Right now...

Now that the holidays have come and gone and I'm slowly deflating back into normal life I'm feeling less than crafty.  I also need to be in a swimsuit in T minus 10 weeks so the inspirational recipes and crafts on Pinterest are having to go on a temporary hiatus. So this week I'm taking a prompt from one of my favorite bloggers, Kelle Hampton, and I'm sharing some of what I love.  What I love right this minute, what I love this week and what I love in general.

Discovering shadows.

Each day I am just filled with the wonder and the amazement that is this little guy. 

Tea. 

I've been enjoying a hot cup of tea in the mornings lately instead of my normal cup of coffee.  It started with a sore throat that called for tea with a bit of honey and has temporarily shelved its cousin Joe. With each cup I feel like I'm channeling the spirit of my mom, she was a tea drinker through and through. Lipton Black with just a bit of sugar. Lately the days of remembering my mom and feeling happy to have been blessed to be on this earth with her for 29 and half years are outweighing the sad days when I feel so let down that I don't get to spend another 40 years with her.

Snuggles after afternoon naps that sometimes turn into longer afternoon naps in the warmth of momma's lap.

An impromptu text from a friend triggered by the gorgeous weather that says "playing outside at 4:15ish, meet us there if your kiddos need to burn off some steam".

Finding new tickle spots that make my baby giggle. (Right under the chin and above the collar bone.)

What are you loving lately?

Taking a Breath

I woke up today with a million thoughts going through my head. I need to go to the grocery store. I need milk, I need this, I need that. I need to do laundry, oh so much laundry. I need to buy baby gates. I need to put away my fall decor. I need to get out my Christmas lights and decorations. We need to put up the tree. It's Cyber Monday I should do some Christmas shopping. And then I decided I need to take a breath.

We got home late (very late) last night from a really great week in Iowa with our families. Working in the banking industry I have always had to work the day after Thanksgiving and so we've always had to leave to drive back home a few hours after our Thanksgiving feast. But not this year!  This year we got to linger a little longer and enjoy a little more.

At 2 am last night I sat in my rocking chair in the nursery with a snoozing baby in my arms and reflected on what a great week we had.  We got to catch up with old friends over mocktails (my bestie is expecting their first baby at the end of March), see a movie (something I haven't done in a theater in quite a while), we went out to dinner and the baby didn't cry once and I got to eat my meal without having a wiggling baby on my knee! The dog got to play with other doggie friends and burn off the steam of being cooped up inside.  There was a disappointing moment though, when my dad called me the morning we were supposed to be visiting him and told me he had bronchitis and we weren't going to be able to have our visit.  I know this absolutely crushed him and I am so hoping that he is feeling better and looking forward to some extra special time at Christmas.  My most favorite moment though? Overhearing Corey's aunt and Corey's dad talking while looking at a picture of himself, Corey and Oliver and hearing her say "you must have needed to have a grandson to smile like that in pictures." If you would have looked down you would have seen my heart melted in a puddle on the ground.

We had Ollie's first Thanksgiving dinner. Complete with a homemade turkey onesie.

A meal fit for Pilgrims...apples, parsnips and sweet potatoes!

You might have picked up on something written above, we need baby gates.  The day before Thanksgiving Ollie started crawling! He now has it perfected...none of this army crawling, real hands and knees crawling and holy smokes are we in trouble.  I think babies just instinctively know what they aren't supposed to get into and beeline it right to it.

Our trip was relaxing and wonderful.  Full of lots of smiles, laughter, baths in sinks and snuggling. In a word, perfection.

We usually end our trips back to Iowa aching to be living back there but this time it felt good to settle back into our home in Indiana.  We may have been welcomed back by piles of laundry and floors that need to be vacuumed but I'll take it.  It's nothing that a little Christmas music and a Cozy Fireside candle can't fix.

Sweet Potato Pie

The past couple of days our house has been a flutter with holiday preparations.  I love Thanksgiving and everything that comes along with it.  The turkey, the mashed potatoes, the houseful of napping bodies scattered among couches, playing cards in the evening and going back for round two.  Even though it's been busy and hectic I have loved that for the past three days my house has smelled constantly of pumpkin and sweet potatoes baking, and not from a candle, from actual pumpkins and sweet potatoes baking.  I'm thankful for pies that turn out the way they are supposed to.

My little sweet potato.

We're leaving tomorrow to make the trip back to Iowa and it's with excitement and a little sadness.  This is the first major holiday without my mom and I really honestly don't know how we will all handle it.  Some days go by and it doesn't hurt quite as much as it used to, it's not all consuming.  I'd like to think that I'm getting to the point that I can smile while I think about memories of my mom instead of crying.  I'm hoping that we can take this Thanksgiving to be truly thankful for what we faced this year. I know that sounds strange, I'm not in any way saying that I'm thankful that we lost my mom.  What I am thankful for is the family that we will be surrounded with this week.  That same family that when faced with something as horrific as cancer, stood up, locked arms and faced it head on.

These are from Thanksgiving a couple of years ago.

If this past year has taught me anything it's that I lead a very blessed life. We may have had our trials and tribulations this year but my belief in my blessings is unwavering.  Every fourth Thursday in November we are reminded to give thanks for the blessings that we have.  All too often days, weeks and months go by and it's easy to get wrapped up in life and forget to be truly thankful for what we have.  I ran across a quote on Pinterest the other day and what perfect timing.

"What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?"


If you're like me, you would probably wake up with your babies and your husband and your family but would you wake up with everything else?  Running water? Heat in your home? Food on your table? It is so very easy to take for granted the things in our lives that make it easier to live but across the globe, across town and maybe even right next door there are people that are struggling to put food on their table and pay their gas bill to heat their homes. I hope that you take time each day, and especially this Thursday to give thanks for all that you have.

