Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Functional

I’m brand-new to being a SAHM. I recently quit my job to stay at home with my three daughters and blog full-time. It’s been a lot of fun and a wild ride, but so far I am loving it!

Luckily, my blog really isn’t a full-time job. I started my blog 2 1/2 years ago and slowly built it up to where it’s making a relatively passive income each month. I post once a week, send a newsletter out once a week (it’s full of fun blogging tips plus a peak into my life – sign up here!) and promote older posts on social media. The rest of my time I’m at home and with my girls.

So, what exactly have I been doing with my newfound “free time?” My older girls are in preschool M-F for four hours per day. The baby is always with me, but she usually takes a two hour nap in the mornings. During this time, I blog or get my house in order. It’s been a longggg time coming, but I’m finally getting to the point where my house is exactly how I want it!

One of my huge goals has been making my home more functional. We have a relatively large house, and I didn’t want any wasted space. Here are my tips to make your home more functional.

Working Moms Morning Routine: 5 Tips to Streamline Your Morning

Being a working mom is no joke. From the moment you get up, your day is nonstop. To make your day run smoother, I firmly believe in the power of a morning routine.

I used to wake up whenever one of my children woke up (it was, and still is, always early). This started my day off on a scrambled foot. By the time I got to work, I felt like I’d run a marathon and my day was just beginning. I knew my routine as a working mom had to change.

For about a year now, I’ve been following a strict morning routine (that actually starts the night before). Below are my five top tips for streamlining your morning routine as a working mom.

Working Moms Morning Routine: Top Tips

Do as much as you can the night before

School bags get emptied out, cleaned and repacked. Lunches get made other than refrigerated items. *Time-saving tip: Make all your sandwiches on Sunday and freeze. Then throw one in each child’s lunch in the morning and the sandwich will be perfect by lunchtime.

Outfits are also selected the night before for both myself and my kids. Make it a part of your bedtime routine for the kids!

I also spend 10-15 minutes cleaning up before going to bed. This could be dishes, sweeping and mopping the floors, throwing in a load of laundry, or quickly cleaning the bathrooms. I never spend more than 15 minutes, but it’s made a world of a difference in both my mood in the morning and the overall cleanliness of my house.

Set three goals for the morning

This tip I learned from Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course. I highly recommend her course if your morning routine is in shambles and you need a complete revamp.

Every night, write down three things you want to accomplish in the morning. You can start out with easy goals, like have coffee, fold a load of laundry and have five minutes of quiet time to check emails. Simple.

As you get in the habit of writing down and accomplishing your goals, start challenging yourself. I always give myself one thing to look forward to, such as having 10 minutes to drink coffee in peace, one thing to clean, such as tidying up the play room or sweeping the kitchen, and one thing for my side job (blogging), such as scheduling posts on Pinterest and Facebook.

Wake up before your kids

You knew this was coming, right? Truly the only way to get your mornings in order is to get up before the kids. I know, it’s hard, especially if you have early risers. My kids are up by 6:30 every single day at the latest. I make it my goal to be up by 5:30 which gives me an entire hour, though sometimes I do “sleep in” until 6.

By waking up early, I have time to enjoy my coffee, take a shower and get ready, have a quiet conversation with my husband, catch up on emails, or do some work for my blog.

By the time the kids wake up, I’m looking forward to seeing them. I can spend quality time with them rather than rushing around and yelling. My patience with them has grown tenfold simply by getting up before them.

Allow time for setbacks

Wouldn’t it be nice if mornings always went exactly to plan? Of course! But as any mom knows, that rarely happens.

I’m currently breastfeeding my six-week old baby girl. Some mornings she sleeps through our entire morning and I transfer her to her car seat and we’re good to go. Other mornings she eats on and off for a solid hour. Instead of frantically stressing out when this happens, I am able to relax because I’ve left extra time in our morning routine. I give myself about two hours in the mornings, but it really only takes about 45 minutes to accomplish all my tasks. If things go smooth, I’m able to dedicate extra time to my kids, cleaning my home, or my blog.

Give the kids a routine, too

I keep our mornings exactly the same from one day to the next. I believe this best prepares them for their day, too. They wake up and head downstairs immediately for breakfast. Breakfast is always something easy: frozen waffles, a poptart and sliced bananas, yogurt with fresh blueberries, cereal, etc. We save pancakes and eggs for the weekends in this house 🙂

Then, the kids are able to watch TV, do art or play in their rooms for about 30-45 minutes. This gives me time to get what I need to do done – whether that’s finalizing lunches, getting myself ready, or feeding the baby.

Roughly 30-45 minutes before we leave, the kids get dressed, brush teeth and I do their hair. That time always tends to fly and we are out the door before we know it!

I know mornings can seem so rushed. Trust me, I have been there. And to be honest we still have very rushed mornings with the addition of our third child.

My best advice would be to be consistent and allow yourself plenty of time. I know it’s hard to get up in the morning, but it’s worth it to start your day off on the right foot.

Are you struggling with your morning routine? Share in the comments!

