Thriving In Motherhood Podcast

Today I’m talking about the power of actually writing down your morning and evening routines. Finally doing this one little thing has been hugely transformative for my life. Also, I'm sharing big announcements about the Thriving in Motherhood 2021 Planner and the Create a Life You Love founding members beta program experience. Key Points from this Episode: Having the morning routine and evening routine written down help move us along when our brains are not working as effectively as they can be. Be an advocate for yourself (see Episode 115) and figure out what will prepare you to renew yourself. Having the list helps me have a rejuvenating evening rather than mindlessly consume. Write it down! Write down what you want to do before the kids wake up, what you want to do before lunch, what you want done before kids go to bed, and what you want to do before you go to bed that will restore you.

Today I’m talking with Tiana Woodbury, mother of two boys. She shares her experiences with her first child having a club foot and what that process has been like for her. She talks about how to live with joy and make her own joy. She shares how she has learned to lower her expectations and love it! Key Points from this Episode: Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you have to adjust your plans quickly to make the most of the situation. With the help of other moms and doctors you can learn what you need to in order to make the best decisions for your family. Sometimes God gives us a gift of interest in things that we will one day need to know to help our children. Wherever you are, you are in charge of your happiness. Lower your expectations, but LOVE it. As a mom, give yourself some grace period. You are here to facilitate your children's experience, and sometimes we have different plans for our kids. Choosing your battles to let them explore their opinions can be freeing. Kids just want to be inv

Today I’m sharing with you the very specific steps that I took to prepare for a major life change. This can apply to a new baby, a move, or any other major life change. Key Points from this Episode: Notice your fears and anxieties. Write down thoughts. Create a new road map to work from - have a paradigm shift so you can operate from your circle of influence. Use your personal super powers to solve your problems and create a vision for how things can go. Share that vision with your family and step into the leadership role, building in systems and communication to support you through the time of change. Talk with your spouse or trusted friend when you get to stuck points in your thinking and aren't sure how to overcome certain fears or challenges If you have had an experience like this in the past, answer the question: "What was really traumatic or didn't go well that I don't want to repeat this time? What went really well that I do want to repeat this time?" Use what is hard now to intentionally practic

Today I’m talking with Jeni Awerkamp, who was also my first interview back on Episode 1! We talk about how things have changed over the past two years and how Jeni has changed her experiences by changing her thoughts. Key Points from this Episode: Give ourselves space and grace when we are in transitional times in our lives. Recognize that we will have more stable times to come. Our thoughts have a huge role in us feeling well. Being able to shift the unhelpful thoughts can change our entire reality. Make the decision to act, not be acted upon. Tell yourself "you will no longer think negatively of yourself and your situations." Things happen that genuinely make you feel overwhelmed, but you can still control your thoughts around this. Replace the "I can't do this" thoughts with "There is a lot do here, but I can do it one step at a time." Replace "I'm all alone" with "I am never alone. Help is one phone call away." We don't have to be good at making mistakes, but we can be good at apologizing. Take thi

Today I’m talking about our family values. How I came up with them and how we implement them in our household. These help my family catch the vision and the values that help us get to where we want to go. Key Points from this Episode: Core values are unifying and keep our families together heading in the same direction. Turn your values into a family cheer! We try to "catch" the kids living these values and talk about it at dinner together. What we look for, we see more often in our lives! Creating this unity and culture will give them a gift as they leave the home that they will know that they have a place they were part of something and belong no matter what. Craft the values together as a family, or decide ahead of time and present them to your kids.

Today I’m talking with Jessica Ralston. She's a mother of six, homeschools, and she and her husband both run businesses out of their home. Today she shares her journey of going from a place of chaos and just surviving to taking some intentional steps to regain her personal power and take care of herself and, in turn, create a beautiful life for her family. Key Points from this Episode: The decision of being more intentional with physical health, can lead to being more intentional with other things. It builds momentum. Being in a victim or comparison mindset makes things feel worse. Be selfish. Take care of yourself. Everyone is going to be okay if you take a few minutes to take care of yourself. Shift your mindset to abundance, and gratitude, and being proactive. Our kids need to know that we are human people with needs and passions. We are our only advocates for our own needs. We need to take that responsibility seriously for ourselves. We don't have control over our kids, but we do have control over our

Today, I'm sharing with you something I've been working on for years, which is the Three Pillars of Thriving and the Three Identities associated with them. This episode explains how you can actually thrive in any season of motherhood. Key Points from this Episode: The struggle between knowing that we are made for motherhood and feeling like it is REALLY hard is where these pillars grew out of. How we're think about life and ourselves is what influences our reality. Take time to notice where you are on these three pillars. The pillars take you from surviving to thriving. Pillar 1 - Scope is having a purpose, or intention, for your life. In the scriptures, we see examples of women with callings and purpose that have nothing to do with raising children. God has something else for them to do. God sees us as whole people. When you have Scope, it helps you go from feeling lost or stuck in the mundane to feeling confident and fulfilled and living with meaning and purpose. There are skills and systems involved

