The Ambitious Life

This has been a WEIRD week.  I'm kind of glad it is coming to a close and hoping that next week is a little more routine.  Monday my mom watched the kids all day (seriously, all day) while I cleaned and got ready for Baby.  Tuesday I recovered because, yeah, I'm really pregnant and working that hard is tiring.  I also nursed sore teeth because I'm having some dental work done.  Wednesday I went to the Dentist, cried in the chair and gagged quite a few times.  I'm still highly emotional but am happy with a nice, calm day today. 1. I am thankful for my mom and Aunt Janet who have come through for me repeatedly this week to help with the kids while I take care of stuff and get ready for this baby.  She also made me dinner to take home so I wouldn't have to cook! 2. I am thankful for the lady at the dentist who pats my shoulder and helps me to stay calm.  I don't do the dentist well and I really don't do well when it is a high hormone, high gag re...

This has been a crazy day with a trip to the Doctors, visit a the Children's hospital and then back home to get ready for Bible study.  Wow, whirlwind.  1. I am thankful for my Husband.  He puts up with my crazy, loves me always and shares his heart.  I'm glad we love AND like each other! 2. I am thankful for Emily!  It is AWESOME to have someone always (seriously, ALWAYS) willing to help me when I need it and NEVER (truly, NEVER) makes me feel guilty about it.  She hung with 3 of the kids all morning and was so amazing after my "I need you here in 20 minutes" phone call :) 3. I am thankful for Erica!  It's nice to have a nurse friend who lets me ask questions about what is going on, medicines and is a friendly face for my kiddos at the hospital.  So grateful for her! 4. I am thankful for my mother in law!  She has 7 kids of her own but raised 9 with my father in law.  I am thankful for her example of graciousness when peopl...

I have a doctor's appointment this morning.  It is hard to believe it has been 29 weeks with this little guy already.  I'm not ready to go to two appointments per month though.  I'm hoping we put that off for a little while.  My to-do list got mostly done!  It also got a lot longer before the week was over.  Hopefully that means it was a productive week.   High on my priority list is getting the boys clothes organized (I store all the kids' old clothes because let's face it, it's nice to have them on hand and not have to buy new clothes for each kid!) and get out the NB/3m stuff for Isaac.  I also need to order diapers, find a dresser and move some shelves (and by move I mean have Aaron move). I have been doing ok with my no sugar challenge.  I'm bugging Emily constantly with updates on my sugar cravings and ability to resist. Monday and Tuesday were a little rough, Wednesday I nailed it, Thursday and Friday weren't bad. ...

I have been feeling a little stressed out this week.  Combine the urge to clean everything (aka nesting) with four kids who like to play with toys, do crafts and make messes it's getting to me just a little.  But that's ok.  I'd take the kids over a spotless house any day.  I suppose I'm thankful for perspective! 1. I am thankful that the Christmas tree is down and I have my living room back.  I LOVE Christmas.  I also like to be done with the extra clutter (again especially during this nesting phase). 2. I am thankful for the handy cover, screen protector and keyboard for my tablet that allows me to type this in my living room instead of trying to find office time to make it happen. 3. I am thankful for a friend who has twin boys and gave me two giant boxes full of clothes from 24m-4t.  PUMPED. 4. I am thankful that my kiddos are all good at entertaining themselves, but they still like me to play with them too :) 5. I am thankful for this h...

This is a sample of my to do list for a week.  I use a program called Motivated Moms (which is available in the app store) and adjust it to fit my needs.  My main problem is I don't do well with digital lists.  I want to be able to see the entire thing in one glance and generally on my phone or tablet I can't get that. This list stays pretty fluid throughout the week.  I add items to the end as I think of more I have to do and cross off as much as I can!  The Motivated Moms app is helpful to me because it assigns chores that I should think of (cleaning the fridge shelves, checking filters, washing doorknobs) but that I never really get around to doing.  By assigning one or two of these tasks every week it stays manageable and keeps me sane.  Plus, I feel like my house stays cleaner. I had posted before about how I used to have a checklist on my fridge with tasks for each day.  That method was only surface cleaning though and with the 10 peo...

2014 was an amazing year.  It was filled with so much fun and joy and excitement.  I got to see my two squirmy babies grow into little walking and talking toddlers.  I got to see Grace learn how to read and Abi start developing her little personality more and more.  It was also a really hard year - that's 4 (yes 4) kids to keep track of, a ministry to run, "extra" people in my home to care for, work to do and a house to keep running smoothly.  Oh, and I spent the last third of the year growing baby number 5 who will be here in March/April.  It's been a little crazy around here. Looking ahead to the next year I don't want to make resolutions, I don't want to choose one word to meditate on for the year - frankly, my attention span isn't that long.  I do want to set some written, attainable goals though that have been on my heart. 1. After baby is born, I want to start training for and run 2 5Ks this year.  If all goes well I might like to try a 10...

I'm excited to start doing thankful Thursdays again. I think it is one of those things that helps me focus on the important things and allows me to write, even if just in list form for now!  I would LOVE for you to join me with a list of thankfuls (I like 10 but you can pick the number) each Thursday!  This week, I'm thankful for... 1. A new year, new beginning and a fresh start. I am really happy with how I ended 2014 and I'm looking forward to continue to strive for more in 2015! 2. I am thankful for my amazing husband who keeps me grounded, encourages me and pushes me. 3. I am thankful for my 5 kids, they are amazing and I can't wait to meet Isaac! 4. I am thankful for Grace learning to read! It is so awesome! 5. I am thankful for an easy, complications free pregnancy. This is so much easier when I feel good! 6. I am thankful for the ability to work from home and stay with my kiddos. 7. I am thankful for Harvest House and another year in this minis...

I keep putting off "moving" to this blog page because I feel the need to write this deep introduction post of who I am, why I'm here and what my goals are.  Let's face it - that's not going to happen any time soon.  So Hi, I'm Elizabeth.  My husband and I have been married for 8 years this month and I have (as of 1/1/15) 4 beautiful kiddos with one on the way.  In March/April we will have 5 kids under the age of 5, 3 boys and 2 girls.  For a lot of people that puts us in that "weird big family" category although for some it's not too crazy for them. I also am a house parent, although more accurately my entire family is a house family, for an organization called Harvest House.  We have teen to young adult ladies that live with us and do life with us.  So if you lost count, that is 6 in our blood family and then our "extras".  If I ever refer to my big kids, I'm generally referring to the girls who live here or girls who have lived ...