Bring It

As I look at the calendar today, I can't help but feel a little sigh of relief that April's calendar page is being folded up, scribbled with the months plans marked out, rearranged and ultimately gone.

We sold our house officially and moved into an apartment. We've settled in and I think are adjusted. The dogs seem to be having trouble dealing with the fact that they have to share their "yard." They've never had to share.

We started serving in the preschool ministry at our church and celebrated Easter with our families. Baseball season started, I ran a mile without stopping and have run more this month than I have since Jacob was born. Jim and I watched seasons one and two of Downton Abbey and are awaiting June's arrival for season three to be available on Amazon Prime.

Our country experiences horrific tragedy in Boston and West. Jacob got to go to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. We are busy busy planning a wedding for my sister. Jim and Jacob both recovered from a staph infection and I recovered from a sinus infection. Jim has been busy at work and I've been busy working for my Mom. We're still teaching table groups and mentoring students. We're making plans for the summer.

I'm excited for May. Summer is making its way closer. April was busy and hard. May could be too, but I'm meeting it with a 15 month old, a husband who loves me deeply and a God whose plan for my life is far greater than I can imagine! BRING. IT. ON.

photo cred : Versagram app

A Busy, Busy Weekend

I have a lot of things I need to unpack after this weekend. Nothing too gigantic or life-changing; just little decisions here and there, some weightier than others, that are on my mind and heart. I won't go into too much detail, as some things don't need to be put out on the internet for all to see!

One big thing comes after attending the Love and Respect conference. We were invited by our mentors. Honestly, we wouldn't have gone if they hadn't invited us. It's not that we think we have this marriage thing down perfectly. And it's not that we think we know it all or don't have areas we can improve in. When I said "yes" to Jim, we started getting ready for the big day almost immediately. An important thing was getting pre-marital counseling.  We had EXCELLENT pre-marital counseling. They sat us down for weeks in a row, gave us books to read, things to think about, asked us hard questions that sometimes made us uncomfortable, and even more importantly modeled for us what they preached. As the anniversaries come, I grow more and more grateful for their wisdom and their faithfulness to share it with us because I know we are better for it. I know that not everyone gets the kind of equipping we did going into marriage. All of that being said, there is ALWAYS room to learn and grow. I can't speak for Jim, but I know there were things that I was convicted over and am challenged and want to change to better our marriage. In the grand scheme of things, Jim and I have a great marriage; at the end of the day, I know he loves me and is on my side and I'm confident that he knows I respect him and will stand by him till death do us part. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says it best, though:   "Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence." (MSG) God designed marriage, he designed the inner workings of marriage and has a purpose bigger than procreation and pleasure. Marriage is a refining fire, a work in our lives to make us aware of just how much we need Christ. My youth pastor in high school always told us that "who you are at home is who you really are." There is great truth in that. I left the weekend encouraged, thankful, convicted, and energized to ask God for strength to do better. An unexpected take-away from the weekend came as I thought not only how I relate to Jim, but also in parenting and understanding Jacob.

After the conference, we celebrated my Grandfather's birthday and then Jim, Jacob, and I went for a run. I'm doing the Couch to 5K thing (I'm only on Day 2) but we went 1.5 miles at about a 12:30 pace (it has you walk and run at intervals which is less daunting to me than going out and running a mile and a half outright). After Jacob went down, we finished Season 2 of Downton Abbey. If Season 2 hadn't ended the way it did, I'm afraid I would have had to read ahead about the seasons to see if I wanted to invest anymore time in this. BUT, since Matthew proposed to Mary and she said "yes" and Mr. Bates got his punishment moved to only life in prison, I will continue on. But things are going along too well, I'm afraid, so I am a little nervous about what is going to happen. NO SPOILERS PLEASE.

Sunday, Jacob woke up a little earlier than usual, so Jim went to our 8 am service and I went to the 930 service so that Jacob wouldn't have to be at church until noon and could get his nap in. We tried an afternoon nap after church, but that never happened. We headed out grocery shopping, to Bahama Bucks (Jacob wasn't a huge fan of snow cones, but he did like Jim's smoothie!) and then I cleaned the Cube. Janey (our "good" house trained dog that hasn't had an accident in YEARS) peed on the carpet RIGHT in front of me twice yesterday evening. It was like she was trying to prove a point or get my attention. This was after two small run-ins with some neighbor dogs and Jacob pooping in the tub. Anyone who knows me knows that I love animals, especially dogs, and especially my dogs; but I would be lying if I didn't say that there are some days that I wonder if we might need to find them new homes because they aren't cut out for apartment living. : (

BUT Monday is here- a new week, a new start, the end of the month. What did you do this weekend??

