MWW: Get away and Be Yourself!

So, the first piece of mommy wisdom is get away! It is essential to your mental sanity and the health of your relationship with your husband and kids to have some alone time. You give and give and give all day, and in order to keep giving, you must be filled up! For me that looks like time with just me and Lord every day while MK is napping, putting MK in childcare at the gym 3+days a week to take a yoga or Zumba class, grabbing coffee with a girl friend while Mike watches MK, date nights with my hubby, and this last weekend it looked like going to Hawkins, TX with 500 of my closest girlfriends from Watermark! The Watermark women’s retreat was fantastic, refreshing, rejuvenating and growing. I bonded with my community group girls in a deeper spiritual way as we talked about the struggles of being wives, moms, employees and daughters of the King. I am so glad I took the time to fill myself up this past weekend. Don’t feel guilty that you are taking yourself away from your kiddos and husband to be filled up, they will survive without you and they will be blessed by a rejuvenated you! Even if it’s a 10 minute stroll around the block- get away and refuel!



Confession: I'm not a perfect mom! Point and case? I couldn't figure out for the life of my how to turn this picture around in Blogger... UGH!



One thing that I took away from the retreat was about the importance of just being myself- my second mommy wisdom for this weds. The speaker this weekend talked about taking off the masks that so many of us wear. Masks that we want the world to see, a persona that we portray. My mask is “the perfect mom” mask (among many, many, many others!). I try my hardest to make sure people think that I’ve got this mothering thing down. When, in fact, I do not! So, in an effort to take of my mask, I am going to be real. I am not a perfect mom. I lose my patience, get angry, am lazy, get annoyed. Sometimes MK watches TV (gasp!), sometimes she doesn’t eat a vegetable at dinner, sometimes I’ve let her cry just 10 minutes longer in the morning cause mommy is exhausted, sometimes MK walks around all day with a crusty bugger nose because it’s not worth the fight. I think us moms try so hard to let the world know that we are perfect moms because we as moms are so critical of other moms. You’ve been around those moms who never have a nice thing to say about how someone else is raising their kids. “Oh, I would never let my baby cry.” “Oh, if your baby was only on a schedule…” “You only breastfed for 2 weeks?” “My son has never watched TV.” “If only you would have had a natural labor and delivery, you would have had the perfect birth experience.” “You vaccinate your kids?” Come on moms; let’s give each other some slack. Let’s let moms be real. No one is perfect! Give your fellow moms the benefit of the doubt. Let’s celebrate every mom’s decision to choose what is best for her child, because for the most part, you know what’s right for your children. And let’s be honest, a little TV/formula/crying/crusty bugger/epidural is not gonna kill them! :)



MK watching Elmo... proof!



Hope you can find freedom from the energy wasting, time sucking masks in your life!

Love,

K Vog

Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!

I've been hearing those three words a lot around here. A little 17 month old in my house has fallen in love with a furry red monster, and she has fallen hard! What started off as a way to pacify her and divert her attention has turned into a full on obsession! I can't check my emails on the iPad without her pointing at it and saying "Elmo" (which sounds like "Melmo") because I downloaded an Elmo app for our flight to Cali last month. Now she knows which icon to touch and how to navigate around the app to find Elmo and the Alphabet song she likes.

MK+ Elmo 4eva

To add to this obsession, I took to her Target on Tuesday to look for an Elmo book and she and I had a blast testing out all of the Elmo books until she had found the one she liked. She chose a book about Elmo trying to find the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and it makes bug sounds. She immediately latched on to the bee's "buzz" sound and now says "buzzz" all the time! I also couldn't help myself and bought her a tiny Elmo stuffed animal that's been attached either to her hand or her mouth since she spotted him at the store.

It is a sad reality that my 17 month old knows how to work an iPad ...at least Elmo is educational! ;)

I secretly love that she has found something that she loves, and Elmo has been very educational for MK. He has introduced her to letters in fun songs and I think it's made her much more interested in our "letter lessons" with her foam letters at bath time. She's started singing to herself when she's playing and I swear she's singing to the tune of  the "ABC" song. We also practice body part language on Elmo. MK can point to and say where his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, belly, hands and feet are... she's picking up on new things everyday!

