Once again it has been a while since I’ve updated this blog. Not that I don’t like doing it, I just get so busy! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. So let’s dive in.
From Four to Five
With a new little one here for roughly six months, the last thing we expected was to be expecting! God has better plans than we do though, and we are thrilled to announce we are expecting a little girl in 2022. Thankfully our youngest boy has really taken off in crawling and following his big brother around, so I don’t think he’ll mind not being the baby for long. He’ll be a year old this month and we can’t believe it. Time flies! Our little family has grown so much and we are so blessed to have these three little ones to care for and share our lives with.
Dietary Changes
Another big difference between now and previous posts is our diet. Mostly my husband’s. He found out he is allergic to wheat enough so that he now has to eat gluten free. This means for him avoiding wheat and gluten completely, and for the rest of the family, perhaps a little bit less. It really helps that we watched What’s With Wheat as well. Turns out modern day wheat is, pretty awful for you. So we are limiting our own intake as much as we can. It also means I have to recreate our family meal plans so my husband can be included. While it is a challenge, it is actually quite a fun one. Some of the recipes in my previous blog post are now outdated. I’ll post some new recipes we’ve found to be enjoyable here. Some are keto because my husband was also strictly Keto for a while. One base recipe that is useful in many others is the Keto Enchilada Sauce recipe. We enjoyed the Keto Meatloaf, Keto Schnitzel, Keto Pork Carnitas, and the easy roasts, steaks, burger steaks, and chili (sans beans if keto). My husband also found a recipe for gluten free corn bread that we have yet to try, I’ll update how that is in the future.
Exploring Gluten-free options in food was also something I wanted to look into. While the whole family wasn’t quitting gluten altogether, I did want to introduce the idea of ‘gluten free’ as an eye-opening one. Making it about what you can have, not a restriction as to what you cannot.
I found that the following (though it may be super obvious on some) were gluten free. Cheerios, Rice Crispies, Gluten-free Oreos, Cheeto puffs, and a great resource on gluten-free candies can be found here. Yes, it means a life without bread or pasta, but we’ve found that when we don’t fill up on bread we actually get to enjoy more of the other foods we have at meals. Turns out most people fill up on bread, which honestly doesn’t have much nutritional value. In regards to pasta, that’s the harder one (at least for me). I’ve had some rice pasta but found it wasn’t really as good. The upside is, you can still have beans, potatoes, and rice! We also really enjoyed zucchini spirals as a replacement for pasta in spaghetti.
Path on Art
I’ve really been enjoying my art and the different projects I’ve taken on. I’ve been trying to steer my art towards learning and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. More detail, drawing with patience. Some goals I’ve had are to improve in clothes, props, backgrounds, foregrounds, posing, and avoiding my crutch (the 3/4s face). I did back this kickstarter for four of the art tutorial books that I hope to receive and work through soon. I’d ideally like to apply a lesson in each art piece but that is also a pretty lofty goal. Glad to be taking my art learning step by step at a home approach though. I hope to be getting back into the swing of things after the little one is born but we will see. Until then I will draw until my hiatus in expectation for their arrival.
Staying in Study
Unfortunately I have dropped the ball in regards to my Biblical study this year. I did attend Church and the morning lessons when I could. My daily devotionals however took a backseat to the ways of the world. I kept telling myself ‘I’m too busy, it is too noisy, I’ll do it in a bit‘ or many other excuses that just had me neglecting God’s good word. Can it really be that I’m too busy for God? I can seek Him in any moment, pray for guidance with any little thing. I should always make time for God, no matter how busy I pretend I am.
I’m thankful my husband is here to remind me of my devotionals and God’s word. I’ve been following God’s path a bit better each day. Actually started reading the Bible from beginning to end since knowing scripture in context is incredibly important. So glad to have the Bible and God’s word to lead me in life. It really is a guidebook in all things.
Remembering Roles
In my husband and I’s marriage, we agreed ahead of time on roles. A really good look at marriage advice can be found here as well. His role was to be the breadwinner, to protect and provide for the family. My role was to stay home and raise the children. Traditional roles, we were both very much for them.
I found the transition from worldly views to Godly ones a bit difficult however (and sometimes I still do). The world says a woman’s worth is in her independence from a man, a family, and children. Her children ‘hold her back’ from success. I find this absolutely preposterous, and a very toxic perspective on life as well. For one, my children do not hold me back. They push me forward. Towards being a better person, a more responsible and thoughtful individual, and remind me daily to take things slow. That my value is not in a corporate ladder, in how much I can mimic men in the workforce, or how much money I make. My value is in each moment, teaching these young minds right from wrong, in caring for the family, and following God’s purpose.
I struggle with this because for the first chunk of my life I was told my worth was in material things. In being able to keep up with men in any event, in what my career status was. When I really should have been appreciating the role God gave women.
I was also given the wonderful gift of being able to create art. This is where my daily struggle comes in. I sometimes find myself frustrated that I can’t always just glue myself to a tablet and draw to my heart’s content. But I quickly realize how selfish that feeling is (and fleeting). For one, it is not my role to bring home money. I’m not meant to dedicate hours or days to an income. That isn’t the role I agreed to. Second, I guarantee I will not be saying ‘I’m so glad I made that exact art piece’, or ‘I wish I made more art’ on my deathbed. No. I have a wonderful blessing in that I get to be here for every first step, first word, and first stumble of my kid’s lives. The sacrifice my husband makes of his time to bring home an income to support us all is great. He misses a lot.
I am the happiest I’ve ever been here at home raising my kids. When all the world tells me doing so holds me back. The world has no idea what it is talking about. The time that the children need me here is so so short. When they’ve grown and left the house, I’ll have plenty of time to follow my own small business ideas.
WOW time has flown. I write this end part now in 2022. May 27th, 2022 to be exact. Life comes at you fast. I’ll be writing a new update, but I thought this was still worth posting. I must have sat it down and gotten busy and forgot to post it. Thanks for reading!