Fat Mum Slim :: Photo A Day April

I love these photo challenges. Sometimes I forget a day here and there and then I'd quit because I wasn't keeping up with it. I think this will be a good working solution: I'll take my photos each day (or not and fill in as needed!) and then post them here each Friday. You can join along too!

If you want to know more about Fat Mum Slim's Photo A Day challenge, you can go here!

20 : On My Mind - I've constantly got my to do list out thinking about all the things I need to do that day. I feel like the last couple of weeks have been extra overwhelming in getting things done.

21 : Fire - I love candles. I've tried the Scentsy thing, but there's just something extra special about lighting candles. Our favorites are Yankee and Bath and Body Works

22 : Blurry - I was trying to get a picture of Jacob playing, but it didn't quite work out

23 : Time - This is my favorite area of our apartment. It's in our living room. I put some cube shelves right behind our couch and our books are stored there. The clock is centered on the wall, flanked by the lamps and rows of pictures.

24 : I Saw This Person Today - My sister Emily and I (along with my Mom and Jacob) went to pick up her wedding dress and see her venues.

25 : Life is - Life is getting better. We are on less meds than we were last week, and hopefully all on the mend for the long haul.

26 : Childhood - Jacob is completely obsessed with cars. I'm constantly finding them all over the apartment. Anything with wheels is a "car" at this point.

Link Love

I thought I'd share some posts today that I've flagged recently as good reads.

First up, this post entitled Motherhood in an Overloaded World. I am completely guilty of feeling like I'm doing everything wrong. There are so many decisions to make on a simple grocery shopping trip that it can stress me out. "Sometimes it can be easy to lose perspective that those choices are gifts, because they are, they represent space and freedom- don't forget that." She goes on to advise us to make the decision, move on and change it if needed.

Next up? This post from Clean Mama has a printable for Homemade Cleaners. She is working her way through these cleaners and how she makes and uses them in her home. Honestly, there are some recipes I try for these and I don't feel that they work as well. Plus, I've found some natural cleaning companies that make natural cleaners that work. However, they're more expensive, and when you're trying to live on a smaller budget, these homemade cleaners may do the trick. 

This last post is from Rachel (who also wrote the first post I linked to). It's called 10 Mindset Goals for Moms (but I think it would apply for ANYONE) and I think it's a good read.

And I Would Drive 500 Miles...

See what I did there? Do you have that song in your head now? Well, if you didn't, now you do. You're welcome. My connection with that song? Seeing it framed with a picture collage at the home of a family that I was close to in college and who did our premarital counseling/officiated our wedding. Miss you guys!

Back to regularly scheduled programming. I drove over 500 miles today and spent 12 hours in the car. We left home at 8 am, drove two hours south to pick up my sister. We then drove two hours northeast to pick up her wedding dress. The dress was beautiful and so was she. We found our bridesmaid dresses and also found a replacement bridesmaid for one who decided she couldn't participate. No hard feelings, just wasn't working out. We drove two hours southwest to see the church where my sister is getting married and the venue for her reception. They are both awesome. We decided on shower dates and had fun, too! (Jacob learned how to pick his nose) Then we drove the rest of the way back to drop Emily off at her house and then two hours north back home. We arrived around 8:45.

Emily- I know today was a little bit stressful for you. But we have almost 200 days to amend things and it will ALL WORK OUT. I love you and am here to help, even if it means calling to vent about something or making save the dates. Thanks for letting me be such a big part of your big day!

Currently :: On My Wishlist

1. My earbuds broke. I had a million of those things at one time (from all the iPhones/iPads/iPods we had amassed over the years) but I think I either got rid of them or they broke and now I have none. I don't need any fancy or expensive. Earbuds are like sunglasses and watches to me: I use them a lot, and don't want to have to be careful with them so I buy cheap ones so it's not some huge let down when I break them.

2. Tickets to a Texas Ranger game. I can't wait to share baseball games with Jacob.

3. Pedicure- it's been a while since I had one. I've tried to DIY, but I get carried away and end up giving myself an ingrown toe nail.

4. A new iPhone case: my Otter Box rubber outer-shell is stretched out or something. It doesn't fit perfectly around my phone and has lumps in the seams. It's annoying to me (I know- first world problem, but I'm just being honest here) and it makes it easy for Jacob to get into it. This Speck Candy-shell one in blue/black is my pick.

Do you have any current wish-list items?

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid

We took Jacob to Chuck E. Cheese's for the first time on Friday. My Mom had just returned from a week long trip to North Carolina for a work conference and she wanted to celebrate. There weren't a TON of things he could do but he liked listening to the puppets perform on stage and watching my siblings play. He also loved playing any racing games (or just sitting at them, honestly) and driving. Jim and I had our fun too. We got 200 tickets which was enough for me to get a bag of cotton candy. Yum!

