SuperMomma? Or is it really SuperDaddy?

Our sweet Maria (Mia) Hope Mullins is 9 days old today! 

(I will have to share her beautiful story another day!)

Several people have called me SuperMom or SuperWoman this weekend, especially when we showed up at church with our 2 year old, 1 year old and 1 week old on Saturday night! I laughed and assured them that I was no super hero, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my husband was the true super hero!!! After both of the "big girls" births (due to circumstances outside his control) Christopher was only able to take off a shift or two. I did have other people around to help after both their births and Aunt Nicole has been a huge help this time around, but it's just not quite the same as your husband and daddy. After Mia's birth he has been able to take off 4 shifts, which equated to 9 days total, tonight being his first night back at work! 

I have always known that Christopher has to stay busy, it's just his personality! I could spend days relaxing and being chill, while he constantly needs a new project to keep him busy! This last week or so off of work has been no exception! He got up every morning with the big girls, did breakfast and clothes and took care of them so that Mia and I could get a little extra sleep after several sleepless nights! He washed dishes, kept laundry moving, ran errands, went grocery shopping, took extra good care of me and all 3 girls, encapsulated my placenta, changed the brakes on his car, cleaned out my car, pulled weeds, mowed the lawn, and I am sure I am forgetting several things!!  Oh and did I mention that he built a huge patio covering in our backyard so we would have some shade?!? So seriously.....the reason why I "look" like a SuperMom is because SuperDad has been flying around behind the scenes while I just rested and cuddled my sweet new babe! 

Tonight he's working a 12 hour shift and tomorrow he'll be sleeping before his next 12 hour shift and this Momma will be on her own with the 3 littles....reality will set in and panic will probably follow, things will get forgotten and our lives will be chaotic, but our girls will be loved and we will find our new normal soon. SuperDaddy will be off in a few days to swoop in and save the day and make me look like a SuperMommy again! 😉 

In all honesty though, while he has seriously been SuperDaddy this past week, we really do make a good team! We balance each other out and give each other more grace than we probably deserve at times and we walk through this life together. I only look like a SuperMom because SuperDaddy is my soulmate!! 

Big Changes....coming soon!!

These 3 cowboy boot wearing girls and the leader of their family have some big changes in the near future!! 

No, we are not growing by another 2 feet....not yet anyway....we have a "no pregnancy in 2014" resolution that we are trying to keep, after one girl in 2012 and one in 2013, this Momma is taking a year off (at least) from being pregnant! 

We are however taking a big step, these boots were made for walking (even if one pair can't quite take any steps just yet) and walking's what we'll do! These 2 precious girls, their studly Daddy and I are moving back to Texas, ya'll! My emotions are all over the place as I think about our upcoming move! I am so excited to be back at our church down there, those people just ooze the love of Jesus and do community so very well! But at the same time leaving my family, especially my Momma, is no easy task! This season has been so good, it hasn't always been easy, but it's been so good for my soul! Even though emotional I am all over the place about this move, I have such a peace - I know this is right and good and the step we are supposed to be taking! Christopher and I have prayed about this decision and there is so much peace in my heart that I know if we were to stay here we would be going against the Lord's path for our lives. 

There are many things that we hope and pray for our sweet girls and one of those is that they would ALWAYS follow the path that The Lord leads them on and there is no better way to teach them how to do that, than living it out! So here we go again, another move, another adventure, another season and another step following after the Lord's will for our lives! 

This will be my 5th move in the 3 years that we have been married. Growing up we lived in the same house until I was 20, with the exception of my dorm in college! To say that life married to Christopher is anything short of any adventure would be a lie, but let me tell you this is one exciting adventure and I am privileged to be on it with such a Godly man! 

So here's to a new adventure, a new step, a new season....coming this fall! 

A walk...

We went for a walk today....not just any walk...but a walk to support my Momma and so many others that are battling this awful disease called MS! Can I be brutally honest for a minute? I HATE THIS DISEASE!!!!! I have watched my Mom go from having some back pain and a little weakness in her leg to not being able to do hardly anything on her own anymore, all in the matter of about 5 years! I hate that it has robbed my family of so much, but I also looked around this morning during our walk and reminded myself what it has NOT done! It has NOT stolen our joy, HER joy! There are days when it's hard and she gets frustrated, but she laughs and jokes and plays games!! It has NOT divided our family!! This nasty awful disease has brought us closer as a family, required us to stick together a little more! The last thing that MS has NOT done to our family is cause us to doubt the faithfulness of The Lord! We all cling to the fact that He loves us, He loves her and He is faithful!!! We will continue to pray for her healing, to walk this path along side her and to do whatever we can to fight this disease and strive all the while to bring The Lord glory through it!! 

To my fellow Mommies WITH LOVE

I need to be brutally honest with my fellow Mommies, lay it all out there!!! 

We choose to have home births (most of the time)

but if you choose to go a hospital to give birth;

I will STILL LOVE YOU!! 

