Coming off of the last two weeks (maybe more-?) of SUPERSOMUCHFUN, friends, family, good food, movies, date nights, and late nights… and then dragging myself out of bed in the mornings at 8… or 9… or even 10 {yes, this late and frustrated! after being sat on, bounced on, knocked and kicked by the toddler I brought to our bed so I could try and get a precious few more winks of sleep – which was not going to happen} I’m just DONE.  Done with the late nights.  Done with my house being out of control.  Done feeling tired, behind, and then stressed and angry that I’m tired and behind…  It’s a rough cycle to be in, though a lot of fun at the same time!  

^Me, right there!

I don’t necessarily regret any of it; it’s just time for a change.  Time to get back into a routine!  In fact for me, now that my baby is sleeping through the nights, it’s time for a new season.

A New Season

Please, please, please, dear Mamas-of-infants-who-wake-in-the-night {and a host of other situations}, don’t read this and hear judgement, or feel bad because you want this but are just not here yet.  It will come.  Ole did not sleep through the night until 10 months old, and he ate like 5x throughout the night and I don’t think I could have done this then!  Actually, that’s one thing I love about Crystal’s approach… but wait, I’m getting ahead of myself! 😉

A couple months ago I read a mom blogger who said, “Getting up before my kids was the hardest thing – and BEST thing – I ever did.”

Yes, I thought.  Those rare mornings where Ole slept in and Maple had nursed and fallen back asleep and I had time to get up and dress and wash my face without a little toddler tugging on my pajama pants begging for ” ‘me-ol!  ‘me-ol!” (Oatmeal)?  They were beautiful!  Almost blissful!  And I could have breakfast on BEFORE he awoke, so little guy could go straight from his bed to the table, which is his dream thing…  But with a newborn and a toddler who was in a phase of waking at 5:30 or 6am, this seemed impossible.

I have several friends, and even my younger sister, who are disciplined about getting up and getting going in the morning.  I look up to them and want to be like them.  They seem more put-together and like they happen to their day, rather than their day happening to them.  I admire their ability to prioritize the important but not urgent things {like devotions/time with God and exercise}, because it shows they are being intentional about their life.  More than anything, I want to be intentional and purposeful about my life so I will live a well-lived life for Christ!

Being fed up with your life the way it is, is great incentive to make some changes.  Ben and I used the Financial Peace University course to help us be intentional about our finances.  That worked well, so why not another course for another area of my life?!

Let’s just say that the new

Make Over Your Morning

course by Christian and home school mom blogger, Crystal Paine, was the right thing at the right time!

What I love about this course is that it’s laid out so simply and takes only 15 minutes a day TOTAL (video, reading, worksheet)!  And YOU decide how much you want to get out of it by how much you put into action in making changes in your life and daily routine.  I’ll finish what I was going to say above in that, this course does NOT give you a specific time you have to get up!  YOU set your goal get up time and your goal evening routine time and bed time.  Crystal emphasizes the importance of sleep and how to figure out what is optimal for you based on your situation.  This 14-day course IS about using your first bit of the morning well, spending your time wisely on what you prioritize in life based on your long-term goals!  It is adaptable to anyone’s schedule, whether you have kids or not, and whether you are a morning person or a night owl!

For me, at my best as a morning person, I knew I needed to QUITE BEING LAZY and start getting up earlier.  Before the kids.  *deep breath*  I know if I get this down, it gives me the time to add in the other important changes I would like to make to my habits, so the getting up early part {which hinges on going to bed early for me because I need a lot of sleep!} is the key thing I’m working on!

