It’s been a week of trying to get back into routine around here after last week’s visit to TN. I feel like that’s sorta been my life story the last few months…trying to figure out a routine, trying to make sense of this new normal where Benjamin has been home, trying to get life back in order after Christmas festivities, and I have a feeling this will continue since a new baby will be arriving soon and I’m guessing Benjamin will have to go back to work sometime soon, unless some kind of miracle happens.

Speaking of the little guy that will be making his arrival soon, the topic of his name is back up for discussion…at least in my mind. In a previous post, I mentioned Jacob and Davis were both in the running. Both are family names. Asher was going to be Jacob Miller Grier before we decided on, well, Asher. We decided on Jacob, but lately I just haven’t been feeling it. No offense to any Jacobs or Mamas who have named their kiddos Jacob. It’s a fine name. It’s just most of my kiddos have names that aren’t in the top ten baby name list (barring Jackson, of course). Plus, Pressley has started to call him Jake and Jakey (mostly to get on my nerves…it’s worked). All that to say, I started rethinking his name and decided I really liked the name Miller for a boy (and, yes, it’s a family name).

Not everyone in my house is on board. So here’s the deal, Benjamin feels strongly about Jacob and Davis (his choice would be Jacob Davis Grier). I feel strongly about Miller (Miller Davis Grier??). We have actually even toyed around with the idea of giving him all three names, sorta like Jacob-Davis Miller Grier??? But my question to Benjamin is still…what would we actually CALL him? Because everyone is still referring to little guy as Baby Jacob…except me. I’m calling him Baby Miller in an effort to brainwash my family. I’ll keep ya updated. We’ve got somewhere between 8-11 weeks to figure it out because I hit 30 weeks today!

Instagram, Real Life, Purpose…so much I’ve been trying to make sense of in this area. When Benjamin was still working, I thought, “If only I could approach IG/blogging as a full time job…that would be awesome.” And then Benjamin quit his job and while I certainly didn’t spend 8 hours a day on IG/blogging, I was more intentional. And guess what? It just didn’t feel right to disappear into our bedroom to spend an hour here and there to devote to an app on my phone. Don’t mistake me…I love IG and connecting with people there, but I also wondered how much was I really connecting with people? For the most part, it was just me sharing a shot of my home with some generic caption. People would leave a “Love it!” or “So pretty!”, but was anything I was doing over there making an impact? Was it worth closing myself off from my family for an hour at a time?

I did a couple of paid collaborations with some companies, but it definitely wasn’t going to pay any bills and wasn’t worth the amount of time I was putting into IG. All of this rambling is to say, I’ve been examining what I want my IG account to be and it’s real life. I have no desire at the moment to constantly change up my house so that I have something different to share. I really want to encourage moms out there. I want to share what homeschooling looks like. I want people to see the joy that children bring and that big family life is fun and I would never want it any other way. I want to be kind to people and encourage them to be kind to others. I want to be a friend to the stay-at-home mom who feels lonely.

But I also want to be present in my home. Even if Benjamin is home at the moment. I have no desire to leave him to do the school