Summary
In this episode Sasha and her husband, Robbie Robertson, share how they have recently added a newborn to their family but have managed to maintain consistency in their habits, routines, & rituals regardless of the changing circumstances and season.
Listen in to hear about how you can take steps now to intentionally implement habits, rituals, and routines into your life that are sustainable though shifting circumstances and changing seasons in life.
Then join us in the Intentional Momlife with Jesus Community to share your takeaways!
Transcription
Sasha Star Robertson 0:03
Hello sisters and welcome back to another episode of the Intentional Momlife With Jesus Podcast. We are here with the special reoccurring guest, Robbie Robertson, my fabulous husband. And we have some very exciting family news to share with you guys. But also how this change in circumstance and change in seasons of our life has not created chaos or inconsistencies in our home and we’re going to share some tips and habits, rituals, routines, and things that might be able to help you through changing seasons and changing circumstances.
Sasha Star Robertson 0:53
Jingle.
Sasha Star Robertson 0:54
We have a baby!
Robbie Robertson 2:23
It’s a boy, another boy.
Sasha Star Robertson 2:25
Yay!
Sasha Star Robertson 2:27
So if you follow me on social or you’re a friend or family member of mine, you might have already seen this news. But at the beginning of August, we found out that our two-year-long adoption journey was having some action. We were chosen by an expectant mom to parent and raise her little one. He wasn’t due actually until mid-September, but they were expecting him before the end of August. So I think it was August 15. We got to go meet her. And the very next Monday, we got a phone call that she was in active labor. So we rushed to the hospital. And we weren’t even there for 20 minutes before he was born and then quickly rolled into our room; we got to start the bonding and skin-to-skin time and just have these sweet moments he is now, goodness, like 11 days old, I think.
Sasha Star Robertson 3:25
And so very quick. But we’re kind of used to that our first son was adopted and same thing very quick from probably, I think a week out of us finding out about him until we needed to be across the country was about a week. We were pretty familiar with that. But of course, as you can imagine, we now suddenly have a newborn, we had a lot of things on our schedule and a lot of plans, business-wise, home-wise, travel-wise, all different kinds of stuff on our list. And in addition to that, you know, we have a business we have… Robbie has a full-time career, we have a home, we have a toddler. And this adding a newborn has surprisingly and gratefully not created chaos and just this massive I don’t even know the word for a massive like downfall, I guess you could say right?
Robbie Robertson 4:23
Disruption,
Sasha Star Robertson 4:24
Disruption, yes, to our home and our family. And we felt like it would be the perfect opportunity to come and share how some of these habits and rituals and routines and things in our life that were already established prior to baby coming have been very easy to maintain and remain consistent even through this changing of seasons and through these changing circumstances.
Sasha Star Robertson 4:52
And so we wanted to share that with you guys a little bit today. Share about some of those things and hopefully give some tips for any of you who may be going through changing seasons, changing circumstances, maybe adding to your family, growing your family, just to know that you don’t have to go into this different season and kind of throw everything out the window. So Robbie, do you want to start taking it away with whatever one, whatever’s on your mind?
Robbie Robertson 5:20
Well, I just first just want to celebrate the fact that we have this newborn child in our home. And I remember speaking to His birth grandmother, and his aunt, and we had met them prior to and in the hospital. And they had said, you know, somebody was praying for this child. And we were praying pretty fervently and God’s really come through on this. And it’s just been really kind of wonderful.
Robbie Robertson 5:42
But preparing for this kiddo to come home has actually been quite a work in the making. We started with an initial match actually, back in February, we, we were planning on being home for the summer, we had all these plans for monetizing the space that we already have in the other things to try to help build up with the equity that we need in order to pay for the adoption and these just sorts of plans that we’ve done for the past five years. And in February, we were actually matched with a birth mom, she actually had a 13-month-old. And when we got that phone call, it ultimately ended up falling through, but it put us in a position of okay, we need to actually figure out what we’re going to be doing this summer because we’re going to have a new kiddo in this home.
Robbie Robertson 6:27
And that caused us to change some of our plans that we had already set into place. Put a few other things into motion as far as like canceling Airbnb, staying in our home, but it began a routine of establishing okay these are the things that we’re going to be doing. So we’re already pretty consistent with doing things like our laundry doing our dishes. Food prep is something that we are a lot better about now, specifically you, Sasha, which I really appreciate. We’ve gone back and forth on this depending on what the season of life is by just getting ourselves into our home, and keeping our home foundation, our four walls, as Dave Ramsey calls it in a really consistent place that has gone a really long way towards integrating this new child into our life.
