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I found it on Amazon

Find my sunglasses here!

I feel so grateful for the amount of flexibility and freedom that running a blog and social media channels gives me. Not only do I love being “the boss,” but I also love the content and ability I have to connect with so many of you on a near daily basis. It’s a dream job. I never knew this could be what it is, and I’ve been enjoying the ride since 2011.

I knew this summer was going to challenging and it has turned out to be much more chaotic, stressful, and exhausting than I even imagined. Emily was born riiiiiiiight before the boys got out of preschool for the summer. We arranged childcare for them so Justin and I could have predictable work hours, but I didn’t want to hire anyone to care for Emily until she was a bit older. Justin and I knew it was going to be a tag-team effort to care for her while the other one worked. I’m nursing, which is going a million times better than I could have hoped (such a gift!) and I’m learning that I do not have enough time to do what I need to do to keep the blog running at the pace it was running at before.

The problem with being an entrepreneur, and an “ideas” girl, is that I have so many ideas in my head for things I want to work on for the blog but so little time to execute them! I’m jotting them down and saving them for future reference though! At the same time, I long to be a present mother for my kids, and have days where I’m solely devoted to them and not checking email.

This is the working mom struggle that so many of you know very, very well.

Even though I thought I set myself up to take a real maternity leave this time around, I think I jumped back into work too fast. It’s hard to stay away and I get so much fulfillment from using the creative part of my brain for the site.

I realize this post is turning a little bit into a “here are all my thoughts right now” kind of blog post, but I wanted to clue you guys in a bit about why blog posts may be slightly thinner than usual for a couple weeks. When friends ask me how everything is going, I usually reply with an answer that conveys what I’ve written in this blog post. And since I interact with so many of you who have been following the blog, I naturally wanted to clue you in too!

Emily and I spent the weekend in Wisconsin with my family, and my parents flew back to Raleigh with me so we can celebrate the 4th of July together at my home. I’m excited to have them here for the week, and the boys are thrilled as well. If you are in America, I hope you have a great 4th of July! If you aren’t, I hope you have a nice week without a holiday 😉

I’ll be back next week with some blog posts. In the meantime I’m sure I’ll be talking in baby talk to Emily on Instastories and catching clips of the boys playing in the pool.

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Anna Drepaul says · 07.03.18

Enjoy your family! You deserve it! You dont have to do it all every day. A great book I’m reading on that point is Randi Zuckerberg’s Pick Three. A great reminder that you dont have to do it all every day. Anyways, I love the blog and I love your Insta-stories. Thanks for posting!

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Diane Kopasz says · 07.03.18

You are to realize that there aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all! You are so lucky to have a husband and family that will help out! One thing that certainly helped me when I had a nursing infant is to make sure there was a clock I could read in every room. I am NOT someone who lives by a schedule, but during that time, it did help to be able to track time, especially if my patience was wearing thin. I could check the time and see, okay this task should take 10 minutes, or I will sit down to rest for 20 minutes, or I will play with this older child for 15 minutes, etc…

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Tiffany says · 07.03.18

Thank you for choosing the BEST thing and focusing on your family!! Bless you!

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Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says · 07.03.18

Have a great 4th of July celebration and an awesome break! You deserve it! 🙂

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

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Allie says · 07.03.18

Have a wonderful Fourth with your family! Blessings to you all!
xAllie
http://www.theallthatglittersblog.com

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Kim says · 07.03.18

Enjoy the time with your family! You’re doing an amazing job juggling it all, it’s okay to let some things fall to the side for a bit. Happy 4th!

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Elyse says · 07.03.18

Grace girl Grace! We love you and your sweet little family but I think you’ve always done a superb job of boundaries but still connecting. Long time reader- praying for yall as you continue to adjust to the ever changing seasons of newborn life!

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Nance says · 07.03.18

Kate,
I have been a long time reader. You are a breath of fresh air. I have never fussed with hair or make up and I am almost 50 years old. Since I started following your blog I find myself surfing Sephora website and trying your simpler hairdos.

Take the time you need with your family, in Canada I took a year off with each of mine.

They grow so quickly and time is prescious. Enjoy them and take care of you.
Loyal readers will be here whenever you choose to return.

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Kara says · 07.03.18

I can whole heartedly agree with your sentiments regarding adding our 3rd just a few days before Wmilu’s arrival. He’s a great baby, nursing and sleeping predictably but still, he requires so much time and energy. I can’t imagine adding running my own business. We have 0 downtime. And when we do, like maybe an hour a couple of nights, we just want to relax. Thank you for your honesty. We all understand!

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Kelly says · 07.03.18

Anyone that gives you a hard time for taking care of yourself and your family is not needed as a follower in my opinion. You do you!! We will all be happy with what we see until you have everything settled!

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Angela Jane Lomax says · 07.03.18

Yes we know the struggle i was lucky in a way. 5 years between our 2 children. I was very very latewith number 2 child. Plus i gave my notice in this time, as we had a few bad experiences with childcare. I finished work on the Friday. Monday morning my 1st born started school. UK its different here. Baby was 2 weeks & 4 days late. Cant to this day understand why they left it that long. 20 years ago. Again a different time. Nothing went to.plan. i could go on its quite a story. Personally i love you popping up on instagram. Its refreshing. Take care of your family. Just a bit longer. You need the time. All of you. xxx

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Cathy Haryley says · 07.04.18

Take a break little Mama! If you were working a traditional job you would not have gone back to work so early. Enjoy this time with your little ones. We will be here when you get back!

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Jenny says · 07.04.18

Congrats on keeping such a great blog going since 2011! I am another ‘nearly 50 year old’ who has learned a lot about current hairstyles and makeup – and home decoration – from you. Enjoy the precious time spent with family!

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Megan says · 07.05.18

Many women working traditional jobs go back very early after having their children. No guaranteed paid maternity leave in the US, remember? 🙂 That being said, Kate has every right to take more time with her family.

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Amanda Wells says · 07.07.18

David, Luke, and Emily are eternal souls that God has entrusted *you* to nourish and train — these little years are foundational and fleeting. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking time to care for yourself, Christian mothers in the 21st century have to be very thoughtful about how we spend the time we have been given. I have always admired how loving and considerate you appear to be towards your children (I say “appear” because I don’t know you in person). The internet will be here waiting for you when they are grown and gone and you will still have your creativity — it doesn’t decrease with age and experience, but only grows.

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Kristi says · 07.08.18

Enjoy those babies!! I thought going from 2 to 3 kids was hard!!! I just remember being so exhausted all the time. Now mine are. 21,18,and 15 and I’m still exhausted. 😂. My oldest is headed to Australia to study abroad in two days, and my middle is off to college next month. Oh how I some days wish they were all still babies!

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