Monday Momiform & Daily Affirmations

If you've seen my instagram stories, you probably have heard my little cuties doing their daily affirmations. I made these up right before the first day of school after praying for some kind of reminder for the girls every day. I've always been a sucker for a good rhyme so this was right up my alley! I've gotten so many questions for posting these so I wanted to have a place for y'all to be able to access them any time.Here they are!I am ___I am awesomeI am good at listeningI respect my teachersI do the right thingI share what is mineI use my words to be kindI'm a good friend with a servant's heartI work hardI am smartI know God loves meMommy and Daddy do tooI know I am specialAnd so are you I literally tear up every single morning hearing them recite these. There's so much power in speaking the truth over yourself. It's one thing for me to say these things to them but when they own it and they speak it, it becomes a part of their belief system about themselves.I hope these will be helpful for you and your babies and please know that I LOVE hearing your babies recite these so send me ALLLLLL the videos of them saying their affirmations.Since we are kind of on the topic of mom life, I thought I'd share one of my go-to easy to put together Momiforms with y'all!A momiform is an outfit you constantly find yourself gravitating toward when getting ready in the morning... or in the afternoon. Just keeping it real! But some of us need to take a long, hard look at our go-to styles and give them a major refresher.

There's a common misconception that in order to look put together, you have to be uncomfortable. This is just not true. You don't have to sacrifice comfort for style, you just have to have the right pieces to put together a look you'll love.When I became a mom, I found myself wearing t shirts and running shorts almost every single day. I got so tired of feeling so BLAH that I finally admitted to myself that it's just as easy to put on a cute flannel button down and jeans as it is to throw on yoga pants and a tank. 

I love statement tennies and I don't think you can ever have too many flannel button down shirts. I get most of my button downs at Old Navy and J Crew Factory and I've linked some of my favorite tennies below![show_shopthepost_widget id="2846664"]If you don't already own a tee shirt dress, I'd highly recommend this one. It's super versatile and affordable. Plus there are a ton of different ways to dress it up and down. Add booties and a cardigan for a dressier look OR slides and a denim jacket to dress it down a bit more.I'll keep sharing more mom style looks each Monday along with a parenting tip or two. Hope y'all enjoy this new addition to the weekly blog scene!You can tune into my insta stories today to hear the girl's recite our verse for Memory Verse Monday! Here it is:"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1Thanks so much for stopping by today, yall![show_shopthepost_widget id="2846673"] 

Mommy Wars Part One: The battle with no winners

When I first become a mom, I was incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of love I felt for this helpless little person that I had just pushed out of my body. No one can prepare you for what it's like to become a mom. It is truly a gift like none I've ever received. But with this great gift came a lot of pressure that I never planned for. Not just pressure from myself but also pressure from outside sources, leaving me asking myself the question "Will I ever do this mom thing right?"

                                                            Enter: The Mommy Wars.

It's a real thing. A real battle between mothers over the various ways WE choose to raise our families. You can see it all over facebook, instagram, twitter. Name the outlet, the mommy wars are being fought there and no one is winning.

If only it were over just ONE thing. But it's not. The battle is waged over all kinds of ideologies...

Stay at Home VS. Full time out of the home worker

Cry it Out VS. Attachment Parenting

Organic diet VS. The McDonals drive thru

Home Schooling VS. Public School

Vaccinating VS. Natural Immunization

Natural Child Birth VS. The C Section

DIY VS. I'd rather buy, thank you

I'm sure there are more that I'm missing. I'm sure in your own experience, you've seen the way any number of these battles has effected you. Maybe you've been the victim of someone's critical spirit over a specific decision you've made. Maybe you've lashed out in defense of your point of view at the expense of someone else's.

The point is, this is a battle with no winners. No matter how many people you have on "your side" there will always be "another side" that feels differently. This is the beauty and tragedy of our role. We have decisions we have to make and they WILL be different than the decisions that others are making.

So in an effort to wave the white flag, let's expose this issue for what it really is: Satan's attempt to rob mother's of the joy found in their role AND the opportunity we have to nurture each other in those roles.

Even with all our vast differences, we can still find common ground.

1. We are all moms
2. We all feel insecure in our role and decision-making at times
3. When we are critical of another mother, we are fighting the mommy war
4. When we are defensive of our own position, we are fighting the mommy war
5. We are all doing the BEST we can with information that WE have to raise our families

We have seen the power that we as mothers can have in our homes when we nurture those who live in it's walls, but have we even tapped into the potential we have to be each other's biggest advocates, greatest support, loudest cheerleaders, and sweetest nurturers?

Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we stopped tearing each other down and competing with each other?  If instead of fighting against one another, we started playing on the same team? We would be a force of good to be reckoned with.

Will you join me in waving the white flag and ending this war? It starts in our own hearts by examining our motives and the way we CHOOSE to lift each other up.

If you walk away with anything from this, I want you to know, sweet momma, I'm on YOUR side.