Blah...

Yup, that's about how I feel.  I did find out that I've been anemic and I think that I'm definitely starting to get my energy back which has been no small thing.  I can't just take a pill since I already have problems with my digestive track.  So I've been using more high iron, mostly plant based, foods to increase it and it's been working.  It definitely takes more effort than just popping in a pill but I think in a sense it's more effective and healthier.  I think that's where all my extra energy has gone lately though. 

So starting a blog at the beginning of pregnancy is not easy if you are going to post every day like I keep hoping... haha!  Life is funny!  :)

Ug...

Can I just say that the last couple weeks have been harder than expected.  I thought I was going to miss the bad nausea of morning sickness but it seems like I'm either going to end this first trimester with a bang or even worse it will get worse throughout the pregnancy.  I'm being hopeful and waiting for it to come down in the next few weeks but I guess we will just wait and see.  Right now everything is hard because I just want to sleep and try to keep whatever I've eaten down.  Not the best way to get anything done around here, but I'm learning that since everything is hard to do, I'm trying to stay grateful for the fact that I am getting some things done, like laundry... even if that means washing and drying but not ever making it out of the basket till it's worn... :)

General Conference weekend!

Wow!  What a weekend!  Our office room was taken over by a welcomed guest so I'm afraid I didn't blog but now that it's empty again I'm back.  I love conference weekend but I have to admit it is much harder with little ones.  Especially since it happens right at bed time for them here.  We like watching it live if possible but I need to find a way to get the kids more into it.

As a child we always went to church and sat in the dark chapel.  We were expected to be reverent and listen as much as possible.  I remember feeling like I was being slowly tortured to death but as I grew older I started listening and the more I listened the more interesting it became and the less like a weekend long torture session it became.  We've tried doing little booklets for the kids but I'm afraid that at their age it's just going to be more torture and less interesting...

I wish I could pick a talk that was my favorite but I feel like the ones that I did here were amazing and there were quite a few that I didn't really get to listen too because of juggling the little ones.  I guess I'll just have to get more thoughts out as I review them one by ones over the next 6 months.

This weekend I made it through conference! :)  I think I even came out better than some of the previous conferences that were more frustrating and less uplifting with the kiddos.  So as small as that is I'm quite pleased with it.  :)

Being a slacker

Ah, I guess I've taken a week off of blogging and I hadn't been going very long.  Not really a good start for my goal.  I haven't done anything major either so it's probably ok that I took a bit of a break.  But since that's what this blog is about then I kinda missed the mark too. 

Today I didn't do anything amazing.  I did do something important the last few days though that I have continued to do today.  It's probably one of those more important things I could be doing.  My oldest has had a bit of a time getting into Kindergarten and had a rough adjustment at first so I put a lot of attention on him for the last little bit.  I realized a few days ago that my second is struggling with all the lack of attention which is really more like added attention to #1 and not #2.  So I've added more attention to #2.  I let my husband snuggle the baby at night and put #3 to bed while I snuggled #2.  It's been really good.

 I feel like I've been growing more distant with her and this has been very rejuvenating for our little relationship.  I've gotten even more hugs and kisses and Eskimo kisses which are not usually acceptable to give her but she has loved them and given them.  I've put extra effort into it and it's paid off in a way I guess I didn't really expect.  She's been happier and less temper tantrums for sure!   It takes effort to give the extra little loves here and there but with #4 coming in May I think I need to get as much practice as possible now because I get the feeling it's going to be even more needed soon.   

Hmmm... Pregnant day

I think today was a definite pregnant day.  I have to admit I don't feel like I did anything hard.  In fact, I think the hardest thing I did was to try and stay awake while I read 2 Curious George books to the kids.  I know there were a few long pauses and I think I crashed for a few min afterwards.  Luckily the youngest was napping and the other two decided to finish coloring pictures. 

