How are you doing?

The most common question that I have been asked lately is, “How are you doing?” In most cases it is in the most sincere form, from those that really care about my well being. Other times from those who just don’t know what else to say.

Photography: Julie Christine Photography

My answer is usually one of these three:

•  “Surviving”
•  “Tired”
•  “Good”

…mostly because I don’t feel like I have the energy to get into how it’s going. So here we go, I am writing this out in a means to try to put into words, exactly how I am doing… how I have been surviving the past four months with one child in school, one in preschool and the other just a few months old. In the best way I can, here is how I have been feeling these past four months with three.

A word I used the other day that I felt described it the best was “treading water”, because let’s be honest, I think that is how most of us moms feel. We are working all day to stay on top of the kids never full appetites, the laundry (that I must admit I am terrible at and my husband should win an award for the amount of laundry he has conquered), school drop offs and pick ups, homework, breast feeding, activities… and it goes on… all of that is floating around in my mind in some way shape or form, reminding me what is next on the to-do list.

I have been feeling like I am doing the things, but not actually doing them. I don’t really know how to explain it, but if we think about the treading water phrase, I would say it’s like that… you want to go for a swim but you don’t really get anywhere. You are just there, doing it, making motions but not really experiencing swimming to the fullest.

With lack of sleep and too much on the go I started to realize that I need to slow down and enjoy more. I want to be fully there, fully present and enjoying these moments. To be able to focus on the event at hand and not worry about what is next up on the list. A lot of that has to do with how much I have taken on lately with this blog, graphic design and events/family outings. So on our vacation I am going to try to reteach myself to enjoy more moments and to really slow down. In order to do that I have decided to try to commit to three things:

1. Say “No” more.
2. Eat Healthier
3. Exercise

Doing these things will allow for me to be able to focus and concentrate on not only my day to day tasks but also plan and strive more bigger things. I want to aim to share more about how it’s going rather then just feel like I am making it through each day by the bare minimums.

I have no idea if this even made any sense to anyone but myself, but overall, yes I am tired. It wouldn’t be motherhood if I wasn’t. But I needed to write this out to remind myself that slowing down and focusing on making myself, my husband and my kids happy is what I will look back on when I remember this stage of life. Not what we did specifically but more the relationships that we built with each other and the time that was cherished in the moment.

Thank you to Julie Christine Photography for the beautiful images for this post.

Outfit Details:
Striped MOTHER button up: Deck and Oar

Beautiful Mama Necklace: Mint and Birch

Knitted Toque: Twinkle Belle Design

Baseball Pullover Sweater: KEWE Clothing

Rainbow Leggings: KEWE Clothing

Fawn Shoes: Minimoc