TIME

Anyone else still recovering from excessive amounts of gravy and stuffing? I can literally feel an extra half-inch on my waistline… totally worth it! 

Am I also the only person who feels like Thanksgiving is the most underrated holiday? As I’m getting older, it just might be becoming my favorite holiday. I love the long weekend of family time. We spent this year with Scott’s family in Grace, ID and played non-stop… we went on a great nature walk with all the kids, had razor rides, incredible food, outdoor volleyball, indoor dodge-ball and card games with all the adults until the middle of the night, every night. This is the kind of thing that I live for! Family time. It’s my love language. ;)

Now as we are heading back into reality with work, school and schedules I am trying to be more mindful about time and the way I spend it with each member of my family. I’m starting to recognize the different needs and demands of my kids as far as one-on-one time with mommy. Each of them need it and each of them want it in different ways. Thinking back to my childhood, I can clearly remember the times I got to be alone with my mom. Being one of four sisters, it didn’t leave for endless amounts of one-on-one time, but I absolutely remember those moments and the conversations we had. I cherish the memories of riding to cello practice alone with her, our car conversations while running little errands and the time she babied me (spoon feeding yogurt and ice cream) after all of us had moved out and I traveled home to get my wisdom teeth out. Precious times like this built me up and gave me the fuel I needed to feel confident, loved and happy.

On that same note, I am noticing the confidence and love they get from time with each other… One on one sibling time. It’s a mothers dream to watch her kids nourish, love and need each other the way my babies do.

Fall scheduling has given me random slots of time alone with each kid. I get about 20 minutes a day with JUST Ames, about 45 with JUST Scar, and I have to carve in that time with JUST Welles.  Since none of these slots are very big and often times are filled by the need to get ready for the next activity, I sometimes have to rely on that two-on-one time and make the most of that... some of those moments are creating some of our best memories. Three days a week, I have about three hours of JUST Scarlett and Ames while Welles is at school. While it’s no “mommy- time” alone with either kid, I make it a special time for the two of them to bond without their middle brother who they are both so attached to. It’s made for some really sweet mornings before Scarlett’s afternoon Kindergarten. I’ll ask Scarlett to help Ames with things that I usually take care of, and she loves rising to those tasks. She plays mini-mommy to him and finds such a sense of confidence in that responsibility. I love nurturing these little relationships and really think they are about as valuable as the relationships with mom and dad. My sisters absolutely played a huge part in building my strengths and I can’t thank my parents enough for forcing us to be best friends! ;)

While we were in Idaho celebrating all the things we were thankful for, surrounded by some of our most loved ones, I got to thinking hard about the way I want to spend our time at home. I don’t just WANT to be more meaningful and intentional with mine and my families time… but I am GOING to be. I am going to run with this momentum and new ideals of how we should spend our time and make it less flustered and more purposeful. I am GOING to be more organized and wake earlier so that I can be more focused on the slots of one-on-one time with each kid, as well as the two-on-one time. These moments are precious and I can’t believe how fast they are flying by.

Im my mind it all comes down to family love. Sibling-time, mommy-time and daddy-time.... those bonds are all incredibly important in shaping our little people and all we can do, is our best. Hug, kiss, cuddle, talk, LISTEN and be present. I'm not exactly the mom that I want to be, completely... but I'm working on it by helping nourish these relationships. 

The stroller in this post is the "Pivot" by Evenflo. It's becoming a quick favorite for the many times throughout the week where I leave with just one (or two) of the kids for our one-on-one/two-on-one time. It's super light-weight and easy to use! I love having it for walks and outings. It can come in a package with the car seat pictured below. I'll hang onto that for when we decide we're ready for another. ;) Very affordable bundle (stroller, seat/basinet and car seat). Add it to your Christmas list! 

Thank you to Evenflo for kindly sponsoring this post.

All opinions are 100% honest & completely my own.