Speaker 1: Hey, what's up y'all? So on this midweek mom chat,
Speaker 1: I was kind of thinking, like, what do I want
Speaker 1: to talk about? There's always so many things racing through
Speaker 1: my head. At this point in my life was sunny
Speaker 1: and life and balancing um, motherhood and balancing a career
Speaker 1: that you're loving and trying to grow and feel called
Speaker 1: to do, and also we all need to make money.
Speaker 1: And when you have a kid, I don't know, it's
Speaker 1: like something happens where you just feel like this burn.
Speaker 1: It's like it's not that I didn't have a burn before,
Speaker 1: but it's like, now I have a kid, it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I gotta get focused and like I got a zero
Speaker 1: in on what I'm doing and making sure that I'm
Speaker 1: on the right path and everything is the line, and
Speaker 1: just kind of cutting out um bullshit for lack of
Speaker 1: a better term, It's like you don't have time just
Speaker 1: to I'm sorry, I like cussing, but you don't have
Speaker 1: time to dick off anymore, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Not that some of y'all probably haven't ever had time
Speaker 1: to do that, but I didn't have a kid until
Speaker 1: I was much later in life, thirty six years old,
Speaker 1: and Michael and I got married when we were I
Speaker 1: was thirty and he was twenty. No, I was thirty one,
Speaker 1: he was twenty eight. Yes, I'm a puma, you guys.
Speaker 1: I am three and a half years older than Michael.
Speaker 1: A cougar is when you're ten years or more older
Speaker 1: than your spouse, your husband, and a puma is when
Speaker 1: you're five years or less. At least that's what I
Speaker 1: have decided it to be some in puma um. And
Speaker 1: so Michael and I had a lot of time together,
Speaker 1: just like we started dating when he was twenty one
Speaker 1: and I was twenty four, so we had a lot
Speaker 1: of time to grow up together, like figure stuff out.
Speaker 1: If y'all have followed along, you know, we have our story.
Speaker 1: We broke up for a little while, and we really
Speaker 1: press suit our passions and our dreams and figured out
Speaker 1: ways to make money and have jobs doing that for
Speaker 1: a long time. But when it's just you and just
Speaker 1: you and your significant other, the heat's not quite as on.
Speaker 1: You just need to figure out how to make it happen,
Speaker 1: survive and pay your rent and your bills. But now
Speaker 1: that Sunny is here, I'm like, she's gonna have school
Speaker 1: and I gotta get her clothes, and she's about start
Speaker 1: eating and diapers, and I mean, I don't even know
Speaker 1: what all is going to be coming on. Eventually, she's
Speaker 1: gonna want to do after school activities like swimmy, well,
Speaker 1: I want to teach her swimming because that's very important
Speaker 1: to me, to give her swim lessons, so they'll be
Speaker 1: like swim lessons and if she wants to do gymnastics,
Speaker 1: and who knows what she's gonna be into. She might
Speaker 1: love acting or sports or something scholarly, not like her
Speaker 1: mother or her father. Neither one of us really love
Speaker 1: school that much. But I totally support school and I
Speaker 1: think it's awesome and you should definitely learn. Um, So
Speaker 1: I don't know, just a spy gets put under you
Speaker 1: where you're like, dang, I gotta make this happen. I
Speaker 1: gotta provide for my little babe. So where am I
Speaker 1: going with all this? So I always have something I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about, and I'm always having pressure, um, a little
Speaker 1: bit more pressure than I had before to just make
Speaker 1: it happen. And that's why I'm loving this podcast. I
Speaker 1: don't even know if I just made sense right then,
Speaker 1: I don't know why I started this podcast, what I
Speaker 1: was even talking about, and if I circled back around
Speaker 1: if it's making sense or not. Hopefully that made sense. Um,
Speaker 1: But I want to answer you all's questions today because
Speaker 1: I want to know what y'all want to know, like
Speaker 1: what I'm going through. If there's anything I'm going through
Speaker 1: that I can share with you guys, to just like
Speaker 1: let you know how I'm navigating this season of my life.
Speaker 1: I'm happy to share with you all because I think
Speaker 1: that's all on my phone still on. That's all that
Speaker 1: anybody is doing right now, is just navigating. Right Who
Speaker 1: texted me? I have a friend stopping by? And see
Speaker 1: that's another thing, Like I'm so grateful, Like I don't
Speaker 1: ever leave my house anymore. I'm so thankful to have
Speaker 1: friends that want to come over and see me because
Speaker 1: I have. I mean, it's just so hard to leave
Speaker 1: the house. When we leave the house with Sunny, I
Speaker 1: literally have to pack up her carcy toys, several bottles
Speaker 1: just depending on how long we'll be out, my pump
Speaker 1: because I gotta pump because I can only go a
Speaker 1: few hours ut pumping. Um, so you gotta put all
Speaker 1: that in the bag. A blanket, all of our diapers,
Speaker 1: like everything, like you literally stroller. It is a process
Speaker 1: to leave the house. So I'm always very grateful and
Speaker 1: friends want to stop by and say hello. But I
Speaker 1: just want to know what you guys want to talk
Speaker 1: about right now, because we're all in the big middle
Speaker 1: of this together. Like, no matter where you are in
Speaker 1: your life, whether you're single and you're looking for love
Speaker 1: and you're wondering if it's out there, or whether you
Speaker 1: are in a new relationship and you're wondering, is this
Speaker 1: the one? Are we gonna get married, We're gonna get engaged,
Speaker 1: And or if you are pregnant or just had a
Speaker 1: kid it or you can't have a baby, or you
Speaker 1: have older children, or you are dealing with loss of
Speaker 1: loss of a spouse or loss of a loved one,
Speaker 1: or loss of a career or just starting a career
Speaker 1: or all of it. We're all in this wave of life.