We choose to delay and only give certain vaccinations, 

but if you choose to vaccinate your child;

I will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We choose to use both cloth & disposable diapers

no matter how you choose to diaper your child;

I will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We choose homopatheic medicines over a doctor,

But if you choose to take your children to a doctor;

I will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We will most likely homeschool our children in the future, 

But if you choose traditional schooling for your children; 

I  will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We choose to attempt breastfeeding as long as possible,

But if you choose to formula feed your babies;

I will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We choose to not always eat organic foods,

But if you choose to eat organic;

I  will STILL LOVE YOU! 

We choose to keep our children rear-facing in the car until they 2,

But if you choose to turn your children around sooner;

I  will STILL LOVE YOU! 

  

As Mommies we are faced with so many choices and decisions we have to make, let's be honest it's hard!! It is hard to always know what we should or should not be doing for our children! It's hard enough to educate ourselves and make informed decisions without the judgement from other Mommas!! Let's all do ourselves a favor and truly LOVE one another even if we aren't doing things exactly the same! We are all Mommas with the same goal - to love our children and raise them well! I would be happy to share information on anything that we are doing, IF you wanted to know, but at the end of the day it's your children and your choice and I promise I will not judge any of your mothering decisions!!! This world has enough bad stuff in it, let's choose to overflow with love for other Mommies, instead of judgement!! 

The season of 2 under 2!!

In this season of our lives, my husband works 24 hour shifts. There is very little about the 24 hours that he is gone that is easy. Taking care of both girls, doing all the diapers, dinner, bed, dealing with the temper tantrums of a toddler and the fussy cries of a newborn who is fighting sleep...let's be honest I count down the hours until he gets home! But for the last couple weeks my girls have found a new schedule, that involves both of them asleep by around 10 or so (the newborn does still get up for a midnight feeding)! This means about twice a week now (when Christopher is at work), I get to end my days peacefully!! A nice bubble bath, some peach tea, a salty snack and catching up on my tv shows!!!

While those 24 hours he is gone are typically rough days, I really can't complain, because then he is off for at least 48 hours!! I am so blessed to be Mom during this season and even more blessed to have such an amazing hubby who works crazy hours and helps me a lot when he is home!! Oh the season of 2 under 2....someday I will look back and miss it, so I am really trying to find the positives!!  

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

I am ready for the snow to melt and the rain today helped that some, but it also created giant puddles, huge "swallow your car" pot holes and lots of fog! On our way to MOPS this morning I hydroplaned through a giant puddle on the bypass going 60 miles an hour. If you have ever experienced something like this than you know first hand how scary it is, if you haven't let me try to explain it a bit. It went something like this...I was driving 60 mph with the windshield wipers going full blast.  The bypass seemed much more clear than other side roads and back roads I had been on - not nearly as many giant puddles. So there we are cruising down the road when out of no where a giant puddle appears in the middle of the road, next thing I know I am hydroplaneing straight for the cement median. The more I try to pull out if this giant puddle that is trying to slam me into the cement the wall, the more I am repeating the name of Jesus over and over again. In that moment I knew the car was totally out of my control and it appeared that I was going to slam right into that median which I am a pretty sure would have either sent us flying over the median into oncoming traffic or we would have slammed against the wall and then rolled back into the lanes traveling the same direction as us....either way we were headed for a very serious accident, so I did the only logical thing I could think of, I repeated the name of Jesus over and over and over again. In that precious moment where my life and the lives of my 2 precious girls flashed before my eyes, the only word I could speak was His name. I didn't bust out into song asking Him to "take the wheel" or even pray a prayer that made logical sense like please help us...I just kept repeating His name...He knew exactly what I needed in that moment. My car was out of my control and I needed Him to guide it and all 3 of us to safety. By His grace I am sitting here save and sound tonight without even a tiny scratch on my car! However it leaves me thinking, why in life do we wait until we are completely out of control to call on His name? Why do we wait until we are about to slam into a wall to cry out? So many times in life we try to take control, to do things our way, to steer the car the way we think we should, when really we should be calling out to Him, asking Him to take control before we are in the middle of the puddle, allowing Him to take the wheel before it gets ugly! I know that He protected my girls and I today and I know that there will probably be more times in my life that I am calling out His name because I let myself get in too deep, but I am making it my goal to call on His name before the storm gets rough! 

Snuggling my girls a little tighter tonight and praising His name for being our protection today!! 

Valentine's Day

Today was Valentine's Day...

Christopher had to work a 24 hour shift....

my newborn still had to nurse every few hours...

my toddler is teething and fussy and still adjusting to not being the center of attention...

both children had their fair share of diapers...

my newborn spit up on me...

all three of us stayed in our pj's all day...

it was really just like any other day around here! 

Except that I knew it was Valentine's Day...

and so I kept reminding myself how blessed I am...

to be loved and to love so many people! 

You see it may just be any other day...

but my sweet husband kissed me good-bye and told me he loved me...

my newborn cracked a few small smiles and cuddled...

my toddler giggled and laughed and brought my heart such joy....

my Mom loved on my girls...

my Dad treated us to a special dinner so I didn't have to cook...

we rented a movie and I cuddled my sweet girls...

and at the end of the day whether it is a holiday or just another day....

I know I am so loved and so blessed to be able to love my family!!