Lessons from a Sippy Cup

So a week or two ago at Target these holiday sippy cups were $2.99. John wanted one when he saw it. So he grabs it off the shelf and was itching to give it to me. Now for any mother you know when your child brings you something with those sweet little eyes looking up at you, you sometimes can't help but to give in, and so of course I put it in the cart only until a few minutes later to pull it back out and put it back on the shelf. Of course he pitched a fit and I tried to explain to him as best as I could that we didn't really need to spend this money right now, that maybe next time we could get it, and that today we just need to just get what we came in here for and go bye bye. Needless to say I might as well of been talking to the air because he's a toddler and toddler's have their minds set...and he had his mind set on having that sippy cup and that's all he saw or heard at the moment.

Now...I know what you're probably thinking at this point, "well it's only $2.99!", and I totally get that. But, coming from a family of 4 who is living day to day off of one income at the moment and trying to be diligent about saving as much as we can to help pay off some bills this $2.99 might as well been $29.99 to me.

So a few days ago we went back to Target to grab a few needed items and came across these sippy cups again and I don't know who screamed louder...me or John because they were marked down to $.79 cents!!!! I was really excited about that because I could justify in paying under a dollar for that sippy cup, but definitely not $2.99. So I picked it up as fast as I could and gave it to John. His little eyes just lit up as he was holding on to it so tightly and wiggling happily in the cart. I smiled at his pure innocent joy over something as small as a sippy cup and thought to myself, "man...I can't believe I almost paid full price for that thing...you can't even get that at the Dollar Tree!"

Now I know that all of this may sound just a bit trivial or maybe even ridiculous to you, and I know for some $2.99 may not make or break your bank account (and in all honesty it probably wouldn't of done that to us either) because each financial situation is definitely different, but bare with me because there is a moral to this story. (Aside from the obvious,"being frugal is key, "it pays to never pay full price for anything", "good things come to those who wait", and for John's sake "patience is a virtue"), but it is in this situation I learned something very important. If God can trust us in the small things He gives...He will trust us with even greater things, (and this applies not just to money, but in many other areas of our walks.)

This my friends was a small thing, but being good stewards of our money and making wise decisions with our money is so important to God, and I feel it's never too early to teach this to our children. I pray Nick and I will always be diligent in teaching our children the value of a dollar, to always make wise financial decisions, to have good spending habits, and to be more thrifty, frugal and prudent with what God has given them. Not only will it help them to save up for things, help them to stay out of debt, and free them up financially to give to others, but if God could trust them in the small things He gives, He could trust them with even greater that they may be even more of a blessing to others!

So even though I am positive John had no clue what was going on at the moment with the sippy cuppy lesson...I nonetheless  sure did, and as much as we could teach this lesson to our children, God definitely used this as a reminder for me!


Cheer's to $.79 cent sippy cups!

So Tired!

Wow! Natalie just turned a month old!  I can't believe how fast time has flown, but I can't believe even more how much it seems like she has always been here and apart of our family. I find it hard to imagine what life was like without her before. She truly does bring what her middle name implies, "Joy" to our family and I feel so blessed that I get to be a mom to John and now her.

But, I have to be honest and say these past 4 weeks have been nothing short of beauty and excitement, but it has not been all rainbows and butterflies either. It has definitely been somewhat of survival mode with me being a stay at home mom and having a newborn and a toddler who just hit 16 months a few days ago to juggle.  I find myself multitasking-tasking like crazy and experimenting with different ways I can make things easier and convenient for me to manage two kids throughout the day. Half the time I don't know what day it is and the sun lots of times is my go to clock.

I find my days are booked up washing bottles, sippy cups. and twice the amount of laundry. My days are a never ending task of finding stale cheerios and soggy blueberries left over from the day before in between couch cushions. I'm constantly juggling the feeding demands of a newborn and toddler while wiping boogies, tiny bee-hinds and kissing little imaginary boo boos. Lot's of day's I'm occupied with trying to distract the oldest from giving the littlest whip lash or a broken limb, and lately I have spent majority of the days correcting an overly defiant toddler who is hitting the terrible two stage a bit early while timing nap times just right so that both little ones can sleep at the same time. Most days if I get this right and able to make it out of our pj's by 4 pm then I define it as a successful day! To top it off if I can at least remember to get mine and the toddlers teeth brushed then I definitely feel like I should receive a gold medal of some sort. :)

Needless to say...juggling two kids under the age of two as a stay at home mom has been quite an adventure so far, and I have been  so tired and exhausted from trying to figure all of this out and establish ourselves a daily routine.

I am tired, but I am finding that it's the kind of tired that if you're going to be tired...you want this kind of tiredness.

It's a tiredness from carrying the weight of two sleeping little's ones at the same time up the stairs for nap times. It's a tiredness from waking up every few hours in the night to feed and rock the littlest back to sleep. It's a tiredness from never having to truly rest your feet because they are busy pacing the floors throughout the day cleaning, washing tiny clothes, picking up toys, playing with toys, and chasing a cute little toddler around who has more energy than you can shake a stick at. It's a tiredness from laughing till your gut hurts at watching the oldest grow in his personality and making the funniest new discoveries. It's the tiredness of your mind because you are constantly thinking of their needs instead of your own and it's a tiredness in your knees because they are having to hit the floor several times throughout the day approaching God's heavenly throne in prayer for patience with a toddler meltdown.

So while I may be tired today, it's the type of tired that I do welcome...because this type of tired makes my heart so full.

Full of joy...in watching their every milestone, and new discovery. In getting sweet cuddles, slobbery kisses and tiny hugs. The smell of my new baby girls skin and her tiny grins, and the ability to use my God given instincts to parent and mother my children...even through a toddler meltdown. I know these days are long, but these years are so short and I want to savor and grasp every little moment as much as I can...the overwhelming, the messy, the chaotic, completely crazy, and the tired because I know I will never get these moment's in time back and these years are so important. I find that motherhood has taught me more about life, and God's love than anything ever has before, and as tired, overwhelmed and exhausted at the end of the day I may be I can always find that I learned something new that day through the eyes of my children.

In closing, I never thought being so tired could be such a blessing! So motherhood bring on the tired, but if you could take the toddler meltdowns with you that would be great too. :)