Speaker 1: We are all just rolling through this life. I want
Speaker 1: to share something with you guys that my friend Lady
Speaker 1: Crown or Crowd or ground Er Lady Crowder talked about
Speaker 1: the other day. Um she started a little Bible study
Speaker 1: for some of our girlfriends in Nashville and I just
Speaker 1: love it. She felt it on her heart to really
Speaker 1: start this just to like not to be preacher or anything,
Speaker 1: but just like let's get together and and claim God,
Speaker 1: like we don't have to. We don't have you know,
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be this like holier than the
Speaker 1: all type thing. We can just get together and talk
Speaker 1: about God because why not? She said, What did she say?
Speaker 1: She said, I'm not gonna Oh, I'm not gonna quote her, right.
Speaker 1: She basically said she's not going to shy away from
Speaker 1: speaking up about God in her life because I feel
Speaker 1: like I've done that before, like in the past. That
Speaker 1: you don't really want to, like pray all the time
Speaker 1: out loud in front of people. You don't really want
Speaker 1: to like say God has blessed this situation, or like
Speaker 1: bring God into moments or pause and like take time
Speaker 1: to like send a prayer to God when you're going
Speaker 1: through something or something great happens, Like a lot of
Speaker 1: times we just don't acknowledge God in the midst of
Speaker 1: our lives, in our daily lives. We only acknowledge God
Speaker 1: like at church or on holidays or when we're desperately
Speaker 1: in need of a miracle. You know, it's like, but
Speaker 1: I want to Laney encouraged me to do this, Like
Speaker 1: I want to acknowledge God all the time, and the
Speaker 1: good and the bad, and to see Him working in
Speaker 1: my life through everything, because I feel like that is
Speaker 1: the way to get rid of anxiety for me. And
Speaker 1: I told you all this year, I am not going
Speaker 1: to deal with anxiety. I am actively working to get
Speaker 1: rid of anxiety. And I have tried every different way
Speaker 1: to get rid of it. Exercise, UM, get partying UM,
Speaker 1: hanging out with friends all the time, being super busy,
Speaker 1: career pursuing career UM. Back when Michael and I were
Speaker 1: before dating, like dating a lot and then with Michael,
Speaker 1: like we've just had such a fun life traveling and
Speaker 1: getting to explore and do all sorts of stuff. But like,
Speaker 1: you can't run away from your anxiety. You know, if
Speaker 1: it's there, you can like push it down, but like
Speaker 1: you've got to figure out how to look it in
Speaker 1: the face. And for me, the only way that I
Speaker 1: can get rid of my anxiety is having God active
Speaker 1: in my life at all the time and knowing that
Speaker 1: He is guiding my life and knowing that my life
Speaker 1: is blessed and no matter what happens. If even if
Speaker 1: it feels like it's something bad that's happening, that's still
Speaker 1: a part of the plane. It's going to lead me
Speaker 1: to blessings. And so I have to believe that or
Speaker 1: else this life is too much for me because I
Speaker 1: am a fragile soul. I am I get so affected
Speaker 1: by everything, and I'm just tired of being affected by everything.
Speaker 1: So I just want to know that my life has purposed.
Speaker 1: And that's not how everyone wants to go through their life.
Speaker 1: And listen, I'm not here to preach anybody. I'm just
Speaker 1: telling you what I'm doing because I am over having
Speaker 1: anxiety and I love having God in my life. Like
Speaker 1: it makes me feel happy, it makes me feel light,
Speaker 1: It makes me feel like I can follow my calling
Speaker 1: with confidence because I know that it's coming from a
Speaker 1: bigger place and I'm not doing it for myself, Like yes,
Speaker 1: I want to reap the benefits of it and enjoy it,
Speaker 1: Like it's fun to follow your calling and experience success
Speaker 1: and fulfillment and things working out. Like I'm definitely not
Speaker 1: saying I don't want to enjoy that, but I want
Speaker 1: to enjoy They're all the rewards of working hard. Towards
Speaker 1: something because I feel like it's what I'm supposed to
Speaker 1: be doing with my life, and by listening to God,
Speaker 1: that's how I do that. And so I listen to
Speaker 1: God by following the open doors. When I feel stick
Speaker 1: in my stomach about something, or I get a not
Speaker 1: in my stomach, or if it feels resistance, or if
Speaker 1: it just like I cannot make a decision about something
Speaker 1: and I don't feel clear, or if I feel weird
Speaker 1: about it, or if I feel like I'm forcing something,
Speaker 1: then not to me is I need to stop, I
Speaker 1: need to pause, I need to wait, and like that's
Speaker 1: not time for me to move. For when something feels easy,
Speaker 1: even if I have like fear about it a little
Speaker 1: bit because it's like a new chapter scary, or like WHOA,
Speaker 1: what's going to happen? As long as I feel good
Speaker 1: about it and easy and light and peaceful and everything's
Speaker 1: falling into place, then I pretty much roll with it.
Speaker 1: That's my governor these days. But Laney, and getting back
Speaker 1: to this, she said, to get to the harvest, you like,
Speaker 1: we're always in a season of abundance. I think about that,
Speaker 1: We're always in a season abundance because everything we're doing
Speaker 1: is working as towards abundance. So say, what we think
Speaker 1: we're trying to get to is the harvest, where like
Speaker 1: we have this beautiful field of wheat that is just
Speaker 1: healthy and growing and ready to be harvested by us.
