Of course I'm late again. 10 days late. Oh well!

For the past week, my baby boy has decided he is an anti-napping baby. His last decent nap was 6 days ago and I can't seem to get him to sleep longer than 40 minutes at a time during the day. Up until yesterday, this was maaaajorly stressing me out. It's nearly impossible to get anything done when you have a 3 month old that's constantly awake. My momma friends kept trying to reassure me and let me know that this is just a phase and I shouldn't worry about housework and things like that, but their advice was going in one ear and out the other...until yesterday.

I don't know what it was that did it yesterday, probably the grace of God, but it all finally clicked yesterday. So what that my baby needs to be fed to sleep. So what that he needs to be held to remain asleep. This is just a phase, and I'll probably miss it when it is gone. So I'm gonna cherish these moments with my baby boy. I'll hold him, I'll cuddle him. All day if that's what he wants. The housework can wait.

Today, something strange happened. I finally opened up two of the baby-raising books I was given as gifts before my baby was born. All of a sudden, my 11 weeks of hands-on experience felt completely wrong. I felt like a failure of a mother. Here I was spoiling my precious baby boy and doing everything the books said not to do. He naps on the sofa, he feeds on demand (even if it's every hour), he gets rocked to sleep, and he breastfeeds for comfort. SO WHAT.

Hundreds of years ago, no one had these books. When a baby was born, the mother had to use trial and error to fend for herself. I wanna go out on a limb and say that I think God meant it that way. If there was truly a step-by-step guide for parenting a newborn, you'd think that God would have included it somewhere in the Bible. Why do certain people think they are the authority on parenting when every baby is different?

Googling my parenting "issues", I found that I'm not the only mommy who feels this way. Someone posted this question on babycenter.com: How can I get my baby to nap? After reading through the answers, I came across this post that was SUPER encouraging to me.

Ever since my baby was born, I feel like I've sucked at being a housewife. My poor husband is stuck eating sandwiches most days for dinner. How boring!

This past week, I have been trying to find good crockpot meals to make for dinner. The problem is, I've noticed that most of the pinned crockpot recipes on Pinterest take A LOT of prep work. That just isn't practical for this new momma. I'm sure there are others of you in the same boat I'm in.

Anyways, there have been several go-to crockpot recipes I made quite frequently before I was even pregnant and I realized it wouldn't hurt to resurrect them. I've adapted one of the ones I found online to make it my own and seeing as I made it yesterday for dinner, I'd definitely say it's doable with a newborn in the house! This recipe makes about 4 servings (for big eaters!), but it'd be quite easy to double if you want some leftovers!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Crockpot Beef and Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

Instructions:

A little late is better than never, right?

This should have been posted on the 3rd, but here it is 10 days late!

It's hard to believe I'm a mother now. Motherhood is a good excuse for my lack of posts lately.

Yes, I made it to 40 weeks of pregnancy. My precious baby boy was born at 40+4 (on the 3rd of February weighing 7 lbs. 8.5 oz.) and, believe it or not, he's 7 weeks old now!!

He's the cutest thing in the whole world and sometimes I catch myself "wasting" hours on end just staring at him, holding his little hands, and having a one-sided conversation with him. He is the biggest blessing.

I'll probably be MIA for a while because I haven't yet mastered the art of multitasking with a newborn—you should see the chaotic state my house is in right now—but for the time being, I'll leave you with Baby Ethan's one month update, seeing as his two month update will be here in a week and a half.

To my husband, the father of my unborn child,

I wanted to say thank you. I feel like husbands are often unappreciated when wives are expecting. But there's no way I could have done this without you. I really can't comprehend how unmarried women go through 40 weeks of pregnancy on their own. I'm so thankful that God designed pregnancy to fit so seamlessly together with marriage.

Thank you for loving me.
Thank you for being there for me constantly.
Thank you for giving me a baby.
Thank you for praying for me and with me.
Thank you for praying for our baby.
Thank you for wanting to be a good, godly daddy.
Thank you for being sympathetic when I'm uncomfortable.
Thank you for not expecting too much from me.
Thank you for letting me have lazy days.
Thank you for doing favors for me.
Thank you for helping me with jobs around the house.
Thank you for washing dishes for me.
Thank you for rubbing my back on demand.
Thank you for helping me put on my socks.
Thank you for helping me put on my shoes.
Thank you for picking things up from the ground for me when I don't feel like bending.
Thank you for carrying things for me.
Thank you for helping me get up when I'm stuck on the sofa or on a chair.
Thank you for helping me get out of the car.
Thank you for letting me fulfill my random food cravings.
Thank you for being flexible and eating whatever I can bring myself to cook.
Thank you for being flexible with our schedule.
Thank you for still finding me attractive and always telling me that you do.
Thank you for the extra kisses.
Thank you for the belly rubs.
Thank you for the foot massages.
Thank you for pampering me.
Thank you for being there for me when I feel needy.
Thank you for being the best husband in the entire world.

I love you from the bottom of my heart.
Forever, for always, no matter what.

I can't believe we're literally in the home stretch. Today marks 39 weeks of pregnancy. Seven days left. Just seven. I'm hoping and praying that Baby decides to make his debut sometime within the seven days. I really don't know if I can handle being overdue. Haha! My mom comes in five days, and I think the most ideal would be if baby decides to come right when she does...but I wouldn't mind if he decided to come earlier either. :P 

38 weeks today! C'mon Baby! We are ready for you! Although my mom would prefer that you wait for her (she comes in 12 days), I definitely wouldn't mind if you decided to come a liiiiittle early. Hehe. 

So many of my friends have been having early first babies lately. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. I'm super uncomfortable and it's getting harder to fight against that all too famous pregnancy waddle. But all the annoyances seem to diminish when I stand in front of our little baby's wardrobe and look at all the adorable clothes he'll soon be wearing! I can't wait!