Happy December

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I'm sipping on some hot chocolate and enjoying some Trader Joe's ginger snaps (I'm obsessed with these things!). The Christmas lights are up, the baby is sleeping, and Huckleberry is resting at my feet. Really, it is quite the perfect evening. 

I really love this time of year. There is simply something magical about the lights and Christmas music, and just the general feel that accompanies December and seems to last through the holidays. It's really easy for me though to get caught up in all the colorful lights, gift giving, and festive flavored coffee consumption (!!!!). And all too frequently, this results in me neglecting the real reason for celebration this month... 

I don't know about you, but that seems to be a recurring struggle for me year after year after year. It's kind of embarrassing actually --instead of using this time of year to reflect on and strengthen my faith, I allow myself to get distracted by all the wonderful, but worldly things, that accompany Christmas well.  So for advent this year, I am reading this devotional by John Piper. I really want to focus on adoring Jesus this holiday season. I'm still going to enjoy all the amazing magical(ness) that goes along with this month, but I want Him to be in the center of my heart and thoughts this Christmas. I simply don't want to get distracted by all the loveliness around me like I usually do, but rather keep my eyes on Him. He is the reason for the season after all!

So are you reading anything for advent this year? And how do you keep the true meaning of the Christmas season front and center when it's been so commercialized? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Happy December!

Jack's First Spooky, Prehistoric Halloween

Apparently, October has come and gone. I never got the memo. I've been too busy trying to freeze time and keep my little man a little man. Obviously, I haven't been very successful. I figured I better go ahead and document Jack's first Halloween before it's 2015. Because seriously, if I didn't you'd be missing out. 

We originally didn't plan on doing anything for Halloween other than plopping Jack down besides some pumpkins and snapping a few pictures (everyone does that with their first born, right? I'm not weird or anything). But if  we were to go trick-or-treating, I really wanted Jack to be a blue dinosaur because he is obsessed with his blue dino wubbanub. I thought it would be pretty stinkin' adorable if he was dressed as a dino while his dino wubbanub was hanging out of his mouth. (Again, I'm not weird or anything.) So after browsing online for blue dinosaur Halloween costumes and finding the most adorable one (ever!!), I decided trick-or-treating was a must. 

 Huck -- busted sniffing the little dino's booty.

We met up with some friends and went store to store showing off our cute, baby dinosaur and collecting lots of candy... Then Steven and I consumed all the candy in record time and got stomach aches. Of course we ate all our son's Halloween candy. That was my hidden motive from the beginning. Sounds like a pretty epic Halloween if I do say so myself. 

Our friend's little boy, Max, was a dinosaur, too!

I know Jack is too young to remember any of this and will probably just find these photos embarrassing when he's older, but I sure am glad for them. Because really.. have you ever seen anything more adorable?? I thought not. 

So Jack, I'm sorry for dressing you up as a dinosaur. Everyone really did think you were the cutest thing on the planet, though. And honestly, things will probably just get more embarrassing for you from here on out. Just wait until I blog about your potty training adventures.

Just kidding!

Kinda...

Happy Birthday, Steven!

I love --LOVE-- birthdays! 

And today Steven turns 27. 

He isn't a big fan of his birthday (which I will never understand), so we just celebrated last night with a simple and delicious strawberry cake (quite the downgrade from last year's cake!) and opened a few gifts. Tonight we plan on heading out for pizza with a few close friends.

Steven is all about no birthday fuss. (Now for my birthday.. we make a fuss.)

But this birthday was especially sweet because of our little man. I almost teared up taking pictures of him sitting on his daddy knee. Goodness those two... I love them so much.

(recipe)

So happy birthday to the most loving, generous, hardworking man I know. Thank you for being such an amazing husband to me on my good days and bad. And thank you for being the best father imaginable to our little Jack. I know this next year is going to be full of many great memories of our little family. So here's to your 27th! May it be the best yet. 

I love you!

Love, your beautiful wife 

who expects lots of gifts on her birthday and a much larger cake.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day out there to all you mommas! 

Especially my lovely mom. I love you and wish we could spend the day together! 

And thank you Jack for making me a momma. You are my pride and joy and I feel so honored to be chosen to raise you. I love you, little man.

 Jack is way more interested in Huckleberry than the camera! Check those chubby cheeks!

Today is a pretty bittersweet day for me. It's an amazing feeling to be celebrating mother's day for the first time with my little family, but today also marks my last day of maternity leave. Tomorrow I have to start working again and my heart aches at the thought of it. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have an amazing and understanding boss who is allowing me to work from home, part-time for the next 5 weeks until my mother gets here to babysit Jack for a month. After that month, Jack will be going to a good friend of mine's for daycare. 

Even though I'll still be with him everyday, all day for the time being, (I'll only be working 8-12 from home while the lady who has been taking over for me during my leave is staying on to take the afternoon shift), I still can't help but feel as though my world is spinning out of control. I hate the thought of having to split my energy and time between him and work. And worse yet, I feel like everyday is a countdown to June 16th-- when I'll be heading back to work full-time. Steven and I have cut our budget, downsized, and re-prioritized and reconsolidated debts but there is just no way around it. We can't keep this roof over our head on one income. 

