Ultimate Blog Party!!!

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I have been really negligent about keeping up with my blog and for that, I apologize. One goal for the next little while is to try and be more regular about getting something up here. I have four blog post ideas kicking around in my brain right now so maybe I will get something interesting up over the next few days.

If you are visiting from the Blog Party, welcome! I guess I need to do an introduction. I'm

Sarah, married to Dh, my best friend since we met in first year university, a terrifying amount of time ago. I am a thirty-something mom of Pk (her initials, not the initials for preacher's kid), our two-and-a-half year old and resident character. Every day is a new adventure with her and while I am finding that parenting a strong-willed redhead has its moments, motherhood has brought joys that are indescribable and I cherish every minute. At the moment, I am 7 months pregnant with what we are fairly sure is a son, so we should soon find out how the other half lives. Pk is certainly a princess and our house is overrun with dolls, pink and pretty dresses. I am not at all sure how to do the "boy" thing but I am really looking forward to the challenge. My pregnancy is going well but I will admit, at this point, I feel like a bus and I am working full-time as a teacher (my due date is June 17th and I am set to officially finish on June 2nd) so it's hard to keep up with life right now.

I'd say that my blog is a good reflection of me - all over the map. I have never really narrowed down in my mind what my blog is supposed to be about but in some ways, my life feels a bit the same. In some ways, my blog reading tells as much about me as what I write. I read a lot of blogs about faith. I am a Christian and my faith is very, very important to me and one of my biggest interests these days is Christian education - how to create a home environment that fosters my daughter growing up with a solid faith. I am also constantly trying to figure out what it means to be a Christian woman - both as wife and mother. I think that there are a lot of overly simplistic answers out there and I want to find what am I am really called to do. You might see some ramblings about some wonderful Christian ed activity or tool that I just have to share or a link to a book that has really spoken to me.

I'm a real fan of "homemaking" - creating a refuge for our family that is cozy and welcoming. I have a long list of favourite food and decorating blogs that I read. I love to cook and garden and I like the place to be clean, so housework takes up a fair bit of time (although I won't promise the place will be spotless - there aren't enough hours in the day for that). Healthy/natural living is fairly important to me (although again, I am not extreme about anything so don't expect to see anything too "out there") and I try to do most of my cooking from scratch. Obviously, working full-time has limited just how much I can do but you won't see much processed food in our house and I get such a sense of accomplishment when I find the time to make preserves, make our own butter or even just do freezer meals. I am NOT good at being frugal and one of my challenges this past year has been to work to cut back in ways that don't hurt our family and to steward our resources. Given that a mat leave is coming, that focus is a lot more pressing these days. Natural living around here means trying to use natural/healthy beauty products (we avoid parabens, ptalates and sls whenever possible), using natural cleaning products as much as we can and avoiding chemicals and plastics as much as possible. We selectively vaccinate, use a naturopath as well as a conventional doctor and try to avoid meds as much as possible. I might include a recipe now and again that really works for us, a link to a product or company that has really caught my eye or a link to an article about how to cut back.

The other big focus in my life these days is parenting and I check out quite a few parenting and homeschooling blogs (although I don't think that homeschooling is for me, I just want to supplement Pk's education at home). Again, I try not to fall too much into one camp - attachment parenting (again, a somewhat watered down version) is what works for us - babywearing, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, no cry it out... but I won't judge other people for their choices (well, within reason). Pk was NOT an easy baby, between colic and not sleeping and I found all of the judgement and unsolicited advice to be really hurtful. I am a people-pleaser and quite frankly, I found it really hard when people forced advice on me that I knew went against what I believe and what would work with my child. I have really tried to be someone who has advice when asked but who doesn't say much when I don't agree. Your choices are what is best for your child and you know him or her much better than I do. I've been really lucky that while there was all that advice, I have some wonderful, supportive friends who held my hand and reminded me that I would make it. We are in a good place in the parenting department these days and while I have moments of thinking that I am insane for going back down the infancy route again, Pk at 2 1/2 is such a pleasure that at least now, when things are crazy, I can look forward to easier days.

Finally, there are all those other interests that seem to get pushed to the back burner these days. I love to read (mysteries, novels and lately, lots of books exploring issues of faith) and now that I am in the "insomnia" stage of pregnancy, I am at least enjoying the chance to get more reading done. I am a crafter who dabbles in quilting and scrapbooking although knitting is my first love. Again, I don't have much time so I tend to spend a lot of time looking at patterns and crafting blogs but in terms of actual projects, there isn't much getting done. Gardening is another passion that gets put aside and I LOVE David Austin roses, sweet peas and morning glories. I doubt much gardening will be done this year but again, I love to sit and look at photos and dream

I am hoping to spend a bit of time visiting other blogging moms and if you stop by, I would love it if you check in and say hello. I don't have a long list of readers but I have made some wonderful online friends who have been a big help in some of the tough times. I hope that I get a chance to do some more connecting!