A Capsule Maternity Wardrobe {Summer Edition}

Lately I'm all about making life as simple as possible {check out my minimalist challenge and ways to cut decision fatigue}. The simpler my day, the more free I am for people and priorities that really matter. Less housework = more out of doors time with the kids. An easy dinner = easy clean up and less time on my 27 weeks pregnant feet.

One area I've super simplified is my wardrobe. With my last pregnancy, I collected quite a maternity collection by taking weekly trips to the thrift store. Now that I've gotten to wear them with two different pregnancies, I'm figuring out which pieces really work for me and which ones don't.

Hard as it is {since maternity clothing can be so expensive, and I got such great deals on them!} I have been getting rid of items like nobody's business. I've streamlined {almost} until it hurts, and I am super happy with the results.

Pilled tee? Gone! Makes me feel like a whale? Out of here! Low-cut or weird fitting? Donate!

Here's what I've been wearing:

• 2 Maxi Skirts- One is maternity, and one isn't but works well anyway. 

• 2 Pairs of Shorts- Neither of these are maternity, but I have a belly band from Target that makes them work perfectly. One pair is gray, the other denim.

• 2 Pairs of Jeans- One nice maternity pair, one pre-pregnancy pair with belly band.

• 1 Pair of Capris- Maternity. I don't love them and almost didn't include them on this list, but they work for laundry days, or getting outside and dirty with the kids.

• 3 Dresses- All maternity. One gray short-sleeved, one fuchsia short sleeved, and one sleeveless print. I love wearing dresses in the summertime, especially when I am pregnant! They are cool and comfy, a simple one piece outfit... and yet somehow you look more put together and get plenty of compliments. 

• 2 Blouses- One is sleeveless and one is short-sleeved... and what I love is that neither of them are maternity! They are two of my favorite pieces even when I'm not pregnant! Their loose, flowy fabric and cut have made them very maternity-friendly so far. 

• Sundry tee-shirts and tanks- I have about 5 maternity tanks/camis in various colors that I layer under the dresses and blouses, or just wear with shorts on a hot day. I also have a couple of basic maternity tee-shirts that I pair with the skirts and other bottoms. 

This puts me at about 22 pieces total. The freedom it gives me is remarkable, a breath of fresh air each morning when it takes me all of 30 seconds to decide what to wear. 

Most people end up wearing the same things over and over again anyway- why not remove the unloved pieces that are taking up space in your closet? 

The other thing I love is that if I were to lose all of my maternity clothes before another pregnancy, I would know exactly what to buy if I needed them again in a few years. Instead of spending a fortune or scouring the thrift store each week, I would simply search for a few key pieces at the most reasonable price {a dress or two. tank tops. tee shirts.}. I also have the benefit of knowing how to work non-maternity items while pregnant, which can save a bundle.

What do you think? I'd love to hear challenges and successes you've had in dressing your pregnant body!

A Few Words on Decision Fatigue

Decision fatigue is a real problem- the more decisions you make in a day, the more you expend energy, the less energy you have for important things.

Making too many mundane decisions in a day {think: what should we eat for breakfast? should I run errands first or clean my house? what am I going to wear? what are my children going to wear? should I ignore the minor misdemeanor my preschooler is involved in right now, or make a point of talking to her about it?} can mean that you are far less productive and feel drained for most of your day. Yuck!

Unfamiliar with the concept? I recommend reading up on it here and here.

If you've never thought about it before, I thought I'd share a few simple ways that I try to eliminate decision fatigue in my daily life, as well as a few areas I'm working on changing towards that end.

Ways I try to eliminate decision fatigue:

• Weekly Meal Planning. Every Monday I go to my kitchen, pen and paper in hand, and scan the contents of my pantry, fridge and freezer. While I'm making my grocery list, I write out what we are going to eat for dinner every night, as well as a small list of breakfast and snack options. This makes dinner super easy- just scan the meal plan hanging on my fridge, and get to it. I try to consider our activities for each day, and what kind of meal I should make as a result {mad dash out the door at 6 p.m? make something quick and easy, or use the crock-pot}.

• Daily Routines and Rhythms. If you do the same thing at the same time every day, it frees up a lot of your will power for more important tasks. Some people fear this is too rigid- but you don't have to plan out every single moment of your day. Just having little routines can conserve sanity and energy. For example, as soon as we are done with breakfast, I try to quickly do the dishes and wipe counters and tabletop. Every day after lunch it is nap time. As soon as I put the kids to bed for the night, I clean the kitchen. Just like you brush your teeth before bed every night, try implementing your regular work into a routine that you never have to think about. 

• Frequently brain dump on paper. I keep a clearer head if I've written all the tasks and ideas floating around my brain onto paper. It especially helps to make, and then prioritize, your day's to do list the night before. That way you don't have to think about it- just do it.

• Following lists. This follows the last one, but if you make a list and then spend your next morning wondering which task you would like to do first, you are using up precious mental energy. Once you have made a list, follow through on it.

