Silly Conversations

I sit here nursing the Bebe, trying to get him to sleep, I can’t help to reflect on all the things God has been teaching me recently. I think about things a lot while nursing. Because, yes it’s such an incredible bonding experience, but it’s also a quiet time of peace for this mama. I can’t help but wonder, how am I doing? Not as a mama, but as Elisa. How am I doing as Elisa Hernandez? It’s a weird question but I’m often wondering about it. Too often I’m just going through the motions. Too often I’m left sinking in the shadows of what my mission is here on earth. I want more than anything to persue my mission here on earth, which is clear to me as a Bible believing follower of Christ: make disciples. What would happen if all those who claim the name of Jesus started acting upon the mission God has called them too? What would happen if we stopped just taking from God, and gave back to Him in our efforts? God doesn’t need us and yet He chooses us. What if we stopped putting God...

Parents. Remember your "exhaustion" prior to having kids? I miss that.  I remember looking at parents around me and thinking, "Dang, they complain about being tired all the time. Can having a kid really be THAT taxing on a person?" Oh, how I wish I could take back those thoughts! And I just have the ONE kid. I can't even imagine more!  Let me back up a little. Since week one, until about month 7, Leo has slept in bed with us. We, of course, did it as safely as recommended by doctors and such. I feel like I always need that caveat because y'all moms and non moms out there trip over the littlest details, I swear. We weren't planning on doing the co-sleeping thing, we just kind of fell into it. It worked with nursing, it helped me not worry too much about his breathing patterns, and it was really sweet to cuddle my sweet boy all night. For those wondering how Elias felt, he actually made the initial suggestion to do it, so there ya go.  So it wor...

Money, y'all. We know that the love of money is the root of all evil. It's a little disheartening to have a 2 income household and still be on the struggle bus with money. And we're pretty thrifty too. I've been trained to go for the best deals, the best coupons, the lowest prices, and to sacrifice quality when needed. Would I love to shop in the organic, all natural section more? Uh duh. But this crunchy mama is more of a crispy mama, due to her budget.  And yet, even in our thriftiness, we have been struggling with money. A couple of unforeseen circumstances came up: After the babe was born, we knew our insurance premiums would go up. But they went WAAAY up. Like, into the stratosphere up. Like, "wow I didn't know they could be that high" up.  We had a lot of medical expenses after pushing the baby out, and we spent a day in the Phoenix Children's hospital after he was born.  I'm a teacher, so I already make basically nothing. I also ha...

Motorola RAZR, Circa 2008 Can you believe that these 2 babies have their very own baby? We met. We befriended one another. We fell in love. We made a commitment. And we had a baby.  Here's a cliche: marriage isn't easy.  We get it. God decides to put two people together that usually have very opposite tendencies, upbringings, and personalities. Sure, maybe you like similar things, but eventually you find that the romantic passion you had for each other becomes stagnant.  And then you throw a baby in the mix?! I'm not saying anything ground breaking here. Anyone who has ever seen any American sitcom is FULLY aware of how a baby messes with a marriage.  Elias and I have been attending a marriage Bible study at our church. It has rocked us in so many ways. Currently we are going through the study  You and Me Forever  by Francis and Lisa Chan. HIGHLY RECOMMEND so far.  We have been challenged through this study to see our marriage as a min...

Why blog now? It’s funny- I had so many thoughts about so many things before I sat down at my computer. Stuff about being a mom, and a teacher, and a wife. But now that I’m here, trying to make them coherent and relatable, I’m coming up short. Maybe there are too many coherent and relatable blogs out there. Maybe, there needs to be someone that says what NO ONE is thinking. Maybe, instead of people “telling it like it is” maybe we need people to just “tell it.” What happened to the freedom we had to just let go. As children, we were encouraged to have freedom in our playtime, our work time, our creative time. Then as we get older, we put boundaries on those things so the are coherent and relatable. But I think we forget to stop the the boundaries before we lose our freedom. Is anyone following me? Am I even following me? I’m honestly not trying to sound existential or transcendent. This is just what happens when I sit down and begin to write. I think it was in thea...