As "just" a mom, I have a front row seat to my children's growth and learning, daily little miracles, and the funny things that happen in a marriage. I feel so very blessed to be "just" a mom.
I recently saw a post with this title. I clicked on it but was disappointed with the content. The "small habits" described were things like, drink water every day or count your blessings. While those things are great things to do, I wouldn't necessarily describe them as small habits. I also think I was looking for something a little more specific.
So, I thought I'd make my own list. Here are some small habits that I think make a profound difference on your life. Some of these I've done and love the way they improve my life, others I am working on implementing in my life.
Read before bed (even just for five minutes)
Keep a water bottle with you
Pray morning and night (even just for a minute or two)
Plug in your phone during family dinner (so it's not at the table)
Do 10 minutes of yoga a day
Read on your phone instead of getting on Facebook (I don't even have Facebook on my phone right now to avoid the temptation)
Kiss your spouse daily
Get a load of laundry through the washer/dryer each day
Wake up early at the same time each day (even if you don't do a lot of "productive" activities first thing)
Make your bed when you wake up
Go outside daily (even if it's just to sit on your porch for a few minutes)
Eat a protein and a vegetable with each meal
Clear out the dishwasher in the morning
Use grocery pickup so you don't spontaneous buy things off your list
Be in the middle of an audiobook
Don't buy stuff except on certain days (we have one day a month to buy stuff besides groceries)
Exercise everyday (even if it's only ten pushups or twenty squats)
Find something each week to do for someone else
Do a five-minute family pick up before bed
Talk with your spouse each night to connect
What are some small habits or systems that have improved your life?
Since having Parker, Ben and I have put the kids down around 8:30 and then watched a TV show together. Occasionally we will do something else (like play a game or talk), but our go-to has been a TV episode. We would try to be in bed and asleep by around 10:30.
Recently, Ben and I were thinking about ways to get better sleep. We know that sleep earlier in the night is better for your body than sleep later in the evening and we also know that screentime before bed isn't the bed. However, we love watching a show together and having some kid-free time to relax each day. A couple weeks ago, we decided to try changing it up a little.
Instead of staying up to watch a show together, we've started waking up early to watch an episode.
There are still a few things we are figuring out with it, but for the most part we really like it so far. We try to be in bed by 9:00 and asleep by 9:30. My alarm goes off at 5:30, and I get up and get the show going on my computer. We lay in bed together and watch an episode (right now, we're watching Veronica Mars). When the episode is over, we're both awake enough to get up and get going on our day (dishes, shower, etc.) and still have enough time to get those things in before the kids wake up.
It's taken some getting used to and there are nights (like when Ben has a Smash tournament or we hang out with someone after putting the kids down) that we won't be able to do it, but we're more consistent with this so far than our previous 10:30 to 6:30 because we're doing it on weekends. On Saturdays, we just get to stay snuggled in bed and watch more than one episode or a movie instead of getting up and being productive.
It's been great so far. Except the days that Rylee wakes us up at 4:30 because she's had an accident 😅
Happy Mother's Day! I feel so grateful for my own mother and all she's done for me. I am so glad we are friends now and that she is the grandmother of my children! I'm also very grateful for all the other mother figures in my life. I am who I am today because of them.
My children shared their love for all the grandmothers they have, and I thought it was too precious not to share. We are so blessed!
Rylee:
I love Grandma Dee because she is so nice. She brings us to the park. She gives us yummy things. She lets us watch movies at her house. I love you, Grandma Dee!
I love Grandma Lindi because she does really nice things! She has some playing stuff at her house. She turns on Bugs Bunny for me and Grandpa Danny lives at her house with his candy. I love her!
I love Grandma Leah because she gives us candy when we leave. She lets me play with toys. She does Easter hunts. I love giving her hugs. I love Grandma Leah!
I love Grandma Sue because she does water parties for me! She gives us treats. She talks to me and tells me things. I love Grandma Sue!
I love Grandma Call because she does something nice and comforting. We see her at Grandma Dee's, yep. I love her!
