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Living With Less So We Can Have More…

Our evenings often revolve around the Two Little Bits that live with us and Barry and I have had our moments recently where we’ve just started cracking up at the two of them because they basically rule HBHQ nowadays.

We don’t mind. See yesterday’s post if you wonder why we’re fine with it this way.

I’m a Stay at Home Mom, which is really, really weird. Not weird in the sense that my life is oh-so-strange, but more weird in the sense that I no longer have a paycheck that appears in my bank account at the end of each month. Sure, we’re going to miss the big bucks that I was earning teaching and the option of buying things that we simply wanted and didn’t really need.

BUT,

because of the choice that we made for me to stay home, we’re getting more. More time together. More morning snoozes. More leisurely walks to work with Barry. More homemade, sit-down meals. More laughter. More goal setting. More mini-vacations. More intentional wants. More playtime. More grandparent visits. More evening strolls and game playing.

More.

I don’t consider myself a selfish person, but in this case I really, really want more of this.

Lots more.

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Life Will Never Be the Same

Today was one of those days in which I made a list of things to do and only got half of them done…maybe.  By the time Barry got home, I was stomping around the house in a huff because I had a series of projects that weren’t done. I think I felt frustrated because my day felt extremely fractured. Sydney had a few huge bark-fests while Maggie was napping, which resulted in Maggie waking up. Twice.

Tonight after I gave Maggie a bath and she fell asleep, Barry and I had a fantastic conversation over dinner that left me less in a huff about my To Do List and more in a reflective moo, thankful for the life that I have. I realized that my day felt fractured because as I’d start on a task I would inevitably end up sitting with Maggie letting her practice her newest trick, where she grunts and pulls herself up while holding onto my index fingers. (Cutest thing in the world, by the way!)

Maybe I didn’t get things organized and put away, and maybe that load of laundry still hasn’t been changed over, but I got to spend the day smiling, laughing and smooching on my bright eyed little girl. I’m challenging myself to be purposeful with my days and my time, and although I had a moment today where I was focused on what isn’t important, I am ending my day holding on to a phrase from one of our favorite books, “On the Night You Were Born” by Nancy Tillman.

Life will never be the same.

Next time I find myself staring at my To Do List, I’m going to check to see what Maggie is doing and where she is on that list because, as far as I’m concerned, she should always be on the top – because life will never be the same, of that I have no doubt.

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Wiggin’ Out

There is some children’s book character that these photos of Maggie reminds me of, but I just can’t place it. Other than that, I think that we’ve got one of the cutest babies here.  Seriously, check out those dimples!