Mama Monday...{Rae}!!!

Tell us about yourself...
I'm Rachel, but those who know me best call me Rae, or RaeRae, or my Dad's particular favorite: Raepooper.  I'm a woman, daughter of two good parents, sister of seven siblings, happy wife to one amazing man, blessed mother to four spectacular funny adorable CRAZY little girls, and general life lover.

 

MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT ME BY FAR:

I am a recovering blonde addict.

Husband love...

Tyler...oh Tyler. Butter to my bread. I just love the guy. We met in high school. I can honestly say when I first met him I had zero intention of liking him, negative zero intention of dating him, triple negative zero intention of falling head over heels in love with him, and quadruple negative zero intention of marrying him.

That's how good this guy is. And he will attest, as demonstrated above: I am beyond terrible at math.

We married when we were 20 years young. Much to the dismay of many sensible folks around us. But I've never bought into that nonsense about having to "know yourself" and "grow up" before marrying the love of your life, if that only translates to meaning you must be over 30 to be capable of acting like a legitimate adult. . When it is right: it. is. right., so no use delaying the obvious. We have come to know ourselves and grow up together. He is my best friend, an amazing father, a hard worker, an honorable and faithful man, and I count myself LUCKY that he still captivates my heart so.
k, I'll stop now.

 

Mama love...
Sigh, motherhood. It is the best. It is the HARDEST. Never has an emotional pendulum swung so furiously back and forth between pure euphoria and utter hell than during a typical day spent mothering my children. Motherhood is a calling to me, one that walks me through a sort of refiner's fire and reminds me of the divine capabilities I have within me. I have never loved MYSELF more than when I became a mother. I have never loved ANOTHER more than when I became a mother. It is such a rewarding, complex, difficult, exciting journey and I am in awe of a God who instills such trust in a human being. That God above must sure think highly of women to give us such a task. I try to remember that.

Moral of the story: I LOVE being a mother. And it certainly helps that I was given like...the cutest kids...EVER. ;) (what? me? biased?! pshaw!)

Challenges you have faced on this mama journey...Pregnancy (miserable). Breastfeeding (hard. difficult to figure out at first.). Stretch Marks (never go away!). Insecurity (the female condition, really, only on steroids). ass sag (self explanatory).

But the trade off is: a baby! a person! perspective! no longer thinking like a Kardashian! More meaning and purpose than you thought possible!

On a more serious note though, I echo what Katy felt like when she said she felt perceived as "just" a Mom. I love learning. I am a thinky, philosophy obsessed, nerd nerd nerd reader. I long for the upper academic, snooty circles of thought exchange, but clearly I lack the "credentials" at this point because I don't have a list of degrees behind my name. I mean, helloooo, I am still in the process of completing my bachelors for crying out loud: 12 year plan hooray!

I love the idea of excelling at professions outside of my home. I plan on doing so in the future. But, it felt smartEST, for ME, to dedicate this season of my life to motherhood and the creation of home: a time when I am most youthful and passionate and full of natural energy (kids require a LOT, I seriously underestimated that detail). To me, it made sense to reverse the societally prescribed order a bit. Tyler and I decided this together early on in our relationship and dedicated all of our efforts to making this happen. He has worked SO hard to support me being home with our girls, I have worked SO hard to support him in his educational and professional pursuits, and I know we will work in partnership equally as hard to help me reach my academic and professional goals someday when our children get a little older. Basically, I will be that token weird middle age women in the back of a college classroom holding up an otherwise early dismissal with her annoying questions and obvious over enthusiasm for the learning process.

Mama advice for surviving the tough days...
Lower your expectations. Surround yourself with the type of friends who are too overwhelmed in their own parenting experience to spend time judging yours. Demand time for yourself. Demand time to rediscover the woman that you are when you feel buried in all things "mom-ish". Keep a sense of humor. Ignore the naysayers. Ignore them I say! Pray for guidance and inspiration, it will come.

Simple pleasures...

cooking. reading. decorating. doing underwater somersaults in the pool with goggles that properly cover your nose. feeling cozy. real christmas trees. painted nails.

Money saving tip...
I learned this from my aunt who rocked this system: shop a year ahead for your children's clothes. It's a bit of a science at first, but you'll get the hang of it in no time. And shop the off season sales. Every end of summer I shop hard core for the next summer's supply. Same goes for winter. I am always shopping the opposite season of items, and that's why you'll always find me back in the clearance racks. I stock a separate closet in the house and then rotate it in when the right season comes. This allows me to buy better quality items for my girls that can be properly passed down throughout the years. Also, I NEVER buy without a coupon, and I NEVER buy if it's not already on sale (think Gymbucks, Place Cash, Online coupons through email lists).

It's nice to have everything ready when the weather changes. There is no last minute scrambling and realizing "oops! I don't have long sleeves for you and it's like negative 7 degrees outside." And best of all, I often pay way lower than Walmart-esque prices for much better quality.

Health and fitness...
I wish I could speak with any sort of authority. Honestly, I don't do any regular exercise currently. However, that doesn't mean I'm not exercising. I try to stay pretty active with my kids, I try to keep a clean house, I try to cook regular whole meals, I try to be involved with various activities with friends, church, and community. Bascially, I am never sitting down. But that is the extent of my "work-outs" for now. When I have a breastfeeding baby I have learned to be more conscious of my sleep and rest than any additional exertion. I pretty much take the entire breastfeeding year entirely off from strenuous, regular work-out routines. I try to focus on eating for energy and a feeling of wellness rather than to cut calories and shed pounds. So far, it seems to pay off. I gain a LOT of weight when I'm pregnant but have always managed to lose it without any significant struggle. I try to take better care of myself now than I ever did when I was working out obsessively and supposedly so "health conscious". What a sham. You aren't health conscious if you're OBSESSED with perfection. I am no longer shooting for perfection. I want health, I want energy, and I want life balance.

Good read...

Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About Christianity

Anything CS Lewis

Beauty secret...
Fake Lashes for date night. Oh no she didn't! Oh yes...I did.

Recipe...

Thai Chicken Pizza. Amaze.

Dessert...

I'm a classic cookie and cookie dough lover. Here is my favorite recipe.

Closing words...
The blogging and social media of the past decade have introduced entirely new forums for women, and especially mothers like myself, to be able to connect with others from all over the world. For how technology illiterate I am, I am so grateful for this little outlet I have. When kept in balance and perspective, I see it as a total gift and so much fun. I have met amazing people and been inspired over and over by the women who open up their lives for others to share. It can be hard to let down your guard, but I believe we are better for it and its worth a little risk to get connected to women you otherwise would never have known. Thank you for letting me open my heart up and chat! Come visit me at my corner anytime!