Robbie Robertson 7:14
We weren’t already juggling, and then have a baby thrown into it. We were managing and maintaining. And we did a lot of this through my favorite thing in the world, which is habits, rituals, and routines. When you wake up in the morning, you have a routine of things that you do. There’s a sequence of events that happens throughout your week that you keep up with, laundry happens on this day, the garbage goes out on this day. The dishes get done periodically through the week.
Sasha Star Robertson 7:41
Yeah, I love that. And I completely agree. I just want to like backstep a little bit here because you talked about, you know, a morning routine. And I think, you know, being fully transparent and honest when you have a newborn like that’s the number one thing that gets thrown out and I think that’s been, you know, a big hiccup for each of us because even during these like two weeks of paternity leave and time where I’m not working we do have a complete wrench thrown in our morning routine because we’re used to waking up at 4:30 in the morning together, praying together, setting our daily intentions, you go off to work, that’s my trigger for my Jesus time in the morning. And we haven’t had that.
Sasha Star Robertson 8:19
And so I actually have a health coach that I’ve been working with that has, I guess helped to remind me that that there is this trigger that’s now missing temporarily. And so I’ve created a new trigger for this season, that when I sit down to feed the baby, first thing in the morning, I’m going to pull up a devotion on my YouVersion app on my phone, and commit to reading that and spending that time with the Lord, before I jump into checking my email or text messages, or the social media scroll, or whatever else.
Sasha Star Robertson 8:55
So I’ve had to create a new trigger in my morning routine to get me to that Jesus point. But I just wanted to touch base on that like morning routine really quickly first, because I think that is the number one thing that does get thrown out with a newborn. Do you have anything to like, add to that, because I know we’re waking up at different times. Usually, we’re taking shifts where you know, you’re letting me sleep in sleep better, I’m letting you sleep in from nighttime feedings, and whatnot. So…
Robbie Robertson 9:24
Yeah, as much as I like to set up myself, I also like to try to set us up for taking care of the baby. So before we go to bed at night, all the bottles in the house get totally cleaned, sanitized, and everything gets laid out for those middle-of-the-night feedings. And then, early in the morning, when the night is come and passed, whatever dishes are in the sink, and along with the bottles, I will clean those and reset those. Not everybody’s bottle feeding, that’s our routine, you’re gonna have yours. But just to take those markers in the day and just reset everything okay, now it’s all fresh, and then you’ve got fresh dishes, fresh bottles, they’re not a concern. They’re off your plate, you can focus on other way more important things.
Sasha Star Robertson 10:07
I think this to like, just this topic goes back to one of the last podcast episodes we’ve done together, which was about rising with intention. And you just made me think of that and how you’re like, you know, think of yourself as the one you’re setting yourself up for success and so for more morning routine type stuff and Robbie’s like amazing at this go back and listen to that episode. But then moving on into these different habits and rituals and routines right. I shared about creating a new trigger for my Jesus habit because the trigger of my husband leaving isn’t happening right now these couple of weeks where we’re at home, but other habits that you might have right.
Sasha Star Robertson 10:46
I have a drinking water habit that is when I wake up before I even put my feet on the floor, I will drink eight to 12 ounces of water just like my water bottle is already there. So I have that trigger of like waking up drink the water. So I have that in my body first thing in the morning. What other things do you have? I have that like that’s a habit and a trigger that I can remain consistent whether I have a newborn or not like regardless of the season and so that is a healthy habit that I had in place prior to baby coming, that having a newborn or a baby coming into the picture did not change.
Sasha Star Robertson 11:26
Similarly, with food prep, that’s been something that I’ve been into the habit of, for probably a good month before he came. And so knowing and looking at our like family’s favorite meals list, picking out a couple of them, what are we going to eat this week, and just having a day, where I’m planning, these are the foods we’re going to eat. This is what we need on the shopping list. And just having a couple of hours one day a week set aside where I can prep some of those meals goes so far for setting our family up for success. And that’s something that I can still do now that the newborn is here, like that habit, in that routine does not need to change.
