It’s true - Baby Ray #4 is on the way! We are so, so grateful!

I’ve always been open and honest about my journey as a mama. Before I had Milly, I was so scared to get pregnant, to give birth, and to give up so much of my personal time, freedom, and let’s be real - my sleep. :)

Fast forward five years, and I’ve had Milly, Lyndon, and Beaufort… and now I’m pregnant with baby #4! WHAT THE WHAT!

Thank goodness God worked on my heart and finally brought me to the place of surrender, because it has been the wildest ride and one of the greatest joys of my life. A mama to 4 babies. I could have never imagined it if I tried.

Onto the details I’m sure you are curious about!

When are you due / how far along are you?

July 29th - same due date as Lyndon :) at the time of publishing this blogpost in mid February, I’m 16 weeks!

Were you planning on having another baby?

Yes! But not quite this soon. 🥴 It was definitely a surprise to find out we were pregnant in early November of 2020 when we were thinking we would start trying in Jan/Feb 2021. My words to Will : “As long as we don’t get pregnant in 2020, I’ll be good.” HAHAHA. All that to say, I AM GOOD and God’s timing is perfect.

How are you feeling?

T I R E D. My most exhausted pregnancy by far. Thankfully no nausea, but definitely tired beyond anything I’ve ever really felt before, other than the newborn phase! It’s a big reason why I’ve been pretty quiet on Instagram. It’s taken every bit of my energy to just keep myself, my children, and my podcast alive. Also, feeling very thankful. Trying to savor this season as it’s likely our last biological baby.

Are you going to find out the gender?

Nope! HA! I just keep telling everyone “We aren’t meant to know the gender of our babies.” 😂 Plus, if I got an ultrasound and they told me I was having a boy or a girl, I would doubt them the whole time. And being surprised is just so stinkin fun.

If you have any other questions for me, leave them below! I hope to do a podcast episode about Baby #4 soon, and I’d love to cover all of your questions in the episode.

A big thank you to Olivia Suriano for these images we will treasure forever. Love you so much, friend.

I think we are all trying to figure out what to do with 2021.

Should I even set goals when the world seems so unpredictable?

I’ve been wrestling with this question, sitting in the confusion and loss and lessons learned of 2020, feeling an incredible lack of motivation.

Today I don’t have a big long blogpost about goals and motivation and how to do all the things in 2021. But I do have some encouragement, and a few things I’m choosing to focus on in 2021.

The Lord woke me up this morning at 5:30am, and gave me these verses I want to share with you. They were everything I needed to read this New Years Day:

The source of revelation-knowledge is found as you fall down in surrender before the Lord. Don’t expect to see the Shekinah glory until the Lord sees your true humility.

Go ahead and make all the plans you want! But it’s the Lord who will ultimately direct your steps.

Before you do anything, put your trust totally in God and not in yourself.
Then every plan you make will succeed.

Psalm 15:33, 16:1,3 TPT

If we approach this year from a place of surrender and trust from the get go, we have the freedom to make plans and then trust God to direct our steps.

I also believe it’s wise to not set ourselves up for failure or disappointment by planning a ton of things that are out of our control, but rather focusing on the things that we can control, regardless of the world around us.

So according to these verses, this is what I did this morning:

1. Had a time of complete surrender before the Lord. Went completely back to neutral, again.

2. Asked Him for revelation-knowledge and guidance.

3. Told Him that I trusted Him completely.

4. Made some plans / set some goals.

A few other things that I’m choosing to do this year that I believe will be helpful coming out of 2020 and heading into 2021:

• I’m focusing more on quarterly goals than annual goals. I’m still setting goals for things I want to accomplish this year, but my direct focus will be on accomplishing things 12 weeks at a time.

• I’m choosing 3 areas of new habit-formation that will be life-giving. THOSE will be my main focus this year - not my goals.

• I’m acknowledging and realizing that I am in the throws of parenting young children. (This is obvious, but hang with me!) I won’t be here forever, but in this season, I am extremely limited with my time and ability to do very much work-wise. Instead of living in disappointment bc I naturally want to accomplish SO much but they demand so much of me, I’m re-shifting my mindset : THEY are my goal. Enjoying these little years IS MY GOAL! I’ll be honest: It’s hard and it’s wonderful, I’m in the thick of it, and they are demanding. But I’m listening and heeding the advice of so many mama friends, choosing joy in the midst of it, while I’m in it.

With that said, here are my goals for 2021!

2021 Goals

• Finish the school year strong (i.e. homeschooling Milly 3 days/week, preschool, etc)

• Complete Naptime Kitchen Home Reset (only available for purchase through 1/31)

• Maintain Photos Monthly

• Continue hosting the weekly Work and Play Podcast

• Join a small group at Church

• Take a few months off social media throughout the year (still praying about this: maybe 1 month a quarter? 2 months a year + my weekly time off? Not sure)

• Read 12 books

• Play piano once a week

• Have monthly Time Management planning

3 main habits I want to focus on:

1. Sleep + my morning routine.
   I have really gotten out of a good habit here. My hope is to go to bed at 9pm and get up at 5:30am, so I can have my time with the Lord, work out, and get fully dressed before my day begins. Gonna take some hard work, but I know it’ll be worth it!

