Family Pictures + Mom Thoughts

We attempted to take Manning's newborn pictures ourselves. We threw in a few family pictures as well. We bribed Kess with (lots) of skittles. Matt and I were both sweating and tired by the end of it all. They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. We have pretty amateur editing skills, but we didn't need anything fancy. We simply wanted to document Manning as a bitty baby & what our family looked like at the time.

Manning will be 4 months old in about a week and a half & it seems to crazy to me that he has grown so much in such a little amount of time. Heck, even Kess has changed a ton. We have changed so much as a family, too. Kess is such a good big sister, Matt is loving having both boy & a girl (he's ready for Manning to be walking so they can go on adventures like he does with Kess) & I feel like I'm falling into a groove with both kids.

I was talking to Matt the other day about accomplishments. Mostly about how proud I am of him. And then I started feeling a little sorry for myself and eluded to the fact that "I'm just a mom." I love being a mom, but sometimes I'm wondering if I'm doing enough. I see these moms who go back to school, or work stellar jobs, pay the bills with blogging  or whatever else they can dream up AND be a mom and wife. Is it ok that I'm not chasing my dreams? Is it ok that I'm just a mom and wife?

Matt said, "But those kids bring you a lot of joy." Holy crap. There it is. He is so right. The day in and the day out isn't easy. I know I've said this kind of stuff before, but I truly feel blessed to be home with my babies all day. I can honestly say that I have cried a grateful tears as I've thanked my Heavenly Father that I get to be the one to be with my kids all day. I can also honestly say that it's flat out exhausting. Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. But they bring me so much joy. I mean, like gushing over them to Matt, scrolling through my camera roll late at night, sending pictures to Matt, sending pictures to the kids' grandparents daily and feeling truly, truly proud of my children.

Joy! I get so wrapped up in the mundane parts of motherhood that I completely forgot that they bring me joy! How could I do that to them?  I wish I could always find that balance of motherhood. Yet, I find myself on the highest high or the lowest low. I've been working on finding some balance, organization amongst the chaos & a good schedule for my little family of 4. It's definitely not easy. It's been an unorganized, hectic and tiring almost four months as a family of four. I am praying that I find some motivation to stay on top of all of the things I need to balance as a person, a woman, a wife and a mom. 

How do you guys keep balance and organization within your life?