What happened to October?

I've had good intentions of blogging again for a couple weeks....but I still often feel I'm in survival mode after the little one was born.  Having a baby is like dropping all the balls you are juggling, and slowly adding them back in. I feel successful if the kids are fed, and laundry/dishes are done.  The juggling balls that feed my soul (reading and blogging) have struggled to find their new home in our new rhythm. 

Little Pumpkin surprised us by arriving 2 weeks 3 days early.  We spent the morning at the zoo and had her that evening.  It was a scramble to find friends to watch our other littles as some of our family was out of town. Needless to say, we weren't totally ready to cozy in with our little bundle. So she got to tag along with us to clean out the garden the week we got home from the hospital.  I guess that's what happens when you decide to come two weeks early! :-)

It's been a much bigger adjustment to having three than it was to having two.  It feels like there are often two crying or asking for something at the same time. Some days I feel I'm going crazy, while other days I marvel that I get the privilege of raising these three littles.

It's taking me longer to get things in a rhythm for our house, and I don't know when I'll get my brain back.  I feel frustrated when I see the chores I haven't gotten done yet, the books waiting by my chair, or think how long it's been since I wrote anything. But I have to remind myself.....it's only been 5 weeks and one of those weeks I was really sick.

The word I want to leave you with is 'grace'.  Give yourself grace.  When you start to feel overwhelmed or frustrated, step back and evaluate if your goal is reasonable.  Are you asking too much too soon? What is the most important goal and what are secondary goals?  And.....don't give up. Hey! I cleaned the bathrooms today! That's a win! Keep taking steps.

Grace and perseverance

Growth takes time. Anything worth doing....takes time.  Creating and developing works of beauty take time.  Let's give ourselves grace as we take slow and steady steps towards reasonable goals. 

So, forgive me if somethings that I write during this season don't make sense. I feel like one of those old computers where it gives you the percentage left until the program is fully loaded.  My percentage is slowly going up, but we're not fully loaded yet. :-)