Today, I'm talking with Annette Pimentel. She's a mother of six children and an author of children's non-fiction literature. Today we're talking about how she learned to embrace who she is to be an authentic mother and to use her strengths and talents to create a culture in her home that allows her to fully be her as well as to use her strengths to solve problems. Key Points from this Episode: Knowing the story of why you made a decision during a hard time helps form who you are. Being a mom doesn't mean you can't be authentic to yourself. Sometimes the best solutions we come up with are the ones that come from our core of passions and talents. The things we care about can be the center of your mothering. Those things can become your toolkit for being a mother. It takes creativity to truly be who we are and still solve those parenting problems, but they are the most authentic. Become friends with the librarians! They are an amazing resource and love seeing people who care about books. Books and stories

It's taken me years to figure out the logistics of creating and maintaining a clean home. Today, I'm taking you through the very practical aspects of how to declutter and how to clean. Key Points from this Episode: Getting rid of things does not equate to having a tidy home space. Creating a home for each thing (read: containers) helps the space feel neater. The Dollar Tree is a great option to find cheap containers. Use containers to help support your habits and routines. Find a routine for a pick up time at some point in your day. (We like 4pm) It lets me ignore a lot of the mess and enjoy the moments of the day knowing that there is a set time that things will be put in order again. Find one small step at a time for keeping an area clean. Start with practicing having everyone clear their plates after breakfast. Then add it loading dishes in the dishwasher. Then add in unloading the dishwasher. Adjust locations of things so kids can complete tasks. Adjust the time you have your meals so you have energ

Today I'm talking with Hannah Rust. She's a mother of almost 3 children. We talk about when she realized that she can do things differently than the way she had always done them and differently than the way others have done thing around her. This lead to her decision to live very intentionally. Key Points from this Episode: Choosing an unmedicated and natural birth for her second pregnancy was one of turning point decisions that lead to intentionality. Speak more kindly to yourself! Recognize that we cannot define ourselves simply by what we get done in the day. Just because you have done something one way does not mean you cannot change your mind! Having a strategic plan for money prevents it from disappearing unknowingly. Catching yourself when you start negative self-talk is the first step to changing it. Replacing it with a phrase like "I am enough" can combat it. Understanding where you are on the path from Surviving to Thriving allows you to name where you are and understand that it's a season that

Today, I'm talking with Britney Grover! She shares her story about the amazing change that has happened in her over the last year as she has learned some tools to help her with her mental health. She's learned how to take care of herself first so she can continue to pour into others. Key Points from this Episode: Major life changes, like having a baby or having a spouse come home for deployment can trigger major emotions. Finding the right counselor who can teach the baby steps that you need are key to starting to heal. Remember that "thoughts aren't real." It can help calm the anxiety about things that haven't happened. Figure out what things are non-negotiable for your mental health. Examples: prayer, scripture study, exercise, and sleep. Let go of "should." Maybe things "should be" exactly as they are. If you need help, keep looking for the right counselor until you find somebody who clicks with you. "The God that I've come to know is the God that's telling me to accept myself and telling me to love

We reached 100 episodes... TEN episodes ago! Today is all about celebrating what we've done and news about what is coming next to the Thriving in Motherhood Podcast! embed html Subscribe (and rate and review – thank you!): Google Play | iTunes | Stitcher Key Points from this Episode: My word for the year is Connection and I want to help our community connect more. Tag @thrivinginmotherhood.podcast on Instagram and join the Facebook Group while you share your wins in your life! The Thriving in Motherhood Website has had a face-lift with the purpose to serve you better! Find out where you are on the Surviving to Thriving pathway and get the new resource that applies to where you are! Learn to work within your limitations and THRIVE! Join the wait list for the course. Resources Thriving in Motherhood Facebook Group Surviving Guide Re-Entry Guide Normalizing Guide Exploring Guide Thriving Guide Course Wait List

Today I'm talking about what I do when I start to lose it! I'm mostly enjoying this time we have during the quarantine, but there are some times when I am not fine. These are some of the tools that I've developed over the years that I am getting lots of practice on during this crazy time. Key Points from this Episode: I used to think that if I was in a funk, that I was there to stay. It's not true! I've found ways to help myself reset and have a great rest of the day! This works for me 98% of the time - take a nap or go to bed early! Usually I'm just tired. I refer to my quarterly review where I wrote down projects and things I want to get done. I find a way to make even baby steps progress on a project. Feeling productive helps built positivity. I find a way (if possible) to get some space. If my husband can watch the kids for me, I go for a half hour walk by myself. I listened to a podcast, called a friend, and called my mom on the walk. Listen to an audiobook to give some perspective to your life. Get out

