Mother Love

motherhood + home + family

OUR NOT-SPRING WEEKEND

March 21, 2016

IMG_4841 IMG_4820 IMG_4833 IMG_4823 It was a great weekend, but our spring weather left us and had me feeling all boo about it. I always said that’s the tricky thing with living in the south. You get those gorgeous warm days, but then bam! Cold again, and for some reason, that cold feels even colder because you remember what those spring days actually feel like again and it’s all like “don’t leave me like that, spring days!” The weather people seem to promise that it will warm up again this week, so hopefully it does.

We kept Ben’s niece and nephews for the evening on Friday night while their parents had dinner out with friends, and what a fun group of kids that kept us laughing and entertained and hoping from one thing to the next. We played in the yard and fish pond for most of the evening, since it was still warm enough on Friday to be outside. The boys “caught” fish with Ben in our little fish pond and it was so fun to sit back and watch them and see what our life could look like in five to ten years or so with a few more kids…laughter coming from the backyard as Ben rips around with the kids on a Friday evening. Ayla had a serious case of only-child-syndrome for the first part of the night, and she was so worried about Ben playing with the other kids while she sat on my lap on the patio. It was actually sorta cute, hehe.

IMG_4891 IMG_4908 IMG_4935 IMG_4953 IMG_4939 Our Saturday went by in a flash and was full of house projects and a fussy baby girl. Ben installed a new screen door in the dining room which lets in a ton more light and also gives Ayla a way to see into the backyard. We had invited some church friends over for dinner that evening, and Ben smoked one of his briskets for the meal…which is great, but smelling it all day long as it cooks is so tantalizing and just makes you wish for dinner time the entire day! I worked on making the rest of the dinner and spent a lot of time holding Ayla and trying to figure out what was making her feel so fussy. I’m still don’t know what was up, but she was just off all day long. I was hoping that having friends and other babies around for the evening would snap her out of it, but she barely lasted into dinner time before a total meltdown and so we whisked her off to bedtime early and she slept for almost thirteen hours that night. Teething, maybe?

Sunday was a cold, blustery day and we had a cozy morning at home together. We had a Moroccan lentil stew and flat bread for lunch, and then Ben shooed me off into town to spend a little time on my own while he did the dishes and kept Ayla. He’s so good to me! I walked around Old Navy and TJ Maxx for a little while, grabbed a few groceries, and it was nice to have an hour or two like that on my own. We left for church early since Ben was on for helping with car parking. I dropped him off at church, and then went off to a little coffee shop with Ayla until church started. It was the first little “coffee” date for her and I, and I sat and sipped my drink and fed her some homemade jello and it was such a sweet little time with her. We grabbed a coffee to-go to take to Ben, and then headed back to church. After church, we had supper and great conversation with some friends and thankfully Ayla managed the up-past-bedtime outing (which can be such a hit or miss sometimes) and sat in her chair munching on sweet potatoes and bread while we chatted.

Best weekend moment: sitting in our upstairs room on Sunday morning with Ben and Ayla, singing along to Bethel Music worship songs…and Ayla just lay there on our laps, so snuggly and peaceful. She’s not a big snuggler and doesn’t usually last for longer than thirty seconds, so the thirty minutes she just rested with us was like a small peace of heaven on earth.

What about you: what was your best weekend moment?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

A SURVEY FOR ME + A SURVEY FOR YOU

March 17, 2016

IMG_4696 Dear reader,

So most times I love to share myself and our life with you…but sometimes I have a hard time sharing myself and our life because, I don’t know…I like my privacy? I do love this blog…it’s fun, it’s a creative outlet, a hobby really. I feel like my blogging has changed a lot since I’ve first started two and a half years ago…but then again, I’ve changed since I started blogging two and a half years ago. When I first started Beautiful Undefined, I was struggling with some major battles in my heart and mind. I was massively insecure, battling a lot of self hatred, constantly feeling awful and ugly and dealing with the reality of having had to come face to face with my biggest fear. I was wrestling with the reality that I had an eating disorder that had taken me into a place I didn’t want to be mentally and physically. And then there I was…over twenty pounds heavier than I was six months earlier at our wedding. Those pounds were for a good reason, yes, and this physical healing and healthy weight gave me the ability to conceive and bring into the world one of the sweetest gifts…my little Ayla June. When I started this blog, I was in an intense season of trying to figure out who I was, and while I don’t claim to never have my battles with body image and food issues today, it is amazing how much freedom Jesus has given me in this area. I’m still figuring out who I am, for reals, but thankfully I know a whole lot of more of who that is these days than I ever have.

So I’ve changed in these two years. I’ve found more security in Jesus, more acceptance of myself. I’ve become a mother, which is obviously the biggest life-change. We’ve moved to a new state, found a new church, made new friends, learned so many new things about life in general and life in God and life with each other. It’s a good season, these years that we are in. Not always easy, but so incredibly good.

I’ve wrestled so much lately with what I want this blog and my online spaces to be. I have my days of feeling endlessly inspired and full of ideas for content or fun things to share…and then days of literally ready to just be done with it all because I feel conflicted with finding balance in sharing life but not over-sharing, offering inspiration but also being real and honest, highlighting the beautiful, sacred moments without projecting that I have a perfect life. I’m a big all-or-nothing-er kind of person, and so I’ve wrestled with that in my blogging and online spaces…and it’s easier for me to jump out of something that potentially presents a conflict. Thankfully I have a good man in my life who talks me off those ledges and helps me to understand that it is possible to find balance, and just because there is a potential for conflict doesn’t mean you have to run away from something.

So. This blog of mine is here for me, for you. Thank you for reading and commenting and connecting with me on these online spaces! I’ll leave you with a little survey, and I would LOVE to have you take my READERS SURVEY at the end of this post so I can hear from you in what you like to see and read here!

Five favorite books:
Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
Captivating by Stasi Eldredge
Living From the Unseen by Wendy Backlund
Love After Marriage by Barry and Lori Byrne
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

Five favorite products:
Gold Clover Tallow Balm
Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate
Plexus XFactor vitamins
Herbamare seasoning
Younique 3D Fiber Mascara

Five things I eat (almost) every day:
Sweet potatoes
Avocado

Dark chocolate
Apples and bananas
Coffee (i guess i technically don’t eat coffee, but…it should still count)

Five favorite websites:
Darling
Sprouted Kitchen
Homesong
The Kitchn
Pinterest 

Five things I do every day:
Fix the bed
Kiss my husband
Drink coffee
Scroll Instagram

Take vitamins and probiotics

Ok, I did a survey…now it’s your turn! I’d love if you would take a minute to answer a few questions about who you are and what you like to see on this blog. It would be so helpful and inspirational to me to hear from YOU.

::CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY::

Thank you thank you!

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HI THERE!

I’m Alicia + follower of Jesus + wife to my incredibly wonderful husband + mama to my girls, Ayla, Aveline, Fleurie and Adella. I love motherhood + family + finding joy in the little things. Thanks for stopping by!

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