Re•vamp

Verb

Give new and improved form, structure, or appearance to.

I have been a mom now for 17 months of my life, and I feel like I have been in this new stage of my life long enough where I can share a few pointers based on my own experience with how I revamped my life after having a baby. Everyone is well aware that having a baby changes EVERYTHING. I had to learn how to live my life with a baby in the picture. Now I have a toddler, and that’s a whole other situation, lol. I finally feel comfortable enough in being a mother where I can feel comfortable enough with sharing with you what has worked for me. So, just like everything else in my blog, I’m only sharing my experience and recommendations; at the end of the day, you have to do what works for YOU.

Rise and Shine Baby

Before I became pregnant (which was pretty early on in my marriage), I woke up at 5 am every day to work out with my hubby. It was a great start to our daily routine, and exercising together bonded us and was one of our favorite things to do together while in the courting stage of our relationship. Even when I was single and not in a relationship, I would wake up early and go to the gym, then school and work. It just was a time of the day that quickly became my favorite because I was focusing on myself. After I had a baby, I was waking up all hours in the middle of the night and had zero time for myself, and I didn’t even try to make time for myself until my little one started to sleep through the night. Sometimes you have to prioritize sleep, and waking up at five am every morning to have a devotional was just not feasible for me at that time. Now that my son sleeps through the night (thank you, Jesus!) I now wake up at 5 am. Now I’m guessing you are thinking, why on Earth would you not use that extra few hours in the morning to sleep? Well, I tried that, and I would end up waking up to the baby crying, me going on a mad rush around the house to try to get him and myself out the door in the morning before heading off to a full day of work.
Most mornings, I had no time to eat breakfast or shower (tbh, I still sometimes don’t, lol). The most important thing to note is waking up early is not so you can get a lot of stuff done before everyone wakes up in the home. Waking up early is for YOU; it’s for you to start the day on the right foot and with the right mindset. You are in control of how your day goes, and the peace of the morning is the best time to set your mind straight. This, by far, has changed everything for me. I tried getting up at 5 am and cramming everything I thought I needed to do: read the Bible, pray, journal, exercise. Then I realized that what has worked for me is to be more intentional with my morning routine.
I started to wake up and focus on what was most important to me, and that was my relationship with God. I sit down and pray for God to open my heart and mind to what He wants me to learn that day. My morning devotionals have changed me. I will go into more detail on what I do for my morning devotionals in another blog post. After my morning devotional, I then practiced my Portuguese grammar. After that, I tidy up the home, take my vitamins, and by this time, my son wakes up, and I start getting him ready for the day. I also prepare breakfast for us all (believe me, I’m no fancy chef, I usually only have a few minutes to boil eggs and make toast). That is enough, though, for my family to feel like they are being taken care of. So this is how my mornings look like now:

5 am- wake up, use the restroom, dry brush, brush my teeth, wash my face, weigh myself.

5:30 am- devotional, gratitude journal, prayer, practice Portuguese grammar.

6 am- tidy up the home, make breakfast, take my vitamins, pack lunches.

6:30 am- wake up the baby, get him ready for the day.

7:00 am- get everyone out the door, get myself ready for work.

7:30 am- leave for work.

Take Responsibility

I am guilty of being that wife who always had herself on her mind. I wanted my husband to do more for me, and I complained SO much! It wasn’t until I spent my mornings with God that I realized how selfish I was. I vowed to myself that I would do something nice for someone else every day. Not only that, but once I stopped nagging and changed my mindset, I turned what I complained about into opportunities to serve others. Also, once I stopped depending on others to do things for me, I became responsible. This is a little embarrassing to admit, but I complained about not having enough time to do anything good for myself, including exercise or cooking healthy meals. I complained about my husband not meeting my emotional needs too. What I realized was that I had to take responsibility for myself. So, I learned to take control of my emotions and give up what I can’t control over to God. I started researching vitamins that would do my body well and taking them. I’m doing what is best for me and assuming that burden off others. These are a few ways you can do something nice for someone else:

Make or buy them something they like to eat or drink.

Do some of the chores that they usually do.

Bring food to share with your coworkers.

Compliment other people on something nobody compliments them on, but you know they would like to hear.

Spend quality time with your kids and cherish them with lots of affection.

Home Sweet Home

Now, let’s get to the fun stuff, style and decor! I love making my house a home. I try to decorate it according to the seasons or holidays surrounding the time we are in. Now that it is fall, I like to go all out for the holiday season. I live in Florida, and it’s hot pretty much year-round, but that doesn’t stop me from creating a cozy cottage ambiance. Do I live in a cottage by a lake? No, but God won’t bless me with anything more than what I have if I don’t take good care of the thing I have now (btw, that’s not a guarantee, but a girl can still dream). So, cottage-inspired home it is! For my home right now, I went to my local Homegoods store and left with these:

• Pillows
• Candles
• Coasters
• Cookies
• Little art pieces
• Woven baskets

I picked up anything orange, basically, lol. I love how my living room looks. I kick it up a notch by changing the sheets on my bed. I’ve always loved the color white for a home, white sheets, white pillows, white rugs. I quickly discovered that having children and white items don’t go together. I found that adding a splash of color to a neutral darker shade on my sofa or bed has made my home appear neater than it might be. I love the new hemp sheet set I purchased from Buffy. They are by far my new favorite sheet set. Maintaining my home is much easier by creating a schedule and tidying up daily (usually in the mornings or right after work). To create the perfect ambiance, I go on YouTube and turn on a video from hundreds of videos on fall ambiance; I like the ones with light jazz music playing in the background. Then I light a candle, lay a few cookies out on a dish, and serve some chai tea lattes. I know I might sound a little extra, but it’s not hard to create. The five targets you to hit are:

• Food
• Sound
• Lights
• Smell
• Touch

I Hate Shopping

I hate spending two hours shopping for clothes and walking out with something I didn’t want or need. Shopping online can be fun, but it is also time-consuming. Trying to find the best deals with the best quality takes me hours. Ain’t nobody got time for that! So, one of the best things that I’ve done to revamp my life is by subscribing to different services online. I subscribe to Blueland for my cleaning products, Prose for my haircare needs, Billie for my razor blade refills, Myro for my deodorant needs, Stixfix for my fashion needs, Green Chef for my dinner needs, and Amazon for everything else in between. If it saves me time from going into the store and shopping for these items, I’m in. I would rather spend a little more money on good quality items sent right to my door than have to take my time going shopping for every individual thing I need. I always try to stick with organic, sustainable, or “clean” items in my home.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Would you mind considering subscribing to get notified for more from me? Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or my other social media accounts. Like this post below if you did, and leave a comment; I would love to hear from you. You can also write me a letter HERE. Who knows? I might even mention you! Have a lovely day.

-with love, Amanda