Today we're talking about how to strengthen your marriage during hard times instead of letting those hard times pull you apart. I'm joined by my husband of almost 9 years, Andrew, for today's episode as we share some practical tips that have made all the difference for us as we've gone from bombing the hard times to having the hard times actually bring us together more. Key Points from this Episode: Everyone's challenging times are different, but we can apply some principles to keep on the same page with our spouse when we are feeling the challenge. When big challenges are going on, remember that you can't always be "on." Give yourself and your spouse grace. Lower your expectations! Paper plates, to us, means it's a hard season and dishes is something we can let slide. It's so much easier to get kids to dump their plates in the garbage than to handle all the cleanup of the kitchen after dealing with a meal. Assume that your spouse is doing their best, even if it's nowhere close to their normal maximum capaci

Today I'm talking about how I completely changed how I experience my life and motherhood. I'll share an experience that illustrates this point and then I'll talk about how. I'll talk about the actual things that I changed how I feel about life during really hard times, as well as when things are going well. Key Points from this Episode: My third and fourth pregnancies were super hard physically, but this time (my fourth pregnancy) I am doing so much better because of the things that I've learned and been able to apply to my thinking. I'm using my time well and being the type of person I want to be despite the struggles, where I cannot say that about my third pregnancy. Becoming aware of my thoughts was the first step to being intentional with changing the thoughts. Consistently identify and shifting my thinking to more helpful and less distorted thinking has slowly shifted my natural way of thinking into a much more helpful and positive natural state. Recognize what phase of the Surviving to Thriving Framewo

Today, I'm taking your with me through a monthly planning session. I review the previous month and look into the next month. Today's focus is more on how to use a monthly review when things are going great! Key Points from this Episode: The planner helps so much when you are in time of pure survival and also when things are going well! If you're on top of your game, add things to your monthly review page during each weekly planning, then you just have to finish off at the end of the month. My focus for the month is either helping me get very clear on the one thing that really matters on a personal level or a study question I am trying to think about throughout the month. We have an innate need to learn, so write down what you've learned and take some time to choose what you are learning. Accomplishments are for anything you consider a win: projects, who you're becoming, progress in ANYTHING! Places we went is a very short list during quarantine, but it's a reminder that it's healthy for us to experience new

Today we're talking about how to add variety to your meal planning during this time when we are all at home with our families. Key Points from this Episode: I've always had the philosophy that I cook one meal. My kids have never experienced double-cooking where we have one food for the adults and another food for the kids. We allow kids to say "this isn't my favorite" but not "eww! I hate this" and those kinds of negative talk. We have the family rule that kids must take 2-3 "polite bites" of everything on their plate and after that, they don't have to eat any more if they don't want to. The kids can make themselves toast or a sandwich if they are still hungry, but I don't cook anything extra for them. I cook to what I want to eat because I'm doing the work. Watch some YouTube to get some inspiration for something different! Add something like homemade croutons to an existing salad you like to change the whole feel. Cook enough food that you have leftovers (at least for the adults) to take some of the work o

Today I'm sharing with you an experience I recently had with learning my family stories. They are deepening joy, resilience, and character for myself and for my children. I invite you to join me! Key Points from this Episode: Collect some of your family stories. You can read previously compiled stories, check out FamilySearch.org, or call a family member and learn from the source! My great-great-grandmother lost her husband in the 1918 flu pandemic. Due to her pregnancy, she was too at-risk to say her goodbyes to her husband. It hurt, but she kept going. She got remarried and lost multiple children in infancy/youth. When faced with yet another death of a child, she punched herself in the stomach and told herself, "Buck up, old girl. You've done this before. You can do this again." That phrase now comes to my mind when another tantrum, another spill, another mess comes my way. I can do this, and so can you! They help remind me of who I came from and what they overcame and what they accomplished, even though t

This week we talk about getting out of survival mode on a practical level. What it looks like, what it feels like. Things to look for and be aware of as you go through re-entry to establish some routines and rhythms in your life. Key Points from this Episode: Try to get back into regular habits like getting dressed, taking showers regularly, brushing your teeth, feeding yourself, and feeding your families. There is going to be a point where you do see things happening in your favor but it's going to take some time and that's okay. Make sure your habits are working for you rather than against you. Just try to be 1% better in an area each day. It can be in regards to your home or your habits. It will slowly dig you out of the survival mode feeling. Look for things that can have some lasting impact like making a cleaning caddy, buying another trash can, or decluttering an area. Re-Entry feels like constantly putting out fires. Once you've put out enough fires, then your brain can start to figure out what the ne

Today we're talking all about Quarterly Reviews! They are wonderful for when your brain feels so full that you don't know what the next step is. They can bring perspective to uncertain times and help focus the next stage of life. Key Points from this Episode: Quarterly Reviews are so great to help empty your brain and plan for the next chunk of time. Start by reviewing anything you wrote down at the beginning of the year. Things like your vision, goals, habits (if you have them). Review your last 30 days Write down what you've discovered or learned. Write down what you've accomplished. Write some highlights that have happened to or with your family. Write down what books or podcasts you've read or listened to. Write down where you went (even if it's just on walks around the neighborhood). Ask yourself what went well in the last 90 days. There is something that is going well, even in the toughest times. Be honest (but not mean) about what didn't go well in the last 90 days. What progress did you make on yo