Updates for Maintaining Meghan

Where are my moms of three or more littles at?! Are you okay? Raise your hands in joy or pat your back... you are amazing.

Looking back over the last year, just at my blog alone, you could tell we added a third child to the mix. The posts slowed down and investment in my writing slowed with it. You could say the last year was a mix of new things, changes, and reflection.

Even more interesting, my third child has by far been my easiest. I know, right? Crazy. Most of the advice we received before having our third was pretty consistent. Get ready to go to a zone defense instead of a man-to-man. So, with this attitude in mind, we were ready to be defensive right off the gate.

But, what we didn't see coming was how well our new, bigger family was going to flow. My oldest two children actually enjoy each other's company. Don't get me wrong, they fight like siblings do, but they also go play with toys together and laugh until they cry. My baby girl is probably the happiest child. Even when she cries, it doesn't take much to get her to smile again. She is by far the most independent child at this early stage than my other two. She's fearless, which keeps me on my toes, but also strong. She will fall flat on her face and get up laughing.

I personally pride myself on being a working mom of three children. It takes a lot to keep it all organized and together. However, recently the job I had for eight years was changing. I no longer felt the same pull to continue my career there. Maybe I changed a lot or the job changed too much (maybe it was a bit of both). Either way, my career life was starting to affect my personal and family life. After much discussion, my husband and I decided that what was best for our family was for me to pull away from work. My firm had been very accommodating to flexible schedules and normal family and children issues but the job itself was affecting me in a way that no perfect schedule would be good enough.

We knew this change would be a big one for our family. Our finances would be changing pretty dramatically. In addition, my husband was worried about my mental health. He knew my driven personality always thrived in a career atmosphere. He was worried that this new change of pace would leave me feeling unfulfilled.

He wasn't entirely wrong. It took me some time to be adjusted to life without a career. Being a mom is tough, it truly is and always will come with its own challenges. However, having a career didn't just provide me with confidence but it gave me more mental stability to be there in the way I needed to for my children.

Initially, I felt lost. I didn't know what to do with myself. It probably didn't help that it was winter and we were pretty much stuck inside. I was trying to keep myself out of places like Target because we were trying to cut back on excess spending after losing my salary. So, I had to start thinking of fun things to do by just hanging out with my kids. It didn't have to be super creative or costly, we just played, read, relaxed, etc. Even after this, I was still feeling that pull to have something for me to achieve and aspire to, personally.

With some time, I was able to be inspired by a love and passion I've always had for writing. It was something that I enjoyed doing on the side while working full-time. I was able to vent in a creative fashion while connecting with other writers. In addition, I had always dreamed of writing my own book one day. Now, was a unique time for me to use this opportunity to try and achieve that dream.

My writing has now become my new career, but a career that is more conducive to family life and my mental health. I'm able to fit writing into my life in a very part-time manner. There are days where I just don't feel the writing juices flowing, so I don't write. I craft, cook, color, play with the kids, run, or just relax. Either way, I am doing everything in my life with more intention and what's best for me and my family.

So, I hope you can all enjoy my musings through my blog, stories on Instagram, fun finds on Facebook, crafts over on Etsy, and maybe someday soon, a book with my name listed as the author.