MK, I'm going to always say that your first love was Daddy, then Mommy, then definitely Poppy, then as of recent Mr. Elmo. You are precious and so smart and I am the luckiest girl in the world to be your Mommy! Love you precious MK!

Love,

The Vogs

Mommy Wisdom Weds: Golden Birthday Edition

Randi and I celebrating our birthdays tonight at Community group! 

Ever since I was a 21 year old newlywed, I’ve been insecure about being young. Even though I would not change a single thing about the timing of important events in my life, I’ve felt awkward about my age. Growing up, I was the oldest (by 10 minutes!) sister and I loved it. I loved experiencing things first and passing on my often times unsolicited advice to my younger siblings. But, once I said “I do” at 21 and became a mom at 23 I’ve been the youngest. I was the youngest (and still am!) member of our newly married community group, I was the youngest mom in Watermark’s new mom class, and Mike and I are the youngest people to lead in Watermark’s pre-married class. I found myself dreading questions like “when did you graduate from Baylor?” or “How long had you been married before you decided to have children?” I was afraid someone would think I was an unfit wife or mom because of how many years experience I had on this earth.

Oh, how God has worked on my heart and spoken truth into that lie I’ve been feeding myself. I kept hearing Him tell me, “This is your journey that I’ve set you on, don’t for a second be ashamed of that!” I memorize 1 Timothy 4:12 and would recite that over and over in my head when I felt a twinge of insecurity rise up in me. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example to all believers in your speech, in the way you live, in love, in faith and in purity.”

So, as I turn the big 25 today on the 25^th (yes, it’s my golden birthday!!!) I am so thankful for the amazing journey the Lord has taken me on in the past 25 years and I am waiting with huge anticipation and an eager heart to see what the Lord will do in the next quarter century of my life.

My word of wisdom today: be yourself and don’t be ashamed of it! God made you exactly how He wanted you to be, so be proud of it and don’t let the nay-sayers of this world get you down

Mommy Wisdom Wednesday- Making money by saving money

Are y'all ready for a very practical MWW? Here ya go:

Once I changed jobs from nursing to full time Maddie care, our monthly income took a drastic dip. Motivated by the intense desire to work at home I decided that it was up to me to save our family as much money as possible. My husband has been a wonderful example to me of living within our means and the value of saving money, but now it was my turn to put those principles into practice! I took on most of the responsibility because I was the one who was spending our money. I figured that if I'm not making our family money by bringing in income, I can at least help make the money we have coming in go farther! My focus on was on three things:
1. Get rid of costly "unnecessary" expenses- mainly ditching cable and switching to rabbit ears. It saved us over $55/month and although we thought we were going to, we haven't missed it! We still get all of the local channels, and now we get them in HD! I don't spend nearly as much time in front of the TV as I used too, which is wonderful! Also, thanks to Netflix, Hulu and many of the networks allowing you to watch past episodes on their websites (ABC, NBC, Bravo, etc) not having cable is becoming more and more popular.

2. Manage our budget better- we have always used a budget, my husband got Quicken for his 14th birthday, so clearly he knows the ins and outs of budgeting! However, we weren't always great about sticking to it since we only updated the budget twice a month. So, we switched to a cash envelope system. Now, when the money is gone, it's gone and we can't go over budget! We have envelopes for groceries, entertainment/date night, personal fun money, Maddison, clothes and gifts. Gas and utility bills don't get envelopes since we get cheaper gas with our Shell credit card and our bills are paid automatically online. Both Mike and I have experienced so much freedom in using cash and no matter how much our income changes in the coming years, I don't think we're going back to our old ways!

3. Meal planning and grocery shopping less- I had always planned out our meals on a weekly basis, but after doing some blog surfing I realized that you can save a lot of money by planning out your meals monthly. I have a collection of our favorite recipes that I rotate through so we don't get bored eating the same things. I also love to cook new recipes, so I always throw a couple into the mix. I will usually make four meals a week max- we have two nights of leftovers, one night we eat dinner at Watermark and there is usually a night for a Mike/Katy date or a family date out to eat. I found a cute idea to display the menu for the week on Pinterest and I write out our meals for the week so we know what's coming up!