I love Grandma Netta because she moved to Vernal. She just does things for me and talks to me and hugs me. I love Grandma Netta!
Ashtyn:
I love Grandma Dee because she makes us pancakes! She lets us sleep over, gives us fruit strips, and lets us watch movies. I really like to help her garden. Did you know that one of the lettuces even survived all winter long and kept growing?? And just because I love her.
I love Grandma Lindi because she does movies and makes us kettle corn. She also does the golden ticket dates with us, like stream fishing! I love her! I love all my grandmas. And because I just love her!
I love Grandma Leah because I just love her. And because she gave us guardian angels and she lets us have a couple pieces of candy when we leave.
I love Grandma Sue because she does the Easter egg hunt and had a real bunny at her house! And sometimes she lets us have candy, at least one piece. And because I just love her!
I love Grandma Call because she talks with me and asks me questions and smiles at me. And because I just love her.
I love Grandma Netta because she hugs me and I know she loves me. I'm glad I can see her more now. And because I just love her!
Parker:
I love Grandma Dee because her gives us treats! And she lets us do sleepovers with her. She tells us stories from her book bag and brings fun things for us to do. She always makes me M&M cookies and donuts with sprinkles. I love her!
I love Grandma Lindi because her lets us watch Bugs Bunny with Kettle corn! Her did a movie for me with lots of candy (golden ticket date). I love jumping on her trampoline and playing with her blocks. And I love her!
I love Grandma Leah because her gives us treats and lets us have treats after we leave! And her lets us do fun things and gives us gifts like guardian angels. I love her!
I love Grandma Sue because her lets us do egg hunts and water parties with her! She has lots of toys and some candy. I love her!
I love Grandma Call because her talks with me, her is very nice. Her smiles at me and and her is very kind. I love her!
I love Grandma Netta because her is my grandma and loves me. I like giving her hugs and doing her curly hair! I love her!
We had so much fun together in April. I always love this time of year as the weather is warming up and we can spend more time outside. We also had a lot of fun Easter celebrations spread out through the month and got to spend a lot of time with friends and family. We're so blessed.
Moonshine Arch 💓
General Conference was at the very beginning of the month. I always love General Conference, though the kids are still learning to appreciate it. Ben's tradition growing up was to do Legos during conference and mine was crafts, so we did a little of both with the girls.
Cousins 💓 I made a lasagna for dinner, which is hard for our little family to eat on our own, so we invited Ben's cousins over to hang out Saturday night.
Sunday morning, the girls made a fort out of the table.
We also did jelly bean structures during conference, where they got to make whatever structures they wanted with toothpicks and jelly beans. Rylee always makes tiny weights out of them 😂
The week before Easter, our ward had a party at the park by us. They did such a good job with the party and we all had so much fun.
Ashtyn's "lunch" that she dished up herself 😂🤦
The week leading up to Easter, we also got to go visit Ben's Grandma Leah. She helped the girls decorate chocolate marshmallow eggs with frosting. Oliver thought her cat Glitter was the coolest thing.
The girls' paper Easter baskets of Easter eggs.
During the week leading up to Easter, we also had an Easter egg hunt with some of Ben's cousins' and their friends. We did mostly stickers and coins in the eggs. It was really windy, but the kids had a lot of fun with it.
Easter weekend was pretty lowkey for us. Saturday, we had Navy come over and decorate Easter eggs with the girls. The egg dying kit I got came with bunnies to decorate and that was Parker's favorite part.
Rylee loved holding the eggs 💓
One of the bunnies Parker put up started falling off that night. Ben and I couldn't help but notice that it looked a little like it was crucified ...
Easter morning 💗
Oliver loved his basket!
On Easter morning I had a stuffy nose, so I stayed home with the younger three while Ben took Ashtyn to church (she really wanted to sing Gethsemane during sacrament with the primary). Parker and Rylee played outside all morning, so while Oliver was sleeping, I did all the prep work for our Sunday dinner.
After church, we went on a hike with Ben's cousins Chris and Ashley. We did Moonshine Arch, a really good hike for kids. It ends with a really cool rock formation that is fun to climb on.
