she could, so she did. 

Motherhood is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It's taught me that I have much more strength than I ever knew. And I can do more than I ever thought possible.

Here are two iPhone wallpaper freebies for you all today as well. Click on the images below and it'll take you to where you can download it to your phone.

                                

This post originally was supposed to go out Friday, and I was going to start a Friday Freebies tradition but as I am recovering from being sick all weekend it was postponed to today. 

As always, thanks for reading. Hope everyone in the ETX area enjoys the snow day tomorrow! 

Remember This

The days can be long. The budgets can be tight. The stress can be fierce. It can feel like you'll never catch a break. And the battle can seem impossible but today when I read this quote from Lysa Terkeurst via a friend's Facebook feed, my heart felt calm. 

My faith has been shaky for years now. (A story for another post at another time.) But lately I find myself longing to be comforted by something and someone greater than me. So for now, I will find comfort in Lysa's words. "God is working things out. He is present. His plan is still good and He can still be trusted."  

I hope you find comfort in these words as I have today.

Esty Shop Update & a Freebie

As most of you know, I had an Etsy shop last year called Sweet Liv Designs. I closed it back October with the intention to reopen at the beginning of this year (a.k.a. NOW). I closed the shop back in October for several reasons and after further reflection, the shop will remain closed. I'm sorry to those who had planned to make orders after the reopening. But owning and operating an Etsy shop just isn't in the cards for me right now. I have other areas of my life that need focusing and if you've ever run your own business you will understand that it takes money to earn money. And I'm simply not at the point where I want to or can invest in the business.

In the meantime, I'll hopefully be posting on here more often about daily life as a mother and household manager. As I mentioned yesterday, you'll be seeing some reviews on here of products I'll be trying via Influenster. And I plan to continue using my creative skills in some way that should benefit you. Today it's a little iPhone wallpaper to start off the new year! (I haven't played around with image sizes to see if it will work on other phone brands but I'll get there. Lol!)

Click HERE to download the image.

As always, thanks for reading!

The Year I Became a Mom

As I look back on 2017, I can't help but call it the best year yet. I became a mom. Liv is the most wonderful baby. I simply adore her.

But I am going to miss 2017. I think back to this time last year when I was pregnant with Liv, dreaming about the day we'd finally get to meet her. I look back at all of my "bump" pictures so fondly and so grateful that I took the time to document those precious moments before her arrival. This past year was full of changes. Both internally and externally. Before meeting Liv, I'd have said I didn't want to stay at home. I thought I at least wanted to work part-time. Back then I didn't know how life as a new mom would affect my mental health and ability to cope with the everyday stressors of being a working mom. For me it was a choice, use up all of my emotional energy on a job that ultimately didn't matter and constantly be drained as a mother or use my emotional energy to love and care for our daughter and home. At times when we were deciding what to do it seemed like a problem. I was frustrated that I couldn't "do it all." I felt like I was broken. But now I know it was a blessing that I had struggles doing both. I'm grateful it was an obvious problem that we were able to find a solution to. So in September, we made the decision for me to stay at home full-time with Liv. Brian had just received a promotion and while our budget would still be tight we felt it was the right call for our family. And I can't imagine life any other way now. I can't believe I thought I wouldn't want to do this (stay-at-home) at one time in my life. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't easy. Budgets are often tighter for the families that have one income and to say you get "stir crazy" is an understatement on some days. Of course, there are days I wish we could go out to eat or buy something new. And there are days when I would like a little more adult interaction and fewer diaper changes. I'm pretty sure any SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) would agree. But the time I'm spending with Liv is well worth any sacrifice we are making. I realize staying at home is not for everyone but it is for me. I'm so grateful.

This past year has also made me even more grateful for my husband. Even though it meant a tight budget, he encouraged me to stay home with Liv and to focus on taking care of her and myself. He never once made me feel guilty. He's my rock and it has been a pure joy watching him become a dad.

This year also showed me how blessed I am to have such a happy, healthy, and well-adjusted baby. I had minimal pregnancy complications. She was born perfectly healthy. She hasn't been sick. She has slept through the night since she was three months old. She also cut her first two teeth like it was nothing! She loves to talk, walk around the house in her walker, army crawl, sleep in her crib and eat. I say my prayers of thanks every day for this beautiful child.

Now I look forward to 2018 and I can't wait to see what it holds. We're finally settling into this whole parenting role thing. My husband received a new sales route which should be great for our family and my health is stable. So we're off to a good start. How can it not only get better since we get to watch this precious little girl grow before our eyes?

I didn't really intend to go into that much depth of the past year. But I just have so much to be grateful for and I'm sad to see 2017 end. Stay tuned for more pictures of Liv (duh!) and hopefully a little more blog content.

If you do follow along is there anything you'd care to see me write about?

I plan to post more motherhood posts, and hopefully some good recipes. As a way to save some money, I also joined Influenster, where you get free products (anything ranging from household items to beauty products) simply by writing reviews on the products you've used. So you'll be seeing some reviews of things I receive as well and I'll let you know if Influenster is worth it. 

Anyways, Happy New Year, everyone!