Sasha Star Robertson 12:07
And then Robbie, you had talked about like, I know, you said, like, let’s not brag here on the podcast, but we don’t want to rub it in people’s faces. But Robbie is like kind of this. He’s, he’s like I said kind of gold standard in the routines. And he’s like, I’m the one who’s like, let’s do the non-routines. I’m the one that’s like anything non-routine, I can get into like planning and tackling that. But in terms of like laundry and dishes, Robbie is like super regular with them.
Sasha Star Robertson 12:37
And it’s actually become this little battle in our home. I have to like fight to be able to do the laundry and dishes. And it’s it’s a treat for him. Every time that I get it done. And it’s a treat for me too. Because it’s me too. It’s me knowing that I’m being a good steward of my home. But like if Robbie will see his laundry, you know, he’s bound to wash it, he can’t help himself if he sees dishes in the sink. I mean, you guys, there are times I’m cooking. And he will take the knife and cutting board once I turn my back and wash them and I’m like, turn back around to cut something. And I’m like, where did this go? He’s like, I washed it. And I’m like, Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness.
Sasha Star Robertson 13:15
To me, I’m like, You’re literally doing work multiple times. But to him, he just wants to get it done and move on. So, Robbie, you take it away with the laundry and dishes like what are the triggers? What? How do you maintain, that habit and that routine in that ritual? Like, what is it inside of you that you can give to people that could be a very good and practical takeaway for them?
Robbie Robertson 13:38
I find that having really small deadlines ahead of me are what help motivate me to get things done. This really harkens back to like high school where I had a history teacher who was like, Well, I know you guys are all gonna procrastinate on doing your research papers. So you’re just gonna have a research paper due every Friday until the end of the semester because I know you’re just gonna take four days to criminate anyways, and it was super overwhelming, but it kind of hardwired me to get things done. Because I just want them off my plate and off my mind.
Robbie Robertson 14:05
The longer a task daunts, the more you build it up and then you find yourself like kind of naturally procrastinating; where if you just lean right into it, You get it done. So my deadlines are Wednesday. That’s trash day. So Tuesday night or Wednesday morning the trash goes out, all the trash in the house consolidated, put it in the can by the road doesn’t matter the weather. We do it every single week. Our Sabbath day is Friday because my Monday is Saturday. So Thursday night is when I usually will do the laundry. I know that I can get it done and ever thing and when we sit down Thursday night for a little bit of TV time that we take, I can fold laundry and…
Sasha Star Robertson 14:45
A little bit Let’s not lie.
Robbie Robertson 14:47
I mean it’s it’s only four people’s worth, you know, a toddler and infant, two grown adults for the entire week. It’s not that bad compared to like an entire military flight. We can sit down and mindlessly work while I’m watching TV and it’s sort of a leisure activity. Like some people will sit there and knit some will sew, I’ll just fold laundry.
Sasha Star Robertson 15:11
some will scroll social media, and not watch the show, some will create content or stickers to print and sell.
Robbie Robertson 15:18
Yeah, you’re not talking about anybody specific. Yeah, no, no, no nobody’s, as an example, hypothetically, maybe. So that’s just a way that you can use your downtime as passive, yet active to get things done.
Robbie Robertson 15:35
The dishes I actually take the approach of crow is a dish best served warm, instead of letting the… It’s like if you have a problem with somebody, it’s better to deal with it now than let the problem fester. Same thing with dishes. If say you make like a delicious vat of spaghetti. If you let that thing sit out overnight and into the next day, when you go to clean that thing, it is going to be like chipping cement. But if you wash that bad boy right away, it is amazing how little time it takes. Because one of the reasons that I clean everything almost as soon as you’re done with it is because I know how much easier it is. And I’ve kind of ingrained that. So just being ahead of things and getting them done now. It’s typically less effort.
Robbie Robertson 16:18
It’s taking up less real estate in your mind. And it’s one less thing that you have to worry about later you can focus on other things because let’s be honest moms, you know the blowout’s coming, you just don’t know when the blowout’s coming. And you don’t want to have three other things going on while you’re dealing with a poopsplosion. Sure, they’re lots of fun some people think. I don’t.
Sasha Star Robertson 16:40
I actually had our first leakaage on my watch earlier.
Robbie Robertson 16:43
No!
Sasha Star Robertson 16:45
See his new outfit?
Robbie Robertson 16:46
I was wondering why he was wearing that.
Sasha Star Robertson 16:48
I know you guys have probably been hearing all of his sweet baby coos, so that’s just a little extra special treat for you guys.