I've went through many emotionally phases these last 3 months. I've cried myself to hysterics, I've been angry and jealous at each and every stay at home mom, and I've felt immense guilt over the thought of leaving little Jack only to spend my days behind a desk. I know I'm going to struggling finding joy and fulfillment in my job outside the home, which is sad. I once really, really loved my job. 

I really don't understand God's timing with all of this, but I trust that He has a plan giving us Jack a few years earlier than we were financially prepared for. And I know that through this I will have to rely on Him for strength emotionally. Jack will adapt to time away from his momma just fine, it's my heart that's going to go through the ringer. 

I'm blessed to have a great boss, a mom willing to fly across the country and be with her grand boy for a month while I adjust to the separation, and an amazing friend who is like-minded and will be the best secondary primary caregiver I could have asked for for Jack. I truly am blessed, yet I still couldn't find the strength to get through this post without tears. I'm kinda an emotional wreck. 

Thanks for letting me vent and put a damper on this Mother's Day. And thanks for returning to this neglected space day after day. I'd appreciate prayers as I navigate through this adjustment. I really just want to be the best mommy I can be to my little man.

So happy Mother's Day to all you mommas. Working moms, stay at home moms, empty nesters, and each and everyone in between. I hope your day is filled with love.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas

I'm working from home the rest of the week and soaking up these last few remaining days of Christmas as much as I can! I love the holidays! I hope each of you are able to spend the holidays with the ones you love and have a very Merry Christmas! 

Valentine's Day Bug

Whether you'd like to admit it or not, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Growing up, I was one of those Valentine haters who staunchly disapproved of the oversized teddy bears and pastel colored candies that screamed MARRY ME, HUG ME, and PUPPY LOVE. 

Well, that was stupid.

Valentine's Day is awesome! Seriously, it is a great idea. You have an excuse to be silly, buy fresh flowers and candies, and excessively cuddle the one you love! All you same side booth sitters, you have a free pass on Valentine's Day. I promise I will not judge you one iota! Who knows, I may even find it cute...

Okay, I lied in that last sentence.

If the Valentine's Day bug hasn't hit you yet, maybe these great DIY projects I've found around the interwebs will help you catch the fever.

Valentine's Day Care Package via the House that Lars Built

Printable Heart Attack via Whipperberry

Stenciled Valentine Gift Bags via Martha Stewart 

Or if sweets are more your thing...

Valentine's Day Donuts via Love From the Oven

And if you were planning on confessing your undying love for me on Valentine's Day, I recommend sending a box of those homemade donuts. The feelings may just be reciprocated :)

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Huckleberry's Daycare Festivities

There is nothing cuter than a patient Huckleberry waiting to open his gift and eat his treats.

We have been sending Huck to daycare every Wednesday for the past 6 months. It's only about a 5 minute drive from our house and the lady who runs it, MaryEllen, is probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met.

She runs the daycare right out of her home. The pups have a continuous supply of fresh, running water, lots of doggie beds and toys, and even their own sand pit for digging! It truly is puppy paradise.

In the past, Steven and I had a terrible experience sending Huck to daycare and I vowed never to take him to one again (he came home limping and covered in urine), but when I heard about MaryEllen's home right down the street from ours and read her reviews, I decided I owed it to Huck to go check the place out. It was probably the best decision I've ever made as a pet owner.

If you ask Huck if he wants to go to daycare, he'll simply go into a frenzy and start chasing his tail and jumping around. And then he goes and lays behind the car to ensure you don't leave without him! He loves daycare, the furry friends he's made there, and he especially loves MaryEllen.

This past Wednesday they had a Christmas party at daycare and Huck came home with homemade puppy treats, a wrapped Christmas gift, and a festive scarf!

Seriously, if you aren't dying of cuteness right now you're not human.

His gift didn't stick around for very long, but he enjoyed destroying it. 

And I enjoy knowing he is a well socialized and worn out pup on Wednesday nights!

Any other crazy fur mamas out there who send their 4 legged children to daycare??

Oh yeah, if you're reading this congrats on surviving the end of the world ;)

Being Thankful

Last Thanksgiving was the first time I have ever spent a holiday away from my family. And although I was surrounded by Steven's family, I felt lonely. I have a feeling that this year will be no different, but when I reflect on the last 12 months it's easy to see that I have so much to be thankful for --like Chapstick and York Peppermint Patties, central heating and new tires on my Jeep, and having an especially handy man for a husband. 

On a more serious note, I am thankful for my family who have always been so supportive of me (even my crazier decisions like moving across the country!), my few friendships that have withstood the test of time and distance, my cute fur babies who have somehow made life seem more full, and my husband who makes me so proud I swear I could burst! 

It's a good thing to sit back and take the time to reflect on all you have. So let's do that and be grateful.

Also, I'm guest posting on Megan blog today. So if you want to read more about living with a the cutest Golden Retriever on the planet!! and some of the characteristics of that breed, go here!