Three Years Blogging 🎉 Q&A

Happy Tuesday!!! Last week marked three years of this little Riddick Family Blog, and I love celebrating with a little Q&A! They are some of my favorite posts to read on blogs, so I hope this morning is fun reading a few of these random assortment of questions and answers! 

You can see the first Q&A I did here to celebrate 100 posts and the second Q&A here for two years of blogging. It's such a joy to keep this little space updated with the Lord's many blessings, some of our favorite snapshots and lots of our life lately. I can't thank you enough for following along! It always means so much!! 

So without further-ado, here is a little Q&A for your morning!! 

How far apart will Jane and Baby #2 be?

Oh great question - they will be about two years and two months. Growing up, my siblings and I were all almost five years a part and Pierce's were about two, so this age gap is new to me, but one we're definitely looking forward to! 

What is your routine with Jane in the morning? 

Oh, we love a good routine, but oftentimes our mornings will look all very much the same and different at the same time... These days Pierce and I have been working out early most mornings (I talk about that a little more in the next question), but I always love being up and at'em before Jane. It doesn't always happen, but I feel like it always makes the mornings go a little smoothly. A typical morning/"Day in the Life" looks like... We brush teeth, have breakfast, say bye to Daddy for work, usually she plays a bit while I clean up the dishes, we play/read/sometimes FaceTime grandparents or friends to say hi, then we usually get ready, and I would say almost always run some type of errand. Even just a quick little trip helps to get out of the house - whether grocery pick-up, grabbing something I need for a home project, a morning at the library, a friend's house or the park often happen too. We usually always try to get in some outside time or a walk if we can and then we love the days we get to have lunch with Daddy at the end of the morning!! These are some of my most favorite times in my most favorite days!! 

Do you and Pierce still work out together?

Oh goodness...I will just say...working out with littles is a challenge. And we only have one hahaha We used to do Camp Gladiator together almost every Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 5:30am at the mall before work and LOVED it. I can't tell you how much we just truly loved that routine. We carried that from when we were engaged till two weeks before we had Jane, and I definitely miss it. 

It has taken a bit of trial and error to find a good routine since Jane was born though... I feel like we've tried it all...

Pierce used to swim at our local Y until it sadly closed down, I started (and still do!) love doing Pilates, we ran together a lot over the summer, but recently we have loved finding a few morning workouts through Camp Gladiator's On-Demand program that we can do at home together before Jane wakes up. It's early, but it has been such a game-changer to find something we can keep up with. I love a workout before the day starts, and I really love working out with Pierce too. That extra bit of time together in the morning has always seemed to be a blessing for us. We do realize that everything is about to change again come June, so I will keep you posted then hahaha And we welcome any tips anyone has as well!! 

How do you do "self-care" while also taking care of a baby?

I think this is a sweet question and one I'm sure I'm going to be figuring out more and more with two littles. But every mom I've ever known has encouraged some time to breathe and do something that fills your cup throughout the day, no matter how small it might seem. When Jane was a newborn, that often looked like taking a shower or a nap, but now it looks more like blogging or working on a home project, journaling, sitting in the sun, chatting with a friend - just something that is fun and makes me smile and take a deep breath. Pierce has always been a big help in this, which is definitely a huge blessing and one I don't take for granted. He seems to be very in tune when I might need a few minutes/hour here and there and loves to take Jane for that time. I'll just say lots of grace, lots of hard days to make the sweet moments even sweeter, lots of conversations with other moms and friends, lots of prayer and lots of time to figure what works best for me/our family in the ever-changing seasons. It's a journey, but one that I love and wouldn't change for the world! 

How has your women's discipleship gone this year? What materials are you using? I'm intrigued! Maybe I'll start one. :)

Awww I LOVE this question!!! Our founding pastor's wife, Jani Ortlund, started discipling women years ago through a one-year discipleship group that has blessed so many women. She always encouraged women to continue the train and legacy of discipling, and one of those sweet women invited me into her home once a week the year Pierce and I first got married. I grew, I learned, I laughed, I made the sweetest friends and now five years later, I've gotten to pour back out into women in my home every week as well. It has encouraged me, stretched me, and blessed me in more ways than I can count. 

The format is a short lesson walking through three main priorities - Jesus, Community, and Mission, then always time for accountability, honor, and prayer. We are reading through the Bible together as well and praying for each other throughout the week. I've come to so look forward to those two hours Tuesday night and Jane knows that "the girls" come over to study the Bible and talk about Jesus. 

Jani has a podcast, "He Restores My Soul," and a whole series on Discipleship that she walks through what she's done for years. She also has many resources on her website as well, including a curriculum suggestion of lessons to walk through. I hope that encourages you as you pray through discipling women as well in a weekly format. It sure is a huge honor, gift, and blessing!! 

Are you and Pierce originally from Nashville? 

Oh great question - I am actually from Kentucky and Pierce is from Texas! He was born in Houston, lived in Virginia for several years when he was young, and then called Dallas home from 2nd grade till college. He moved to Nashville in 2012 for school and minus a semester in New York and a year in Texas for Pine Cove's nine month discipleship program (the same one I did), he has been here ever since. I am from Louisville, Kentucky and called Birmingham home for my four college years, then lived in Texas for two years (The Forge and taught in Plano for one year) and moved to Nashville in 2017 when I was dating Pierce. It definitely has started feeling like home though!!

How is your closet organization going? 

Oh goodness. I think everyone I know is tired of hearing me talk about this closet situation we have going on at our house 😂 BUT I am happy to say that we are ALMOST finished, and I can't wait to post an update! It has been several weeks of cleaning out, donating, rearranging and brainstorming the best use of our space for this current season and one to come as well. We are thankful to *almost* have a home again for all of our belongings, and this time, one that hopefully makes a little more sense for our family that's growing!!

Any more travel on the books before Baby #2?!

Well, we really thought our trip to New York was our last flight with little Jane under two. At some point, I lost count, but I'm almost positive she is close to 25 flights at this point. (You can find lots of our travel posts here!) But we do have one more planned at the end of this month to see Pierce's family! And then we are crossing our fingers that maybe Pierce and I can sneak away somewhere in the next few months as well, but we'll see!! We love traveling and know that things will look different with two, but I hope there will still be some adventures in store for sure!! 

Wow, well those are just a few random assortment today. If you have any other questions, feel free to comment or send me a message! I always love hearing from you!! And as always, thanks for following along - I am thankful for this little blog and for the Lord's many blessings through it from the past three years. I am looking forward to hopefully many more!! 

I'll plan on seeing you back here tomorrow!! 
Sending lots of love!
XO 

Tab