Speaker 1: That's what we think the goal is. And that's what
Speaker 1: we think, that's what we think is. That is what
Speaker 1: we think matters in life is getting to that harvest,
Speaker 1: and nothing else matters. And like, we just got to
Speaker 1: get to the harvest. Like the harvest is where it's at.
Speaker 1: If we're not in the harvest, we're struggling. Well, okay,
Speaker 1: all of that is a part of the harvest. Like
Speaker 1: she laid this out so beautifully and I love it,
Speaker 1: y'all follow Laney. Her instagram is Laney Crowder l A
Speaker 1: N E Y c R O W d R. She's
Speaker 1: really inspirational. Um. But it's got a rain first. You
Speaker 1: gotta go through the rain to even get the ground
Speaker 1: ready to start to plant. So you've got to go
Speaker 1: through that weather in the beginning before you're even ready
Speaker 1: to start your journey. So there's that that's essential. So
Speaker 1: here we are in the rain. Then now the grounds
Speaker 1: we went through that weather in that rain, and now
Speaker 1: the ground is ready. Now you gotta go plow the field.
Speaker 1: That is labor and you don't see results of that
Speaker 1: plowing for a long time. So now we're plowing the field.
Speaker 1: We're out there, it's hot, we're sweating, we're tired. There's
Speaker 1: endless fields that have to be plowed. It feels like
Speaker 1: we're never going to get to the harvest, but we're
Speaker 1: doing it. You're plowing. So then you finished plowing. Guess what,
Speaker 1: Now you gotta wait for the rain to come again.
Speaker 1: I mean, holy cow, now the rain is coming again.
Speaker 1: So you just wait. You went through the weather already once.
Speaker 1: Now you plow the field. Now you gotta wait for
Speaker 1: the rain again. And then sometimes it doesn't even harvest,
Speaker 1: like you don't even get the good crop, and you
Speaker 1: have to start all over again. I mean, it's unfair.
Speaker 1: But then you finally go through all that process and
Speaker 1: you get to the harvest. And I love this too,
Speaker 1: because Laney said, even the wheat like bows down when
Speaker 1: it's ready to be picked. Like if you look at
Speaker 1: wheat when it's ready to harvest, it looks like it's
Speaker 1: bowing down. And that's really kind of like a metaphorical
Speaker 1: for even when you are on the harvest, do not
Speaker 1: forget to realize who who has got us, who is
Speaker 1: in control, and it is God. Like take a bow,
Speaker 1: like you have gotten to your harvest, but get on
Speaker 1: your knees and thank God for it, because we're blessed
Speaker 1: to be in a harvest and you should enjoy it
Speaker 1: and you should reap the benefits of it. But it's
Speaker 1: still hard work. When you're in your harvest, you still
Speaker 1: have to work hard. It's not like, oh, I've made it.
Speaker 1: Let me kicked back by my pool with my robe
Speaker 1: and my san Gria and my pool boy and live
Speaker 1: my life of leisure for the rest of my life. No,
Speaker 1: once you're in your harvest, you gotta work even harder
Speaker 1: to like maintain that harvest and get that crop and
Speaker 1: reap the benefits of your hard work and enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Like you gotta get out there and work. So it's
Speaker 1: like you're never really you know, you never really arrive
Speaker 1: or make it. You're always working and there's always something
Speaker 1: you've got to go through, and you always have to
Speaker 1: remember that God is taking us through these seasons because
Speaker 1: there's a point in every different phase you learn something,
Speaker 1: So make sure you're open to what you're learning. Make
Speaker 1: sure you're open to the lesson, Like, don't get so
Speaker 1: upset that you're not in a harvest season that you're
Speaker 1: missing the lesson you're supposed to be learning in the rain,
Speaker 1: in the raging season, because that's just as important as
Speaker 1: the harvest season. So I'm sorry if I'm like beating
Speaker 1: a dead are repeating myself a lot, but it is
Speaker 1: all necessary for abundance. So whatever season you're in, take
Speaker 1: a step back, try to get that three hundred foot view,
Speaker 1: like space view, like pertinct you're in an airplane, and
Speaker 1: like zoom out of your body and out of your life,
Speaker 1: and try to look at yourself from a three foot
Speaker 1: view from above and take a look at your life
Speaker 1: and see where the lessons are, see what you're learning,
Speaker 1: and be thankful, Be thankful for the season that you're
Speaker 1: in because it is all a part of abundance. And
Speaker 1: so I hope that you received that message, because when
Speaker 1: Landy spoke that message, I received it and that made
Speaker 1: a lot of sense to me, and it made me
Speaker 1: really appreciate all the different seasons of my life because
Speaker 1: if we're just in constant harvest and life is easier.
Speaker 1: We're in our leisure by our pool, with our sangria
Speaker 1: and our pool. Boy, you can't live like that forever.
Speaker 1: That's just not how it isn't. If that's what you
Speaker 1: think happens when you reach success, then wipe that thought
Speaker 1: out of your mind, because that is not what success is.
Speaker 1: When you reach success, you couldn't away the fruits of
Speaker 1: your labor, but you still gotta work, and you have
Speaker 1: a responsibility once you have success to take care of
Speaker 1: all the people who are working for you and with
Speaker 1: you and believing in your vision, like, you can't let
Speaker 1: them down. You got to maintain your energy high. You
Speaker 1: got to maintain your focus, you got to maintain your drive,
Speaker 1: you gotta maintain your momentum because now when you hit
Speaker 1: that level, you have people who are relying on you
Speaker 1: and you can't let them down. You can't slack off.
