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!

Pajama Series

I don't know if you've looked at the weather for East Texas but it is supposed to be COLD for Christmas. And my girl's Christmas PJs are cotton, not fleece. So naturally, I had to have her wear them today (and most likely the next few warmer days) to get our wear out of them. And well, she was just so cute we had to have a mini photo shoot in our PJs. Shocked???

My girl is full of personality. And she is such a joy to capture on camera. Plus I think she's getting used to me singing behind the camera in order to get her attention. She's a pro! ;)

Christmas Pictures 2017

It's obvious if you follow me on social media that I am obsessed with my daughter. So when my mom pitched the idea that we set her in a basket at her house by the tree for some Christmas pictures I jumped on it! I'm blessed with a fun-loving little girl who is absolutely beautiful (in my opinion).

While I am not a professional photographer, I am pleased with the pictures. Mind you I snapped close to one hundred in order to get my nine pictures featured here. And I had my mother (Liv's Nana) dancing and singing behind me to get the expressions you see below. But I think we did pretty darn good! I think professional photographers take numerous to get a smaller amount of post-worthy pictures but I doubt their raw image to edited and frame-worthy image ratio is quite like mine. Ha! Anyways, all that to say, "Let me show you my beautiful baby in all her Christmas glory!" 

I told you she was cute, right? The last three pictures get me every time. They show off her little personality! She's a hoot. And thank you, Mom, for the great photo set-up idea! 

Olivia is such a joy and I count my blessings every time I look at her sweet face. It is so much fun to have her around for the holiday's this year! I can't wait to snap some pictures of her on Christmas as she experiences the fun times we all know and cherish! 

The BEST & EASIEST Blueberry Muffins

I am a muffin girl. I love that they aren't too sweet like most desserts. I love that I can grab one to have with my coffee or consider one as a dessert after a meal. I LOVE muffins. And I LOVE this blueberry muffin recipe. (And so does the hubs!) I found the recipe here and have been addicted to my modified version ever since.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it requires ONE mixing bowl and a small liquid measuring cup like this. Nothing worse than having to clean up multiple mixing bowls!

The Best & Easiest Blueberry Muffin Recipe 

Recipe makes 8 jumbo muffins or 10 regular muffins.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup frozen blueberries (you can of course use fresh but frozen is so easy and convenient) 

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F and line your muffin tin or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in your mixing bowl and set aside. 
3. In a measuring cup that holds at least 1 cup add the egg, vegetable oil, milk and vanilla. Then mix with a fork until combined.
4. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until just combined. Your batter will be thick! Don't use an electric mixer as it can over mix the batter. You just want to stir the ingredients together until all the dry ingredients are married with the wet. 
5. Gently fold in the blueberries.
6. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar on the top of each muffin. (Makes them extra tasty!)
7. Scoop batter into muffin tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

***Personally, I've noticed my muffins take closer to 23-24 minutes to bake and I make the 10 standard size muffins. I don't know if this is my oven or not but just be sure to check your muffins with a toothpick. Another tip: try not to peak at your muffins by opening your oven. This can cause the muffins to sink in the middle. Give them at least 15 minutes before opening your oven to check them. I learned this the hard way and had gooey, sunk in muffins. Yuck! 

While I am not claiming to be a good baker, I must say these muffins make me appear as one. So add them to your recipe book! You'll thank me later. :) 

New Name and a Facelift

Yep, it's 2:07 AM and I am redesigning my blog and renaming it all at the same time -- in the middle of the night. I've had some insomnia lately so I decided to make better use of my time not sleeping and piddle on here. Back in the day I dabbled in blog design and still enjoy doing it. And I stole the new name of the blog from my husband's Instagram tag. But do you get it? Morris Better..."More is Better???" Seemed very fitting for a blog name about our lives. Surely he won't mind. ;)

I know I've been absent from here but like I've warned you before -- I AM NOT CONSISTENT.

A few updates for you:

1. I briefly mentioned my essential oil journey I started. Well, I'm currently at a stand still. I think I dove in too fast and the result was terrible migraines. So I have been advised to slowly reintroduce them one at a time but to be honest I'm a little gun shy. Disclaimer: I am not saying oils don't work but right now they aren't working for me. I haven't completely given up yet though! So stay tuned on that front.