How to Start a Successful Handyman Business

Are you ready to learn how to start a successful handyman business? Working for yourself as a handyman has tons of advantages, such as setting your own schedule, choosing the types of jobs and people you will work for, setting your own pay rates, and being in complete control of your income.

Don’t think you need to do all the work yourself, either. The most successful handyman business owners have crews that either help them with the labor or do all of the labor, allowing you to focus on growing your business, generating more sales, and increasing your profits.

Here is how to start a successful handyman business.

Updated August 2017

Life Insurance: Why You Need It and How to Save Money on It

This post was sponsored by SelectQuote, but all opinions are my own.

Life insurance. This is something my husband and I just recently acquired for our family, and I’m so glad we did. We are about to have our third baby, and if something were to happen to either one of us, we need to know that the other person and our children are protected, without having to rely on grandparents or distant relatives to take on the financial burden.

Day in the Life of a Full-time Work-from-Home Mama

I’ve done a few Day in the Life posts before, but haven’t done one this year I don’t think. Figure I am due! And, I don’t know about you, but these are my absolute favorite posts to read. Just nosy I guess! 🙂

A little background: I have two daughters (ages 4 and 2), another little girl due in October, a full-time job, and I freelance/blog on the side (minimally).

My FT job is flexible and most of it is done from home. I AM FOREVER THANKFUL FOR THIS!! I do stick to a 9-5 schedule for the most part, but there are definitely times where I’ll work on a Sunday afternoon to get my week started on the right foot, and then maybe end a few of my weekdays around 4:00 pm when my 2-year-old wakes up from her nap.

The girls go to daycare five days per week part-time. Daycare has been life-changing for not only my work schedule, but for me as a mom. I LOVE being a mom, don’t get me wrong, but I also love having something that’s just for me. This transition has been so good for my girls and it’s made me a better mom. Even if I didn’t work FT, I would keep my girls in their part-time daycare schedule.

Ok, let’s get started…

Announcing…Baby #3!

If you read my post last week, you knew I had a surprise announcement coming up! Well, that day has finally come 🙂

We are expecting (surprise!) Baby #3 on Halloween and couldn’t be more excited! I’ll be honest, we have gone back and forth on whether or not to have a third child. Our first two are finally a bit more independent, it’s way easier to go places, I have a full-time job, and life just works. Adding a new baby to the mix is certain to stir things up, but this was clearly meant to be since our new little bundle was not planned (in fact, at the time, we had of course decided we were done having kids). Funny how life works and how God has a plan all of His own 🙂

December Online Income Report [and Charleston Trip Recap!]

Hi everyone!

Did everyone enjoy their holidays?! We ended up having a really nice time, despite me being homesick the weekend of Christmas. So, for New Years, instead of sitting around sulking, we decided to head out of town to Charleston for one night. We just got back, and it was such a blast! I was actually born in Charleston but we moved to AZ when I was two, so of course I have no memories of it. Charleston is comprised of eight different islands all connected by big bridges. We explored a few of the islands, stayed in the historic downtown area, went to the beach, ate lots of yummy food, looked at some neighborhoods, and just enjoyed getting out of town for the night. The girls didn’t do that well in the hotel room, so luckily it was just one night!! At this point, day trips are probably the best type of vacation because we can all sleep in our own beds 🙂

2016 New Year’s Resolutions

John and I are big goal-setters. We set goals all throughout the year, but still love the idea of a fresh start on New Year’s Day.

This year, we have a few individual goals and some that we’re working on together. Since it’s still technically the holiday’s and I’m finishing up my new book, let’s dive straight in.

12 Things Happy People Do Every Day

Hi everyone!

I am so excited about today’s post. Lately, I’ve been reading some interesting articles on what makes people happy. Is it our environment? Our family situation? Or does it come from within?

I used to believe that happiness truly came from within, and while I do believe that still to an extent (I think people can be happy for the most part regardless of their circumstances), I now also see how our environment (and our family and what’s going on at home) can play a role.

I’ve been lucky enough to always consider myself a happy person (hence believing it came from within). I haven’t had the easiest life, by any means, but I’ve always been “happy.” I don’t really know why, haha.

But you know what? When we moved from Arizona to North Carolina last year, my level of happiness increased tenfold. I didn’t even know that that was possible, but I just LOVE where we live now. I miss my family and friends terribly, but this to me is “home.”

As a fun, light-hearted post, I thought I’d share some things that happy people do each and every day. If you’re struggling in this area, perhaps you can work a few of these things into your daily routine 🙂

5 Things I’m Thankful For

You guys, Thanksgiving is less than a week away. This year has really just flown by. Last year was the first year John, me and the girls celebrated all by our lonesome. I took the girls to the park in the morning while John prepared the turkey, and then he watched them in the afternoon while I made the side dishes. We had a lot of fun, even if it was just the four of us (for new readers, we recently moved across the country and no longer live near family).

This year, some wonderful friends that we made here in NC invited us over to their Thanksgiving dinner. They also aren’t from here, so we figured we may as well celebrate together. I couldn’t be more excited at their generosity!

Here are five things I’m thankful for this year.