I’m a little embarrassed to admit that it has been almost three months since my last blog post. I have always admitted to being an inconsistent blogger but this is bad, even for me. So what’s been up lately? A lot and not so much all at the same time.

We have been living our life pretty normally. We have been tackling small home projects and living the day to day normal that we have always wanted. It’s fun and exciting and slow all at the same time. Toddler life has really been throwing me for a loop lately. The new world that is discipline and consistency is tough, but of course well worth it. Our biggest news in the life department is that we are expecting baby #2 in April! This baby is already behind in bumpdate posts and all of the chronicling that I made sure to do with it’s older sibling. Poor second child! Hopefully we can catch up on some of that soon enough. In the pregnancy department I’ve actually been feeling relatively good as of late. My first pregnancy I was lucky enough that between anti-nausea medication and good luck I didn’t suffer from morning sickness too much. This time I was not so lucky. But in the past couple of weeks I have seemed to turn a long awaited corner in this pregnancy and am not so dependent on my anti-nausea meds to make it through the day. I am currently 15-16ish weeks – and there isn’t much of a bump to show yet (sorry!). At my first sonogram the baby was on the smaller side and so my OB said that I was probably on the later side of things in terms of due date. But next month we will get a better measurement at our anatomy scan, where we will definitely (little person permitting) find out the gender! (Gender reveal party decision still up in the air.)

Since I last posted I also started a new school year. I don’t think I ever formally posted about my decision to work part time last year (I wasn’t sure it would be something that would stick with our new lifestyle). But I was able to start working one day a week at a preschool that my mom has been working at for years. It really helped fill the void I was feeling after leaving my elementary school when I decided to be a stay at home mom. Last year I was primarily in the nursery and this year I am working with 2-2.5 year old’s which is a whole new can of worms! It’s been a fun and much desired change. I feel like I get to put my degree to use a bit more this year and challenge myself. With this change has also come  a new teaching partner and some new expectations. Which has left me planning/prepping more and working creatively on my own (aka: blogging) less.

I also decided to co-lead the relatively new moms group at our parish this year! Which I have to admit has been my most exciting and fulfilling venture as of late. It has been a lot of work and honestly if I were not supported by both my co-leader (who is incredible) and my husband (also incredible) I would be losing my mind right about now. We have had such a successful year in membership and have reached out to so many new mamas in our parish. We’ve been complimented multiple times over about how needed this group is in our parish and I really couldn’t agree more. We are hosting our first (hopefully annual) moms retreat in early December and I can’t wait to see how it all turns out!

Along with teaching, pregnancy, moms group, and regular social life commitments – I was also leading a book study the past six weeks (for our parish moms group) and have joined up with some other friends from college to start another book club! Needless to say, things have been a bit B U S Y. But very, very fulfilling.

So I suppose that I could blame my blogging break on the fact that life has been happening and it’s been great and leaving me with little time to pursue any other creative efforts. But I feel like that would only be giving you half the story. I have also been lacking in creative inspiration. While I definitely think that life has been contributing to that (like I said, b u s y) I was feeling this drain in ideas far before I took my break. I just felt like I needed to be living a bit more, and stressing out about blogging pursuits less. I read so many blogs and gather so many amazing ideas from other people it can be a bit intimidating when I look at my own “work” and think I’m not really producing much here.

Another thing that has been holding me back from writing lately is safety. I have been seeing more and more bloggers leave their spaces on the internet due to safety reasons and this is something that has always been on my mind – especially since having a child. I want to share and be a part of a creative community, but at what cost? I know that so many mothers and families post their lives so confidently on the internet and I guess I have just always had a hard time finding the balance of  1) how much information is too much? and 2) how to authentically share my life without putting my safety or the safety of my family at risk? I know this might sound overly dramatic but if I want this to be an honest life updating post – I feel that those things need to be included.

Whew! So that’s a lot. Anyways, I have been thinking about my little corner of the internet a lot lately and I have a few things that I would like to share in upcoming posts. Thanks to those of you who actually read my words and care about what is posted here. I know that I may not post every day or inspire millions but I do hope that in someway this blog might bring a smile to your face or a new yummy recipe to your belly. (:

Happy Wednesday!