2. The more I ponder the direction of my Etsy shop the more I realize my heart is just not in it. I also have serious issues of being very hard on myself when it comes to my own expectations of the products I make and I'm honestly just not proud of what I was producing. So it's looking like I won't reopen the shop.

3. Olivia is growing like a weed and I LOVE taking pictures of her. In fact, I'm currently using her as my subject to work on my photography skills. I've always enjoyed taking pictures and I'm slowly learning more about my camera and how to utilize Photoshop to enhance the pictures. But back to Olivia, she is seven and a half months old! I simply cannot believe it. I mean look at how precious she is!!!

Anyways, late night posting at it's finest. Hope you like my redesign. I know I do! And I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Here's to inconsistent blogging and random ramblings!

As always, thanks for reading!

Shop Update

After reading my own blog post last night, I realized I have a lot of goals and aspirations right now. There are a lot of things I hope to accomplish and I want to do them well. But something that I have learned the hard way is taking on too many things at once can lead to a quick burn out and/or for me a mental breakdown. I'm doing so well on the mental health front that the last thing I want is to create a problem that I can easily manage now!

With that in mind, I reflected last night and this morning as to what needs to take a backseat right now. I don't want to take on too much to where I lead myself to failure just by the simple truth that no human can do it all at once. So I have decided to temporarily close my Etsy shop, Sweet Liv Designs. 

While it has brought me joy to hand letter art prints for customers, it has also most recently caused me the most anxiety. I want to focus on my shop and give it the love and attention it needs but right now I am more focused and feel driven to tackle my health. I want to invest time in becoming healthier, more fit and more focused on my physical, mental and spiritual well being. Because the most important job I have right now is being a mom to Liv and the only way I can be her mom is to take care of myself.

My goal right now is to re-open the shop in 2018 when I can hopefully put more time into it. But until then, I am so grateful for each of you who supported my shop and I sure hope you'll stay tuned in for shop updates! 

Dreams for the Blog

I have so much that I want this blog to be. My head is swimming with ideas and dreams.

Most of you know that I have a passion to share and discuss all things mental health. And while I haven't decided how candid I want to be on here I am always available to chat candidly in a one on one setting (emails, Facebook messenger, phone calls or in person meetings). (On a completely separate note, I have a super big dream to write a book on the subject of mental health.) Another hope for this blog is sharing the new journey I am embarking on into essential oils with Young Living as I learn how to utilize them to better my health and maybe make it into a side business sharing my love for oils. I also want to use this blog to share what is going on in my little family of three. Update you on what my little nugget is up to and how life as stay at home mom is going. I'd like to share recipes, DIY projects and any tip or trick I find along the way while parenting and being a wife to my sweet husband. I'd like to share my Etsy shop and my love for hand lettering. And the list goes on and on...

The dreams are big and albeit, daunting but they are there and I hope to make them come true. I am currently reading Lara Casey's book Make It Happen and something she encourages is writing what you want to make happen down. Speak it. Make it real. So here is me doing just that, to you so that hopefully I can feel some accountability in my journey.

I have a purpose. I want to utilize this blog to find and share my purpose with you. Who knows which of the topics above will take flight and which ones will dwindle away. Maybe all of them will make there way into this blog. Only time will tell and my desire to make this happen.

As always, thanks for reading. And I hope you'll continue to follow along as I ramble my way through this thing called life. Here's to a Monday gone by and a week full of possibilities ahead.

The New Job

Oh hi there! If there is anything you should know when it comes to me and blogging it's inconsistency. Just throwing that out there. So don't get your hopes up that there will be post after post headed your way. Anyways....I digress. 

I have been at my new job (*wink wink) for two weeks now and I'm simply in heaven. No regrets here. Sure there are sacrifices being made for me to stay home but totally & completely worth it. I had my fears that I'd get stir crazy, miss adult human beings or gain a million pounds out of boredom but it's been the opposite for me. Granted, I have been baking a lot so the jury is still out on the gaining a million pounds. It really has been awesome. I had a fear that I'd have this sense of regret, leaving the comfortable, money-making job but that hasn't been the case. In fact, I feel at peace with our decision for me to stay home. And my husband is the best supporter and provider for us. I'm beyond grateful for this opportunity. I mean look, just look at this little nugget that I get to be with all day every day! 