Sasha Star Robertson 16:57
But yeah, I think Robbie and I are both kind of on the same page there. I’ve shared previously on this podcast about you know, our kind of cleaning routine. We’re not like, you know, OCD like we’re not going to the tee like you’re going to come to our house on a random day and it’s not going to be you know, spotless by any means but we have our routine to like clean before our Sabbath so we can rest. So we know like if obviously there spilled milk or you know rotting food take hear of that but typically you know we don’t sweep and mop the floors or dust or like do you know any of this extra stuff unless it is that specific day of the week preparing for our day of rest.
Sasha Star Robertson 17:42
And so it frees up a lot of that mental energy and everything going into it. And so that’s been something too, that has been really easy to continue to maintain, even with this changing season and changing circumstances and adding a newborn to our family.
Sasha Star Robertson 17:58
And then, one of the last things that we wanted to share with you guys today has to do with just maintaining consistency with our toddler. We’re going to do a whole nother, actually, episode on this, like in a little bit more in depth. But just kind of this idea that even though we’ve had this changing circumstance, in this changing season, like our toddler has received the same amount of attention, the same amount of quality time, arguably maybe even a little bit more. We’ve been very intentional about it. And his bedtime routine and his naps have remained consistent, his meal times and things like that. And so as far as he’s concerned, there’s not really been any kind of disruption in our family on account of baby brother joining us.
Robbie Robertson 18:49
Yeah, we’ve actually made an effort to, and we’ll talk about this more detail. But we’ve included him in a lot of the big brothering, which I think has gone a long way to his ownership and buying into it. But like Sasha had said, just maintaining the consistency and routine in his life. And it’s helped all of us to kind of cope with this because, you know, with the changing circumstance of another human being the foundations of how his day goes has been preserved.
Sasha Star Robertson 19:17
Yeah. Perfect. Well, thank you so much Robbie for jumping on here again, and sharing this podcast episode with me and just these tips that I really hope you guys can take away and maybe even glean some insight into any changing seasons or circumstances that might be coming up in your family, or in your life. And mostly, I just want you to know that a newborn being added to your family doesn’t have to throw a wrench in everything, it doesn’t have to mean chaos is going to ensue. And it doesn’t have to mean that everything else has to be laid aside completely.
Sasha Star Robertson 19:59
So remember your most purposeful priorities, remember your values, and make sure that you’re still living in accordance with them. Regardless of the changing seasons and circumstances and if you need any help doing that, jump into the Intentional Momlife With Jesus Community. The link is always in the show notes jump into a concert with me girl, let’s let’s talk about those values, those purposeful priorities. Let’s talk about this mindset mastery, and your schedule and implementing some of these habits and rituals, and routines. And make sure you are set up for success regardless of the changing seasons and circumstances.
Sasha Star Robertson 20:38
And don’t forget to subscribe so you can hear this next episode with Robbie as we’re talking about this, adding to your family and maintaining the consistency with your toddler, with your older kids, and making sure they are still receiving everything that they need with that changing season and changing circumstance. That will be coming up later this month. And if you’ve been blessed by this episode or any other here, I would love nothing more than for you to leave a review. Thanks so much and I hope you have a God-blessed week.
More about your Podcast Host
Sasha Star Robertson is an Intentional Living & Biblical Mindset Coach for busy Christian moms, wife of 13 years to her best friend, boy mom (blessed by adoption), travel addict, and Jesus freak. She is the founder of The Intentional Abundance Co., curator of the Life & Goals Planner, & host of the Intentional Momlife with Jesus Podcast.
Would you benefit from having a coach helping you live Productively Peaceful days digging into Faithful Foundations, Purposeful Priorities, Mindset Mastery, & Simple Selfcare? This question is rhetorical, everyone would! Schedule a consult with Sasha to learn more about the IAM Coaching Program and to see if you’d be a good it. https://calendly.com/intentionalabundanceco/iamconsult
Desiring Community?
You’re invited to join us in the Productively Peaceful Moms Club over on facebook! It’s a safe space where we can show up vulnerably and encourage each other, where ere share the mission of being the best mommas we can be through the grace and strength of Jesus Christ, where we encourage consistency and are able to hold each other accountable. We share scripture and talk about podcast episodes and pray for each other and set goals and so much more! You’re more than welcome here, you’re wanted here! https://www.facebook.com/groups/IntentionalAbundance
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