Speaker 1: So it's actually like you got to even just stay
Speaker 1: better and better and better the more that you achieve.
Speaker 1: And that's why I just think you always got to
Speaker 1: remember what am I doing this for? What is my
Speaker 1: bigger purpose? And if you're only doing it for yourself
Speaker 1: and for gains for yourself, you're not gonna ultimately get
Speaker 1: to that great fulfillment because we are here on this life,
Speaker 1: even if you're just serving your child, or even if
Speaker 1: you're just serving your parents, or even if you're just
Speaker 1: serving a friend or your husband or your wife or
Speaker 1: your spouse, or if you're just serving someone. Lauren Aikin
Speaker 1: said that I always say your name ros Atkins Aitken's Adkins.
Speaker 1: She's married to Thomas Raett and they she just has
Speaker 1: a a Stuart Uh servants heart, like she's got just
Speaker 1: a heart to serve. And she is very involved with children,
Speaker 1: orphan children in Haiti, and that's a big part of
Speaker 1: her mission. And I interviewed her and they adopted a girl,
Speaker 1: a little sweet girl, Willow Gray from Haiti, and um,
Speaker 1: she was talking about how life is fulfiling when you're
Speaker 1: serving others and that's how she has true happiness. And
Speaker 1: I just thought that was really profound because here she
Speaker 1: is married to Thomas Rhett, one of the biggest country
Speaker 1: stars on the planet right now, and she's talking about
Speaker 1: serving others when she could be living a life of
Speaker 1: pure leisure if she wanted to, but she's not. She's
Speaker 1: using her life to help the world and make a
Speaker 1: difference and change change the world. And she's one of
Speaker 1: the most joyful people that I personally know, and she's
Speaker 1: one of the most inspiring people to all of us.
Speaker 1: That's why the world's in love with her and Thomas
Speaker 1: Rhett because they're in love with what she's doing with
Speaker 1: her life. And it's beautiful to see someone in the
Speaker 1: spotlight who's really helping others and really making a difference.
Speaker 1: And so I just think that serving others wherever you
Speaker 1: can serve someone in your life is really great. And
Speaker 1: I need to work on that because I've been getting
Speaker 1: snappy with Michael lately. Sorry, I'm just rabbit trailing all
Speaker 1: over the place when you have a new baby and
Speaker 1: you're running your career by yourself, Like I don't have
Speaker 1: anyone helping me with my podcast. I do now that
Speaker 1: I'm partner with Bobby Bones and My Heart, which has
Speaker 1: been such a blessing to be on his network, the
Speaker 1: Nashville Podcast Network. He has a producer, Mike d who's awesome,
Speaker 1: who has a movie podcast, U Mike's Movie Podcast. It's
Speaker 1: such a great podcast. Mike is really a smart guy,
Speaker 1: Like he's very awesome. He's he just is very talented,
Speaker 1: can do a lot of things, and he loves movies
Speaker 1: and he like breaks down movies and gives you explanations
Speaker 1: of why you see this movie, what you shouldn't, what's
Speaker 1: cool about it, and like really good. It's a really
Speaker 1: good review of movies and stuff. And then he has
Speaker 1: cool like podcasts about old movies and he's very creative
Speaker 1: with it. So check it out. Mike's movie podcast Mike
Speaker 1: d Um. Ever since being partnered with Bobby and It's
Speaker 1: Not work, it has been awesome because Mike's helped me
Speaker 1: edit and like brought some commercials to the podcast, which
Speaker 1: has been great because I've been able to align with
Speaker 1: brands that I believe in that I like to support
Speaker 1: and incorporate them into my podcast because this is a
Speaker 1: real podcast and it's great. Mike will shoot me nim
Speaker 1: and be like, hey, do you like this brand? Like
Speaker 1: check this out? And if I don't align with it,
Speaker 1: I won't talk about it. But if I do, I do,
Speaker 1: And so I love that. I think that's been such
Speaker 1: a blessing. Um So, but besides that, I'm completely on
Speaker 1: my own. Everything about this is self motivated, and I've
Speaker 1: loved having Bobby is a springboard because he's been able
Speaker 1: to give me great advice about like where to just
Speaker 1: like what moves to make next, and to help me
Speaker 1: like come up with a game plan. But I don't
Speaker 1: have an assistant or anybody doing anything. So between running
Speaker 1: my podcast, booking my interviews, making my videos, just doing
Speaker 1: like writing descriptions, and then I do a lot of
Speaker 1: other like brand work and just I'm writing a book.
Speaker 1: I started writing my book. Um, I wrote all of
Speaker 1: the foreword out, I wrote all the chapters out, I
Speaker 1: wrote everyone who will be featured. I'm gonna write a
Speaker 1: book based on my podcast. It's gonna be called Get Real,
Speaker 1: I think, Well, I don't know what will be called eventually,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna write a story about lessons learned and
Speaker 1: stories told from boss babes before their boss babes on
Speaker 1: how they achieved and maintained happiness and success. And I'm
Speaker 1: gonna feature a lot of stories told on this podcast.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be like a chicken suit for the soul,
Speaker 1: but stories based from from amazing women from this podcast.