Ugh, she's just so cute I cannot stand it! But anyways, I just wanted to pop in and update the world (or the five people that will read my post) about how life as a stay at home momma has been going this far. We LOVE it! As always, thanks for reading! 

Olivia is 4 Months Old!!!

Well, she will be Tuesday anyways. :) And let me tell you this little nugget is knocking those milestones out the window. She has the most delightful personality and no matter how she is feeling she will always crack a smile. She can roll over now and can grab things and is learning to bring them to her mouth. She LOVES to talk, especially to the toys that hang above her baby gym.

We are truly blessed by this little person. And I cannot believe she is already four months old! As you'll get to know me on here, I tend to take a lot of photos of my girl so of course we had to have a mini photo session for her four months of being on this earth! Let me warn you...she's pretty darn cute! ;)

We got serious all of the sudden here...

This look! Haha, love her so much.

On a side note, I have only TWO more weeks at my current job before my full time job is staying home with this cutie pie. I can hardly wait! And I'm all ears on recommendations for you current stay at home moms on ways you schedule your day so you are still productive!!! :)

Honey Bourbon Chicken

I'm not a cook by any means so when I find a delicious and easy meal that will knock your socks off you better believe I'll be sharing. I originally found this meal on Pinterest -- I know shocker. And I need to browse the owner of this recipe's site for other deliciousness but that's for another day. Let me introduce you to your new favorite family dinner! 

CROCK POT HONEY BOURBON CHICKEN 

Shout out to my friend Krystle for the cute wine glass

As a new mom, there is nothing I love more than food that can be made in the crock pot. Because let's be real, spending hours in the kitchen just isn't a realistic goal when you have a three month old at home. Heck, even when you don't have a baby at home but you have a life and other things you have to get done! 

This meal is one of those that can be thrown together during nap time and ready when the hubs gets home from work with minimal prep. And it takes a maximum of 4 hours so you can throw this meal together in the afternoon without having to do a tone of meal planning! I'm not quite there yet in the meal planning department and prefer the option to pick up groceries rather last minute and still be able to make a tasty but easy meal. (I know as a new mom meal planning would benefit me greatly, I'm just not there yet. Maybe after September 8th I'll get to work on that...) 

Honey Bourbon Chicken

Ingredients:

- 2 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts

- salt & pepper

- 1 c. honey**

- 1 c. soy sauce

- 1/2 c. ketchup

- 4 tbsp vegetable oil

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes**

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/2 c. diced onion

Cooking Instructions:

1. Trim chicken and place in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

2. In medium bowl, add honey, soy sauce, ketchup, vegetable oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and onion all together stirring well to combine then pour over chicken.

3. Cook on LOW for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Once done, cut chicken into chunks and enjoy!

I serve mine on a bed of rice (my favorite to cook for sake of ease being the Success - Boil in a bag rice). And then I saute or roast up some vegetables to go along with the main dish. To make it an even easier dish, grab a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables and cook those up the last few minutes! Easy and let me tell you DELICIOUS. 

**Tip: To use less honey because, let's face it honey is pricey, you can use half brown sugar and half honey. Also, if you like heat in your dishes increase the red pepper flakes and vice versa if you prefer a milder dish. 

Give it a try and let me know what you think! This recipe is great for anyone who is willing to dust off their crock pot! 

Promotions for Everyone

A lot has been happening in the Morris household. My hubs, Brian got a big promotion a few weeks ago and I couldn't be more proud of him. He has worked so hard and with so much passion and dedication to get to where his is today and I'm so blessed to call him my hubby. But with his promotion comes another big change for our little family...

I get to spend all day every day with my sweet girl, Liv! 

That's right people, I am getting my own promotion to become a STAY AT HOME MOM!!!!! I'm beyond excited and albeit a tad nervous about the transition but I simple cannot wait. Because I respect my boss so much and all she has done for me I have given a rather long notice so my last day isn't until September 8th but believe me the countdown has begun. 

But this is another reason I wanted to have a blog that I can utilize to share and document Liv's milestones, to learn and share meal prep ideas and just general motherhood business. Plus I will need somethings to engage my brain other than talking to Liv all day! 

I'll also be asking questions to you other SAHM's (stay at home mom) on things you do to fill you day and how to manage your home and take care of you child in the most productive manner.

I am so excited and can't wait to get into my new routine! Just three and a half more weeks of "work" before I start my new job. :)