Are you spending part of this snow day purging stuff like I am? At least 7 things each day. {read HERE for more info on why I’m doing this and how you can join me}. I’ve already surpassed the 7 things milestone today, like 600 items ago, since one area seems to snowball into another {see what I did there? snowball? snow?}. What better time to go through all your winter gear than when it’s already been dumped in a huge pile on the floor before snow day play!

I’ve spent the majority of this week going through our kiddos’ clothes. Closets, laundry piles, bins in the attic…All of it. It’s such a slow, painful process for me. Over the years we’ve gathered quite a collection, mostly generously donated from mama friends of mine for whichever little love we are hosting in our home at the time. It seems like each kiddo is a different ball-game because sizes, shapes, seasons all change and nothing is predictable. I have been avoiding going through the boy clothing because it wasn’t really necessary for a while; Peep was very slow to grow out of things, which made it easy for me to avoid looking at all the stuff that was too big or too small. I’ve been avoiding going through all of the girl things because I have a crazy attachment to some of those items and I just didn’t want to let them go.
I mean, this is the stash that will be passed along to other mamas who need it.

So much STUFF!! I don’t even want to look at it anymore.
I have allowed myself to keep a bin {or two. ok three total!} of my favorite pieces of clothing along with swaddlers, blankets, hats, and several diaper sizes. I love having a little something from each size range on hand for whenever we get ‘the call’. All of our placements so far have arrived with the clothing on their backs and very little else. I love being able to snuggle them in something warm and clean that is a symbol of happiness and safety and love and Jesus.
All the feels today as I sift through the itty bitty newborn things. So tiny. I cherish having fresh babies in our home. It is all the hard, exhausting, redundant work with fewer of the meals brought over or maternity leave hours or aunts who come to snuggle and clean. But the blessings outweigh the costs a hundred fold.

I came across some precious keepsakes today too! So happy I have Peep’s hat from the hospital. That it was preserved as a keepsake to mark his special day of birth is a testament to the love his birth parents have for him.
I’ve kept the hats and numerous other momentos, but the majority of the clothing is going to another home where it will be used daily and not just sit in a bin in the attic waiting to be worn again. I’m reminding myself of the purpose of letting possessions go.  Less of me invites more of Him. For me, creating this additional physical space in my home and letting go of the hold objects have on me results in less stress and anxiety, increased productivity, and more time {because less time will be spent navigating through my possessions}. There are so many more important things that I want to fill my time with and use my mental and emotional space for rather than wrangling all the stuff in my home.
Happy purging!
xoxo,
Ashley