Sobremesa Stories

Caleb’s Birth Story

March 15, 2016 By Lauren

I am so excited to sit down and write this story because it was such a sweet, joyful answer to all of our prayers about Caleb’s birth. I am so grateful that he is healthy, I’m healthy, and that we got to experience a simple, natural birth with no complications. If you love reading birth stories as much as I do, then enjoy! I will give the disclaimer that I’m sharing all the details of the birth, so maybe skip this post and read all the other cute posts about pregnancy if medical stuff makes you a little grossed out! Anyway, without further ado…

Caleb’s Birth Story

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Conquering Comparison In The Pre-Motherhood Years And Beyond

March 14, 2016 By Lauren

Today’s post is by my friend, Hannah of Just Bee. I’ve gotten to know her a lot these last few months and I love how her deep, encouraging heart shines through in her writing. Make sure to check out her blog for lots of pretty pictures and wisdom on everything from marriage and relationships to blogging and photography!

I’ve thought a lot about seasons lately. Perhaps it’s because of all the snow days we’ve been getting here in Minnesota 🙂 but I’ve been struck by the bigger picture lately too – the narrative of life seasons.

Sometimes, we find ourselves caught up in a season that’s just plain busy! We rush from one task to the next, watching a new to-do list materialize as soon as another one is completed! For a lot of people, this craziness is the high school or college season.

But other times, we discover we are in a period of waiting or abiding. And since waiting often comes after a busy season, it can feel downright uncomfortable and foreign! I love the quote by Jess Connolly that a friend of mine shared on Instagram: “There are years for crazy big strides. Graduation, marriage, babies. And there are years for quiet, day-in-day-out stewardship.”

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Five Tricks To Find Quality Furniture For Cheap

March 9, 2016 By Lauren

My husband and I have been married almost three years and have gone through our share of garage sale and thrift store furniture over those years. Since we bought a house last year, we’ve had a lot of fun slowly finding furniture pieces that we love that are both beautiful and functional. These five tips below are my best pieces of advice for finding quality furniture for cheap that you love, is in good shape, and will last you a long time.

Before I share those, I do have one important side-note and/or disclaimer: Do some research to find out what the price range is for things like couches, dining room sets, beds, etc so you have a good idea what is cheap, average, and expensive. A big, comfy sectional might run you several hundred dollars on Craigslist but still be a great deal. The goal is to get the furniture you want at a price that is reasonable (or super cheap!) for whatever that item is!

Anyway, without further ado…

Five Ways To Find Quality Furniture For Cheap

1) Buy floor and display pieces or slightly damaged items.

I’m putting this tip first because it is my absolute favorite. SO many of the items around our home were purchased at a 40-60% discount because they had a slight scratch or chip. If the damage is something you can live with (and it usually is), then make sure to ask stores if they have any “as-is” items available. Ikea has a great as-is section where lots of folks have gotten great deals. This dining room table below is one of my favorite things we own and we got both the table and bench for almost 50% off because there’s a 2-3 inch scratch on the top. We buffed it out a bit, stained it, and it’s good to go!

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How Parenting Can Strengthen Your Marriage

March 7, 2016 By Lauren

Today’s guest post is by my friend Amberly of A Prioritized Marriage. I love her heart to see marriages thrive and grow in every way and her blog is full of great resources on everything from parenting and intimacy to managing finances and communications. Make sure to pop over and check out her blog!

Whether you’re having your first kid or your sixth, the addition of a new baby to the family is an event that can bring stress to your marriage. I will be the first to tell you that parenthood is one of the most challenging stages to adjust to in your marriage. It will stretch you as a couple and as an individual and at times, it will feel like you’ve given all that you can possibly give.

Even though parenthood can be hard, it is also one of the most exciting and rewarding adventures that you will ever embark on in your marriage. Becoming parents will challenge your relationship more than you ever thought possible. Working together in this new stage of life will also strengthen your relationship and make you a better team in every other area of your marriage.

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How To Run A Successful Guest Post Series

March 2, 2016 By Lauren

I started the Womanly Wednesday series pretty soon after I started this blog, and it has been one of my favorite parts of blogging. I’ve had weekly guest posts for almost eight months, and these posts are consistently some of my highest viewed and most shared posts. It truly has been an honor to host the stories and hearts of so many women on my blog and I love how it brings new readers to my corner of the internet and the blogs of the women who share.

Over these last eight months, I’ve learned quite a bit about how to run a guest post series that continually draws in new posters and readers. If you’re interested in hosting guest posters on your blog, I hope these tips will help you to create a series that you love and that stays true to the heart of your blog!

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6 Bible Verses for Labor And Childbirth

February 29, 2016 By Lauren

I haven’t talked a ton about our dreams and hopes for the birth of our son. Every woman is different and every birth is different, and I don’t know that one way is necessarily the right way as much as it is the right way for that family and that baby in that particular moment.

Either way, what we are hoping for and praying for is that we’d be able to have a natural, unmedicated birth with as few interventions as possible. The more I read about childbirth, the more I feel like it is a beautiful, natural process that God uses to stretch us as women as we partner with Him in the act of bringing life into the world. I want to fully experience the joys and pains of that and let my body do what it was created to do with as little intervention as possible.

If things get complicated or drawn out, I am by no means opposed to epidurals or whatever interventions need to be done to keep our baby and me healthy. But my deep hope? That we would be able to experience childbirth in its most natural form.

As we pray and prepare for labor and what it will take to bring our son into the world, I have been memorizing and praying through a few Scriptures. I’m hoping to pray through these and remember them when contractions grow overwhelming and I need something to distract myself from the pain. Who knows if I’ll actually remember any of these in the throes of childbirth, but praying through them during pregnancy has been such a good way to remember God’s truths about who He is and who I am to Him. If you are preparing to bring a little one into the world, I hope that these verses encourage you like they’ve encouraged me!