Our menu board, my calendar with all of the meals written down and grocery list! 

 Because I have my meals planned for the whole month, I now only do a big grocery shop twice a month. I still run grab the weekly essentials like milk, bread and fruit once a week, but doing a big shop twice saves me time and money! To save the most money, I try and buy meat on sale and I buy enough for a month or two. For example, due to some amazing sales at Sprouts on their natural, hormone/antibiotic free chicken and a recent trip to Costco for organic ground beef on sale I have my meat for the rest of January and February. Knowing what meat I have already helps tremendously with meal planning!

I love my job and wouldn't trade it for the world and I am so blessed and thankful that I can stay at home with Maddie. My husband rocks for being a stable and diligent provider for our family. He also is a saint for being so patient with me in the early years of marriage when my immature spending self didn't realize the value of saving and living frugally...boy am I thankful for his maturity now!

I hope that these little tips can help you achieve your family's financial goals!

What do you do to help your family save money?
Love,
The Vogs

Life lately- Maddie edition

Here's my take on what's been going on around here this past week:

Mom has me busy multitasking- it's hard taking care of a baby and keeping up with the cleaning!

You want me to sweep and stroll? No problem!

I discovered another use for cloth diapers- hats! Doesn't this just look so great! Daddy sure does think so!

Wait, these are the same diapers that go on my bum?!? 

Mommy and I went to Austin with daddy and while daddy was on a business trip, we rode the train at Zilker park! We saw lots of ducks in the river and some dogs playing fetch in the park. Mommy says every time she goes to Austin she loves it more and more.

One day I wasn't wanting to take a nap so mommy let me cuddle up with all of my lovies on the couch and watch Finding Nemo. I really liked the colors and made a fish face for most of the movie!

 On Saturday, mom and dad left me with aunt Larissa and they went to a Baylor basketball game. They said they had lots of fun, but they missed me. I learned how to do a sic 'em bears last week so mom and dad said they are going to take me to Waco soon to let me show it off at a Baylor basketball game. Sic 'em Bears!

They have fun without me? Surely not!

Kisses, 

Maddie Kate

Mommy Wisdom Wednesday: Seeing the positive in the negative

I am going to start doing this weekly, some wisdom will be serious and deep, others will be light-hearted and goofy (remember my new years resolution?!). I want to look back years from now and see what my heart was like in the early mommy years and to encourage my future self in this journey of motherhood.

{How could this precious wheat-thin addict be anything but an angel? Come over to my house when mommy takes the wheat thin box away and you'll find out!! }

So, seeing the positive in the negative: this is a skill I am slowly growing in. It is so hard for us to see past the here and now when our situations are negative. Being a mom brings a lot of heartache, pain, uncomfortable situations and frustration… but the key to surviving is seeing the positive in those negatives. Here are some negatives that I turned around into positives in order to survive pre-mommyhood and mommyhood:

Negative: Morning sickness- I threw up every day, many times a day from week 6 to week 11 with Maddie.
Positive: The reassurance that when there are not a whole lot of other obvious signs, every twinge of nausea is your little one reminding you they are growing strong and healthy!

Negative: Uncomfortableness of the 3^rd trimester: swelling, back-ache, sleepless nights, exhaustion
Positive: You are almost there! You have carried a baby almost all the way, be thankful for the way your body was magnificently created.

Negative: Waking up at all hours of the night to breastfeed and consol a screaming newborn
Positive: You get to do a job for your little one that no one else can and those late night cuddles are critical bonding opportunities, plus they are only little for so long and then they don’t need you for nutrition and late night cuddles are few and far between.

Negative: Witnessing blatant disobedience in my sweet “sinless” 17 month old
Positive: I am thankful for the opportunity to train up Maddie, to practice patience and to live out the Gospel to MK by showing her forgiveness and unconditional love.