Speaker 1: So between doing all that, taking care of Sonny pumping
Speaker 1: four times a day, which takes like literally almost four
Speaker 1: hours a day, Um, getting meals ready, thankfully. Michael Cook's
Speaker 1: a lot sometimes taking a shower, which doesn't really happen
Speaker 1: that often. Sometimes I just get so burnt out of
Speaker 1: inner gene that I forget to be gentle with Michael
Speaker 1: instead of just being more like getting the business done
Speaker 1: that we need to get done in the day because
Speaker 1: we're now we're both like and he's like, he has
Speaker 1: a new single out, Drinking Song. You've got to check
Speaker 1: it out. It's awesome. It's been getting a great response.
Speaker 1: Check out a Thousand Horses Drinking Song. It's out everywhere.
Speaker 1: They have a new album coming out. He has a
Speaker 1: new record deal on Warner Brothers and Electra. Dave Cobb
Speaker 1: is one of the best producers at the of our
Speaker 1: time right now. He produced Chris Stapleton, he did The
Speaker 1: High Women, He's done Um, Jason Isabel, Brandy Carlyle. He's
Speaker 1: freaking epic. I'm missing a ton of people. But he's
Speaker 1: done A Thousand Horses all their albums and this one
Speaker 1: is the best one they've ever done. And their song,
Speaker 1: Drinking Song, is getting great momentium. Michael is about to
Speaker 1: go to Europe for three weeks, so it's like between
Speaker 1: all the things that we're doing and having a baby.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I just get like a little snappy with Michael.
Speaker 1: And it's not fair because I'm just out of energy
Speaker 1: and it's easy to just be kind of like not
Speaker 1: thoughtful as thoughtful as I need to be with him.
Speaker 1: And I've been noticing it lately, and I don't like it.
Speaker 1: I don't like feeling that way with him, and so
Speaker 1: I need to serve him better and not like, oh,
Speaker 1: I need to be a submissive wife who's like a
Speaker 1: like a housewife who just stays at home and waits
Speaker 1: around for her husband. But I need to take care
Speaker 1: of him better and I need to be more considerate,
Speaker 1: and I need to not be so reactive and not
Speaker 1: get so annoyed quickly, because that's no fun. Nobody wants
Speaker 1: to be married to somebody like that. And I gotta
Speaker 1: get it, even if it takes a little energy to
Speaker 1: step up my game to make sure I'm being sweet
Speaker 1: like he's the one who need to be the sweetest too.
Speaker 1: He's my best friend and my partner and my lover,
Speaker 1: my baby daddy, And it's easy to take it for granted,
Speaker 1: I guess, And I need to get better at that,
Speaker 1: so putting that out there, thanks for thank you all
Speaker 1: for making me realize that you don't even know you
Speaker 1: made me really realize that, Yeah, a really good accountability.
Speaker 1: Thanks friends, Appreciate y'all. Um. But I just this is
Speaker 1: a rabbit Trail podcast. I hope this is helpful. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what I'm gonna call this one. Caroline
Speaker 1: rabbit trails and just talks and talks and talks about
Speaker 1: whatever is her free flow in her mind. And I
Speaker 1: hope that it's okay. But I guess and I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get at is we have to be intentional. We
Speaker 1: have to give our lives up to God. For me,
Speaker 1: I don't want everyone to say, have to this is
Speaker 1: what I have to do. I have to be intentional.
Speaker 1: I have to give my life up to God and
Speaker 1: surrender it over my life, Michael's life, Sunny's life, my career,
Speaker 1: all of that. Like, I have to trust the callings
Speaker 1: that I'm feeling and what feels right. I have trust
Speaker 1: it fully, and then I have to let God lead
Speaker 1: the way and I have to just go for it
Speaker 1: and do the work. You have to do the work.
Speaker 1: But I'm done forcing my agenda. I told you all
Speaker 1: that already last podcast. Um serve someone. I love serving Sonny.
Speaker 1: I love serving her like it takes a lot to
Speaker 1: serve her, Like I'm always pumping her, breastfeeding, always feeding her,
Speaker 1: always putting her down, always doing her a laundry, always
Speaker 1: we're going anywhere, packing up all her stuff, like she
Speaker 1: consumes the majority of my thoughts and time. But I
Speaker 1: love it, and I'm grateful that I get to serve her,
Speaker 1: and I do it joyfully, and I wanna not forget
Speaker 1: to joyfully serve Michael too, and joyfully serve myself. It
Speaker 1: just takes a little energy to stay joyful, because it's
Speaker 1: easy to go to reactive and bitchy because we're tired,
Speaker 1: and we can and we don't have to be in
Speaker 1: a good mood all the time, so why should I.
Speaker 1: But really, we can just choose to rise up our
Speaker 1: vibration a little bit higher and make the effort to
Speaker 1: not just respond because you're feeling snappy, or respond because
Speaker 1: you're tired, or responds since snappy because we've had a
Speaker 1: long day and they should have done this in our
Speaker 1: minds and they didn't do this, and blah blah blah
Speaker 1: blah blah, we just gotta step up. And so that
Speaker 1: is what I am aiming to do. That's my goal.
Speaker 1: And I'm holding myself accountable. Oh in this book, like
Speaker 1: I'm trying to write this book because I'm holding myself accountable,
Speaker 1: not just to dream about it that I want to
Speaker 1: write this book and I want to go on a
Speaker 1: podcast tour and a book tour because I really want
Speaker 1: to take this podcast on the road and I want
Speaker 1: to have live guests that I do interviews with, and
Speaker 1: I also want to have this book. I wanted to
Speaker 1: all go together. So I'm just holding myself accountable and
Speaker 1: doing the work to get to where I want to go.
