how do you like me now?

Did you know that we have been living here in Alabama for over a year now? We crossed that milestone in early January - speaking of which, I cannot believe that here we are at the very end of January!! wow!! - and I gotta say, I  never, ever want to leave. I love it here so much. It didn't even take a year to fall in love with the place. I love feeling this stability, having friends, being able to put roots down and hopefully grow!

I was just going on a cleaning spree through the living room and finding it quite enjoyable when I remembered way back when I hated cleaning and you couldn't get me to do it without kicking and screaming. When my house looked terrible with piles of toys everywhere, dirty clothes piling up and clothes that needed to be folded spilling out of laundry baskets... where the bathrooms had towels everywhere and the beds were never, ever made. Yeah. I look back on those days and I am downright ashamed of my lack of self-respect and love for my family to make us all live like that. It wasn't dirty - but it surely was terribly messy and cluttered.

I blamed it on having a baby. Really, I was just lazy and didn't want to. I admit it.

Shame, shame, shame.


But now... I love to clean. I don't grumble {much! sometimes I do, I'll be honest!} and complain about it because I like to take care of my family and I like to make sure that my house is nice and presentable - because here, people actually want to come visit us! And we don't have to run around like chickens with their heads chopped off in a mad rush to get the house presentable the day before company comes!

How this transformation happened, I have no idea. Maybe it's just my perspective that has changed, maybe it's the change of scenery... no clue! But whatever it is - I'm glad it happened.

And I know my family is, too. And our friends, ha!

I know there are a few people who have known me all my life and probably remember how my room was always completely messy, how I couldn't cook {did I mention I also love cooking??}, how I just was not the ideal housewife material... I know they are surprised more than anything! It's beautiful, isn't it??

Ahhhhh.... I'm just going to sit here and enjoy the smell of my furniture polish...

Clean

Happy Friday!

Today has been a busy day for me so far. Right now Mariah is napping. Benjamin was in his crib earlier until I started hearing delighted squeals and raspberries coming from his room, so I retrieved him {so he wouldn't wake up Mariah}. Now he is sitting here at the table with me eating his fruit snacks and ritz crackers. Me, I'm eating a Special K protein bar, which doesn't taste too bad, to be honest. I'm also thinking about the Daily Scripture.

Did you see it?

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-7

One of the reasons I added the daily verse was not only to share a verse a day with my friends, but because they are often thought-provoking for me. I like to take the verse and meditate on it throughout the day. On days where I do this, my day always seems brighter.

I love that verse, Deuteronomy 6:6-7. It puts in perspective the real, true responsibility we parents have. There are so many parents who make the biggest fuss over the littlest things, like having the perfect appearance, having nice cars, having a pristine home, doing exciting, fun things all the time. I'm not saying any of those are sin - but sometimes we prioritize and forget what should be at the top of the list: God.

Benjamin loves his Bible Class. Whenever we go to church, he always runs into his classroom before we've even started, before anyone even gets to the building. He loves to see my Bible and to turn the pages. He is all smiles when we sing his favorite Bible class songs. He loves to look through his animals and hear about creation.

I love that he loves Bible class. There are some days when he is a bit too cranky to really love anything, but usually Bible class is very fun and exciting.

But, Bible class will not be the main source of Bible learning. There are so many teachable moments throughout the day, and I need to make it a priority to take advantage of this. I can spend all day cleaning and doing laundry and organizing, or I can spend the majority of my time teaching my son about God and the Bible and Jesus and the Church. I did this for a while yesterday when Benjamin and I were in his playing with his toys. We listened to his Bible Song CD, and Benjamin enjoyed it.

This is something that is always on my mind. I was fortunate enough to have been taught from a young age to love God and the Bible, and I want the same for Benjamin. I might go a day without folding a piece of laundry or picking up the living room, but as long as I don't go a day without teaching my son, I'm perfectly okay with this.

Clean or not clean, my house isn't going to last through eternity, but Benjamin's soul will - and whether or not his heart is clean in the end is what matters.

the Fluff is the Stuff

Don't you love getting mail? I love getting things that come in lovely packages that don't fit right in your mailbox (and some even that do). My husband is the one who really likes to get the mail. Mail-time, if you remember, is a big to-do in this family.

Today was a wonderful mail day! It was raining nearly all day long and the mail still managed to come and make my day! You see, earlier this week my husband had come across the website Baby Steals and they had a 51% off package deal of 6 gDiapers cloth diapers! We snagged those babies up quick! And today they came!



Beautiful orange and vanilla bean diapers came for Benjamin... oh it's been a while since we've gotten Fluffy mail, and oh man! It was good!



Don't you just love them all lined up? Don't get excited, Tennessee fans (Stephanie, you especially!) - we are still Georgia Bulldawgs. These were the only colors! But they are still beautiful!





The inside of the diaper. We didn't buy inserts or refills. We have a slew of inserts here so hopefully those will work with these diapers. If not, we will see about getting some.



First time trying on his new diapers! Doesn't he look handsome in orange? It's funny because in bible class and even at home he is usually always drawn to orange things. And tonight he was just carrying his orange diapers around the room everywhere!



Don't you just love a fluffy bum?? I love the way the velcro goes around the back instead of the front. That way he can't pull at it and try to pull his diaper off. Yes, friends, he has done this before. And it hasn't always ended up pretty...



Ahh, Fluffy mail. How I missed thee! And this is probably it for a while, I'm afraid! Unless someone wants to send us some more?

Tonight I am listening with one ear to Rush being played from my husband's laptop as he sits across the room on the couch, and in the other the soothing sounds of my dishwasher. You'd all be proud of how clean I have kept the kitchen this week. Actually, my mom would be proud. I give her kitchen a run for her money! Oh yeah, mom! Let's have a contest! (She looks at my blog, you see...)

I do have a confession to make...




... All week long. And that isn't the half of it. But you know what? I am proud of myself for what I do get done. And I am no longer ashamed that my house isn't tidy all the time. You know it is something I struggle with internally, and something I've recently been trying to come to terms with. So my downstairs and about half of the upstairs is a bit messy. It's something I am working on, but it isn't something I am stressing about. And I feel very liberated posting those pictures. Thank you, Miranda, for inspiring me with your post.

A quick note on the watermarks. Those are going to be from here on out. Not necessarily the design (I'm trying to work up something more attractive). And you might notice I didn't put them on the pictures of my messy house. I'm not so sure I want to claim those... haha!

I'll claim this though...