Areas I could grow in:

• Simplifying my wardrobe. Concepts such as the 10 item wardrobe and slightly larger capsule wardrobe strongly appeal to me. Now to streamline my closet in said fashion!

• Establishing a weekly cleaning routine. I've tried various routines with very little success. Surely there must be a system out there that works for me! I'm thinking I should pick one and just commit to doing it for a month or so, to see if  it becomes more effective for me once the decision making aspect is eliminated.

• Developing more structures and routines into our day. While I try to stick with a morning and evening routine each day, I'd like to make a few more for good measure {since I've seen how effective they can be on my productivity and energy!}. At this point I'm thinking a mid-morning until lunch time plan, and also a rhythm for how I spend the kids' nap time.

• Going to bed and getting up at the exact same times each day. So. hard. to do this. But so important! Our bodies tend to feel more rested when they have a basic rhythm to fall back on! I would like to go to bed every evening at 10 {I'm always pushing it to 11} and get up at 6. An earlier rise time would be nice, but at this current stage of motherhood and pregnancy I really feel the need for that extra rest.

• Making a routine breakfast menu. My friend Jana brilliantly serves her family the exact same thing for breakfast, every day, just to make her life a little simpler. I love this idea! I'd like to have one or two staples that I make every week morning, with more special or involved breakfasts on weekends. 

I'd love to know: how do you minimize decision fatigue? And do you have a regular cleaning routine that you love? Please share your wisdom with me :). 

How A Busy Mom Makes Time For the Word {Plans A,B,and C}

Before having children, almost every morning at breakfast I would sit down with my nice cup of tea and an open Bible, making feeble attempts at seeking the Lord first thing. Even after having one baby I was able to mostly stick with this routine. You know, once my daughter was sleeping mostly through the night, and still taking 2-3 naps a day.

Now I have a 15 month old and 3 year old, and breakfast is a truly chaotic scene around here. My son simply can't be eating soon enough, and clings to my leg through all of my preparations, pleading for real food {a snack cup of cereal just doesn't seem to cut it}. After he's finally had his fill of pancakes and eggs, he spends the rest of the meal trying to give me a heart attack by climbing out of his high chair. My daughter isn't as hungry, but she can be equally dramatic over the many crises that arise first thing in a toddler's daily existence.

All that to say, I have had to make some changes to accomplish daily time in the Word. Because yikes, is it important. I only have so much time in a day, and the demands {as you all know} are relentless... but He has to come first.

Life with small children is very unpredictable. Usually just once you think you've gotten routines figured out and down pat, something changes- a new tooth comes in, the morning nap is outgrown, the weather changes and suddenly everyone wants to be outside every waking hour. Whatever. You know it happens.

When planning for daily devotions I like to have an ideal plan, a back-up plan, and even a third back-up plan. Worst comes to worst, we thank God for His grace and patience with us, and try again tomorrow. But with a line-up of possible quiet times planned, I'm far more likely to actually get into the Word.

Who wouldn't want to wake up to these faces???

Plan A. Wake up before my children. This is easier in some seasons than in others. For example, only in the last couple months have my children both been sleeping decently enough for me to try this again. And now that daylight savings has ended, they are getting up at the time that used to be mine. If I can manage it, I try to beat them out of bed and read and pray first thing. When I'm nursing a newborn, I read my Bible on my phone at the first morning feeding.

Plan B. My son at 15 months is still taking a morning nap {thank you Lord!!!}. Usually S and I spend that time reading together and working on projects. If I wasn't able to read before the kids got up, I set her up with toys she can't use when W is awake {anything with small pieces that he is bound to eat- her magnetic dress up doll, felt boards, crayons and other art supplies, etc.}. She is happy to play quietly for a long time while I can enjoy that cup of tea and silence. This is also when I take a shower if I haven't gotten the chance to yet!

Sometimes during this time I am wasteful- I check facebook on my phone, loiter around, or read blogs. But by God's grace I am seeking to redeem the time and be faithful in these little minutes. Also it can be hard at 10 a.m. to just sit and read Scripture when you can see all the mountains of work surrounding you and how quickly the day is fleeting. Yet I've found if I just take a few minutes to quiet my heart before the Lord and seek Him, the rest of the day is so much sweeter and simpler. So worth it!

Plan C. If all else  fails, during my kid's afternoon naps I spend time in the Word and prayer. I can't recommend to you enough the urgency of getting your small children to nap at the same time {if at all possible}! Some days my three year old doesn't fall asleep, in which case I set a {looong} timer for her and give her a pile of books to look through quietly in bed.

Also I {generally speaking} refuse to do housework at this time. The days that I work and cook through nap time leave me haggard and grumpy for the hardest hour of the day: pre-dinner witching hour. If I've already spent adequate time with the Lord earlier {well, really I guess there is no such thing, let's be honest!}, I use it to nap, read other books, and write here. Anything quiet and enjoyable to recharge my batteries. Time to rest and recoup is so very necessary for your sanity, mama! You will be a more patient and loving mother for it.