I did get a load of laundry done!  It was essential since underwear is needed tomorrow...  I guess I should give myself credit for that and feeding the kids even if my wonderful husband did clean up after it all.  I'm not doing well with food right now so I admit I kinda left it for him.  He's amazing like that!  So although I didn't push myself to do anything hard I did function and take care of some things so I guess it wasn't all bad right? :)

The phone call

Today I actually called a Dr's office on my own, set up an appointment and went.  In a way I'm glad it happened quickly so I didn't have time for nerves to set in with the whole language barrier.  It might not seem big but I've even had people hang up on me when I've tried to communicate in English or even attempt their language.  So this was a first for me!  I'm pretty sure my husband is a bit proud too.  An exhausting but good day!

No phone

I hate to admit it but I have this tendency to pick up the phone when my kids are driving me really crazy and check my email or something to escape the situation.  Today I decided that I was not going to use my phone for anything but phone type stuff... You know the thing phones were originally used for, contacting people.  I'm actually quite happy to say that I did pretty well.  I made it the whole day without using it.  The funny thing is, I think I was less frustrated today as well.  I'm not sure if those are connected but I think I'm going to try and keep this up.  I felt a little more present and had more fun with my kids today than I usually do.  I hope on those crazy hard days it's as easy to achieve this goal.  It probably won't be but I think the results will be just as worth it! 

Hard things

I think being a mom/stay at home mom is the hardest job on the planet.  It is at times the most rewarding, but most days are just long or hard or both.  It's so easy to get stuck in the never ending list of things to do and feel like you haven't gotten anything done.  To get so discouraged that you just give up or really, really want to.

Maybe that's why wives are known for To Do Lists for their husbands.  What the husband doesn't realize is, that in the wife's head, there is a list a hundred times longer and she's feeling swamped under the pressure.  A list so long she can't even write it all down.  That list she gives to her husband is sometimes an attempt and keeping her head above water so she doesn't give up entirely.  The thought that maybe he can do one or two things that will allow her to do one of the other million things on the list before her.

This blog isn't about husbands and wanting them to do more.  It's about me, a mom who is just trying to keep afloat and not feel like I'm going half crazy in the process.  A few random facts that will probably help any random person who stumbles across this know what's going on here...

I'm a mom to 3 of the most beautiful babies in the whole world and wife to the most wonderful and amazing man that ever existed! I couldn't survive with out him in my life!

We are expecting the 4th in May if all goes well, and at that point I'll have 4 kids under 6... Did I mention I'm just a tiny bit crazy?  We are excited to have this last one!

I live in Europe and don't really speak the language of this country, so life gets a bit complicated most of the time.  Fortunately, my husband has spoken it his whole life (he grew up bilingual) and he is amazing with to do lists.  In all fairness I did move here when my first was 7-8 months old and I've been pretty busy ever since I got here with the wee ones.  I will be working on the language thing though.  Especially since my kids are getting harder to understand with my slowly expanding vocabulary that just can't keep up with their quick little brains.

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or a Mormon.  It will probably explain a few things around here.

I'm creating this blog to help me do hard things each and every day.  To push myself to do more than I am and to help me see the smallest and simplest things I do and how important they are when I do them.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't going to be some amazing blog with all sorts of amazing things on it.  In fact it's going to be quite the opposite.  I'm here to document all those crazy little things that I overlook that are on most days hard for me to do and to push myself to do more of them.  Like today, I mopped the kitchen floor for the first time in over a month!  Yup, it's been that long!  The hardest part was...I know you are dying to find out... I had the 2 older kiddos help and we all survived the experience and it was actually kinda fun. This might come as a shock but that has never happened before.  I usually just do it on my own because it's just easier.  Yeah, it was hard...  So you see what I mean.  This isn't going to be glorious or anything and it's mostly for me.  I'm going to try and post every day because my goal is to do something hard every day.  It might be a bit tedious too because the same things are going to be hard time and time again but hopefully my crazy personality mentioned above will make it a bit more bearable if anyone decides to read this.  

So there you have it.  The start of a blog about the smallest and simplest things a mom might be doing...  I hope I'm ready for this...