Other things I'm thankful for:

Babies that nap so I can clean up the house. (Or watch the latest episode of Top Chef)

Friday evenings with a glass of wine and new friends and fellow moms that make living eight hours from home a whole lot easier. (And make me realize the things we go through with a baby are completely normal)

A text from a friend telling me that she is thinking about me this week because she knows it's going to be a hard one.

The sound of my husband singing in the car when he thinks I'm asleep.

Sisters that make me laugh.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thankful

It's not Thanksgiving yet but the past couple of weeks I have been given some pretty good opportunities to reflect on my life and be very thankful. We had the anniversary of when my husband I met, the anniversary of 9/11 and this past weekend we watched our friends walk down the aisle which like every wedding does, made me think of my own wedding almost 5 years ago.

August 31st was the 10 year anniversary of when Corey and I met.  Wowza, 10 years, a decade, one third of my lifetime! I'm very thankful for the night that wonderful man walked into my life.  Then 11 days later the airplanes hit the twin towers in New York City. I remember sitting in my living room with my roommate thinking how thankful I was that I didn't know anyone that was there.  But even though I didn't know anyone that was there the sadness was palpable. Whether or not you knew someone didn't matter, life as we knew it in the United States would never be the same. I took that opportunity to call all of my family and tell them how much I loved them because if anything this was a reminder to tell the ones that we love that we do. On the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 I think all of us took the time to think about where we were 10 years ago.  In a coffee shop, at work, at school, driving in the car. Regardless of where we each were, life was different 10 years ago. As I reflect on how different my life has become since those two anniversaries I think of the big and small moments that have gotten me here.

Big moments:

• What 14 hours of labor felt like, punctuated by a moment of silence and my baby's throaty cry
• Hearing my grandpa read the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas Eve and my cousin Matt reading the same story 9 days after my grandpa passed away
• What my mom's laugh sounds like, what she smells like and how it felt to lay next to her on the couch
• What it felt like when my husband and I said "I do"

and little moments:

• Snuggling Oliver just a few minutes longer when I know I really just need to lay him in his bed to sleep
• How 10 years later I still get excited to see my husband pull in the driveway after a long day of work
• Laughing with my sister Edie, so hard we could hardly breathe
• Watching my sister Desi with her new nephew, changing his diaper and holding him like she'd been doing it for years
• Cooking for my sister Kiley, her freshman year of college when we were lucky enough to live in the same town

On the anniversary of 9/11 I didn't watch every single bit of coverage but I did watch an hour on NBC with Tom Brokaw and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. As I sat and listened to them sing Amazing Grace and watched clips of the beautiful scenery that our country has to offer I sat next to my son and couldn't help but hope that he always knows what a wonderful world we live in.  Sometimes it takes a tragedy to understand and be truly thankful for what we have.

Everyday life can sometimes bog us down with minuscule annoyances...the dog rolled in the dirt again, your husband came home late, the baby has been crying for an hour.  But what we really need to be thankful for is the life that we are allowed.  I have a husband who loves his family, my son won't be persecuted for his religious beliefs and will be able to go to a great school. Let us not ever forget how lucky we are to live in a country where all of this is possible.

When I met my husband 10 years ago little did we know what we had ahead of us. We fell in love, we bought our first house, we've moved three times to 3 different communities, we've met lifelong friends, we've lost grandparents and lost my mom, I gave birth to our first son and throughout the joys and sadness I know that regardless I live a very blessed life.

I hope that we continue to accept our joys and challenges with grace. So I have to admit that although I'm not thankful for what happened 10 years ago on 9/11 that changed us all, I am thankful for the reminder to reflect on our lives each year.

Tomorrow is the official start of autumn but around here it's been feeling like fall for a couple weeks. A couple of weeks ago we had what I hope is our last shot at above 80 degree temperatures. But it wasn't middle of the summer 85 degrees that you know has settled in and decided to stay for a while, no this was a pleasant visit from 85, just stopping by for one last visit to make sure you don't forget it while it's gone. So I was happy to oblige this one last visit but I was happy to see it go.  So in anticipation of tomorrow's arrival of fall, my mums have been purchased and the first of many batches of pumpkin bars have been made.

It's been a busy couple weeks. We watched our first Iowa game of the season, the first for Oliver to watch in his life. We got all decked out in our Iowa gear.

 He's not quite as into as we had hoped.

So I thought he needed a napping buddy.

We had a weekend full of wedding events. Rehearsal dinners, ceremonies and rehearsals. It was a gorgeous weekend where glasses of wine were enjoyed with old friends. I was planning on bringing the baby to all of the events but one call after another rolled in of offers to babysit so we were happy to let grandparents and aunties get in their baby time.

Grandpa and Grandma Rekers took Ollie for the night so momma and poppa got a good nights sleep. Thank you Grandpa and Grandma!!!

Grandpa Clyde got his baby time in during the wedding and boy does he love himself some Ollie.

And the aunties got their time in too.  I am so thankful for my sisters and how much they love my baby. (Not pictured: Auntie Edie, but she got her blog shout out last week).

With the onset of fall the groceries are filled with fall fruits and vegetables.  This prompted me to start making Oliver's baby food.  He won't be eating solids for another month or so but I figured while the fruits and veggies are fresh is as good as time as any.

I made a big batch of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots and peas.  This weekend we are going to our first apple orchard of the season so next week the house will be filled with the smell of cinnamon and baking apples and for that I am very thankful.