At the end of the day, we all have to acknowledge that we had time for what we made time for. If time in the Word is important to you, you can make it happen, no matter the season. While it may not be as long or thorough as your pre-baby days, something, anything, is so much better than nothing. The day is coming when a handful of little people won't be hanging onto your pants leg, demanding the majority of your hours and minutes. Until then, we've got to just grab what we can, amen?

How do you make time for the Word in your busy days? 

Observations from the Trenches of Failure

The trench of failure in which I am writing from is TIME WASTING. As with all sin, the truth about time wasting is that it seems sweet in the moment, becomes addictive (until a little wasted time spirals into a lot of wasted time), and always ends bitterly. At the end of a wasted hour, or afternoon, or day, I feel guilty and unsatisfied. As we covered yesterday, this is because I will only feel fulfilled as I live a life productive in honoring the Lord.

So what is to be done? I am tired of this vicious cycle, and I want to get out of it. Here are a few things I've observed:

1. Starting the day right makes a difference. If the first thing I run to in the morning is my Bible, and not the internet, a big battle has already been won. If I start the day with entertainment, I'll increase my appetite for more and the downward spiral begins again. But if I put first things first, then I am encouraged in my desires to be productive and redeem the time. If I am renewing my mind first thing in the Word, then I am setting it with Christ where it ought to be.

2. I need to plan how I am going to avoid time wasting. For example, I know that when I sit down to feed S, if I pick up the iPod, a little internet or a little video will turn into a lot of internet and maybe a movie. Not where I need to go! To avoid this, I will leave the iPod far away from the couch where I won't be able to reach it when I'm attached to the pump :). Next to me on the couch will be my Bible, Scripture memory cards, and a few carefully selected books I am reading. Wow, there you have it- another huge battle won! Instead of spending an hour frivolously on entertainment, it's been spent on renewing my mind and being productive.

3. Ending the day right also makes a big difference. If I end the day with a clean kitchen, when I walk into it in the morning I feel refreshed and ready to seek the Lord. If I walk into a dirty one, I am instantly discouraged, think "What's the point anyway?" and schlump over to the couch iPod in hand to escape my overwhelming abyss. Dramatic, I know, but when you are sleep deprived, isn't that how oppressive messes feel???

4. And finally, contrary to wasting time, spending your time wisely (as with any righteous thing) does pay off and brings joy. At the end of the day I may feel tired, but my kitchen is clean, I've read and studied good things instead of filling my mind with the world, and I can rest satisfied. Making wise decisions, like starting and ending your day right, can start a positive cycle of good decisions. And that is where I want to be!

Failures and Frustrations

Isn't it funny how the night you decide you are going to get up early and get onto the treadmill, your daughter decides to stay awake until 4 am (close to the time you had planned on getting up) with fussing and grunting and squirming, demanding you to forfeit your necessary night's rest? Yes, this is what happened to me last night, how did you guess? My personal example aside, you get the picture- whenever we make plans, obstacles just seem to jump out and throw us for a loop.

And this isn't me being a wimp. I have no doubt in my mind that after staying up with S all night, the right thing to do at 4 am when she finally fell asleep was to crawl into my bed. But how frustrating it is to have circumstances outside of my control keeping me from my goals!

Then there are the obstacles I can control, but haven't been. I love wasting time on the internet and other forms of entertainment. Lately I have been indulging myself from the first baby feeding of the day right on to the last. My little iPod makes it so convenient to browse the web, collect swagbucks, watch videos and facebook stalk people I haven't spoken with in years.

My recent lack of productivity has me feeling sluggish and depressed. For our Sunday School class at church we have been reading Dr. Wayne and Joshua Mack's book God's Solutions to Life's Problems. It is an excellent work, by the way, and well worth your time. In chapter 6, the Mack's address the crux of my issue. "My Father works. Because we are made in the image of God, we will find contentment and satisfaction only as we have a productive life.The greatest satisfaction comes out of having a life that is productive in honoring and glorifying God." Huh. No wonder frittering my days away on the iPod hasn't been very fulfilling or satisfying.

Okay, here is where I'm at. In this stage of life (let's call it newborn stage), I am required to spend a lot of time on the couch feeding S and pumping more food for her. This is not a waste of time, it is fulfilling the job that the Lord has called me to, and I can glorify Him by being faithful in it. It also means though that sometimes her schedule will prevent me from carrying out my own designs on how I believe I can be most productive (E.g- treadmill). That is life, and I can choose to joyfully accept that and work around it, or I can throw my hands up in the air and give up on all goal-making.

But on that couch I do have control over some things. Am I going to aimlessly play on the iPod, or spend time say, reading some good books? Will I place the priority on scripture reading, memory and prayer first thing in the morning, or will I succumb to what is easiest? This is my greatest battle: the battle between living to gratify my flesh and living to glorify God.

Pray for me if you think of it. I am losing the battle lately.

Tomorrow: Observations From the Trenches of Failure. I am writing it here so that I actually follow through!!!