I wrote this blog post in 2017 in the midst of a super chaotic season. Fast forward two years, and we're in the middle of yet another first week of school. If the me now could say anything to the me back then (and any other moms that can relate), it would be this: Life is still crazy...It's still messy and full of chaos, but believe it or not, you were right. It doesn't have to be full of unrealistic expectations. I promise you this because I am here now. You'll find happiness in the mess. You'll find peace in the chaos. You'll learn contentedness in the things that you do have, and you'll be so dang proud of how far you've come...even if it's not how you pictured it. You took a picture today, and it still wasn't Pinterest worthy. It didn't have the chalk board or anything else that the other moms so beautifully have, but you know now that none of that matters. What matters is that you were there. You soaked it in. Your child went......

We are officially on day five of our trip! Our schedule has been full of stuff, but I'd be willing to bet it's not the type of touristy stuff you'll be expecting. Here's a breakdown of what we've been up to: Sunday we got up and went to church. It is the church that the local ForeverLawn Dealer attends, so we were able to meet them there. I really enjoyed it and the fact that we were still able to go even when on the road. After church, we went out to lunch with them and their four kids. It was such a fun time! The rest of the day we spent getting prepped for the week. The kids were exhausted from travel and the time change, and it was clear they needed some down time...  Look at Liberty's pathetic face.. The week quickly came to a start and Monday I began planning all of the extravagant things I wanted to be able to do while visiting a new city. The more I tried to plan though, the more the kids were begging me to go to the pool, go to th......

Alright, so I promised that I'd post updates of our cross-country move back to Ohio, so here is the first official post! I figured this would be the best way to post so that I can share the details, and post photos without blowing everyone up on social media. The kids and I pulled out of Lake Elsinore at about 9am yesterday, and we arrived safely in Dallas at about 6:45pm today. Overall, the trip went really smoothly...well except for the speeding ticket...oops. Anyways, the kids were amazing travelers. I'll be completely transparent and say that electronics were a lifesaver. While I try my hardest to keep my kids off of screens as much as possible, I figured a twenty hour car ride alone with them was not the time to implement this rule. That being said, I'm very happy that I chose my battles on this, because they were entertained and I was able to safely focus on the road. Our first pit stop was just on the border of California. The kids were able to run around f......

Isn't this little boy handsome?! That's my SIX-year-old, Carter. He's a piece of work. He's a lover of all the boy things, sports, and he's even spent some time acting in Hollywood. He wants to be a police officer when he grows up so that he can rescue people, and I know he's going to change lives. He already has. I'd be lying if I said that my pregnancy with him was planned. And I'm ashamed to say this, but if I'm being completely honest, not only was his pregnancy unplanned, but there were also a few moments where my pregnancy with him was unwanted (I'm speaking for myself when I say this.) When I found out I was pregnant, I was in my first semester of nursing school. I was a poor college student working two jobs. I hadn't even been dating my boyfriend for a year. A month before I found out I was pregnant, we were on the verge of breaking up, but we had decided to give things one more try. And then one night when we w......

It's Monday. Our kids are off school for a holiday. I was super excited about it too. I had all kinds of plans to be a perfectly-present Pinterest mom today. I wrote my intentions on my planner, scheduled a day full of dance parties, play places, and memory making.  I even scribbled a few notes to myself saying things like, "Your to-do list is important, but your kids are more important. Love on them." That might sound silly to some, but being present is something I struggle with as a task-oriented person. I am constantly looking for the next thing to cross off of my to-do list, forgetting that sometimes it's okay to simply be. Well, the day started as did my to-do list. Despite all of the pep talks and notes I wrote, things were not panning out as I had hoped. Fast forward to now. It's 3pm and I'm completely exhausted. I fed my kids fast food for lunch, and I just exploded on my six-year-old like a raging volcano that's been waiting h......