He spent the night with my Mom on Saturday night. Jim and I went to bed early and I slept in. We went to church and then tackled our storage unit. We got it all organized and also got the crates from my in-laws that we had stashed there during the hectic move. We'll get the ones from my Mom's house this week. Add in some grocery shopping. cooking two delicious meals (Zucchini boats with a bacon gremolata and Quinoa Fried Rice) and the fact that I'm coming down with either a sinus infection or bronchitis, and you have a weekend!

Highs and Lows

Today is my very awesome Mother In Law's birthday! She is celebrating in a big way today so we'll celebrate later on this weekend. Sherrie- I am so thankful for you and the man you raised to be mine and Jacob's Dad. You're a great Lolly! Jacob loves spending time with you. I hope you have a very Happy Birthday!

My heart goes out to the community of West, Texas. I heard about it this morning and actually just watched a video of it that a friend had posted on Facebook. It brought me to tears. I don't know if it's the sub-conscious emotions from the whole Boston thing or the Mommy inside, but my heart hurts for that community and I'm praying for them as well as continuing to pray for Boston. A friend of mine, Emily, wrote a thought in post yesterday that I wanted to share:

The Run for Boston 4.17 Facebook page said “Hope triumphs over Fear. Light overcomes Darkness. Good defeats Evil. Every. Single. Time. #runforboston”
Sounds a lot like the book of James. I would rephrase the previous quote: “Christ is the Hope that triumphs over fear from the Enemy. Jesus is the Light who overcame darkness once and for all. Christ (not “good”) defeated evil. Every. Single.Time.”

Even though today has been a frustrating day with my little one, I will offer more grace and hold him a little tighter knowing that some aren't able to do that tonight.

Apartment Life + Nap Schedules + Run for Boston

We've lived in our apartment for a week and a half now, and we're completely settled in. I was set on getting things unpacked and placed as quickly as possible. My home may not always be clean or in perfect order, but if it's chaotic for more than one day, it affects me in big ways. My productivity slumps, my mood changes, I am more "on-edge" and start being critical. Sure, there are some things I may want to change and projects I want to do, but everything as it is now is functional and mostly organized.

I'm not sure if it is all in my head or a reality for now, but I feel like I can clean the apartment and be done. When I cleaned my house, I felt like I was never done. There was always something I needed to do. Maybe it's having less space and less stuff. I have no scientific findings, but I like that I can shower, read, and clean up the apartment (using the schedule from Clean Mama) all during morning nap.

Speaking of naps, that may all be changing. Yesterday, I had to take my little brother to therapy at 11. I knew if Jacob went down at his normal time (9:30) I would have to cut his nap off. The past week he has really only taken one nap most days. A few days I put him down in the afternoon because he was acting tired, and he laid in his bed and played and talked for almost two hours. I decided yesterday to try to hold him off until after the rehab appointment and it was a success! I kept him busy and he went down at noon and slept until almost 3. Glorious.

If we are making the transition to one nap, that means I've got to get up earlier than he is to get my stuff done! Man...I hate alarms.

We are in a moderate risk for severe (even tornadoes! ahh!) weather today so I'll be keeping a weather eye out, praying for the rain we desperately need, and for safety from severe weather. I'll also be running later on, whether it be outside or at the YMCA for Boston. You should do the same today, too!

What I Did Last Night

Last night, I did something that I haven't done in a long time. It's probably been more than a year, yeah that long. I walked out my front door wearing running shorts, a t-shirt, and my saucony shoes, John Mayer's latest album turned up in my ears (so I can't hear myself breathing hard) and my Map my Run app going and decided I was going to run a mile without stopping. And I did it! The adrenaline wore off and then I was sad because I used to run miles and play soccer for 45 minutes at a time and now I'm excited about running a mile. I'm getting old. I know that people run miles at a time much faster than me (speaking of runners- prayers for those affected by the Boston Bombings) and they are going "big whoop, Sarah." But, I did it and I'm proud of myself for not walking or stopping (because I definitely wanted to when I looked down and saw I had only gone .51 miles!)

The only bad thing about this run was that I did it after we got Jacob down for bed. I got back around 9 and I was NOT tired. So what did Jim and I do? Responsible adult things? No. We watched 3 or 4 episodes of Downton Abbey. We finished season 1 and started season 2. Didn't go to bed until 1 am and we are paying for it today. I know we're super behind, but it's an awesome show. Can't wait to watch another episode tonight. It's killing me not to turn on the PS3 to watch another while Jim is at work.

Pack It Up & Move It Out

I last left you on Day 1 of packing and it was quite the week.

So as not to bore you with dinky details, I'll just tell ya about the important parts. After all, this is one of those posts that's more for me and my memory than for you.

