Victory and Chocolate Muffins!

Recently, victory is defined as having time to pump, take a shower, get dressed, do laundry, and be able to still shove food in my mouth while doing the dishes all before my 7 week old wakes up from her first nap of the day. The morning I accomplished this, I felt like Rocky! It’s amazing how things change after you become a mother. I’ve had to let go of a lot of my OCD tendencies and realize that the laundry will still be there, even if I can’t get to it right when I would prefer.  Unfortunately, no one is going to come in and do it for me. I have decided that’s a good realization for a mother. If you know me (or have been to my house) you didn’t laugh when I mentioned my OCD tendencies, instead you know there is much truth to that statement. However, there’s no harm in letting the laundry basket get a little more full then I would like it because my daughter needs me now.  She needs me. Plain and simple. She needs me for food, regular diaper changes, baths, and all the ” fun” stuff that goes with a newborn but she also needs me for much more than that, and I need her. I need to read to her even though she has no clue what the book is about but she loves to look at all the colors on the page and hear my voice. I need to hold her, even when she’s sleeping, because she won’t fit in my arms this way for very long. I need to make funny faces until she laughs and watch her as she focuses on new things for the first time. I need to love on her now, because she’s going to grow and change each day, and need my love and attention in new ways.  So for now the laundry (and everything else) will have to deal with only intermittent visits from me, because I’ll be busy making memories with my baby girl.

But let’s get real, we all know that I will use each second of nap time as wisely as possible, which means focusing on dealing with the piled up laundry and everything else.  There are many a days that I forget to eat, forget to drink the water that my body needs in order to keep making the milk that she so desperately needs, and have to resort to grabbing whatever is in my reach.  There’s no time for breakfast (or lunch for that matter) when you’re trying to be super woman and get everything done that you used to be able to do before having a really tiny human depending on you.  We have to eat to survive; hence why I’m giving you my own personal recipe for the most amazing and satisfying muffins you’ve ever tasted, which are PERFECT for moms and anyone on the go that doesn’t have time for breakfast. But we also have to be fed spiritually to grow and survive as well.  It’s also hard as a mom to find time with the Lord.  I’ve found the best way to carve out this time is to keep my Bible close to where I’m feeding the little one. So that each day, at some point in time my daughter and I are both working on being fed to grow at the same time, in different ways.  God is the type of parent in our lives who lets the laundry pile up while He’s there for us in the “now”. God is the type of Father who helps guide our way. God speaks to us personally through scripture, when we read and don’t understand His message.  He steps in to provide clarity and allow our eyes to focus on new things for the first time.  When we’re torn or broken and crying out, He’s there because we need Him then, even when we aren’t aware of that fact. Your laundry piling up might look very different than mine.  What is in your life that takes such precedence over everything else and keeps you from devoting time to yourself and to God? Perhaps there’s something you should let pile up, and be okay with that… in order to enjoy the here and the now, and devote time to yourself and to Him.

Now, on to the muffins!  I’ll let you in on a secret… I don’t typically like chocolate! I say that and people think I’m from Mars, but I’m very peculiar about the taste of chocolate! I eat chocolate in very specific ways as long as it’s mixed with something: Oreos, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Raisinets and Smores (around the fire!) So, I don’t like plain chocolate but I love these muffins! They’re the healthiest muffin you’ll ever meet but you would never know by tasting them. I made them for my husband several times before telling him how I made them so he would actually eat them. In fact, my husband is the reason I experimented to make this recipe because he’s notorious for skipping breakfast and the typical breakfast muffin is not at all appealing to him, but chocolate is.  They’re perfect to grab on the go and have the right combination of nutrients to keep you satisfied. Most importantly, they’re delicious!  Click the “Read More” link for the recipe. Enjoy being fed!