Like the Bible says, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb. 12:11

My New Mornings

I thought it would be fun for you to see what my new goal morning routine looks like, and it also is accountability for me to tell you! 🙂

5:30am Get up {well, it was 5:36 when I actually got out of bed… :P}

Read my Bible/had devotion time and journaled out on our little side porch – the fog was so beautiful and the birds were singing beautifully!  And a rabbit came really close.  Time seemed to stop as I savored the moment, and I thought I was out for way longer than I was so I was expecting to be late for my next thing, but I wasn’t!  Oh, and I left my phone on the table so it wouldn’t be a distraction for my morning priorities. 🙂  {This is the time most people would have coffee; I can’t cause it doesn’t agree with my system. :P}

Make Over Your Mornings course at 6… which was 6:08 today.  Maple woke up, which was unplanned, but worked out well because I nursed her while I watched today’s video.  I can’t tell you how nice it was to be happy to go get her instead of annoyed because she woke me up early like I would have thought before!  Getting up before them helps me be ready to greet my kids with a cheerful {and honest} GOOD morning!

6:40 Time to exercise!  I like Fitness Blender on YouTube.  Free workout videos, simple and straightforward; just what I need.  I typically do a 10 min. ab workout and then a 5 min. something else.  Not a lot, but it’s better than nothing, and hey! I’ve got to start somewhere!  Maple was LAUGHING AT ME from her swing watching me do jump squats!

7:00 Make breakfast.  Buttermilk pancakes today because I actually had time to make something instead of scrambling to fry an egg and have toast quick before Ben leaves for work.

7:30ish Got Olaf up – he was awake, but still laying down, and then breakfast.

Family devotions at the table and then Ben left for work.

I got up from the table right away to do dishes and kitchen clean up to complete the ‘full circle’ of the breakfast meal.

Then I sat down to read books to Ole while I nursed Maple… all before 9am!

With the load of laundry {one load a day – more on that coming soon} in, and the house semi-tidy from last night’s evening routine, we were ready for a spontaneous playdate with a friend at 9:30!  I love how having the important priorities and main housekeeping things out of the way frees me up to do this! 😀

Nap times and lunch changed a little because Ole had a friend to play with, but that’s ok!

And this is my view right now… 😀

Evening Routine

One of the key things that Crystal emphasizes is how having a bedtime routine helps streamline your morning.  So really my successful morning started last night!  I counted backwards to know that in order to get up at 5:30 and get enough sleep, I need to go to bed at 8:30.  And before bed I need to do the supper dishes/kitchen clean-up, a quick tidying up, choosing clothes for tomorrow, feeding the baby, and the necessary baths/showers, PJs and teeth brushing needed (myself included).  This is a spot where I really struggled before when I’ve tried to get up early.  I so love to have my evenings to do little puttering around things and have some time with Ben… and then all of a sudden it’s 8:30, my goal bedtime, but I still have an hour and a half of things to do before I’m “ready” to go to bed!  Sound familiar?

So my “evening routine” as I like to call it, starts at 7pm with washing the dishes and dinner cleanup.  And no more being on my phone with Facebook or emails after 7.  It’s too easy for me to waste time on FB in the evenings when I’m tired and not motivated.  Screen time is also not good for helping you to fall asleep faster because it messes with your circadian rhythm, or something like that.

One of the key things that helped me develop my evening routine – which will look different for everyone – was the print out from Day 2 which asks you to identify the main things that stress you out in the morning.

• No time to make breakfast/eat while Ben was still here,
• what to wear, and
• feeling behind in housekeeping tasks

were my top 3.

Getting up early, being intentional with my time, and having a plan for my evenings is going to be revolutionary for my life!  It’s common sense and straightforward… the idea is nothing new, but I needed the encouragement and accountability this course provides!  And this is only Day 3!

If this is something you want to do, or even if it’s something you don’t really want to do, but know it would be good for you, jump right in; you’ll be glad you did!  You can join my Facebook group for encouragement and accountability {ask me how I’m doing too!} @ www.facebook.com/groups/makeoveryourmornings/

You can order the course through my referral link HERE.  I’d appreciate if you’d order through my link as I earn a commission.  {This would be something I endorse even if I didn’t! 🙂}  Thank you so much!