Sometimes it’s so hard to see the positives in our situations. Is there a positive in my sweet friend Randi having stage 2 breast cancer at 27? I’ll let you hear it from her : www.treasuresnheaven.blogspot.com
I am learning slowly that even though we can’t always see a positive, we will one day. I can rest confidently in the fact that my Savior is faithful to redeem everything in His perfect way, not always mine! I’m sure I’m not the only one who struggles with the Lord at times when His way doesn’t seem to line up with ours. I want a toddler who doesn’t whine, takes perfect naps, never gets sick. I want my children two years apart, preferably two girls and for them to be best friends. Those things are not bad things to desire, but what if God could teach us more about our own depravity and show us more of His grace and faithfulness if our every desire wasn’t always met exactly in our timing and matching our every expectation. I am so thankful for the sanctifying process of motherhood. I love that God is never finished refining me to be more like His Son and that He uses a precious 17 month old to do it!

How are you turning negatives into positives today? 

Love,

The Vogs

10 loves this week!

I am going to start doing a "What I am loving Wednesday" kind of post every so often to keep yall updated on my newest loves and random finds.

1. My new TOMS! I got a brown flat pair for Christmas (Thanks mom!) and then in Cali got two pairs of their wedges for summer 50% off at a surf shop!

TOMS wedges in tan and red! Can't wait to pair these with outfits this spring/summer!

2. MK can now eat with a spoon! We have been working on that for a little while and she's finally gotten the hand of it. It's still pretty messy, but what new fun adventures aren't! I'm letting go of the clean freak and embracing this new milestone... plus that means that mommy can eat at the same time as MK now! YAY!

Way to go MK! 

3. Speaking of eating, we got a new booster seat for MK. My parents got it for the beach house they rented in Cali and let us take it home. I love it because it doesn't take up a lot of room in our eat in kitchen like the old one (which we've now stored in the attic for future babes!) and MK can now eat up at the table with us- LOVE!

Hello space saver... still messy from breakfast!

4. Benefit You Rebel tinted moisturizer is the bomb, all you need for foundation and keeps your skin hydrated in the winter. Also love my new mascara from Sephora called Blinc...instead of traditional mascara is uses tubes, so no smudging, running or nasty dark stains under the eye.

My must have beauty go-to's! 

5. MK's new kitchen! I've been wanting to get MK a play kitchen for a while, but they are so expensive! I wanted a sturdy wooden one that wasn't going to break the bank (Pottery Barn Kids has an awesome one, but it's like $500+). I found this one on clearance at Target for $50 (originally $80). She loves it and so do I!

A little wonky in this picture! :) 

6. We've got a new stroller on the way to our house! I've been keeping my eye out for a single stroller that you can add a second seat to for a while now and finally took the plunge and got a Phil and Teds Dash stroller. They go for about $700 depending on where you get it, but I got mine for $360 after shipping including the double seat and a couple other accessories. No news on a second baby to fill that second seat, but I couldn't pass up a good deal knowing that this is the one we want to use eventually and we can use it now as a single with MK! It will replace the jogger and Chicco. We were going to sell the Chicco on craigslist, but decided to store it in our attic in case a friend or sister wants it one day!

Bye Bye Chicco Stroller! You were fabulous, but we're moving on to bigger and better things! 

7. Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore. Seriously one of the best bible studies I have done in a while. God is teaching my so much about himself and I am falling deeper in love with Him daily and learning to surrender the control which I have so tightly gripped on so many aspects of my life.

8. Acts 3: 20. I am finding myself so thirsty for time with Him in this season of my life. So thankful for refreshing time with Jesus! He is so faithful to fill us up when we take the time to sit at His feet.

This picture would not rotate to save its life! That just means you should go look up Acts 3:20 for yourself...I promise it won't disappoint!

9. My precious Maddie-goo! We had a fun trip to the park yesterday and she had a blast on the swings!

Enjoying a beautiful 50 degree sunny weather!

10. My soul-mate... how could I post about my loves of the week and not include this guy? My new years resolution was to be more silly and less serious with him... I can be kind of a wet rag sometimes with him. Life is too short to care what anyone else thinks about me and to have a stick up my butt, so I am also embracing a new silly, goofy side of myself which Mike LOVES!

July 2007, when we got engaged (the first time!)... still crazy madly deeply in love with this guy! 

What are you loving this week?
Love,
The Vogs