Speaker 1: But then I'm putting no pressure on the outcome. Is
Speaker 1: any of this making sense? That is my goals for
Speaker 1: this year and where my heart is right now. And
Speaker 1: I my friends just pulling up right now, my friend Jackie.
Speaker 1: I love Jackie. She's so cute, oh my gosh, and
Speaker 1: a Leopardson jacket. She's so hot. And I'm just appreciate
Speaker 1: to have friends who are loving and supportive. And we'll
Speaker 1: come over to my house. I wanna answer a questions
Speaker 1: and just a second hold on. Okay, So my friend
Speaker 1: Jackie Camember, Jackie Tigue. She's awesome. She is just the best.
Speaker 1: She's a yoga instructor and one of the coolest girls
Speaker 1: I know. I love her so much. It's so nice
Speaker 1: to have her come over. And her friend Natasha was
Speaker 1: with her and they just came over and hanging about
Speaker 1: the baby and played and chilled. What sweet friends. So
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk to you about some of these
Speaker 1: questions that you guys set how to be productive. This
Speaker 1: is from Taylor, how to be productive with a newborn. Okay,
Speaker 1: my baby's crying right now. I don't know if i'll
Speaker 1: canna hear that they're turning the volume on the monitor
Speaker 1: down because I just put down for naps, so she'll
Speaker 1: go to sleep soon. Um. Okay, I am super productive
Speaker 1: on naps when it when it is naptime, I am
Speaker 1: getting stuff done. I make a list. I got a
Speaker 1: calendar this year, and I put down everything that is
Speaker 1: like do on the calendar. So like, I know, I'm
Speaker 1: posting a podcast every Monday. I'm posting a midweek mom
Speaker 1: chat every Thursday. I know I need to write descriptions
Speaker 1: for them, I need to make introductions, I need to
Speaker 1: edit a video. Um. So I just know I have
Speaker 1: to get that done. And then like when I work
Speaker 1: with different brands, like I put down when those those
Speaker 1: deals need to be completed by and I write all
Speaker 1: that on the calendar I put on my travel down
Speaker 1: and then I write at the top of the calendar
Speaker 1: like what I need to accomplished this month, and then
Speaker 1: like and then on the next so then I know
Speaker 1: I need to get through all of these checklists this month.
Speaker 1: And that has really helped because I have realized I
Speaker 1: need to dump my brain. If I have all this
Speaker 1: stuff swimming in my brain on top of just like
Speaker 1: everything with Sonny, I lose it, like I can't, I
Speaker 1: can't grasp it. So I just have to write it
Speaker 1: all down. And the calendar has really helped me. So
Speaker 1: that's how I keep myself organized. And then daring her
Speaker 1: and then I'll then I have like a notebook, and
Speaker 1: on the notebook, I have a to do list for
Speaker 1: that day. Like I'll make a to do list either
Speaker 1: the day before or that day, and I'll do like
Speaker 1: what is pressing what I need to get done today,
Speaker 1: and even if that's errands that I need to get
Speaker 1: run today, like figuring that out, like even if it's
Speaker 1: like getting grocery stores the groceries done that day. It's like,
Speaker 1: I'm a full time stay at home mom and a
Speaker 1: full time person working for my podcast and trying to
Speaker 1: grow this business, so I have to plan all the things.
Speaker 1: So I'm just very organized and that's how I do it.
Speaker 1: So I would suggest getting encounter and then having a
Speaker 1: notepad of your to do list that day. Um, when
Speaker 1: did you know you're ready to have a child? From Sarah,
Speaker 1: That's a great question. I didn't want to have a
Speaker 1: kid for a long time. I was so busy in
Speaker 1: my own life and like the thought of having a
Speaker 1: child was super overwhelming to me. Freaked me out, scared me.
Speaker 1: I didn't know if I could handle that responsibility. Um,
Speaker 1: I probably didn't know I was ready to have a kid.
Speaker 1: And when I was twenty nine, I started thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: I want kids. But not until I was like thirty four,
Speaker 1: was I like I have a burning desire for a kid,
Speaker 1: Like it was a fire. It was just had been
Speaker 1: lit in me, and I didn't I knew that I
Speaker 1: wanted to have kids, and so for me, I didn't
Speaker 1: want to wait past thirty five. Even though you can
Speaker 1: definitely have kids past thirty five. I knew that I
Speaker 1: wanted to have a child, maybe two, and so I
Speaker 1: wanted to go ahead and get started. But I pushed
Speaker 1: it as long as I felt comfortable pushing before having
Speaker 1: a kid because I was enjoying my single life and
Speaker 1: I was enjoying pursuing my career and not having to
Speaker 1: have a responsibility of a child. And so I just
Speaker 1: think for me, I waited until I had that burning desire,
Speaker 1: and that was thirty four years old. And I don't
Speaker 1: think there's any right or wrong time to have a kid.
Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes people get pregnant and they weren't
Speaker 1: planning for it, and that's always a blessing. A child
Speaker 1: is always a blessing, no matter if we feel like
Speaker 1: we're ready for it or not. I truly believe that
Speaker 1: if you have a child come into your life, you
Speaker 1: will be blessed by that child in your life will
Speaker 1: only be blessed. Um. If you do have the choice
Speaker 1: to wait until you feel ready, then wait until you
Speaker 1: feel ready. If a child blesses you, then congratulations, you
Speaker 1: got blessed. So I don't know, Oh, hold on phone call, Okay.