• I had grand plans of packing up carefully, going through and purging things as I went because we were losing 300 square feet of space. I also wasn't going to stress out about it and would work that way as long as I could, and then resort to throwing things where they fit.
• I had a hard time figuring out what to pack because movers weren't coming for a full week. I didn't want to crowd the apartment with boxes making moving furniture in difficult.
• I worked evenings and late nights packing up the boxes we had, taking them to the apartment, unpacking what I could, bringing the boxes back to the house, and repacking. I moved the kitchen first as it could be put away at the new apartment.
• If you put the seats down in the cube, you can fit lots of stuff in there.
• Thursday came and I was completely overwhelmed. Jim had been unable to help with packing and fully handling Jacob (more on that tomorrow). I wanted to just sit and cry multiple times, but there was no time for that.
• The movers that were a gift to us from my Father in Law were AWESOME. They came in, took anything apart that needed to be, saran wrapped and blanketed everything, moved it out, and took it to the apartment. They unloaded it, put it where I wanted it, and put beds and such back together. They came at 9 that morning and were completely done before lunch.
• The rest of the day I was just taking things over by the Cube. We ended up using my Father in Law's truck to move as I was running out of time.
• At 3:45, we went to sign over the keys. We asked, and were given, an extra couple of hours because I still had an entire garage and driveway of things to move. I am not exaggerating. 5 truck loads to go and the house wasn't even technically mine anymore. 
• We pulled away with the last load at 6 pm. There was no time to be "bye first house" and emotional. 
• We left a lot of things there that we had intended to take and sell (microwave, grill, a couple of pieces of furniture).

Getting to the apartment Thursday was the biggest relief that we had made it and also the biggest stress because I had so much to unpack and finish going through to decide what was making the cut. In our time crunch, we literally crammed things in available garages (my Mom and in-laws are awesome).

At this point, I still need to go clean out our storage unit, get the things from my Mom's and in-law's garages, and take everything to storage or Goodwill, accordingly.

Easter 2013

March 31st was a great day! Not only was it Easter (which is the most important part) but it was also Opening Night for my favorite baseball team, the Texas Rangers. We won't discuss what actually happened at the game because it was a giganto let down (Astros? Really?) but we've since moved on.

Normally, the ministry that we serve in at church has small group time after the 11 am service because the chances of a college student making it to church at 11 and then staying for free lunch and small groups are much greater than said college student making it to 9:30 small groups and then staying for church at 11. For Easter Sunday, we didn't have small groups after church so that the students and leaders could spend time with their families. We were encouraged to serve somewhere instead, so Jim and I worked the Nursery for the first time. We had two year olds and it was great. The preschool staff was there for any issues we ran into. We are now on the rotation to volunteer at least once a month. I snuck this picture while washing my hands after a messy finger painting project:

For lunch, we went to my Dad's house. We had delicious food and snacks and Jacob went on his first official Easter egg hunt. We had plans last year of walking kids everywhere, but alas, Jacob had to be carried everywhere to pick his up. Back breaker. He loved it, though, and all the cousins went on a wagon ride that was super fun, too!

That evening we hung out at my Mom's house for a delicious dinner. We were home by 7pm to watch the disaster of the Ranger game. 

Hope you and your family had a great Easter weekend!

Jacob :: 14 Months

Jacob turned 14 months old today! This has been a big month as far as milestones go. We are completely done with nursing (I came down with mastitis right around the 13 month mark which expedited things). It took a week after quitting cold turkey to feel "normal" again and there hasn't been much of an issue since.

Jim took over bedtime routine at that time because it was frustrating for me to handle Jacob when he wanted to nurse but couldn't. He now gets a bath, a warm sippy cup of milk, and a song in the rocking chair. He stays asleep (or cries, but stays in his bed) until 6:30, but sometimes 7 or 7:30. I handle morning times so that Jim can focus on his things and getting ready for work. I do mine in the evening. It's the first time we've really had a pretty solid routine and it's working for us for now. He is still napping twice a day, once for 2+ hours and another time for 90 minutes. That doesn't happen every day, but most of them.

We are almost completely done with baby food. He much prefers table food at this point and especially loves Lil Crunchies. We usually give him those while we finish up eating. I spent a lot of time feeling like he was behind in things and wondering if it was something we weren't doing or were doing that were keeping him from eating them. I'm so glad I didn't force it on him because the transition was so easy. We occasionally would give him something to try and see how it went. Suddenly, one day, he did okay with it. And since then, we can't keep food on the tray fast enough for him to eat.

The diaper rash almost went away with the seventh generation diapers. So, we tried stripping our cloth diapers and wearing them again and it's back. Onto the next thing...

His love for cars is growing and he can almost say "car" as they drive by. He also actively waves at everything coming or going. A few spanks with the spanking spoon was helpful for now; he seems to respond more obediently to a "no." I know that probably won't be forever, but for now, I'm enjoying it.