Six Bible Verses For Labor And Childbirth

1) Psalm 139: 13-16

These verses remind me that just like God is creating the tiny person growing in my belly, He created my body to go through the processes of pregnancy and childbirth. He knows exactly what will happen with our little one and with me and I can trust His plan and provision in that.

2) Psalm 46: 1-5

I’ve always loved these verses, but in the last few months these verses have reminded me that God is present and faithful even in when it seems like the world is ending (which I’m sure it will for a few hard moments in childbirth!). I love the imagery here and I love the feminine language that reminds me that God is in the midst of me, that in Him I will stand strong and not be moved by the overwhelming waves of pain.

3) Philippians 4: 6-7

I memorized this verse in college and I have come back to it over and over when my mind spins before bed or I find myself feeling anxious about what will happen in labor and beyond it.

4) Psalm 131

The peaceful imagery here is so calming to me, and I’ve found myself saying over and over the line, “I have calmed and quieted my soul.” This verse reminds me that He is in control and that knowledge can bring me peace in the midst of struggle.

5) 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Like I wrote about in this letter to our son about the pains of pregnancy, this verse reminds me that pain and suffering are something that I share with Jesus. As I share in His suffering, I also share in His comfort, and that will be a huge prayer of mine during the pain of childbirth.

6) Psalm 40:1-3

I love the imagery of God rescuing us from the pit and the pain to give us a firm place to stand and a new song to sing. I can’t wait for the song (and tears) of joy that will come when we finally meet our son and am so grateful to God for giving us that beautiful song.

If you are awaiting the arrival of a little one, I hope praying through these verses will encourage you and inspire you the way they have for me. I wish you all the best as you go through the process of bringing that life into the world!

What are some verses that have inspired you and encouraged you in pregnancy or motherhood?

Five on Friday: Spontaneous Date Nights And Holy Carpet

February 26, 2016 By Lauren

Happy Friday, my sweet friends! I’ll start this off by saying we still haven’t met our sweet little man, but we sure are loving our last few weeks as a family of two. Here are a few updates from this past week and weekend!

1) Dinosaur Birthday Parties

My nephew turned six this past weekend and it was so fun to celebrate him with a cute dinosaur-themed party (inspired by his latest obsession). My sister-in-law did a great job coming up with all sorts of dino-themed snacks and it was so fun to see him pumped about his gifts and running around to give hugs to everyone. I can’t believe I’ve known this kid and watched him grow from the time he was a baby and it reminds me what a blessing it is to grow up surrounded by family. I’m so glad Caleb will grow up with lots of older (and close-in-age) cousins and aunts and uncles to learn from!

Being the center of attention is oh so hard…

2) Holy Carpet

Every Tuesday we host our church small group, and this Tuesday as the girls sat upstairs (the boys get banished to the basement) talking about life and identity and where we find our worth, my eyes were drawn to our front door. There was a huge pile of shoes everyone had kicked off when they came through the door, and I couldn’t stop thinking about when Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God tells him to take off his sandals because the ground on which he stands is holy. It is a huge blessing to host these people in our home and share life with them and I know that that time is holy and beautiful. It may be stained and worn-in, but I’m grateful for our carpet and the fact that in those hours, it is holy ground where we encounter God in new and beautiful ways.

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Womanly Wednesday: A Guest Post On Long-Distance Marriage

February 24, 2016 By Lauren

Welcome to this week’s Womanly Wednesday! I met today’s poster, Kylie, when I was a paraprofessional in her classroom during my first year in Kansas City. Our in-class chats became weekly coffee dates, and we both got engaged, married, and pregnant pretty close to each other. She is one of my closest friends in Kansas City and I am so grateful to share life with her! She’s also started blogging recently, so make sure to check out her blog and follow along!

At the beginning of 2014 Brad started talking about there being a high chance that he would have to leave town to work for a while. That is just part of his job and I knew this getting into a relationship with him. However, knowing it then and it becoming a reality now was two completely different things!

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DIY White Mounted Deer Head

February 23, 2016 By Lauren

When I envisioned our little one’s nursery, I imagined something calm, neutral, and airy with fun pops of color and whimsy. I love the look of DIY white mounted deer heads and wanted to incorporate them in a way that still fit with the bright feel of the whole room (you can check out the reveal of our son’s nursery in this post!). I threw these bad boys together using a few supplies from Hobby Lobby and an hour or so of work and I love how they turned out! They are so easy that I almost felt silly typing out the steps to make them (because it’s basically just spray paint and glue).

If you already have a can of spray paint and catch Hobby Lobby when they’re having a sale (or you’re smart and use that 40% off coupon on your phone!), you can make this project for super cheap and with very little work. And aren’t those kind of projects the best kinds?

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How This Blog Will Change After Baby Arrives

February 22, 2016 By Lauren

To all of my wonderful readers,

I am so glad I started blogging before we got pregnant because it has been an absolute joy to share the world of pregnancy and motherhood with all of you. I’ve loved all your comments, encouragement, advice, suggestions, and sweet words as I and we have navigated this crazy process of growing a tiny human.

I wanted to take a minute to sit down and talk through with you all a few of my dreams and ideas for what this blog will look like immediately after Caleb arrives how this space might change once I am a full-time mama.

First things first…

A Blogging Maternity Leave

I’m a big believer that some seasons are meant to be slow, that we are meant to rest and take a step back from good things so we can focus on the best things. I’d say that having our first child definitely falls into that category! As such, I’m planning on taking a step back and reducing my posting here, at least for the first few weeks after Caleb is born.