A Disclaimer

I don't usually write anything that is that negative on this blog. But this has been weighing on my mind alot lately and I just want to say a few words. Sorry if this isn't the cheeriest post.

I hear people make snide comments about bloggers alot. Especially mom's who blog. Especially lately. I'm not sure if my ears are more tuned in to these comments and I'm just more sensitive or what but it seems to be more and more of the "OMG how could she put that on the internet?" "Why does she want everyone to know her life" and my personal favorite "How does she have time to do that? Isn't she wasting time at the keyboard instead of with her family/kids" Or some variation of those comments. I'm a little bit "offended" and I'm also a little bit of "I don't care what you think". But let me just say this.

My stash of scrap and blog and photo books

I MAKE time to blog. I'll say it again, I MAKE time.
Yes, my life is busy, I cook a hot dinner for my family 4-5  nights/ week and get lunches and breakfast items available, I grocery shop, clean my house, pay our bills, run errands, take care of my husband and my baby and I work full time (as of this sunday when I go back to work). Just the like the majority of the rest of America. I worked full time at one job and usually 10-20 hrs/week at another job plus ran an etsy shop selling my art before I got pregnant. During my pregnancy I cut back to just 1 full time job which I am going back to full time as of Sunday. BOO!  I am doing etsy again and selling my work at 2 separate boutiques in this city now too and still managing to live my life and love my family. Why? Because I want to. And I like to. I'm far far far from perfect. I have many faults, we all do but I honestly THRIVE on chaos, I always have. I love when I am busy. I am not a sitter and not everyone is that way and that's okay. That is what makes life beautiful. Not everyone is the same and I love that about people.

 My two blog books so far. Henry's pregnancy blog is still being edited and then will be sent to print soon!! 

Taylor's ideal Saturday is made up of sleeping in, hot pancakes, occasionally mowing the lawn, taking a nap and doing nothing. He needs a break and gets overstimulated and he is good for me in that way. He balances me out and slows me down and makes me stop and smell the roses, which I need. But when he is at work I challenge myself to see how productive I can be. I LOVE check lists and to do lists because my feeling of accomplishment when I mark stuff off is hugely motivating and gratifying for me. I love knowing I can tackle several tasks and do it well. But I do all of this when he is gone.
His major thing in life (or his "love language" as they call it) is time with me and mine is the same with him. I only am the energizer bunny when he is at work. I work my full time job when he sleeps (3- 12hr shifts each week), my part time job I worked while he was at work during my days off  and I created and worked my etsy shop while he was at work as well. Thus the benefit of being a nurse and having that schedule. I worked extra hard for my family before we got pregnant so that when we had kids I could slow down and enjoy them. That is what I am doing now, because when Taylor is home I stop and enjoy life with him and relax, snuggle on the couch and watch Tv and chill, it's my down time. So how do I have time to blog with a new baby you ask? Well, that's easy...

 He naps. Alot. And he loves to snuggle. I sit and breath his sweet newborn smell in and hold him and play with him and while I do that I enjoy him to the fullest and pay him undivided attention. And when he sleeps, I write. It's therapeutic for me. I usually hold him on my chest and soak him in as he sinks like a heavy sack of flour into me with the laptop in my lap. Then I think of ideas for posts, organize and load current pictures and a multitude of other tasks like bill paying, browsing pinterest and facebook etc. When he sleeps I work, I work on our house, our meals, our finances, our memories. And because memories are so important for me, I MAKE time to blog and put them down. I know I have a followers now and that is fantastic, I love sharing our story and I hope that every now and then I write a post that can help someone else in some way. But really it's more important that our memories and life events and pictures get put somewhere so that we can cherish them forever. I print my blog into a hard bound book each year and put it on our shelf with my scrapbooks and photo albums. Taylor knows if the house catches fire, grab the books first. Those can't be replaced, the rest of our stuff can. It's just stuff, but those, those are the stories of our life. The best stories there can be, because they are ours. Those stories will hopefully be read to our kids and grandkids and their grandkids. They can look at funny pictures of us and read about the things that happened, good, bad and ugly. They can see vacation pictures and hear how badly we wanted children and how hard we fought to get them and they can see how many times mommy made daddy do a pinterest craft for our house and they can have my recipes to pass down. So that is what matters and that is why I make time out of my life to sit for an hour or two every now and then and get it done.
Noone judges women or moms when they like to scrapbook (I used to do that, but blogging is cheaper and quicker) or when they take and print photos of their family and put them into photo albums (this is the same, just with stories included).

 The post when we adopted Cora. 

So don't judge the blogging women and especially blogging moms of the world. They cut out time of their busy day (when their husband is in the backyard playing with the kids or they are at work and school or at friends houses or when everyone else in the house is asleep) to keep their memories too. If you find something important you find a time to get it done. For me, this is a must do, so if you don't agree just don't tell me, mmmk?

The end of our blog book for 2012

  A recipe and a day we spent fishing. 

A day at the Zoo with my mom and sister. 

Here are some scrapbook pages that I have done in the past (I have a book for me through college and a book of just me and Taylor through our wedding) Then I fell behind and started blogging instead because it's faster and cheaper.

  Pool pictures from when I was growing up. 

 My senior prom.

The first Royal's game Taylor and I went to. I even saved my ticket.

The story of what we did on our first date. 

 The first time Taylor took me to Oklahoma where he grew up. 

 Taking Taylor to the Omaha Zoo.

When Taylor proposed.