Speaker 1: Someone asked Travel Journal how to be confident with pregnancy
Speaker 1: body changes and still feel sexy when you leak milk
Speaker 1: all day. That is a really great question. Um there.
Speaker 1: I think I feel more confident in my body right
Speaker 1: now than I did before, just because I'm in awe
Speaker 1: of what it did growing a baby and being able
Speaker 1: to watch your body just create a child and then
Speaker 1: birth it out of you. I don't know. I think
Speaker 1: just always staying in touch and in tune with the
Speaker 1: miracle that happened is what really gives me confidence in
Speaker 1: my body right now. And I've just decided to go
Speaker 1: easy on myself because, like you said, leaking milk all day, like,
Speaker 1: our bodies are providing food and nourishment for our child
Speaker 1: and keeping them alive. And I just focus more on
Speaker 1: the blessing that my body is providing for me right
Speaker 1: now and for Sonny than I do on how like
Speaker 1: certain clothes don't fit anymore, and how you don't you
Speaker 1: know you have more stretch marks and loose skin and
Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff happening. But it's like, what a
Speaker 1: gift we got because having that happened to our bodies
Speaker 1: gave us his child and is giving us the ability
Speaker 1: to feed our child so that's what I focus on.
Speaker 1: I just try to focus on the blessing of it,
Speaker 1: because it truly is a miracle to be able to
Speaker 1: have a child, Friendships after motherhood, relationships with spouse, and
Speaker 1: how it changes from renee friendships have I mean, I
Speaker 1: have so many great friends. I do a lot more
Speaker 1: phone conversations now because whereas I used to be able
Speaker 1: to go hop out and go have lunch or happy hour,
Speaker 1: now leaving Sonny, I mean, I'm not gonna hire a
Speaker 1: babysitter and leave her. And taking her is a event.
Speaker 1: Y'all know how it is to leave your house with
Speaker 1: the baby. You gotta really, you gotta really pack up
Speaker 1: your whole life. So I schedule certain like friend hangs,
Speaker 1: like mommy groups where we bring our kids and get together.
Speaker 1: UM do that less frequently, maybe once or twice a month,
Speaker 1: but really prioritize it when we schedule it so you
Speaker 1: really enjoy it. It's like, you know, if you eat
Speaker 1: chocolate cake every day, do you really love chocolate cake
Speaker 1: as much as when you just have it a couple
Speaker 1: of times a month. So when you really plan to
Speaker 1: hang out with your friends, it really means a lot.
Speaker 1: And everyone is grateful for that time, and so I
Speaker 1: think it makes you appreciate it more so little mommy
Speaker 1: groups I like to do. I go for a walk
Speaker 1: or play dates and you know, everyone have lunch or
Speaker 1: just chill. I think that's how I've been handling my
Speaker 1: friendships lately. And talking on the phone, because phone conversations
Speaker 1: are great. Actually, it's fun to talk on the phone,
Speaker 1: and I you know, sometimes you have a better phone conversation,
Speaker 1: better conversation on the phone than you do if you're
Speaker 1: just running around seeing someone quickly here and there. It's
Speaker 1: more intentional, um okay, dealing with close family members trying
Speaker 1: to parent your kids or tell you how to without
Speaker 1: offending you know. I think we Michael and I don't
Speaker 1: have family that lives near us all the time, and
Speaker 1: we have really great people in our family. I think
Speaker 1: when people are trying to parent your kids, they're trying
Speaker 1: to just help you and share wisdom that work for them.
Speaker 1: So I just try to take all advice and stride
Speaker 1: and what works for Like, if someone offers a suggestion
Speaker 1: or some advice that I agree with, I'll pick it
Speaker 1: up and use it, and if not, I just won't
Speaker 1: receive that advice. And you don't have to do what
Speaker 1: somebody tells you to do. It's your child, you're the boss.
Speaker 1: And so I feel like if someone in my family
Speaker 1: is offering it. And now, if you have someone living
Speaker 1: with you or around you all the time, you might
Speaker 1: have to have a conversation on boundaries. But for me,
Speaker 1: I don't feel like I have over bearing relatives or
Speaker 1: family members or anyone in my life who's like telling
Speaker 1: me how to do it. So if they offer suggestions
Speaker 1: and I don't have an agree with it, then it's
Speaker 1: no big deal. I just won't receive that. But if
Speaker 1: they might have some great advice, I mean, I always
Speaker 1: listen to everything because I don't know. I'm new at this,
Speaker 1: so people have gone before me. I always wandn't hear
Speaker 1: what they have to say. But I just don't think
Speaker 1: you have to take advice if it doesn't agree with you.
Speaker 1: But if someone is in your life on a regular
Speaker 1: basis and they are overbearing, then you probably need to
Speaker 1: have a loving conversation about boundaries, and um, yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't really have advice on how to do that
Speaker 1: other than just approach it would love. Um, yes, that's
Speaker 1: that's what I would say, let's see intimacy with while
Speaker 1: pregnant with a newborn. I'm thirty two weeks pregnant and struggling.
Speaker 1: I mean, I definitely think intimacy changes because when you're pregnant,
Speaker 1: it's hard to move that body around. But definitely always
Speaker 1: worth keeping up your intimacy and even though it can
Speaker 1: be hard, especially when you're so pregnant. Thirty two weeks pregnant,
Speaker 1: I remember how I felt at heartburn, like my back hurt,
Speaker 1: game my stomach around was like impossible, But you know,
Speaker 1: just make time for it and then you always enjoy
Speaker 1: it once you're in it, and I think it's always
Speaker 1: great to keep that healthy in your marriage. Listen to
Speaker 1: the if you listen to this UH episode with Land
Speaker 1: and this week she talks about that how intimacy is
Speaker 1: really important in a marriage, and I totally agree with her.
