Motherhood is one of the greatest joys of my life that started in February of 2022 but not only am I learning that children are a gift from God but that the ability and purpose of having children is so much more important than I thought. I am learning how impactful being able to raise the next generation actually is for our community and world and what that means for God's mission on the earth. Yes, mommas by caring for your children you are doing the work of heaven, what a pleasure that is to be coworkers with God in furthering His kingdom through our children!

When our first baby was born my husband said I can't wait until she's bigger so I can play with her, and I felt a little the same way. But being with her all the time I discovered that there are plenty of ways you can play with a little baby even before they're up and moving around. Here is a list of 43 ideas to try with your baby at different ages if you're feeling like you will just be feeding and changing diapers for the rest of your child's life and want to interact with them a little more.

Men and women were both created to reflect who God is and in different ways based on the character traits and gifting they are given by God. For example, men were created to reflect God through being strong, brave, protectors and providers, people who finish a job and do it with all their heart. Goal oriented and driven people who want to create and build and make something. Women reflect God through being the more caring, comforting and detail-oriented people who care about beauty and details. Patient and showing grace in situations where someone might think they shouldn't. There is a verse, 1 Timothy 2:15 that says, "‭Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control." This is a section that is talking about proper actions in the church for me and women.

There have been a lot of times where I have sat on the floor with both my girls, and we all were just sobbing in tears because we were all stressed frustrated and overall, just having a rough time. There have been moments where I am so frustrated that I've pounded my fist on the wall or threw my face into my pillow and groaned or I have had to just put my kids somewhere safe and walk away. I think most if not all parents can agree that these are moments, we have all faced at one point or another in raising our children and unless they're all out of the house we can likely expect to experience them again. Personally, I would like to get better at handling these situations and grow in the fruits of the spirit in kindness, patients, peace, and self-control so here are some things I have noticed make a difference in my response to situations. I am by no means perfect in this area, but these are things I've seen make an improvement.

We have talked about this before on here a few times and I'll link the posts at the end of your interested in more on this topic, but I was thinking about this idea that children are a gift from God and reflecting and what a gift is, and it reminded me of a Christmas in my childhood when I was around 9 years old.

There are a few main reasons I love baby wearing. I love to be able to have my baby close so I can more easily read her hunger cues and respond sooner. I also love the ability to be hands free and get some things done without leaving my baby in some swing or something. Another reason I love to baby wear is because it is convenient for when you're out and about like at church or grocery shopping. It helps keep people out of your baby's face and thus protects them from unwanted germs as well as any strangers who might want to just simply get too close for comfort. You can do it skin to skin which helps promote bonding and has many health benefits for both mom and baby. For me with my second it also protects her for my energetic and not self-aware dog as well as my toddler who just wants to hug and kiss her nonstop and also doesn't realize her own strength most of the time.

I had every plan of having an all natural unmedicated birth and that mostly happened but as we went in for my prenatal appointment at 40 weeks my doctor talked my husband and I into scheduling an induction at 41 weeks. We agreed because my bishop score was a 7 if it was any lower then that I would have declined.

09/27, 7:46 am we welcomed our second baby girl into our world. Here is the story of how it happened.

I have broken this down into 4 different sections, bag for baby, bag for mom, bag for dad, and those last-minute things that you can't grab until your actually ready to go. I hope this list is helpful for you in knowing what you actually need at the hospital. Also, I have created a free PDF download for you to print our and check things off as you pack them, I hope you like it.

When you're growing another human it's important to take care you yourself because that is also taking care of your baby. pregnancy is very straining and depleting time for a woman's body so here are the things I am doing to help take care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually during this time.

If you have asked any of these questions and are just done and overwhelmed with toys being everywhere then you have come to the right place. I am going to share with you how I decluttered my toddlers' toys, some suggestions to try if your Children are older and the benefits I have seen from doing this so, read on to know more and to get some resources from other moms who have done the same. The three pictures in this blog post show all the toys my toddler has aside from a rocking horse and a few outdoor things, and we have since added a little bassinet for her baby you'll see in the second picture, and she is the happiest little girl I know.

We don't plan to get a whole lot of things but with having our littles so close together there are a few things we need to get as well as a couple things I want to upgrade from the first time around to hopefully make things easier on all of us.

One of my biggest concerns when we found out we were expecting our second was how our first daughter would transition so I wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to help get her prepared. So, here I'm going to tell you what we're doing and hopefully this will give you some ideas if you're also expecting your second or more.