Our last interview-ee for this Mom Series is Abbie from M is for Mama. I first found Abbie’s blog when she interviewed my friend, Laine several months ago {you can check out that interview here!}. I have loved reading her blog and following her via instagram, so I knew you all would love meeting her too!

1. how many kiddos do you have?
Two boys, 7 1/2 and 6, and three girls, 3, and 18-months (the last two are identical twins)

2. what’s one thing you do when you want to prove love to your kids?
Stop whatever I’m doing at the exact moment they ask me to do something, no matter how busy I am and play that game or read that book. I’m getting better at this, but it’s really hard for me because my go-to is always, “Just one second while Mama finishes _____________.”

3. what’s the best parenting advice you ever received?
Love God, then love your little people.

4. fave activity to do with your kids?
Well, when we still had a trampoline, it was jumping on it or star-gazing with them (we really need to get a new one!), but now that my boys, especially, are getting older, it’s really fun to play card games with them.

5. how do you encourage your kids to talk with you?
Um, well mine are small, so it’s getting them NOT to talk to me that’s the hard part. 🙂 No, but really, my kiddos are very open, affectionate little people who want to tell me everything about their thoughts and activities, so if I do my part and listen well, then they’re sure to open up to me.

6. how do you make time for one-on-one time with your kids?
My kids usually wake up in a staggered pattern–usually with one of the boys being first, so I always take a few moments to snuggle with each one on the couch as he/she wakes up. Other than that, we don’t do much one-on-one time. As they get older, I hope to be intentional about one-on-one dates as often as I can, but for now, there’s a whole lot of togetherness.

isn’t this picture the greatest? I feel like we have something in common when I see the beautiful craziness in this shot.

7. if you could only teach your child one character trait, what would it be?
Kindness. There’s so much other stuff (love, generosity, patience, honesty) that is encompassed in that trait that I think it’s a pretty good catch-all.

8. do you have any fun traditions you do (for birthdays, random days, etc.)?
We eat almost all of our meals around our kitchen island, so for Christmas, we have a special, fancy (glass plates and everything!) breakfast. We’ve done that for three years, and the kids love it!

9. fave parenting/mom book?
I’m not a good parenting book reader. Like at all. I’m racking my brain for titles and coming up empty. But I love everything Elisabeth Eliot writes and feel like I’ve gleaned a lot about life (and motherhood) from her.

she runs. see? something else we have in common. practically twins, I tell you. #kidding

11. fave way to unwind from mama duties?
Reading blogs, watching a show with my husband, or taking a fitness class.

Don’t you love her? I mean, all except the part about how she likes to take a fitness class in order to unwind. I’m more in the eating-to-unwind category over here, thankyouverymuch. Anyway, that definitely ups her coolness factor in my mind. Thank you so much, Abbie!

Connect with Abbie at her blog, M is for Mama, over on facebook, and instagram!

If you enjoyed this, I would love for you to subscribe or connect with me on facebook!