Dear Friends,  

I have been thinking a lot recently about keeping peace in my home. If I’m honest, I have felt a bit off with my household since Jesse has come. Maybe it’s from lack of sleep or simply being outnumbered. 

There is of course a “grace period” when a new baby arrives. But it does rock routines and sleep schedules and you need to learn how to live well -in our case as a family of four. My baby is now two months old and I felt like I needed to implement a few changes to get our home back on the right foot and in a more peaceful state. Here are a few things I have changed and are still working on to building a PEACEFUL HOME.

1. I plan for the day. The first few weeks of postpartum I didn’t look at my planner. It was a time of snuggles and recover and rest. But I am back on my feet again and rely heavily on my planner to get my daily tasks done. The trick is to not overcommit but jot down 3 main tasks you want to accomplish the night before. When you wake up in the morning you know what needs to be done as priority and any extra things you finish is just the icing on the cake.
2. Food prep. I never had a meal plan. I would wing it and to be fair…my husband is a much better cook than I am and still cooks half of our dinners. But I needed a plan for the meals I am responsible for. I’m still working on implanting this but it has helped so much! No more scrambling around minutes before my husband gets home from work. It gives me so much peace throughout the day knowing I have a plan.
3. Staying flexible. For so long I had the idea that if I was going to have my quiet time (or time reading my Bible) that it had to happen in the morning. But for so long I was wrestling with the morning tasks, making breakfast and a busy toddler during that timeframe. I learnt I can squeeze it in during nap time or even right before bed. I also love listening to worship music and the Bible on my phone while I wash dishes or fold laundry.
4. Stay home. This has the biggest effect on my home. The more I stay home the more housework I can get done, the better the sleep schedules and the more I enjoy being a mother. We have plenty of time to play together and read books. These simple things bring me so much joy as a mother. Often we feel like we need to “do” and be “fun” as a parent but our children truly just want our attention and time.
5. Prioritizing movement and fresh air. Taking a daily walk affects my mind space to much! The boys’ too. Having a baby in the DC summer heat has been challenging. He overheats easily so we get up early and take a walk first thing after breakfast. Fresh air helps so much with toddlers.

I  hope you found these as helpful as I have. I still have lots of work to do and systems to follow. My personality would tend to wing things but I realize that doesn’t work well with multiple children and I have more freedom with some structure in our home. 

Photography Update:My fall schedule is already booking quickly. October will soon be full because I am taking on less sessions this year due to caring for our sweet boys.

My Current Favorite Things: I received another bag of my favorite coffee last week from Haven Farms. It truly is the best coffee for espresso. I bought this tallow sunscreen and love it!! It doesn’t make my sensitive skin break out and it feels so hydrating. I have been using my Solly Wrap daily and it makes for holding a newborn and chasing a body toddler so much easier. Lastly, this black out curtain has changed Robbie’s sleep…like night and day! He has doubled his nap time and now sleeps all night in his crib. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could cry with relief. 

 Robert’s Current Favorite Things: When I feel like Robert is getting a bit stir crazy or just needs a distraction I play this music for him. He now knows some of the motions to a few of the songs and it’s the cutest thing. They also bring back memories from my childhood singing these songs at VBS. He adores the Little Blue Truck books. We were invited over to a friend’s house to play in their backyard and they had this amazing splash pad. It’s perfect for small DC yards in the summer heat.