The Ambitious Life

I missed a week.  And while I knew about it and I was bummed about it, I've given myself the grace to move on with my life.  Thank you for understanding :)  I feel like I'm finally in that season of life where if I fall short of my own goals, I can be ok with that.  I'm not saying I don't try and I don't do my best but I'm not going to hold myself to some arbitrary standard and beat myself up for it.  Life is too short for that. This week I'm thankful for... 1. My husband.  He is one of those guys who I fell in love with and have fallen more in love with since then.  For our anniversary he bought me a glider (like a rocking chair but way better for those that are not familiar) and roses.  He knows what delights my heart and I appreciate that so much about him.  He also came home today with two dressers for the boys room and a baby swing because he knew they were on my list of 'needs'.  I'm thankful for the way he takes care of us and...

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...

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...

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 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 ...