2. Read more.
   Books continue to prove to be one of my most valuable investments of time. Plan to listen to more books on audible this year and read every night before going to bed.

3. Planning FUN experiences on a monthly basis!
   If there is anything I need more of this year, it’s fun! While it feels like a lot of fun has been taken away from us (concerts, plays, movies, any kind of group entertainment) I’m committing to plan family fun and evenings with friends every single month this year. Realizing it’s a necessity!

I also wanted to simply say - if you aren’t there yet, it’s okay. If you still need some time to process 2020, it’s okay. Take your time, pray through it, and know God has got you. I wrestled with this the entire month of December, and if He hadn’t woken me up at 5:30am this morning, this blogpost would not be written and my goals would not be made.

We are human, and it’s okay to take some extra time to process, pray, and think about how to wisely enter 2021.

God’s work in you is a process, not an event. It progresses not in three or four huge moments, but in ten thousand little moments of change. - Paul David Tripp

Be encouraged! And if you’re up for it, I’d love to hear your honest thoughts on 2021 in the comments.

As always, I’m so grateful you are here.

Elizabeth Tate

Well I’m excited to have been invited by my friend Emily to blog about my “best of’s” for this year! She asked me and a handful of other friend bloggers to chime in, and it was SO much fun to read through all of their answers last year, I’m excited to participate again! Here are my friends and bloggers that also participated. I LOVED reading their answers, too!

Emily (Em for Marvelous) | Lisa (Something Pretty Blog) | Stephanie (Steph Seeking Joy) | Rhi Bosse

Never has there been a more important year to focus on the good, to focus on the best of’s. We’re all feeling heavy, so I think it’s good and right to fight for what’s fun and good and even a little lighthearted!

Best book: The Nightingale was definitely the best-could-not-put-it-down book. For non-fiction, these two tie: Crucial Conversations and Seasons of God. Both worth reading multiple times. (Sorry I couldn’t just choose one!)

Best movie or TV show: Married at first sight! Modern day couples agree to an arranged marriage and don’t see their spouse until they are walking down the aisle. Then they have 8 weeks to decide whether to stay together or get a divorce. Found this one on Netflix and I can’t stop watching!

Best album or song: I heard a song I can’t ignore - album by Mission House

Best podcast or episode: Allie Beth Stuckey’s podcast has been helpful and informative in this intense political climate

Best adventure/travel/trip: Flying to Nashville by myself with 3 kids in the middle of a pandemic 🤪

Best follow on Instagram: Kate from Naptime Kitchen

Best date: After restaurants opened back up in April, Will secretly made reservations and arranged childcare so he could take me to City Kitchen in Beaufort, NC (we had been living there for a few weeks during quarantine and working remotely). Having a beautiful waterfront view, fresh air, and watching the sunset was everything I needed after being cooped up with the kids for so long!

Best kiddo milestone: Milly going to Kindergarten and Beaufort walking! (He was a late walker at 18 months, but it was worth the wait!)

Best faith grower: Finding a new local church that we love.

Best trend you tried: Joggers in general (I have two pairs), but specifically these joggers from Amazon. I wear them every other day and need to just buy another pair so I can wear them nonstop!

Best beauty purchase: Primally Pure’s cleansing oil

Best family memory: Living in Beaufort, North Carolina for 3 weeks during quarantine! We have access to Will’s family home there and were able to make it our home for the 3 weeks leading up to Easter. Will had to convince me to do it, but once we were there - goodness, it was such a gift.

Best habit you created: Leaving my phone to charge in the kitchen at night and only having books and a real alarm clock on my bedside table. I read so much more!

Favorite blog post written: Em’s Self Care blogpost. Yes, it was written in 2018, but I just discovered it this year so it counts at my favorite 2020 blogpost :). When I was preparing for my Work and Play episode on Self Care, she put to words so much of what I felt about the topic. I quoted her a few times in the episode!

Best new recipe: These BBQ Chicken sliders were so delicious!

Best life or mom hack: I turned my center console into a trash bag! I line it with a plastic target bag and throw all trash from the car inside that little center console and close it shut. Keeps the stink out and keeps my car more orderly. (Learned this from a suggestion episode 57!)

Best mama moment: The day Beaufort walked for the first time, I almost missed it. But thankfully God was SO gracious to me even in my own forgetfulness and I saw it happen! You can read more here.

Best home improvement: Landscaping + Landscape lighting! So grateful for the crew at For Garden’s Sake who installed the most beautiful landscaping around our home. And for Tim who installed the lighting that has made all the difference!

Best little luxury you've enjoyed: Long hot baths before going to bed with Dr Teals Epsom Salts.