Coffee Break #14

As the calendar flips to a new month, it’s time to sit down with a cup of coffee and catch up on life behind-the-blog! This month, I’m chatting about our most recent family birthday party, a very unexpected magazine feature, and am answering some of your “Ask Megan” questions! So get comfy, and let’s catch up!

Catch up on past Coffee Break posts HERE!

Jack Turns 1!

I’m pretty sure we are all having trouble keeping track of what month it is and how much time has passed these days…but get ready to be shocked because our baby Jack just turned 1! I swear I was just pregnant a week ago; but really…our chubby blonde newborn is now a babbling, walking (!!!), and even blonder 1 year old who is just the sweetest little guy ever.

This past weekend, we celebrated him in a big way with a small (pandemic-appropriate) family gathering. The theme was “Mister One-Derful” because he has truly been the best and most wonderful part of these (really hard) last 12 months. Once upon a time (when I only had 1 child!), I’d spend weeks prepping for birthday parties. This year, I spent the night before his party at my Cricut machine, churning out some sweet banners, cake toppers, and other decorations to bring together a charming little party for our family. I don’t think I got enough decent photos to do a full blog post, so here are some images from the festivities!

Well, Thanks BH&G!

Ready for a crazy story?!?

When was the last time you bought a magazine? A REAL magazine? For me, it’s honestly been years. YEARS! Not because I don’t love perusing the glossy pages of a magazine, but more so because I do online grocery shopping and don’t have an opportunity to just snatch one that appeals to me when I see it in the checkout line. But a few weeks ago, my family and I were heading out of town for a little mountain getaway, and I ran into the local grocery store to grab some magazines for the car (mostly in an effort to stay off my phone!). I, of course, grabbed a few Better Homes & Gardens specialty publications on DIY and organizing.

Well…imagine my utter shock when I was just reading along, passing the time, and stumbled upon this picture (below right). The picture literally made my eyes bug out of my head because, as any dedicated reader and Toolbox member will notice, those are MY LABELS! At first, I thought they just used my file to take some pictures; but then I noticed they TOTALLY SHOUTED OUT MY BLOG AND THE TOOLBOX! Sorry for the shouting…but you guys…Better Homes and Gardens used my templates, made their own adorable labels, and mentioned them in a MAGAZINE! (You can click the picture below to make it bigger in order to read the blue box!)

What’s even crazier is I never received a notification about this feature. So had I not snagged this one random magazine, at our local grocery store that I never go into, for a trip we totally planned last minute…I would have never, ever seen it! Needless to say, it made me pretty giddy to not only have my site/product featured in a magazine but to also have all the stars align in such a weird way for me to see it with my own eyes! Thanks BH&G !!!!

Ready, Set, School

Thank you so much to all of you who left comments or wrote me sweet messages about our school-from-home situation. I take a lot of comfort in knowing that many of you, too, are struggling with what this school year will look like. As I sit here today, I am feeling a bit more optimistic. Henry starts next week with our local public school distance learning program; and, at least from what it sounds like, his teacher will do most of the teaching (fingers crossed!). Henry is really excited to get started, and I am eager to get our household on a better schedule. This weekend, we are putting the finishing touches on his school-from-home setup (and a broader room update that I wasn’t quite anticipating!), and I hope to have those ideas and solutions up here for you to see soon!

Ask Megan

Each month, I’m spending a few minutes answering your questions about our life, day, family and more!

Q: Do you plan on having a 4th kid? 

A: No. At least I don’t think so, ha! I actually get this question fairly frequently, especially since we have three boys (so people will ask: “are you going to try for a girl?”) In short, no. I do not *think* we are going to have a 4th baby. Not only am I very content with my three boys (and the wonderful chaos they bring to my life), but I turn 40 this year. Also…I was SUPER uncomfortable in my third trimester with Jack (who ended up weighing over 9 lbs!!!), and I just can’t even fathom being pregnant and birthing a big ol’ baby again.

That said…as many of you know…we waited a very long time to have Sam, and a little longer than we wanted to have Jack. When you spend so many years wanting and wishing and praying for a baby, it feels really unnatural to not want a baby. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but as Doug says in The Cutting Edge, “I just don’t downshift that fast!” Does our family feel “done” or “complete”? Not really; I’m not sure it ever will. But are we actively trying to have another baby? Nope, not at all. If God really wants us to have another baby, he’ll have to find a way to make it happen 😉

Q: How much sleep do you actually get?

A: Probably more than you think! Right now, I generally sleep from about 10:30-7am, give or take 30 minutes on each end. (Of course, that is broken up 1-3 times every night by my sweet one-year-old who can’t seem to sleep through the night no matter what we do!) While that is my norm, I definitely will stay up until midnight or so if/when I have deadlines or am gearing up for something big. For example, leading up to The Toolbox launch a few years ago, I worked until 1-2am almost every night for the entire month leading up to its reveal.

This question was asked in the “How do you get so much done?” context…and that answer is actually more due to the fact that I never sit down during the hours I am awake. From the moment my feet touch the floor to when I crawl back in bed, I am on the go. Very rarely will I sit and watch TV or read a book at night (and almost never during the day unless it’s the Today Show first thing in the morning). Even when I try, I can usually only sit for an hour or so until I pop back up to work on a project, hash out some blog work, tidy up the house, or organize some random cabinet. I’ve learned over the years that this is just how I am wired, and I thrive much more when I have lots of balls in the air rather than none!

Q: You’ve lived so many places. Where was your favorite place to live?

A: So far, my favorite place to live was Leavenworth, Kansas. Crazy right? Especially since, so far, it was the only spot I cried…hard…when Greg told me where we were moving. I loved Kansas not necessarily because of the house (I love our current house more), but because we really loved living in the midwest, specifically in a charming small town outside a cool, big city. We made some amazing friends, traveled to some really neat midwest cities, and planted deeper roots than we ever expected to in just a single year. Leavenworth was, by far, the biggest surprise of our military journey so far, and we’d happily go back if ever given the opportunity!

Curious about something…anything? Ask away in the form below, and I’ll answer in a future Coffee Break!

Phew! That’s enough babbling for me this month! Wherever you are and whatever these next few months hold for you, I hope you are well, healthy and hanging in there. I suspect we are all so desperate for a light at the end of the tunnel, and I hope and pray we see a tiny flicker soon!