Speaker 1: So if you're super uncomfortable and you literally like are
Speaker 1: dying of pain and you're pregnant, then obviously take care
Speaker 1: of yourself. But I think making time for that is
Speaker 1: a good thing, and just realizing it'll it'll make you
Speaker 1: close with your spouse and once you get into it,
Speaker 1: you're not going to probably feel as terrible as before,
Speaker 1: because I know, like when I would just lay down,
Speaker 1: I could barely breathe. I don't know. That's hard though,
Speaker 1: at the end of the pregnancy, you just gotta survive. Um,
Speaker 1: let's see Sunny's development developmental milestone. She seems so good
Speaker 1: at tunny time and smiling and playing. You know, we
Speaker 1: smile at Sunny all the time, Like if she is
Speaker 1: looking at us, we are smiling at her. We are
Speaker 1: laughing with her, we are tickling with her. We are
Speaker 1: trying to just show joy all the time because we
Speaker 1: want her to be happy and to feel happy and
Speaker 1: feel loved. And so my encouragement is and my brother
Speaker 1: in law said this to Michael and I both. He said,
Speaker 1: smile at your child all the time. And I just
Speaker 1: think that is such good advice. Just smile because smiling
Speaker 1: makes everybody happy. It puts a good energy in the room,
Speaker 1: it creates laughter, and there's nothing sweeter than seeing a
Speaker 1: baby smile. So we smile at her all the time.
Speaker 1: We laugh at her all the time. We tickle with her,
Speaker 1: and we put her on her tummy um until she
Speaker 1: could lift her head up. And then once she started
Speaker 1: rolling over, she rolls over on her tummy, and she
Speaker 1: is strong and she loves to be on her stomach,
Speaker 1: so she kind of, like naturally, just started getting on
Speaker 1: her tummy a lot. But in the beginning it was
Speaker 1: very intentional, and every time during playtime, we'd put her
Speaker 1: on her stomach for like at least five minutes each time,
Speaker 1: or three to five minutes to build that strength. So
Speaker 1: she didn't like it, she would cry, but we would
Speaker 1: do it anyway just to get her neck strong. So
Speaker 1: um hmm. Getting over the hump of the fourth trimester,
Speaker 1: this is hard. I agree this from Erica. The fourth trimester.
Speaker 1: For me, this three months after Sunny was born were emotional.
Speaker 1: I was a wreck. I was crying all the time.
Speaker 1: I didn't know how to leave the house. I didn't
Speaker 1: know who I was anymore. Like you're losing my kind
Speaker 1: of coll just told me this. It takes you ten
Speaker 1: months to get all those hormones built up in your body,
Speaker 1: and you lose them within six to nine weeks afterwards,
Speaker 1: and so you are just having a surge of hormones
Speaker 1: leave your body, and you've also just brought this child
Speaker 1: into the world, and it's emotional, and your whole life
Speaker 1: has to change, and so I say, don't even worry
Speaker 1: about anything those first three months to survive, get to
Speaker 1: know your child, give yourself grace. If you need to cry, cry.
Speaker 1: I cried every single day, every single day I cried,
Speaker 1: and just let it out and don't feel bad about
Speaker 1: it because you're going through so much and it will
Speaker 1: start to get better. And however long it takes you
Speaker 1: just to level out, is how long it takes you.
Speaker 1: And don't beat yourself up over it. Start doing things
Speaker 1: for yourself. That's another question, so and ask self care
Speaker 1: why momm ng Landon also said this on the podcast
Speaker 1: on Monday. When you're a new mom, try to just
Speaker 1: do two things a day, like if that's just or
Speaker 1: one that's just going to the grocery store, great, you
Speaker 1: did something today, or if that's running one errand great,
Speaker 1: or if that's just even just like picking up your
Speaker 1: house and doing laundry or doing the dishes, Like don't
Speaker 1: overwhelm yourself in the beginning, but definitely like do something
Speaker 1: that makes you feel good, whether that's going for a
Speaker 1: walk or taking a bath or just taking a shower,
Speaker 1: or cooking something or ordering something that you are enjoying eating,
Speaker 1: do something nice for yourself every day on whatever level
Speaker 1: and whatever scale that is. But don't push it and
Speaker 1: don't feel like you have to do all the things
Speaker 1: that you did before you had a kid. Like take
Speaker 1: it easy, give yourself grace, get through that hormonal surge
Speaker 1: and that fourth trimester of just feelings and emotions, and
Speaker 1: be nice to yourself because we get so hard on
Speaker 1: ourselves to be someone else. Ask me that, pretty how
Speaker 1: do you be productive with a new worn um. I
Speaker 1: think already talked about that with my schedule and stuff.
Speaker 1: But like, we get so hard on ourselves to get
Speaker 1: back to how we were before, but it just takes
Speaker 1: a minute. So we gotta give ourselves grace. So I
Speaker 1: hope you all enjoyed this podcast. I was all over
Speaker 1: the place, but I think it all made sense. I
Speaker 1: love you guys, I appreciate y'all, and hope you'll have
Speaker 1: a great west of the rest of your week. I'll
Speaker 1: see you all next week.