Friday, June 5, 2009

The floors may not be clean....

...but I am one happy momma lately. I decided a couple of months ago to start doing more for myself. That might sound kind of selfish but we all know the saying ,"If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy." As a mom of three young kids, I felt like I was always giving, giving, giving and not always receiving. You wake up in the morning and there are immediate requests for milk, breakfast, stories, shows, etc. Even the baby asks for milk before I am done changing his diaper (remind me why I teach my kids sign language again??). Having 3 preschoolers requires a lot of work but I wouldn't trade my job of staying home with them for anything. So I had to figure out a way to get in some me time. Hiring a babysitter just isn't an option financially, so luckily daddy has really stepped up and given me a chance to do some things for me. I have started running. I run with a great group of girls from my mom's group and we are training for our first 5K. That may not sound like much to you runners out there but I wasn't working out or running at all before I started training so this was a great first step. I have found that I really enjoying running. Not enough, to do anything crazy like a marathon but enough that I think that I will continue to keep running after our training is over and may even try the 10K next year. As a mom, it is a great way to get in shape and you are not away from the kids for too long. You can even take them with you in a jogging stroller and still get your run in (although I have discovered that it is much harder pushing a double jogging stroller with 60 pounds of kids). I look forward to my nightly run by myself with my only worry being what music I want to run to (My humps and Katy Perry's Hot and Cold being 2 of my favorites right now).
I have also been sewing and doing other various crafts a lot more. My favorites list on my computer is overflowing with projects from blogs and websites that I want to try. But instead of complaining that I never have the time to try any of them, I just make time. My bed may not get made every day like it used to but who sees your bed besides you anyways. My kids are still getting all of their needs met (and much more) and I even have dinner on the table almost every night. My kids have "room time" every afternoon for an hour while Perry naps and that is when I have been diving into a lot of my projects. I have also been trying to be better about doing these things at night after the kids go to bed instead of watching TV shows that I don't care about. Emmy is modeling a dress that I made last night. It is actually for an 8 year old but it is equally as cute on her. I also made a matching headband and a matching dress for a doll. What little girl wouldn't want that??

These are some bouquets that I made for Kaden's teachers for the last day of school. Very fun project and free!

And these are my favorite!!! Aren't these watermelon cookies adorable?? They are almost too pretty to eat. I made these for Kaden's Young 5's picnic. I found instructions on this website. I just can't wait for another excuse to make them. So if you invite me to a potluck or picnic, chances are I will bring these.
So to all of you moms reading this, I encourage you to do something for yourself. It makes you feel so much better about yourself and I find that I enjoy myself more when I am with my kids.

1 comment:

Melissa Mooradian Photography said...

Good for you Amber! I do need to do this as well...but all of my free time goes into my photography business. I wish I had a group of friends that I could run with...and to give me a kick in the butt to get out of the house and just do something for me!!! You have inspired me today...I just might get a run in - or maybe a bubble bath:)