We had a blast hiking with Chris and Ashley!
It was so nice to come home to a yummy dinner after the hike (we had worked up an appetite!). We had a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, zucchini, asparagus, and deviled eggs.
After dinner, we went to Lindi's and had sugar cookies.
The week after Easter, my mom came out to visit. She watched girls for Ben and I so we could have an overnight date for our 9th anniversary. It was so fun to spend time together without the need to get back to the kids!
We ate at a place we hadn't tried in Vernal, the Vernal Brewing Company. We got brussels sprouts and bacon, Caesar salads, and a hamburger to share. It was all yummy food!
We also stopped at the library to browse books together 😂 and got ice cream. It was so nice to have the whole night to be just do whatever we felt like doing.
The weekend after Easter, we went out to West Jordan to visit my family and had a blast. The kids do really well on the car trip. We give them each a bag with some snacks and a notebook to color in and then let them watch movies (usually The Swan Princess and The Emperor's New Groove). We usually stop once for a bathroom break. Oliver struggles a little more, but he did really well on the way out (the way home he cried a lot more).
On the way out on Friday, we went through Orem and stopped to see one my friends Itzel and her husband. We ate at a pizza place with them and then played Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza at their apartment. It's Ashtyn's favorite game right now and she loved it. I loved catching up with them and the kids loved seeing both Itzel and Tanner (they are basically the girls' favorite people).
My grandma did an egg hunt on the Saturday and we were so happy to be there and see my family 💗 I will always be grateful for everything my grandparents do for our family.
I can't believe the cousin I used to carry around as a baby is now helping with my kids at family parties 😍
Play time at my mom's house! Rylee loved this dress up, calling herself a vampire. The girls were super excited to see their cousins and to spend so much time with Grandma Dee 💗
Sleepovers with Grandma! Ben and I also got to go on a dinner date while my mom watched all the kids again and we got to spend some time with Jon. We love going to visit people in West Jordan.
The kids loved the rest stop we stopped at. They thought the self flushing toilets and hand dryers in the bathrooms were the coolest 😂
Oliver is so cute sleeping in the car 💗
We also had fun at the park!
Oliver loves swinging 😍
Rylee 😂
Building blocks together 💗
Such musical daughters 💗
And Parker 😂
At the end of March, Ben released a puzzle game inspired by Tic Tac Toe called Tic Tac Tanks. Ashtyn and I both had fun playing it!
Ashtyn's life drawing 💗
Parker's drawing of our family 💗
Rylee had a little fall down the cement steps in the back.
Oliver loves his sisters 💗
Rylee also got a little fever. She got over it pretty quick though. It's been nice to not be as sick as often as the weather has warmed up, though we've still been sick some.
Dad snuggles 💗
Just a cute naked boy because of blowout diapers.
He's so cute 😍
I love sleeping babies 😍
Oliver is rolling over more and more and starting to scoot around some.
I love watching Oliver play 😍
When you're just picked on 💗
We stopped using Oliver's sleep sack in April and started putting him on his tummy. It's helped him nap a little better. For a little bit, it helped a ton (at least one 2 hour nap everyday!) but now he just rolls over as soon as he wakes up 😂
Oliver has light hair, but he also has some really dark hairs mixed in.
Yogurt is one of Oliver's favorite foods.
Oliver loves to sit up and he is getting really good at it.
Trying to get some sun together despite the wind.
When Oliver is having a struggle, he needs his Momma 💗
During a no-Dad party, we made cookies and cream ice cream. It's now Oliver's favorite 💗😂
When the ice cream is all gone 😂
His favorite thing right now is to sit up and play with the plastic tea set. The girls like to say, "Oliver is going bonkers with the tea set!"
You can also tell from this picture and all the paper pieces the girls scattered around that Oliver isn't actually mobile yet.
Oliver screeching 💗
I love watching him play with stuff 😍
He is just the cutest 💗 also, the "where is your underwear" in the background is pretty much a daily thing around here 😂😂🤷
We are so blessed to be together and to have the friends and family that we have!
