This is the first of an entire month of episodes to celebrate motherhood! We’re calling it ‘May is for Mamas’ here on the Work & Play Podcast. You can expect two episodes per week, and we’re kicking off the series with a special guest: Kate, from Naptime Kitchen!

Whether it's of your kids, your travels, for Instagram, for your scrapbook. Whether you're taking it with your phone or your nice camera, these strategies are just simple and they're good.

I'm going to give you a play-by-play of what it looks like to walk through a typical evening with the Ray family, three small children and all.

Here are my top three biggest takeaways from the book, When Less Becomes More by Emily Ley.

It's time to stop viewing boredom as a negative thing and it's time to embrace boredom and view it for what it actually is, which is an incredible motivator.

I am convinced that contentment is something we have to fight for and pay attention to. It's not something that comes naturally in our culture, when everywhere we look, we are hearing silent messages of you need this, you don't have enough, you have to buy this to be happy. Today, I’m so excited to be talking with Rachel Cruze all about this desperately needed topic!

Parenting can be so overwhelming at times. Some days I feel like I'm doing it pretty good, and other days I feel like I have tried to do everything right and my kid's behavior is still wild and defiant and I kind of lose my mind on them. However, I am going to share my number one parenting tip that has been a real game changer for me and Will, and for our kids.

I am so excited to have Emily Ley on the podcast today! I think that what I love most about her is how much she values the little things, the moments in between, and finding that kind of balance between work and play and what that looks like.

For the longest time I was really afraid of becoming a mom. I thought that I should have these longings to be a mother or I really should want to have a baby, but I never did. This is something my friend Katelyn James and I both experienced, and our hope is that if you’re in the same boat, our conversation would make you feel a little bit more normal and not alone.

I'm going to walk you through 10 steps that I take to prepare for maternity leave, so that I can be fully present with my little one, and then I'm going to end this episode with some bonus advice for you, some free advice, the things that I learned that I didn't do so well along the way.